Background and Purpose— Information regarding the histological structure of thromboemboli that cause acute stroke provides insight into pathogenesis and clinical management. Methods— This report describes the histological analysis of thromboemboli retrieved by endovascular mechanical extraction from the middle cerebral artery (MCA) and intracranial carotid artery (ICA) of 25 patients with acute ischemic stroke. Results— The large majority (75%) of thromboemboli shared architectural features of random fibrin:platelet deposits interspersed with linear collections of nucleated cells (monocytes and neutrophils) and confined erythrocyte-rich regions. This histology was prevalent with both cardioembolic and atherosclerotic sources of embolism. "Red" clots composed uniquely of erythrocytes were uncommon and observed only with incomplete extractions, and cholesterol crystals were notably absent. The histology of thromboemboli that could not be retrieved from 29 concurrent patients may be different. No thrombus >3 mm wide caused stroke limited to the MCA, and no thrombus >5 mm wide was removed from the ICA. A mycotic embolus was successfully removed in 1 case, and a small atheroma and attached intima were removed without clinical consequence from another. Conclusions— Thromboemboli retrieved from the MCA or intracranial ICA of patients with acute ischemic stroke have similar histological components, whether derived from cardiac or arterial sources. Embolus size determines ultimate destination, those >5 mm wide likely bypassing the cerebral vessels entirely. The fibrin:platelet pattern that dominates thromboembolic structure provides a foundation for both antiplatelet and anticoagulant treatment strategies in stroke prevention.


BACKGROUND
Recently another member of the paraoxonase gene family designated paraoxonase-2 has been identified. Paraoxonase-2 has antioxidant properties similar to paraoxonase-1 and paraoxonase-3. However, in contrast to paraoxonase-1 and paraoxonase-3, paraoxonase-2 is not associated with high-density lipoprotein and may only exert its antioxidant function at the cellular level.

METHODS
We assessed the frequency and genotype distribution of cys 311 ser paraoxonase-2 polymorphism in 300 subjects (>40 years old) with angiographic documentation of coronary artery disease (150 patients with >50% stenosis served as cases and 150 individuals with <20% stenosis served as controls) to determine the possible association between this mutation and susceptibility for coronary artery disease. The paraoxonase-2 genotypes were determined by polymerase chain reaction and DdeI restriction enzyme digestion.

RESULTS
The cases (coronary artery disease positive patients) showed significant differences in the distribution of cys 311 ser paraoxonase-2 genotypes as compared with the controls (coronary artery disease negative subjects, P=0.015). The analysis of paraoxonase-2 genotypes distribution showed higher percentage of CC genotype among coronary artery disease positive compared with coronary artery disease negative (P=0.008). After controlling for other risk factors, the cys 311 ser polymorphism had not correlation with age, body mass index, gender, smoking, diabetes, level of high-density lipoprotein, low-density lipoprotein, triglyceride, and total cholesterol.

CONCLUSION
Our data indicate a major effect of the paraoxonase-2 polymorphism on coronary artery disease risk in patients referred to Shariati Hospital in Tehran.


The land use devoted to the community activities is increasing in line with the increasing number of population in many cities. It is usually by changing the available open spaces such as forests, agricultural, and swamp areas. Consequently, it would lead to the increasing size of the areas likely experiencing water flooding since the amount of open spaces decrease. Based on this condition, it is necessary to assess the likely impacts of this phenomenon toward the flooding distribution in urban areas, by identifying the land use pattern and intensity, followed by analyzing the development of the flooding distribution and intensity, as well as investigating the relationship between land use development and flood distribution. A study was conducted and it is found that the flooding affected area in several urban areas is increasing annually. It is identified that the flooding area was contributed by the decreasing capacity of land in absorbing and receiving rain water due to shift in the land use, leading to increasing amount of surface water. Generally, the flood occurred in an urban area was caused by high sedimentation and erosion in the downstream of the flood affected area. The flood was also occurred in the area of low altitude where the possibility of flood to occur is high. Poor condition of urban drainage due to sedimentation as well as water flow blocked by rubbish is also suspected as one of the reason behind the increasing area affected by water flood.


In this brief:
 Background of the problem that TAAT is addressing Compact description Compact Objectives Achievements TAAT Cassava technologies Key challenges or lessons learned Contact information


This paper investigates the geographic extent of FDI technology spillovers and associated spatial diffusion. By adopting a spatiotemporal autoregressive panel model as the platform of our study, the complex impact resulting from FDI penetration is separated into spatial direct and indirect effects while accounting for feedback loops among regions. A set of spatially partitioned summary measures is produced to identify and to quantify FDI spillovers from different channels with distinct geographic scopes. Empirical results based on data from China document that the direct impacts of FDI presence to a specific location itself are likely to be negative. Domestic firms mainly benefit from FDI presence in their neighboring regions through knowledge spillovers that have wider geographic scope. Negative market stealing effect nevertheless has no spatial boundary. Policy implications of these findings are discussed.


We have explored the photoelectrochemical behavior of carbon/titania composites, aiming at understanding the mechanisms of the photoinduced processes occurring in such hybrid photocatalysts that lead to enhanced photocatalytic efficiencies of the pristine semiconductor for the photodegradation of refractory pollutants in water. In a first step, spectrometric techniques have been applied to investigate the structural and optical properties of the carbon/semiconductor composites compared to the intrinsic characteristics of the unsupported semiconductor. The second approach consisted of the preparation of thin-film electrodes to explore the photoinduced reactions occurring at the interface under UV light and bias potential. The gathered results provided experimental evidence on the carbon-mediated photoinduced reactions, distinguishing different mechanisms: (i) the carbon matrix acts as a charge-trapping network that modifies the fate of the photogenerated charge carriers (avoiding recombination and thus enhancing the photocatalytic efficiency); (ii) illumination of the carbon additive renders photogenerated carriers due to π–π* transitions, capable of participating in charge transfer reactions with electron donors present in the reaction medium. Our results point out that beyond the beneficial effect of the porosity of the support, the carbon matrix does play an important role in the photoinduced reactions of carbon-supported photocatalysts.


We review some of the fundamental notions associated with the theory of solitons. More precisely, we focus on the issue of conservation laws via the existence of the Lax pair and also on methods that provide solutions to partial or ordinary differential equations that are associated to discrete or continuous integrable systems. The Riccati equation associated to a given continuous integrable system is also solved and hence suitable conserved quantities are derived. The notion of the Darboux–Bäcklund transformation is introduced and employed in order to obtain soliton solutions for specific examples of integrable equations. The Zakharov–Shabat dressing scheme and the Gelfand–Levitan–Marchenko equation are also introduced. Via this method, generic solutions are produced and integrable hierarchies are explicitly derived. Various discrete and continuous integrable models are employed as examples such as the Toda chain, the discrete nonlinear Schrödinger model, the Korteweg–de Vries and nonlinear Schrödinger equations as well as the sine-Gordon and Liouville models.


Introduction: There are lots of studies focusing on the role of reproductive and child health factors and dietary factors on the nutrition status of the child. The present study is an attempt to highlight the role of macro- and micro-environmental factors in predicting the occurrence of undernutrition in children. Methods: This was a cross-sectional study conducted in field practice area of Community Medicine Department, PDU Medical College, Rajkot. The nutrition status of children was assessed using the weight for age WHO reference standards, 2006. Children below two standard deviation of the reference median (weight for age) were considered as malnourished. Data were collected for sociodemographic factors, sanitation, hygiene, and attitude of mother toward her child, etc., Data were entered in MS excel, and logistic regression was used. Results: Analysis of 495 selected children showed 24% prevalence of undernutrition. Employment status of mothers (adjusted odds ratio [AOR] 1.65), drinking water quality (AOR 1.53), and cleanliness of mother's hands and clothes (AOR 1.91) significantly affected the nutrition status of the child. Children classified in fair or poor category for Briscoe's sanitation scale had 1.34 and1.92 times higher odds of being undernourished (P > 0.05), respectively. Children classified in fair or poor category for Elizabeth's microenvironment scale had 2.05 and 2.41 times higher odds of being undernourished (P < 0.05), respectively. Conclusions: Water, sanitation, and hygiene-related factors, as well as microenvironmental factors, significantly affected the nutrition status of the children.


This paper proposes a contextual item-based collaborative filtering technology, which is based on the traditional item-based collaborative filtering technology. In the process of the recommendation, user's important mobile contextual information are taken into account, and the technology combines with those ratings on the items in the users' historical contextual information who are familiar with user's current context information in order to predict that which items will be preferred by user in his or her current context. At the end, an experiment is used to prove that the technology proposed in this paper can predict user's preference in his or her mobile environment more accurately.


The Document Analysis and Exploitation platform is a sophisticated technical environment that consists of a repository containing document images, implementations of document analysis algorithms, and the results of these algorithms when applied to data in the repository. The use of a web services model makes it possible to set up document analysis pipelines that form the basis for reproducible protocols. Since the platform keeps track of all intermediate results, it becomes an information resource for the analysis of experimental data. This paper provides a tutorial on how to get started using the platform. It covers the technical details needed to overcome the initial hurdles and have a productive experience with DAE.


In this paper, we propose a new data broadcast mechanism with network coding in heterogeneous wireless networks. Our mechanism adaptively clusters the mobile hosts in fewer cells to minimize the bandwidth consumption. In addition, we adaptively code the data according to the data temporarily stored in each mobile host with a distributed manner. Our mechanism allows each delivered message to be coded from only a subset of data to further reduce the number of required messages. We formulate the cell selection and broadcast coding problem with integer programming and prove that the problem is NP-hard. We design a distributed algorithm based on Lagrangean relaxation. Our algorithm needs no server to record the location, queried, and stored information of receivers. Moreover, our algorithm is adaptive to the dynamic group membership, mobility, queried, and stored data of receivers.


In a microprocessor, the cache hit time generally determines the clock frequency. But for the ten last years, a technological trend is the increaseof the cache miss penalty in terms of instruction issue delays, then maintaining the cache miss ratio as low as possible is also of particular interest. For a few years, there has been numerous studies focusing on a low cache hit time while maintaining low cache miss ratio. Unfortunately most of the proposed solutions implicitly suppose that the cache is virtually indexed. When using virtually indexed caches, the operating system (or may be some specific hardware) has to manage the consistency of caches and memory. In this paper, we propose the Direct-mapped Access Set-associative Check cache (DASC) for addressing both difficulties. On a DASC cache, the cache array is direct-mapped then the cache hit time is low, but as the tag array is set-associative, the external miss ratio is the same as the miss ratio of a set- associative cache. When the size of an associativity degree of the tag array is tied to the minimum page size, a virtually indexed DASC cache correctly handles all difficulties associated with cache consistency. Trace driven simulations show that, for cache sizes in the range of 16-32 Kbytes and for current minimum page size in the range 4-8 Kbytes, using a DASC cache is a valuable trade-off because it allows fast cache hit time and low cache miss ratio while cache consistency management is performed by hardware.


Alveoli are the key functional units of the lungs where gas exchange takes place, yet little is known about the mechanisms of their formation. To identify the genes that regulate alveolar morphogenesis, we used suppression subtractive hybridization to isolate genes that differentially expressed during the formation of saccules and the remodeling of saccules into alveoli in the mouse. After differential screening, we got 118 candidate genes from two libraries. These genes associate with many aspects of life including proliferation, differentiation, regulation and so on. For example: Transient receptor protein 4(TRPC4) may associate with formation or remodeling of pulmonary vessels by increasing permeability of endothelia cells. Lectin, (galactose bindingl, Lgalsl) may play a significant role in stimulating smooth muscle growth in developing alveolar wall vessels and the development of pulmonary capillaries. Interesting, a putative neuronalprotein, P311 was found highly expressed in both the first and the secondary septation stages. Taking together SSH is a powerful method to identify differential expressing genes.


A chymotryptic digest of the human K BenceJones protein Ag was prepared to enable the ordering of its tryptic peptides and the determination of its amino acid sequence. Thirtyfive chymotryptic peptides were purified by column chromatography, paper chromatography, and paper electrophoresis and their ammo acid compositions were determined. The partial or complete amino acid sequence was determined for 15 peptides. The complete sequence is given for 6 of the chymotryptic peptides totalling 66 residues from positions 33 through 98 where tryptic peptides were unavailable.


BACKGROUND
Patients' health beliefs influence their willingness to comply with medical advice. In an earlier study, it was found that men with a previous history of information on risk factors for ischaemic heart disease expressed more feelings of threat to their health than did men without this experience. As anxiety may have adverse effects, such as making patients avoid the desired action, this could complicate adequate patient treatment.

AIMS
To investigate the impact on health beliefs caused by participation in a screening programme for risk factors for ischaemic heart disease, including individualized information to patients with hypercholesterolaemia.

METHODS
A random sample of middle-aged, urban men participating in a health screening completed a questionnaire on socioeconomic factors, medical history, lifestyle, and health beliefs. Blood pressures and plasma cholesterol values were measured. Four months after the initial screening, hypercholesterolaemic men and controls completed the questionnaire again.

RESULTS
In a univariate analysis, no differences in health belief indices were found between cases and controls at the baseline screening. Controls achieved lower values of the indices "perceived control over illness" and "medical motivation" at follow-up. In a matched case-control design, the differences in "medical motivation" increased between cases and controls because controls reported lower values. "Perceived threat to health" did not change, and it is suggested that this is due to the supportive information to the patients.

CONCLUSION
Individualized and supportive patient information on risk factors for cardiovascular disease does not increase patients' perceptions of threat.


Background. The data on long-term outcomes for elderly patients with coronary artery disease who undergo invasive treatment is limited. This study aimed to assess long-term outcomes and risk factors for patients over 80 years of age who underwent revascularisation. Methods. This single-centre retrospective study included ≥80-year-old patients who underwent coronary angiography between 2012 and 2014. Among 590 study patients, 411 patients had significant angiographic changes and had either a percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) or coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) performed. Baseline patient characteristics, including demographics, comorbidities, survival to hospital discharge, and long term mortality were analysed. Three-year mortality was assessed. Results. Three hundred sixty-nine (89.8%) patients underwent PCI and in 42 (10.2%) CABG was performed. Significant differences between groups were detected in heart failure (PCI – 51.2% vs. CABG – 78.6%; p = 0.001), previous CABG (11.4% vs. 0%; p = 0.014), cardiogenic shock (12.2% vs. 0%; p = 0.008). Hospital mortality rate in the PCI group – 10.6%, CABG – 7.1%; p = 0.787. A median 3-year survival rate in the PCI group – 66.1%, CABG – 66.7%; p = 1.000. Chronic heart failure (OR 2.442; 95% CI: 1.530–3.898, p < 0.001), atrial fibrillation (OR 0.425; 95% CI: 0.261–0.692, p < 0.001), cardiogenic shock (OR 0.120; 95% CI: 0.054–0.270, p = 0.001), and LMCA stenosis (OR 2.104; 95% CI: 1.281–3.456, p = 0.003) were identified as independent 3-year all-cause mortality predictors in multivariate regression analysis. Conclusions. There was no significant difference in hospital mortality and survival rates between elderly patients who underwent PCI or CAGB. The majority of elderly patients underwent a PCI and these patients appeared to experience cardiogenic shock more frequently.


PURPOSE/OBJECTIVES
To test the effectiveness of two interventions compared to usual care in decreasing attitudinal barriers to cancer pain management, decreasing pain intensity, and improving functional status and quality of life (QOL).

DESIGN
Randomized clinical trial.

SETTING
Six outpatient oncology clinics (three Veterans Affairs [VA] facilities, one county hospital, and one community-based practice in California, and one VA clinic in New Jersey)Sample: 318 adults with various types of cancer-related pain.

METHODS
Patients were randomly assigned to one of three groups: control, standardized education, or coaching. Patients in the education and coaching groups viewed a video and received a pamphlet on managing cancer pain. In addition, patients in the coaching group participated in four telephone sessions with an advanced practice nurse interventionist using motivational interviewing techniques to decrease attitudinal barriers to cancer pain management. Questionnaires were completed at baseline and six weeks after the final telephone calls. Analysis of covariance was used to evaluate for differences in study outcomes among the three groups.

MAIN RESEARCH VARIABLES
Pain intensity, pain relief, pain interference, attitudinal barriers, functional status, and QOL.

FINDINGS
Attitudinal barrier scores did not change over time among groups. Patients randomized to the coaching group reported significant improvement in their ratings of pain-related interference with function, as well as general health, vitality, and mental health.

CONCLUSIONS
Although additional evaluation is needed, coaching may be a useful strategy to help patients decrease attitudinal barriers toward cancer pain management and to better manage their cancer pain.

IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING
By using motivational interviewing techniques, advanced practice oncology nurses can help patients develop an appropriate plan of care to decrease pain and other symptoms.


At the end of 2007, CEF Sustainability (Pty) Ltd, appointed by the Central Energy Fund with complimentary funding from the Norwegian Government, commissioned a study with the aim of evaluating hydroelectric potential around the Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipality (NMBMM), focusing on the extraction of hydro-energy from existing infrastructure. The field investigation and the compilation of a prefeasibility study were conducted by a consortium comprising Energy and Water Resources Engineering (project management and hydropower), NNJ Technologies (electromechanical equipment), AfriCoast Engineers (transformers and transmission) and Sustainable Transactions CC (environmental reporting). From the outset of the investigation the water supply infrastructure components of the Orange-Fish-Sundays Water Transfer Scheme (O-F-S WTS) and several other water supply impoundments, such as the Kouga, Impofu and Churchill dams and the Loerie Balancing Dam, were listed in the Baseline Report of 2008.


Knowledge creation is analyzed by means of two important properties, those of being (a) a co relational structure and (b) a retrieval or interpretative structure. Furthermore, it is shown that knowledge has a local character in the sense of being able to correlate only a limited number of variables and over limited ranges of values of the variables. Processes of knowledge generation and knowledge strategies are then analyzed by means of economic concepts such as division of labor and coordination.


GaAs based structures in which are embedded InAs self-assembled quantum dots are studied using admittance measurements taken over a large frequency spectrum and for several temperatures. The presence of quantum dots is evidenced in the capacitance-voltage characteristics by one, or more, plateau-like structures related to the processes of charging and discharging of the quantum dots. Concurrently, the measured conductance exhibits a peak in a certain bias range that coincides with the plateau-like structure in the capacitance but only for temperatures below 150 K. The conductance dependence on both the temperature and applied bias is attributed to two mechanisms of carrier escape/capture mechanisms from the InAs embedded quantum dots into/out of the hosting GaAs; a thermally activated process for temperatures above 80 K and a perceptibly nonthermal tunneling process for temperatures below 40 K. The conductance data is used to estimate rates and activation energies in association with the electron escape mechanisms from the quantum dots.


Uninflated lung disease (UnILD) refers to atelectasis as a major pathologic lesion in the lung tissue, which mainly appearances of large area consolidations under lung ultrasound (LUS). Clinically, UnILDs primarily include pulmonary atelectasis of the newborn (PAN), severe pneumonia, and meconium aspiration syndrome (MAS).UnILDs are common diseases in newborn infants and the major reasons for acute respiratory deterioration, a prolonged hospitalization, and difficulties in weaning from mechanical ventilation.From January,2014 to October,2019,we conduct bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) to treat neonatal UnILDs under the guidance of LUS and got excellent results. A mong of total of 745 patients, including PNA 201 cases, severe pneumonia 329 cases and MAS 215 cases. The results that Invasive ventilator use rate significant decreased?p<0.01),the duration required to receive invasive ventilator treatment significant reduced (p<0.01),the length of hospitalization significant decreased?p<0.01) and the hospitalization expenses significant decreased (p<0.05). All patients had stable vital signs during lavage and no adverse side effects were observed. So we concluded that under LUS monitoring, BAL has a significant effect on UnILDs.


Multiprojector tiled displays offer a scalable path to high-resolution display systems, often in a large format. Such displays have been employed in a range of applications from scientific visualization to collaborative virtual environments. Images projected onto these systems have always looked less sharp than expected owing to the image warping required to achieve geometrical alignment of the partial images to form the seamless whole. Similar degradation of image quality accompanies keystone correction techniques and image warping onto nonplanar surfaces used in single projector applications. In this paper we discuss the underlying cause of the degradation of apparent image resolution, and we introduce a new class of warping techniques, called pixel-aligned warping, that tend to preserve image sharpness at the expense of strict adherence to underlying geometrical constraints that define the desired warp. We demonstrate how such techniques can be used to significantly improve the apparent sharpness of the final image.


Adolescents with abnormal sexual differentiation or intersex conditions present a unique challenge to their healthcare providers. While sex refers to the biologic considerations that specify a person as male or female, gender refers to the sex of rearing. For the child with an intersex condition, sex may differ from gender, and as that child grows into adolescence, this may lead to many concerns, questions, and decisions. Although gender is usually fixed by adolescence, there will be those adolescents with intersex conditions wishing a gender reassignment during this period. Often a physician is the best resource for information and counsel to these young adults. Although most infants with ambiguous genitalia will have a karyotype done to determine gender identity, there are occasions when a gender discrepancy is not noticed until an adolescent presents with delayed pubarche. Regardless of the age at diagnosis, at adolescence, the physician must the address the medical consequences of infertility, bone health, and hormone replacement in addition to handling the heightened psychological concerns of gender identity during puberty. It is hoped that adolescents with intersex conditions will have the support and information necessary to allow them to live as normal a life as possible.


[1] The magnetic field originating within the Earth can be divided into core and crustal components, which can be characterized by the geomagnetic power spectrum. While the core spectrum is determined quite well by satellite studies, models of the shorter wavelength crustal spectrum disagree considerably. We reexamine aeromagnetic data used by O'Brien et al. [1999] to obtain a new, improved estimate of the crustal geomagnetic power spectrum. O'Brien et al.'s model somewhat failed to give a satisfactory connection between the longer-wavelength satellite studies and a reliable crustal model. We show that this was caused by an inadequate processing step that aimed to remove external variations from the data. We moreover attempt to bound the long-wavelength part of the spectrum using constraints of monotonicity in the correlation of the magnetization. However, this proves to be a weak constraint. Reversing the process, though, we are able to evaluate the correlation function using the reliable part of our geomagnetic spectrum. Thus we can obtain a sensible estimate for the long-wavelength part of the spectrum that is not well constrained by the data. Our new model shows better agreement with earlier satellite studies and can be considered reliable in the spherical harmonic degree range l = 30 to 1200.


IntroductionPublic housing is a form of subsidized housing that is owned and/or managed by government. Previous research suggests that public housing has a positive impact on personal finances and education outcomes, but less is known about if/how it impacts health and healthcare use.
Objectives and ApproachUsing linked administrative health and social data, we tested for changes in healthcare use among a cohort who moved into public housing in 2012 and 2013 in Manitoba, Canada, and compared utilization to a matched general population cohort who did not move into public housing. Generalized linear models with generalized estimating equations tested for differences in numbers of healthcare contacts in the years before and after the move-in date, adjusted for economic, residential mobility, and health characteristics. The data were modeled using a Poisson (rate ratio, RR), negative binomial (incident rate ratio, IRR), or a binomial (odds ratio, OR) distribution.
ResultsThere were 2619 residents in the public housing cohort; 99.7% were matched to the general population. The cohort by time interaction was statistically significant for inpatient days (p
Conclusion/ImplicationsPublic housing residents were more likely to use healthcare services than the matched population, but changes in use were similar in the two cohorts. There is little evidence that public housing impacts healthcare use, but it serves an important function of meeting basic needs for a vulnerable population group.


The Wetland Centre at Halmstad University was commissioned by the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency and the Swedish Board of Agriculture to evaluate the effects of artificially created wetlands in Sweden between the years 1996 and 2002 with regard to nutrient retention and biodiversity. The creation of these wetlands has been financed either by Rural Development Support (RDS: Miva, Project support or Lmiva without Project support) or by Local Investment Programmes (LIP). The results are presented separately for the four different categories of constructed wetlands:Constructed wetlands financed by LIP (Local Investment Programmes) (1998-2002).Constructed wetlands financed by PS (Project Support) (2000-2002).Constructed wetlands financed by Miva (Restoration and Establishment of Wetlands and Ponds on Arable land and Semi-natural Grazing land) (1996-1999).Constructed wetlands financed by Lmiva (RDS wetlands that only get management support) (2000-2002).The main purpose of this study has been to evaluate the extent to which wetlands created by means of these different support systems have contributed to reduced eutrophication and increased biodiversity. The purpose has not been to evaluate individual wetlands but to give an overview of the differences in efficiency between the various support systems and, to some extent, the difference in results between various geographical regions within Sweden. It has therefore been necessary to include a large number of wetlands in the evaluation, which means that extensive field sampling in the individual wetlands has not been possible. The estimates concerning nutrient retention has therefore been based on modelling, and the biodiversity has been assessed by using dragonflies (Odonata) as indicator organisms.Information on 908 wetlands with a total area of 2860 hectares financed by RDS has been compiled and registered. In terms of area, these wetlands divide into 1815 ha financed by Miva, 920 ha financed by PS and 125 ha by Lmiva. In addition, 274 wetlands created by means of LIP, with a total area of 439 ha, have been registered. Field surveys and sampling has been conducted in more than 100 wetlands randomly selected from this register. It is mainly the results from these selected wetlands that are presented here.


Abstract By forcing a third-generation wave-prediction model with surface stresses from the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) atmospheric model, it was discovered that lower wave heights were generated than by forcing with the ECMWF surface winds. The apparent inconsistency between surface stresses and surface winds in the atmospheric model turns out to be time-step dependent. A similar conclusion may be inferred from results of the WAMDI group. Apparently, a number of atmospheric models have inaccuracies in the boundary-layer scheme near the surface. In this paper it is argued that the reason for the inaccuracies is related to the numerical integration scheme that is used in these models. It is shown that a numerical scheme that treats physics and dynamics separately has an equilibrium that is time-step dependent. An alternative scheme—namely, simultaneous, implicit treatment of both physics and dynamics—removes this deficiency. Possible consequences for atmospheric-, wave-, and ...


PI/PD-like fuzzy controller is proposed for control of high performance motor drives. The system utilizes two fuzzy logic (FL) structures to generate a control signal. The first FL mimics PD control and generates an explicit output. The second FL acts in parallel to mimic PI control and generates an incremental output which adds to a previous PI control signal to create an updated PI control signal. The fuzzy PI- and PD-type controllers are combined to cope with different operating conditions. Saturation protection exists before passing the control to the motor drive. A filter creates a reduced noise feedback error signal, and a difference creates a delta error signal between the present filtered error and that of the previous time step. These two inputs feed both FL structures. The rules for both the PI and PD FL structures are given with explanation of the physical meaning. The PI/PD-like fuzzy controller is implemented in MATLAB/Simulink and loaded onto a dSPACE DSP. A suite of tests examines robust control performance under various operating conditions. Experimental results have shown that the fuzzy PI- and PD-Type controllers robustly respond to a wide range of operating conditions.


Wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) is important in Uruguay both as food as well as crop. To achieve an attractive product for consumers and profitable for farmers, grain components should be able to produce high-quality bread. The most used device to characterize bread quality in wheat and flour is the Alveograph. The key component is gluten, a complex mix of proteins. In order to understand the relationship between gluten component proteins and alveographic parameters, as well as how they are affected by genotype and environment, sixteen genotypes were grown in two locations with differential nitrogen management. Traditional parameters were determined: protein content and alveogram. Gluten components were studied through size exclusion HPLC Rheological parameters presented a clear relationship with the HPLC ones. It was possible to verify that to reach good extensibility, high protein content was needed; to obtain a strong dough, it was necessary to have a large number of high molecular weight proteins, and to get good resistance to extension, the polymeric proteins should have high molecular weight. Among the studied genotypes and environments, the first ones had a higher contribution to variability in extensibility and strength, while the latter explained most of the variability in resistance to extension. An equilibrium between genotype and environment is needed to achieve a dough with balanced characteristics.


Nowadays, mesoscale meteorological models coupled to Urban Canopy Parameterizations (UCP) can be used to complement and interpret the information gathered from intensive meteorological campaigns on the behaviour of the Urban Boundary Layer (UBL). Moreover, the impact of the air conditioning (AC) systems on the air temperature, the relationships existing between energy consumption (EC) and meteorological conditions, and the evaluation of strategies to mitigate the Urban Heat Island (UHI) phenomenon can be evaluated using detailed UCP. In this work, a new UCP implemented in the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model (version V3.2) has been tested over the city of Madrid using two different turbulent parameterisations of the Planetary Boundary Layer (PBL) under atmospheric conditions that were favourable for a large UHI. Two selected days were analysed coinciding with the Dual‐use European Security IR Experiment (DESIREX) campaign that took place in the summer of 2008, and focused on Urban Heat Island (UHI) and Urban Thermography (UT) monitoring and assessment. For the two simulated days (30 June and 1 July) a high UHI intensity (5‐6 °C) was observed and modelled. Numerical results for the surface air temperature and wind speed were compared against measurements showing a global satisfactory performance of the model. Some differences in the air temperature predictions were observed within the two turbulent schemes. Subsequently, the impact of the AC systems and the EC were evaluated for the simulated period. The heat fluxes coming from AC systems were responsible of an increase in the air temperature up to 1.5–2 °C in some dense urban areas. Effects of modifications in the roof albedo and building material properties reduced the total EC by 4.8 and 3.6%, respectively, affecting the intensity of the UHI. When AC systems were not ejecting the heat fluxes out in the atmosphere, the EC was reduced to 2.5%. Copyright © 2011 Royal Meteorological Society


In December 2019, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) emerged in Wuhan, Hubei Province, China. No specific treatment has been established against coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) so far. Therefore, it is urgently needed to identify effective antiviral agents for the treatment of this disease, and several approved drugs such as lopinavir have been evaluated. Here, we report that nelfinavir, an HIV-1 protease inhibitor, potently inhibits replication of SARS-CoV-2. The effective concentrations for 50% and 90% inhibition (EC50 and EC90) of nelfinavir were 1.13 µM and 1.76 µM respectively, the lowest of the nine HIV-1 protease inhibitors including lopinavir. The trough and peak serum concentrations of nelfinavir were three to six times higher than EC50 of this drug. These results suggest that nelfinavir is a potential candidate drug for the treatment of COVID-19 and should be assessed in patients with COVID-19.


The effect of Sitophilus zeamais infestation on tryptophan content was evaluated on ten (10) maize varieties, comprising nine Quality Protein Maize (QPM) varieties and one non-QPM which served as check. One hundred grammes of each maize variety were infested with ten pairs of newly emerged S. zeamais in separate kilner jars. The number of F, and F2 progeny, percentage damage, percentage weight loss and effect of kernel hardness were evaluated for each maize variety. The tryptophan content of the maize varieties were determined before and after infestation with S. zeamais to determine the amount of losses incurred as a result of feeding by S. zeamais .The result showed that at 45 days after infestation with S. zeamais, FLINT-Q (24.63) was relatively the most susceptible variety with the highest mean number of F1 progeny while SAMMAZ 17 (12.63) had the least amongst the QPM varieties. At 90 days after infestation with S. zeamais, DENT-Q (51.63) had the highest mean number of F2 progeny whereas SAMMAZ 17 (19.25) had the least. The highest mean number of damaged grains with emergent holes were observed in FLINT-Q (36.50) followed by DENT-Q (34.88). The highest weight loss was also observed in FLINT-Q (7.78) followed by DENT-Q (7.59). A maximum reduction in tryptophan as a result of feeding by S. zeamais was found in FLINT-Q (42.86 %) which decreased from an initial value of 0.07 % to 0.04 % at 12 weeks of storage. Minimum reductions in tryptophan (11.11 %) amongst the QPM varieties were observed in SAMMAZ 17 which decreased from 0.09 % to 0.08 %. The results on the determination of grain hardness showed that SAMMAZ 17 appeared to be relatively harder than all the .other QPM varieties. It can therefore be concluded that SAMMAZ 17 variety with relatively hard kernel is the most tolerant variety to S. zeamais infestation which can be stored for 90 days with minimum insect infestation and reduction in tryptophan content.


Using a new technology for global GPS detection of ionospheric disturbances, GLOBDET, it has been established that a drastic increase in the time derivative of the magnetic field strength during magnetic storms is accompanied by an almost simultaneous decrease in mid-latitude total electron content on the entire dayside. The corresponding correlation coefficient is not below -0.8; the delay with respect to the time of a magnetic storm sudden commencement is about 3-10 min. This is most pronounced for magnetic storms with a well-marked sudden storm commencement. The sudden storm commencements presented in the paper were observed during the initial storm phase. The analysis reported here was made for a set of from 90 to 300 GPS stations for 10 days in 1998-2001 with a different level of geomagnetic activity (Dst from -6 nT to -295 nT, and K p from 0 to 9). The «simultaneous» total electron content response for the events under consideration was 0.1-0.4 TECU, and the travel velocity of the disturbance from the dayside to the nightside was in the order of 10-20 km/s. Results obtained are consistent with earlier ionospheric parameter measurements obtained using high temporal resolution methods.


The myocardial fibres of the posterior wall of the atrio-venous junctions were examined in 35 large domestic mammals. In the majority of specimens a common pattern in the course and organization of the fibres could be observed. The most obvious features were the following: (1) a main circular fascicle surrounding the pulmonary trunks; (2) fibres encircling the atriovenous junctions; and (3) myocardial sleeves extending along the veins, occasionally as far as the lung. The superior part of the left atrial wall was consistently thicker than the inferior section. Individual variations of this wall between the various trunks followed one of four patternsvertical, oblique, horizontal or criss-crossed. Differences between mammal and human hearts were found regarding the number of pulmonary trunks, the presence of the oblique vein of the left atrium, and the extension of the myocardial sleeves on the caval vein. This extension on the caval vein continues over the end of the azygos vein in animals. The functional significance of the structures described in this study is discussed.


Heat shock factor 1 (HSF1) was originally identified as a master regulator of the classical 'cytoprotective' heat shock response. However, a large body of evidence has now verified the importance of HSF1 to tumorigenesis and cancer progression. HSF1 is activated by various elements of the cancer state, reprogramming the transcriptome in a way that is overlapping with, but distinct from, the canonical heat-shock response. Also, there is a strong correlation between the expression of activated HSF1 in tumors and adverse clinical outcomes. This evidence indicates that the inhibition of HSF1-mediated transcription could be a viable strategy in cancer treatment. Inhibiting the HSF1 stress pathway represents an attempt at targeting non-oncogene addiction and proteotoxic stress, which has been proposed to be advantageous. However, HSF1 is a ligandless transcription factor and is unlikely to be amenable to standard drug discovery strategies and direct inhibition with small molecules. Therefore, we proposed that inhibitors of HSF1-mediated transcription, which antagonize the HSF1 pathway but without necessarily binding directly to HSF1, could be discovered and developed via a cell-based phenotypic screen. We carried out a high throughput Arrayscan assay of 200,000 compounds to measure the inhibition of HSF1-mediated HSP72 expression stimulated by pre-treatment with an HSP90 inhibitor. We identified a singleton hit with a bisamide core, CCT245232. This compound showed potent growth inhibition in a range of human cancer cell lines but had poor physicochemical properties leading to an unacceptable pharmacokinetic profile. Improvement of the physicochemical properties of CCT245232 whilst maintaining potency versus our cell-based assays led to the orally bioavailable tool compound CCT251236. This compound shows potent growth inhibition (GI50 values in low nanomolar range) of human ovarian cancer cell lines in vitro and good efficacy against human ovarian cancer xenografts in nude mice in vivo. We applied chemo-proteomic strategies to identify the molecular target using a probe based on CCT251236 and discovered pirin as a high affinity molecular target. Binding of CCT251236 to recombinant pirin was confirmed in biophysical assays. CCT251236 recapitulates the reported anti-migratory phenotype for a pirin ligand although binding to pirin alone does not explain the cellular phenotype observed with our chemical tool. We are currently using CCT251236 as a chemical probe while further optimizing its properties to identify a clinical candidate. Citation Format: Matthew D. Cheeseman, Nicola E. Chessum, Carl S. Rye, Elisa A. Pasqua, Michael J. Tucker, Birgit Wilding, Lindsay E. Evans, Susan Lepri, Meirion Richards, Swee Y. Sharp, Salyha Ali, Martin Rowlands, Lisa O9Fee, Asadh Miah, Angela Hayes, Alan T. Henley, Marissa Powers, Robert te Poele, Emmanuel De Billy, Loredana Pellegrino, Florence Raynaud, Rosemary Burke, Robert L. van Montfort, Suzanne A. Eccles, Keith Jones, Paul Workman. Discovery of chemical probe CCT251236: An orally bioavailable efficacious pirin ligand from an HSF1 phenotypic screen [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2017; 2017 Apr 1-5; Washington, DC. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2017;77(13 Suppl):Abstract nr LB-304. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2017-LB-304


BACKGROUND
There are growing calls for elder abuse screening to be conducted by a range of community-based service providers, including general practitioners (GPs), practice nurses, home care workers and lawyers. Improved screening may be a valuable first step towards improving elder abuse detection and response; however, practitioners need evidence-based strategies for screening and follow-up.

OBJECTIVE
This article summarises several brief screening tools for various forms of elder abuse. Screening tool properties and evidence gaps are noted. As elder abuse often requires multidisciplinary responses, initiatives to connect health, legal and other service providers are highlighted.

DISCUSSION
GPs are trusted professionals who are well placed to identify older patients at risk of, or experiencing, various forms of abuse. They should be aware of available screening tools and consider how best to incorporate them into their own practice. They also play an important role in multidisciplinary action to address elder abuse.  .


Bismuth vanadate (BiVO4) has attracted increasing attention as a photoanode for photoelectrochemical (PEC) water splitting. It has a band gap in the visible light range (2.4–2.5 eV) and a valence band position suitable for driving water oxidation under illumination. While a number of methods have been used to make BiVO4 photoanodes, scalable thin film deposition has remained relatively underexplored. Here, we report the synthesis of BiVO4 thin films by reactive sputtering. The use of separate Bi and V sputtering targets allows control of the Bi/V ratio in the film. Under optimized, slightly V-rich conditions, monoclinic phase BiVO4 with photoactivity for water oxidation is obtained. The highest photocurrents, ca. 1 mA cm–2 at the reversible O2/H2O potential with simulated AM 1.5G illumination, are obtained with bilayer WO3/BiVO4, where the WO3 serves as a hole-blocking layer.


The paper addresses the problem of automatically programming cooperative behaviors in a group of autonomous robots. The specific task that we consider here is for a group of distributed autonomous robots to cooperatively push an object toward a goal location. The difficulty of this task lies in that the task configurations of the robots with respect to the object do not follow any explicit, global control command, primarily due to certain modeling limitations as well as planning costs as in many real life applications. In such a case, it is important that the individual robots locally modify their motion strategies, and at the same time, create a desirable collective interaction between the distributed robot group and the object that can successfully bring the object to the goal location. In order to solve this problem, we have developed an evolutionary computation approach in which no centralized modeling and control is involved except a high level criterion for measuring the quality of robot task performance. The evolutionary approach to distributed robot behavioral programming is based on a fittest preserved genetic algorithm that takes into account the current positions and orientations of the robots relative to the object and the goal, and a weak global feedback on the collective task performing effect in relation to the goal if some new local motion strategies are employed by the robots.


Cytokinins (CKs) were reported not to affect hypocotyl elongation in Arabidopsis seedlings grown in the white light, and CK reportedly promoted hypocotyl elongation in the white light when ethylene action or auxin transport was blocked. Here we re-investigated the effects of CKs on hypocotyl elongation in Arabidopsis. While only a marginal effect of CKs on hypocotyl length was observed at a standard white light intensity (80 umol m-2 s-1), a pronounced stimulation of hypocotyl elongation by CKs was found when the seedlings were cultivated at a decreased white light intensity (20 umol m-2 s-1). The CK effect on hypocotyl length was due to cell elongation. The stimulation of hypocotyl elongation was observed for all four principal CKs (t-Z, iP, BA, TDZ) and was dose-dependent in the nanomolar range. The stimulatory effect of the CKs was antagonized by PI-55. Mutant and transgenic plant analysis indicated that the canonical two-component response pathway is necessary for this process with prevailing contribution of cytokinin receptors AHK2 and AHK3. This CK action was independent of ethylene signaling and partially inhibited by IAA. In contrary, inhibition of hypocotyl elongation by CKs was observed at a decreased red light intensity (20 umol m-2 s-1). Mutant analysis revealed that this effect is mediated by AHK3. Supported by grant Nos. LC06034, 1M06030, AV0Z50040507 and AV0Z50040702.


The Fe-based Fischer-Tropsch synthesis (FTS) catalyst, which converts CO and H2 into longer hydrocarbon chains through a catalytic surface polymerization reaction, is one of the oldest and perhaps most studied systems known in heterogeneous catalysis. However, even though the different Fe bulk phases present during FTS have been identified in the earliest studies, precise structural data of these phases, especially iron carbides, and their role in the activation and deactivation of Fe-based FTS catalyst materials are either unavailable or highly disputed in literature. Related to this, the sensitivity of Fe-based catalysts to oxidation by air is well known. This disqualifies ex-situ structure-performance correlations where the catalyst is exposed to air before characterization, and advocates the use of characterization methods that can be applied to monitor the catalyst during catalytic reaction (i.e. in situ or operando). Therefore, the goal of the work described in this thesis was to contribute to the understanding of the role of the many different Fe phases (metallic, oxidic, carbidic) present in Fe-based catalysts in the activation and deactivation behavior in the low temperature FTS reaction. Special attention was given to the development of in-situ spectroscopic characterization of Fe-based catalyst system at the microscopic, bulk phase and surface chemistry level, under catalytically relevant reaction conditions. Chapter 2 gives an introduction into the proposed Fe-based FTS catalyst reaction mechanisms, phase chemistry and deactivation behavior by reviewing research that has been conducted on Fe-based FTS catalysts since the invention of the synthesis in the 1920s. Chapters 3, 4 and 5, investigate the bulk composition of the Fe-based FTS catalyst under atmospheric pressure reaction conditions. Catalyst systems of increasing complexity, containing different amounts of Cu, K and SiO2 were the subject of study for long and local range ordering in Fe-based catalysts in chapter 3 by the combined application of X-ray diffraction and X-ray Absorption Spectroscopy. Chapters 4 and 5 focus on the nanoscale chemical imaging of the most complex catalyst of this series, a fully promoted, industrially relevant Fe-based FTS catalyst by in-situ Scanning Transmission X-ray Microscopy, a novel nanoscale chemical imaging technique. Chapter 6 explores the theoretical thermodynamic stability of bulk carbide phases as determined from ab initio methods and combines this with state-of-the-art in-situ characterization of the Fe-based FTS catalyst under high pressure reaction conditions using X-ray Absorption Spectroscopy, X-ray Diffraction and Raman Spectroscopy. Chapters 7 and 8 concentrate on the surface chemistry of Fe-based FTS catalysts. In both chapters, in-situ X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy was applied to study the catalyst surface in reactive gas atmospheres. In chapter 7, in-situ X-ray Absorption Spectroscopy and X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy, in combination with conventional laboratory based characterization techniques were used to study surface and bulk properties as a function of catalyst formulation. Chapter 8 investigates the differences in surface chemistry of nanosized and bulk iron oxides in reactive gas atmospheres. Ab initio atomistic thermodynamic calculations form a basis for explaining the observed surface phases at different reaction conditions. The thesis concludes with a summary of the most notable findings and concluding remarks in chapter 9.


BACKGROUND
Research suggests that focusing on the process of losing weight (i.e. how to eat and exercise) may be more advantageous for sustained engagement with goal pursuit than focusing on weight loss itself. However, gym-based weight loss programs focus almost exclusively on outcomes (e.g. weight, appearance). Using a quasi-experimental design, this study provides a test of subjective and behavioral outcomes of a process- versus an outcome-focused approach integrated into an 8-week workout challenge at four fitness studios.

METHODS
Four hundred and forty-eight individuals who were enrolled in the workout challenge consented to participate in study assessments at the start of the 8-week challenge, the end of the 8-week challenge, and again 8 weeks later.

RESULTS
The process- and outcome-focused programs produced similar subjective experiences, but the process-focused program was associated with greater workout attendance, more adoption of supplemental weight-loss strategies, and higher completion of the program requirements.

CONCLUSIONS
As compared to traditional outcome-focused approaches, process-focused weight loss programs may elicit behavioral benefits, such as maintaining engagement with the behavioral demands of weight loss.


The genetic diversity and relatedness of 90 watermelon (Citrullus lanatus var. lanatus and Citrullus. lanatus var. citroides) accessions were molecularly characterized using 30 sequence-related amplified polymorphism (SRAP) marker combinations. The accessions were collected from Turkey (59 accessions) and other regions of the world by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the molecular data were analysed using UPGMA (Unweighted Pair Group Method Analysis). The SRAP combinations were highly polymorphic (97%) with 87 polymorphic bands determined among 201 amplified fragments (43%). The UPGMA analysis characterized five major clusters (A, B, C, D and E). While minimum genetic similarity among groups A, B and C was high (83%), group E was the most distant with 63% genetic similarity. Principal component analysis (PCA) was performed and used to produce a two-dimensional plot from which two main groups could be distinguished. Based on the analyses, genetic diversity of watermelons was very low and Turkish watermelons were not distinct from other countries' accessions. These results could be used for generation of a core collection of watermelon by elimination of redundant accessions and for watermelon breeding by helping to identify useful, genetically distinct lines. In addition, the study indicated that SRAP markers are useful for analysing genetic diversity in crops like watermelon which have low variability.


River deltas grow by repeating cycles of lobe development punctuated by channel avulsions, so that over time, lobes amalgamate to produce a composite landform. Existing models have shown that backwater hydrodynamics are important in avulsion dynamics, but the effect of lobe progradation on avulsion frequency and location has yet to be explored. Herein, a quasi‐2‐D numerical model incorporating channel avulsion and lobe development cycles is developed. The model is validated by the well‐constrained case of a prograding lobe on the Yellow River delta, China. It is determined that with lobe progradation, avulsion frequency decreases, and avulsion length increases, relative to conditions where a delta lobe does not prograde. Lobe progradation lowers the channel bed gradient, which results in channel aggradation over the delta topset that is focused farther upstream, shifting the avulsion location upstream. Furthermore, the frequency and location of channel avulsions are sensitive to the threshold in channel bed superelevation that triggers an avulsion. For example, avulsions occur less frequently with a larger superelevation threshold, resulting in greater lobe progradation and avulsions that occur farther upstream. When the delta lobe length prior to avulsion is a moderate fraction of the backwater length (0.3– 0.5L‾b ), the interplay between variable water discharge and lobe progradation together set the avulsion location, and a model capturing both processes is necessary to predict avulsion timing and location. While this study is validated by data from the Yellow River delta, the numerical framework is rooted in physical relationships and can therefore be extended to other deltaic systems.


The study combines different theoretical approaches in the field of conjoint analysis to estimate the im-portance of product related attributes. This is of major importance in food marketing, where we still try to find a valid answer, in particular, how to measure the real willingness to pay (WTP) for specific product specifica-tions. Based on a comprehensive literature analysis, a common method was used to approximate the im-portance of several product attributes. As usually suggested in literature, we used discrete choice modeling and developed a choice based experimental design considering selected product attributes. The study object was frozen pizza, a convenience good frequently bought by most households. Up to this point, there is nothing special about the choice based experiment in comparison to direct measure-ment of the importance of product attributes. However, one of the core problems of discrete choice modeling – the approximation of individual utility functions – was then addressed by transforming the choices of con-sumers into scores. With these scores traditional conjoint measurement can be used to approximate individual utilities even in choice based experiments. The individual part-worth utilities will be compared with a usual but very complex approach to approximate individual part-worth utilities, the hierarchical Bayes method. Our ap-proach addresses methodological considerations concerning the restrictions of discrete choice modeling, namely the complexity of approximating individual utilities which is of huge importance in particular for market segmentation.


Cardiac papillary fibroelastoma (CPF) is the second or third most common primary cardiac tumor. Although histologically benign, it can cause serious symptoms depending on its location of occurrence, size, and motility. Herein, we report CPF in the left ventricular trabeculation as a potential cause of cerebral infarction.


This paper examines efforts of the British Royal Navy to abolish the slave trade along the East African coast in the mid-nineteenth century through the select narratives of George L. Sulivan and William Cope Devereux. The abolition campaign was weakened by numerous factors, including the Royal Navy's lack of instruction, organization and central command. I argue that these problems resulted in various acts of misconduct by British Navy men. Increasingly, compensation and "success" depended upon antagonistic relationships with slave traders, Zanzibari locals, Omani elite and other European agents.


In the era of digitalization, manufacturing companies expect their growing access to data to lead to improvements and innovations. Manufacturing engineers will have to collaborate with data scientists to analyze the ever-increasing volume of data. This process of adopting data science techniques into an engineering organization is a sociotechnical process fraught with challenges. This article uses a participant observation case study to investigate and discuss the sociotechnical nature of the adoption data science technology into an engineering organization. In the case study, a young data scientist/statistician interacted with experienced production engineers in a global automotive organization to mutual satisfaction. However, the case study highlights the mis-aligned expectations between engineers and data scientists and knowledge in what is necessary to successfully benefit from manufacturing process data.
 The results reveal that the engineers had an initially romantic and idealistic view on how data scientists can bring value out of dispersed and complex information residing in the multisite manufacturing organization's datasets in a "magic" way. Conversely, the data scientist had not enough engineering and contextual understanding to ask the right questions. The case reveals important shortcomings in the sociotechnical processes that undergo changes as digitalization is brought into mature engineering organizations and points to a lack of knowledge on multiple levels of the data analysis process and the ethical implications this could have.


AIMS
The aim of this study was to investigate longitudinal changes in quality of life (QOL) as a function of transitions in alcohol use disorders (AUD) over a 3-year follow-up of a general US population sample.

METHODS
The analysis is based on individuals who drank alcohol in the year preceding the Wave 1 National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions and were reinterviewed at Wave 2 (n = 22,245). Using multiple linear regression models, changes in SF-12 QOL were estimated as a function of DSM-IV AUD transitions, controlling for baseline QOL and multiple potential confounders.

RESULTS
Onset and offset of AUD were strongly associated with changes in mental/psychological functioning, with significant decreases in mental component summary (NBMCS) scores among individuals who developed dependence and significant increases among those who achieved full and partial remission from dependence. The increases in overall NBMCS and its social functioning, role emotional and mental health components were equally great for abstinent and nonabstinent remission from dependence, but improvements in bodily pain and general health were associated with nonabstinent remission only. Onset of abuse was unrelated to changes in QOL, and the increase in NBMCS associated with nonabstinent remission from abuse only was slight. Individuals with abuse only or no AUD who stopped drinking had significant declines in QOL.

CONCLUSIONS
These results suggest the possible importance of preventing and treating AUD for maintaining and/or improving QOL. They are also consistent with the sick quitter hypothesis and suggest that abuse is less a mental disorder than a maladaptive pattern of behavior.


Abstract Scholars of academic success in higher education in South Africa struggle to find an integrated framework that can explain the interplay between heterogeneous elements that combine in dynamic ways to influence the academic success of students. Language of teaching and learning is indicated as an important element in academic success in higher education. In South Africa, students are multilingual and this is often ignored or perceived as a hindrance to academic success. Conversely, there are studies that have found a positive relationship between bi- and multilingualism and cognitive development during the past 40 years. The aim of this article is to view multilingualism and academic success in higher education in South Africa from a complex systems approach. It is argued that a complex systems approach provides an integrated framework for studies of multilingualism and academic success in higher education in South Africa.


Introduction ScopeGuide™ magnetic imaging provides a real-time 3 D reconstruction of the position and configuration of the endoscope within the colon, and enables rapid identification and resolution of newly-formed loops. Previous studies have shown benefits in terms of completion rates and comfort scores and the technology has an established role in training.1 This study aims to analyse the looping patterns of the sigmoid and transverse colons during colonoscopy, their relation to completion times in experienced hands and the configurations of these colonic segments in undisturbed cadavers. Methods 103 ScopeGuide™ videos of consecutive normal colonoscopies performed by one bowel cancer screening (BCS) colonoscopist with comfort scores on the BCS 50th centile were analysed. Repeated inspection of the videos enabled standard definitions to be introduced for looping patterns of the sigmoid and transverse colons. In addition, the configurations of the sigmoid and transverse segments of the colons in the undisturbed abdomens of 81 cadavers were investigated and their relation to the colonoscopic data explored. The association between completion time and the different configurations seen at colonoscopy were analysed with a one-way ANOVA and sex differences in mobility in live cases and cadavers by Fisher's exact test. Results For the colonoscopies, significant sex differences were found in both sigmoid (p = 0.0233) and transverse (p = 0.0006) colonic configurations. While sigmoid loops in this sample conformed to the usual four categories of straight, N-, alpha and reverse alpha loops, a supplementary classification is proposed for the transverse colon, with straight, intermediate and deep loops which are distinct and clearly defined. In the cadaveric data, there was a significant sex difference in the mobility of the transverse colon (p Conclusion This study supports the role of ScopeGuide™ in real time analysis of colonic looping patterns and introduces a supplementary classification for transverse loops. There are significant sex differences between the transverse looping configurations for both in vivo and cadaveric colons. However, no significant correlation between looping configurations and completion times were observed in experienced hands. Familiarity with the looping patterns and the techniques for resolution may explain these results which remain a significant challenge to intermediate trainees. Reference 1 Holme et al. Magnetic endoscopic imaging versus standard colonoscopy in a routine colonoscopy setting: a randomised, controlled trial. Gastrointest Endosc 2011 Jun;73(6):1215–22. Disclosure of Interest None Declared


Summary
The formation of blender-resistant complexes signifying the complete penetration of PL-1 phage genomes into the host cells, Lactobacillus casei
atcc27092, was studied in a tris-maleate buffer using the technique of blending described by Hershey & Chase (1952). The process was not affected much by the age of the cells, but it was greatly inhibited when the cells had been previously starved. The process was dependent on the temperature, and therefore it was considered to be an energy-requiring process. Apparent activation energy (µ) was calculated to be about 8.3 kcal. The process which had been first inhibited at 0 °C was recovered at any time when the temperature was raised to 37 °C. Among the metabolic inhibitors tested, 10 mm-arsenate inhibited the process selectively without affecting either the infectivity of phage particles or the viability of the cells. On the contrary, cyanide, azide, arsenite, monofluoroacetate, dinitrophenol, pentachlorophenol, dicumarol, chloramphenicol and gramicidin S did not exhibit such a selective inhibition.
The significance of the active metabolism of the cells for the mechanism of phage genome penetration is discussed.


As local nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) assume a greater role in improving the well-being of the communities in which they operate, donors and government agencies are increasingly scrutinizing their performance and accountability. To effectively undertake development projects, the local NGOs must address a host of challenges, both internally and externally. These include inadequacies in technical capacity, project status information, stakeholder involvement, cost estimates, resources, infrastructure, communications, and vendors and suppliers; a lack of understanding of the local socioeconomic and political environment; and disruptive interference from management. By adopting project management practices, supervisors and staff members of the local NGOs can efficiently mobilize all the resources at their disposal toward designing and implementing sustainable interventions, and thus guarantee the ongoing support of their benefactors. ©2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.


Summary 1. Plant-mediated interactions between co-occurring herbivores play an important role in insect herbivore communities. Although induced resistance pathways associated with jasmonic acid and salicylic acid are often implicated in such plant-mediated interactions, there are few examples from non-model systems involving specialized herbivores that regularly interact in nature. 2. Here, we tested reciprocal impacts between co-occurring specialist herbivores from two feeding guilds, monarch caterpillars Danaus plexippus and oleander aphids Aphis nerii, on two cooccurring and closely related, but defensively contrasting milkweeds, Asclepias syriaca and A. tuberosa. 3. Larvae grew 38% faster on aphid-infested A. syriaca compared to controls. Reciprocally, aphid growth was >50% lower on caterpillar-damaged A. syriaca compared to controls. While caterpillar feeding on A. syriaca induced a jasmonate burst and higher defensive end products (cardenolides and latex), this induction was substantially attenuated in the presence of aphids. We found a negative correlation between jasmonic acid and salicylic acid only on A. syriaca infested by both caterpillars an aphids. 4. Asclepias tuberosa displayed distinct hormonal dynamics and lacked induction of defensive end products. Accordingly, we found no evidence for plant-mediated interactions between monarchs and aphids on A. tuberosa. 5. Thus, A. syriaca has specific responses to each herbivore, but if challenged simultaneously, the outcome is asymmetric: monarchs benefit from defence attenuation by aphids, while aphids are impaired by monarch feeding. 6. Our results suggest phytohormonal trade-offs induced by two feeding guilds can differ between closely related plant species, and our notion of trade-offs in defence based on phytohormonal pathways would improve with further comparative designs from both model and non-model systems.


Financial crisis of 2008 became critical period for Swedish economy and its real estate market. During this period Sweden has experienced sharp decrease in transaction volumes. However compare to other EU and global markets, Sweden managed to perform remarkably well and economic recovery has taken place since 2010.The purpose of this master thesis is to outline general trends in the development of Swedish Real Estate market for FDI in the period of 2008-2013 and provide better understanding of foreign investors behavior and the incentives attracted them to invest in Sweden. The deductive approach has been used based on the previous studies and theory. The quantitative data was obtained from scientific and media sources, while qualitative empirical data relies on survey filled in by real estate consultancy companies operating on Swedish market. Research focuses on the analysis of overall market situation and changes occurred during the 5-year period concerning micro/macro economical issues, behavioral factors, country characteristics, business environment, global trends, investors' behavior and expectations. Theoretical basis for the research is an overview of previous FDI theories.The results reveal that by the end of 5 year period, the situation on the market became much more favorable with strong recovery as for the end of 2013. Compare to after crisis 2009, when foreign transactions volumes were down to 45 bn sek versus 157 bn sek in 2008, the full year transaction volume 2013 was SEK 99 bn which is in line with 15 year historic average. In 2013 international investment share is amounted to 12%, the most active are institutional investors from Norway, Finland, UK, Germany and US. Overallforeign investors are willing to operate on Swedish market in the future, searching for high yields at low risk levels within safe, transparent and liquid, highly developed business environment with good economical and politically stable regimes. However difficulties with accessing finance and lack of prime quality assets on the market became the main drawbacks for foreign investors on the Swedish market during last years.


BACKGROUND Community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) is a relevant worldwide cause of morbidity and mortality in adult population, however its etiology is often not identified and therapy is empirical. AIM To assess the etiology of CAP in immunocompetent adult hospitalized patients using conventional and molecular diagnostic methods. MATERIAL AND METHODS We prospectively studied 240 adult patients who were hospitalized for CAP to identify the microbial etiology. Sputum and blood cultures were obtained as well as serology testing for Mycoplasma pneumoniae and Chlamydophila pneumoniae, urinary antigen testing for Legionella pneumophila and Streptococcus pneumoniae, and a nasopharyngeal swab for the detection of sixteen respiratory viruses by reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). RESULTS In 100 patients (41.7%) a single respiratory pathogen was identified. In 17 (7.1%) cases, a mixed bacterial and viral infection was detected and no pathogen was identified in 123 cases (51%). The most commonly identified pathogens identified were: influenza virus (15.4%), parainfluenza virus (10.8%), rhinovirus (5%), Streptococcus pneumoniae (5%), respiratory syncytial virus (2.9%) and Mycoplasma pneumoniae (2.5%). Infectious agent detection by RT-PCR provided greater sensitivity than conventional techniques. Viral respiratory infections were more prevalent in older patients with comorbidities and high risk patients, according to the Fine index at hospital admission. The clinical severity and outcome were independent of the etiological agents detected. CONCLUSIONS The use of molecular diagnostic techniques expanded the detection of respiratory viruses in immunocompetent adults hospitalized with CAP.


Global environmental changes threaten ecosystems and cause significant alterations to the supply of ecosystem services that are vital for human well-being. We provide an assessment of the potential impacts of climate change on the European diversity of vertebrates and their associated pest-control services. We modeled the distributions of the species that provide these services using forecasts from bioclimatic envelope models and then used the results to generate maps of potential species richness among vertebrate providers of pest-control services. We assessed how the potential richness of pest control providers would change according to different climate and greenhouse emissions scenarios. We found that the potential richness of pest-control providers was likely to face substantial reductions, especially in southern European countries whose economies were highly dependent on agricultural yields. In much of central and northern Europe, where countries' economies were less dependent on agriculture, climate change was likely to benefit pest-control providers.


A human mission to Mars concept based around Solar Electric Propulsion (SEP) and theMET (microwave Electro-Thermal) thruster with water propellant is proposed and analyzed. This architecture utilizes water propellant transfer between spacecraft to increase payload delivered to Mars where the architecture is compared to a purely chemical baseline using the Saturn V booster from the Apollo missions. It is discovered that despite the advantage of the Oberth Effect early in the mission to lower DV for MTI (Mars transfer orbit injection) the requirement of storable chemical propellants for MOI (Mars Orbit Insertion) with lower Isp greatly reduces the amount of useful payload delivered into Mars orbit. In contrast the use of the MET SEP, with much higher Isp than chemical propellant, as a high energy upper stage on the Saturn V together with using the demonstrated transferability of water between spacecraft, allows a transfer of water propellant from a tanker after a DSR (Deep Space Rendezvous) before MTI and possesses a 3.1 times increase of useful payload delivered to Mars orbit.


Forming high-mass stars have a significant effect on their natal environment. Their feedback pathways, including winds, outflows, and ionizing radiation, shape the evolution of their surroundings which impacts the formation of the next generation of stars. They create or reveal dense pillars of gas and dust towards the edges of the cavities they clear. They are modelled in feedback simulations, and the sizes and shapes of the pillars produced are consistent with those observed. However, these models predict measurably different kinematics which provides testable discriminants. Here we present the first ALMA Compact Array (ACA) survey of 13 pillars in Carina, observed in 12CO, 13CO, and C18O J = 2–1, and the 230 GHz continuum. The pillars in this survey were chosen to cover a wide range in properties relating to the amount and direction of incident radiation, proximity to nearby irradiating clusters and cloud rims, and whether they are detached from the cloud. With these data, we are able to discriminate between models. We generally find pillar velocity dispersions of <1 km s−1 and that the outer few layers of molecular emission in these pillars show no significant offsets from each other, suggesting little bulk internal motions within the pillars. There are instances where the pillars are offset in velocity from their parental cloud rim, and some with no offset, hinting at a stochastic development of these motions.


This paper addresses the existing research and adds another aspect of functionality by incorporating pertinent sensor nodes to provide a dynamic location discovery and estimation. The software used provides an easy graphical user interface to visualize a particular location in accordance with geographical latitude and longitude. A simple real time location estimation technique is worked out for wireless sensor networks based on manual deployment of sensors. The proposed scheme finds more efficient solutions with less quantity of sensors as compared to existing deployment schemes. The set up is evaluated exclusively in real environments using IRIS sensor nodes supported by a global positioning system module to provide visualization of an outdoor location. The results are offered by Google Earth application.


Multi-exciter vibration can provide greater thrust for overweight test specimen, achieve the uniformity of vibration for the special structure of the thin specimen, and overcome the shortcomings in single-exciter test, it becomes the trend of vibration test. Based on the control theory of multi-exciter vibration test, a system equilibrium synthesis is presented to make up for deficiencies of different methods for random vibration test control algorithm. the relevant experimental study is carried out on the experimental platform, experimental results show that dynamic control range of multi-exciter random vibration control system achieves 90dB in the self closed-loop control test. high precision is reached for self-spectrum control of actual test system after establishing multiple shaker, self-spectrum of control response is controlled in the range of ± 1.5dB, which satisfies requirements in engineering test.


In 1650, Thomas Pynchon's first Anglo-American ancestor, William Pynchon, published a pamphlet entitled The Meritorious Price of Our Redemption . Its 158 pages constitute a dialogue between a "Tradesman" and a "Divine" arguing that Jesus did not suffer God's wrath in atonement for the sins of the Elect, nor did he descend into hell, as the Nicene Creed holds. Rather, according to William, Christ endured the worst of what the devil could dish out, though God did allow Satan to do so. In a sense, William claimed Christ's suffering on the cross in the gospels resembles Job's experience in the Old Testament. Most Puritans disagreed with his conclusions: it is clear that New England's first Pynchon was a far better merchant than a Puritan religious scholar.


Creep feeding is the feeding of concentrates to suckling calves to supplement their mothers' milk. Creep-fed calves usually are heavier and may be fatter at weaning. Milk provides the nutrients suckling calves need until they are about three months old. From three months until weaning, milk supplies half or less of the nutrients a calf needs to gain 1.5 pounds or more per day. Does creep feeding pay? There is no simple answer. A number of production conditions and the market for calves must be considered before deciding whether creep feeding is likely to pay.


Climatic changes and heat stress have become a great challenge in the livestock industry, negatively affecting, in particular, poultry feed intake and intestinal barrier malfunction. Recently, phytogenic feed additives were applied to reduce heat stress effects on animal farming. Here, we investigated the effects of ginseng extract using various in vitro and in vivo experiments. Quantitative real-time PCR, transepithelial electrical resistance measurements and survival assays under heat stress conditions were carried out in various model systems, including Caco-2 cells, Caenorhabditis elegans and jejunum samples of broilers. Under heat stress conditions, ginseng treatment lowered the expression of HSPA1A (Caco-2) and the heat shock protein genes hsp-1 and hsp-16.2 (both in C. elegans), while all three of the tested genes encoding tight junction proteins, CLDN3, OCLN and CLDN1 (Caco-2), were upregulated. In addition, we observed prolonged survival under heat stress in Caenorhabditis elegans, and a better performance of growing ginseng-fed broilers by the increased gene expression of selected heat shock and tight junction proteins. The presence of ginseng extract resulted in a reduced decrease in transepithelial resistance under heat shock conditions. Finally, LC-MS analysis was performed to quantitate the most prominent ginsenosides in the extract used for this study, being Re, Rg1, Rc, Rb2 and Rd. In conclusion, ginseng extract was found to be a suitable feed additive in animal nutrition to reduce the negative physiological effects caused by heat stress.


A disjunction between 'the material' and 'the immaterial' has been at the heart of the architectural debate for decades. In this dialectic tension, the notion of atmosphere, which increasingly claims attention in architectural discourse, seems to be parallactic, leading to the re-evaluation of perceptual experience and, consequently, to the conceptual and methodological shifts in the production of space, and hence in the way we think about materiality.
In this context, architectural space becomes a contingent construction: a space of engagement that 'appears' to us as a result of continuous and complex interferences revealed through our perception. The 'atmospheric' is explored as a spatial and affective quality and a sensory background, and materiality as a powerful and almost magical agency in the shaping of atmosphere.
Challenging existing dichotomies and unravelling intrinsic characteristics of atmosphere as a spatial phenomenon, the aim of this text is to illustrate these associations and draw out design procedures, focusing on ways in which atmosphere can be conditioned architecturally. In other words, the objective is to trace the conceptual contours of 'atmospheric materiality'.


Three new six-eyed species of the spider genus Caponina Simon, 1891 are described, photographed, diagnosed and illustrated: C. alejandroi sp. nov. (male and female) from the Boyacá Department, C. bochalema sp. nov. (male) from the Santander Department and C. huila sp. nov. (male) from the Huila Department. Also, a emended diagnosis for the genus, a distribution map and an identification key for all species of Caponina are provided.


The sideways Heat equation (SHE) is a model of the problem of determining the temperature on the surface of a body from the interior measurements. Mathematically it can be formulated as a non-characteristic Cauchy problem for a parabolic partial differential equation. This problem is severely ill-posed: the solution does not depend continuously on the data. We use a preconditioned Generalized Minimum Residuals Method (GMRES) to solve a 1D SHE. Regularization is used in the preconditioner as well as truncating the GMRES algorithm. Numerical experiments demonstrate that the proposed method works well.


In an era characterised by impacts of cuts and austerity in the UK, this study is positioned at the interface between two socio-cultural institutions against which societies are judged: the arts and criminal justice. Within this field, the thesis investigates the ways women in prison are positioned in a carceral performance that is cyclical and inevitably 'tragic'. The argument considers the tactics women use in order to firstly, survive their incarceration, and sometimes, resist, the institution. The theoretical frame is drawn from feminist criminology and Bourdieu's 'habitus' to examine everyday performances as well as theatrical works by and about incarcerated women. This project adds to the field by locating performance practices in and of prison within wider social contexts of the politics of carceral spaces.

The main questions posed by this project were 'what does theatre/ performance offer to challenge stereotypes of 'the cage'?; and to what extent and in what ways does performance in (and of) prison challenge/ subvert/ augment/ transform the site itself'? The research sought to understand to what extent women's articulations of subjectivity could be a radical alternative to the logocentric and discursive prisons of sentences and prison records. The study was developed as an ethnographic examination of performance in and of prison, alongside exploring how contemporary performance modes are implicated in defining, containing, and correcting (criminal) women's everyday performances.

The thesis is primarily concerned with a critical reflection on theatre practices in prison, with particular emphasis on the political implications of the effects of prison as/and performance. The study makes claims for a radical practice in and about prisons that is distanced from current applied theatre practices, and as such points towards a more troubled rehearsal of how punishment is performed.


This paper develops a general approach, rooted in statistical learning theory, to learning an approximately revenue-maximizing auction from data. We introduce t-level auctions to interpolate between simple auctions, such as welfare maximization with reserve prices, and optimal auctions, thereby balancing the competing demands of expressivity and simplicity. We prove that such auctions have small representation error, in the sense that for every product distribution F over bidders' valuations, there exists a t-level auction with small t and expected revenue close to optimal. We show that the set of t-level auctions has modest pseudo-dimension (for polynomial t) and therefore leads to small learning error. One consequence of our results is that, in arbitrary single-parameter settings, one can learn a mechanism with expected revenue arbitrarily close to optimal from a polynomial number of samples.


Background During the last decade healthcare systems have developed different strategies for containing drug costs. Among others, in Spain the Ministry of Health together with regional Health Departments, have published guidelines for drugs considered to have low therapeutic value (LTVDs), through evidence-based studies and drug assessment data, and they encourage healthcare practitioners to avoid prescribing them. Purpose Our aim was to estimate the cost saving obtained by limiting the use of LTVDs in our hospital. Materials and methods The authors reviewed different guidelines published by Healthcare Authorities and compiled those drugs listed as LTVDs. Data was obtained from three sources: 'Therapeutic usefulness of medical drugs reimbursed by the National Health System' Spanish Ministry of Health 2001, 'List of medical drugs considered as Low Therapeutic Value' Canary Islands Health Department 2011, and 'Medical drugs with Non-High Intrinsic Value' Andalucia Health Department. The authors drew up a list of LTVDs and compared it with the formulary and non-formulary drugs purchased during the period August 2010–July 2011. Results A total of 110 drugs were listed as LTVDs, 59 formulary drugs and 51 non-formulary drugs. The potential cost saving obtained by restricting the use of LTVDs during the reviewed period was estimated at €88,142. By ATC classification, the most significant groups were Sensory organs (€36,118), Nervous system (€15,347), Respiratory system (€11,917) and Dermatologicals (€11,440). Conclusions Our drug formulary contains 59 LTVDs. Deleting them from the formulary as well as restricting the prescription of LTVDs through the Pharmacy and Therapeutic Committee would result in a potential saving of €88,142 per year. Furthermore, this approach encourages physicians to implement Healthcare Authorities recommendations and contributes to cost-effective and rational drug treatment.


Adult learning systems have come to be dominated by the view that the essential role of adult learning is to generate the high levels of skills deemed necessary for competitiveness and growth in the globalised economy. This 'education gospel' is underpinned by human capital theory (HCT) and its contemporary conceptualisation in terms of the knowledge-based economy. Nevertheless, it remains the case that there are significant differences in the strategies of national governments towards adult learning and in patterns of engagement with the learning opportunities that are made available.
This paper sets out to explore how this diversity in national systems of adult learning might be addressed analytically. Adult learning is embedded in characteristic regimes of economic and social institutions, which can be understood in terms of a systematic international political economy. In particular, adult learning systems are explored by reference to the models of capitalist organisation elaborated in the neo-institutionalist analysis of 'varieties of capitalism' (Hall and Soskice, 2001): the liberal market economy and the co-ordinated market economy. A major alternative is provided by Esping-Anderson's (1990; 1999) analysis of 'welfare state regimes'. Moreover, Rubenson and Desjardins (2009) have used this theoretical framework as a means of analysing systematic variations between national adult learning systems.
These analyses raise questions about the use of national states as the key unit of analysis. Significant divergences in institutional arrangements and access to opportunities for adult learning (by social group or locality, for example) may be obscured by this method of comparative analysis. Moreover, consideration of the micro-theoretical foundations of these approaches highlights the difficulties in moving beyond the economistic 'rationality' of HCT. The issue here is the extent to which norms of behaviour in relation to engaging in adult learning can be appropriately understood in terms of a relatively homogeneous, national social system, rather than in terms of a much more socially differentiated repertoire of norm-based orientations.


Three dimensional spatial selective RF pulse of practical length has been demonstrated using parallel transmission technique in Magnetic Resonance Imaging. Currently, spoke trajectory, which is a set of parallel k-space straight lines, is widely used for 3-D slab excitation to achieve sharp slice profile and a uniform or smoothly varying in-plane profile. The better control of in-plane profile mainly comes from an increased number of spokes. In this paper, we proposed three types of modified spoke trajectories for the 3-D tailored RF pulse design which traverse k-space more efficiently. Simulations are used to characterize the proposed trajectories.


The main object of this paper is to reconstruct the presence of the knights of the Teutonic Order in the archeological site of Torre Alemanna (Foggia, Italy), one of the best preserved Teutonic production sites. This is an interdisciplinary study that includes archeological and anthropological research combined with the paleonutritional results and radiocarbon dating. Specifically, for this study, the area 5 of the complex has been investigated. The cemetery is located in the northwest corner of the complex, and the burials are probably dated at the beginning of the Teutonic settlement. In order to draw conclusions about their presence, attention has been focused primarily on ergonomics activities, injuries, morphological and metric characters, diet, and dating.


The essay focuses on a documentary corpus that belonged to the San Miniato archive: the papers of Banco di Francesco Botticini, which came to the monastery at the beginning of the 15th century. Botticini's legacy can be reconstructed in about fifty parchments (represented here in an Appendix as register or excerpt), and offers interesting evidence on the Boccaccio's family, linked to Banco Botticini by neighborhood relations and common acquaintances. Eleven 'Olivetan parchments' bear references to Boccaccio and are able to show different but still close relationships: from the sincere ones with messer Giovanni to the stormy with his brother, Iacopo, up to the long-lasting bond with the Iacopo's sons, heirs of Boccaccio, who remained in the legal guardianship of Banco Botticini for many years.


Buzz-marketing is a form of viral marketing technique where mainly word of mouth is used to spread the word about a particular campaign or product by increasing conversation about it within family and other known people through social media. It has become the biggest asset in today's marketing world. The case study is about how a product, a video or an idea go viral and stays for a certain period of time then it fades, and then after a point of time it revives. The case study will look into the reasons why a thing goes viral. There are several reasons to why a product goes viral it can be word of mouth, promotions, advertisement, the case will show which of these affects more. Some of the products or ideas become a brand and stays there for a longer time but some products start with a spark and fade away easily. The case study will also show how global brands are using it to grow and how it is better than traditional marketing.

Keywords: Buzz marketing, Viral, Word of mouth, Social media, People.


Oleaginous yeasts R. glutinis and C. curvatus were grown in batch culture on high strength distillery wastewaters from the Tequila production process (Tequila's vinasses). Both strains were able to grow either on decolorized charcoal or on naturally colored regular vinasses, with no extra nutrients addition. After 144 h of culture, lipids were accumulated up to 25.2 ± 1.98 and 27.02 ± 2.36% of cell dry weight, in C. curvatus and R. glutinis, respectively. At the same time, the chemical oxygen demand of vinasses (23,125 ± 5,557) was removed by C. curvatus and R. glutinis up to 78.98 ± 1.38 and 84.44 ± 3.52%, respectively. The fatty acid profile of the lipids accumulated by both strains was composed by myristic, palmitic, stearic, oleic, and linoleic. Linolenic acid was also found but only in the intracellular lipids of R. glutinis. This is the first report of the utilization of Tequila's vinasses for the production of microbial oil by oleaginous yeast. This process could become a strategy to transform this highly contaminant wastewater into value added lipids. © 2011 American Institute of Chemical Engineers Environ Prog, 32: 69–74, 2013.


This work deals with the application of the micromechanical Gurson-Tvergaard (GT) model to the determination of the residual strength of analuminumflat stiffened panel (2024 T3) with a central through crack, by means of finite element simulations. The load condition is represented by a monotonic traction along the direction orthogonal to the crack plane. The used Finite Element code is WARP 3D, which allows simulating ductile damage propagation by considering the GT model. Numerical results have been compared with experimental ones available in literature. In the second part of the work, a home madeprocedurefounded on the SDI (Stochastic Design Improvement) technique is presented and applied to the improvement of the residual strength properties of the considered panel.