Games for mobile platforms (phones and PDA) tend to be simple remakes or clones of gaming hits like Snake and Defender or in the case of high end-devices, Starcraft and Myst. Only a very small number of games use the unique properties of mobile computing. These location-based or mixed reality games represent a game form in its infancy, struggling to find functional gameplay models. Is it possible to create powerful immersive game experiences using the mobile platforms unique properties? How can technical limitations like limited display size, resolution and sound quality be made to work with the game instead of against it? What challenges face designers of games played on handheld devices in a real physical setting? Using the functional Visby Under prototype as a starting point this paper presents a novel approach to location-based mobile games. The mobile gamers presence in physical space, his ability to move though and interact with it, is seen as the central quality of the game-form. Using experiences from live-action-roleplaying design the paper explores the possibilities of using the real world as the primary user interface for deep mobile games. The device is used as the engine for story-progression and gameplay without breaking the illusion of the fiction, transforming everyday reality into an engaging multi-play-


Abstract. We present vM21 MIPAS temperatures from the lower stratosphere to the lower thermosphere, which cover all optimized resolution measurements performed by MIPAS in the middle-atmosphere, upper-atmosphere and noctilucent-cloud modes during its lifetime, i.e., from January 2005 to April 2012. The main upgrades with respect to the previous version of MIPAS temperatures (vM11) are the update of the spectroscopic database, the use of a different climatology of atomic oxygen and carbon dioxide, and the improvement in important technical aspects of the retrieval setup (temperature gradient along the line of sight and offset regularizations, apodization accuracy). Additionally, an updated version of ESA-calibrated L1b spectra (5.02/5.06) is used. The vM21 temperatures correct the main systematic errors of the previous version because they provide on average a 1–2 K warmer stratopause and middle mesosphere, and a 6–10 K colder mesopause (except in high-latitude summers) and lower thermosphere. These lead to a remarkable improvement in MIPAS comparisons with ACE-FTS, MLS, OSIRIS, SABER, SOFIE and the two Rayleigh lidars at Mauna Loa and Table Mountain, which, with a few specific exceptions, typically exhibit differences smaller than 1 K below 50 km and than 2 K at 50–80 km in spring, autumn and winter at all latitudes, and summer at low to midlatitudes. Differences in the high-latitude summers are typically smaller than 1 K below 50 km, smaller than 2 K at 50–65 km and 5 K at 65–80 km. Differences between MIPAS and the other instruments in the mid-mesosphere are generally negative. MIPAS mesopause is within 4 K of the other instruments measurements, except in the high-latitude summers, when it is within 5–10 K, being warmer there than SABER, MLS and OSIRIS and colder than ACE-FTS and SOFIE. The agreement in the lower thermosphere is typically better than 5 K, except for high latitudes during spring and summer, when MIPAS usually exhibits larger vertical gradients.


China is establishing itself as a new international aid donor. This study explains China's emerging approach to international development assistance. The paper addresses the question of how far China's understanding of "development" is an appropriate basis for genuinely "win-win" relationships? The paper explores this question by examining China's relationship with Southeast Asia. China is re-emphasising its commitment and partnership credentials with neighbouring states, some of whom have many people living in poverty and as countries are in need of development assistance. The paper identifies key facets of China's approach to international development, examines economic, political and strategic factors underpinning China's approach in Southeast Asia. Adopting a Human Security perspective, it assesses China's development contribution with reference to Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar and highlights popular opposition. The study finds that Chinese trade and investment are making a significant contribution to the region's economic growth. However, the analysis identifies two problems in China's approach, an over-reliance on the level of state-to-state relations and too narrow a domain of engagement centred upon economic cooperation. China needs to incorporate a societal engagement strategy highlighting transparency and accountability of Chinese corporate behaviour. It also needs to re-balance its approach by emphasising human capital capability and capacity-building across the non-economic social and cultural domains. China's approach to international development is a rapid learning process and is emerging, but still has further to go.


The pledge to build a "great", "beautiful" southern border wall was a cornerstone of Donald J. Trump's 2016 presidential election campaign. This paper analyzes Trump's border wall project as an example of performative statecraft, suggesting that the wall works better rhetorically, than as a barrier against unauthorized cross-border movement. Identifying Trump's performative statecraft as "entrepreneurial", we argue that his border wall discourse differs from that of earlier presidents in the way Trump meshes the performance of the border wall as a protective device with his own performance as an entrepreneur and developer. Trump's border wall discourse accentuates his personal skills as an entrepreneur, and makes these skills relevant to his key campaign promises: to "Make America Great Again", and defend the nation against transnational crime. Despite Trump's radical reformulation of US asylum policy, enhanced pursuit of unauthorized immigrants, termination of Obama-era programs like Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), and disturbing but short-lived family separation and 'Zero-Tolerance' detention scheme, the border security policies of President Trump are not as novel as his promotional campaigns would have us believe. In fact, Trump's border control strategies have continued many of the measures introduced by earlier presidents. The novelty of the Trump presidency lies in the strong focus on the new US–Mexico border wall, and fervent attention to the physical attributes and instrumental functions of the wall. Much more than a fence, Trump's proposed border wall is a grand, awe-inspiring monument to national security, and to Trump's entrepreneurial statecraft. It also works as a visual aide for Trump's plan to "Make America Great Again". Border walls stand as testimony to the power of the state, and the determination of those who defend it. Trump's border wall would be no exception.


Redundancy often is considered a safety multiplier. In complex socio-technological systems however, according to proponents of complex systems theory, the impact of social redundancy (the social counterpart of technological redundancy) can be suboptimal. Ethnographically inspired research was therefore conducted on whether and how members of a European Apache attack helicopter unit applied the concept of social redundancy in their helicopters when conducting operations. Research results suggest that social redundancy is a far more nuanced phenomenon than its technological counterpart. Technological innovations and enhanced system integration of machine and operators have tightly coupled human tasks, system and environment over time. The impact of this on inter- and intra-crew behaviour has been neglected so far in traditional approaches to social redundancy. At a micro-level, above all, social redundancy appears to be affected by a broad range of contextual factors at a macro-level that have to be balanced and rebalanced again and again.


We describe lessons learned from developing and deploying machine learning models at scale across the enterprise in a range of financial analytics applications. These lessons are presented in the form of antipatterns. Just as design patterns codify best software engineering practices, antipatterns provide a vocabulary to describe defective practices and methodologies. Here we catalog and document numerous antipatterns in financial ML operations (MLOps). Some antipatterns are due to technical errors, while others are due to not having sufficient knowledge of the surrounding context in which ML results are used. By providing a common vocabulary to discuss these situations, our intent is that antipatterns will support better documentation of issues, rapid communication between stakeholders, and faster resolution of problems. In addition to cataloging antipatterns, we describe solutions, best practices, and future directions toward MLOps maturity.


Spherical loudspeaker arrays have been recently studied for directional sound radiation, where the compact arrangement of the loudspeaker units around a sphere facilitated the control of sound radiation in three-dimensional space. Directivity of sound radiation, or beamforming, was achieved by driving each loudspeaker unit independently, where the design of beamforming weights was typically achieved by numerical optimization with reference to a given desired beam pattern. This is in contrast to the methods already developed for microphone arrays in general and spherical microphone arrays in particular, where beamformer weights are designed to satisfy a wider range of objectives, related to directivity, robustness, and side-lobe level, for example. This paper presents the development of a physical-model-based, optimal beamforming framework for spherical loudspeaker arrays, similar to the framework already developed for spherical microphone arrays, facilitating efficient beamforming in the spherical harmonics domain, with independent steering. In particular, it is shown that from a beamforming perspective, the spherical loudspeaker array is similar to the spherical microphone array with microphones arranged around a rigid sphere. Experimental investigation validates the theoretical framework of beamformer design.


In this study, we investigate whether COVID-19 deaths that occurred before vaccination rollouts impact subsequent vaccination take-up. We use data on local vaccination rates and COVID-19-related deaths from England measured at high geographic granularity. We find that vaccination take-up as of November 2021 is positively associated with pre-vaccine COVID-19-related deaths, controlling for demographic, economic, and health-related characteristics of the localities, while including geographic fixed effects. In addition, the share of ethnic minorities in a locality is negatively associated with vaccination rates, and localities with a larger share of ethnic minorities increase their vaccination rates if they are exposed to more COVID-related-deaths. Further evidence on vaccination intention at the individual level from a representative sample corroborates these patterns. Overall, our evidence suggests that social proximity to victims of the disease triggers a desire to take protective measures against it.


Background and purpose: The prevalence of antibiotic resistant P. aeruginosa strains became a major problem in treatment of burn patients. The aim of this study was to determine the frequency of blaIMP, blaVIM and oprD genes among P. aeruginosa isolated from hospitalized burn patients in Tehran Shahid Motahari Hospital, Iran. Materials and methods: This descriptive study was performed on P. aeruginosa strains isolated from hospitalized burn patients in Shahid Motahari Hospital. Antibiotic resistance phenotypic pattern was evaluated by Kirby Bauer disk diffusion method. The phenotypic investigation of metallobeta-lactamase (MBL) producers was evaluated by Combined Diffusion Tests Disk (CDDT) method. The prevalence of blaIMP-1, blaVIM-1 and oprD genes was investigated by PCR and sequencing methods. Results: From 100 P. aeruginosa strains, 95 isolates were resistant to imipenem and meropenem which 81 were MBL producing strains. Among all isolates, 13 carried blaIMP-1 gene, whereas all of strains were negative for blaVIM-1 gene. In this study we detected two insertion sequence (IS) including ISPpu21 and ISPa1328 among PCR products that were larger than expected. Conclusion: The P. aeruginosa infections could be prevented and controlled by identification of drug resistance patterns and beta-lactamases.


This focus note describes Consultative Group to Assist the Poorest (CGAP's) experience to date gathering qualitative and quantitative information directly from low-income consumers to inform financial consumer protection policy which financial services they use, how they choose among them, problems they experience, and perceptions of their rights and responsibilities. The use of consumer experiences to inform financial consumer protection can improve policy making by better accounting for the situation of consumers, including those with lower levels of income, education, and familiarity with formal financial products. This paper describes three different consumer research methodologies CGAP has field tested consumer group discussions, in-depth individual interviews, and quantitative surveys and the lessons learned to date on using consumer tools to inform consumer protection policy making.


In this paper we have addressed the problem of observability of power systems from the point of view of topological observability and using genetic algorithms for its determination. The objective is to find a way to determine if a system is observable by establishing if a spanning tree of the system that verifies certain properties with regards to the use of available measurements can be obtained. To this end we have developed a genotype-phenotype transformation scheme for genetic algorithms that permits using very simple genetic operators over integer based chromosomes which after a building process can become very complex trees. The procedure was successfully applied to standard benchmark systems and we present some results for one of them.


This paper focuses on the analysis of corporate responsibility and also examines the question of international diffusion of norms in the context of globalization. It measures the influence of nonstate actors on foreign societies and states. It also draws on firsthand economic and financial empirical data, and then analyzes the reasons why French firms haveadopted this discourse and integrated many practices prevalent in the US private sector. It shows that the globalization of production and capital has created in France a favorable context for the reinterpretation of corporate social responsibility, despite France's political and historical specificity with respect to human rights. As French companies have become increasingly transnational in their operations and reliant on nonresident capital, they have been more willing to take norms of corporate social responsibility into account. This economic context has had three major effects. First, it has influenced the construction of a domestic public space and new social networks—a market of virtue—based on cooperation among nongovernmental organizations, norms activists and businesses. Second, it has influenced some firms in the definition of their international strategy. Finally, it has compelled the French state to react in economic regulatory terms. Nonstate actors are thus constructing new norms, shaping the economic public debate, compelling states to react, and setting new public policies.


This is a qualitative interview study aiming to examine the concept of tolerance as it is a core value in the curriculum for the Swedish upper secondary school and high school. The concept of tolerance is linked to the subject of religious studies. A total of six teachers were interviewed regarding their understanding and interpretation of the concept, as well as its place in their teaching. The method of analysis was hermeneutic and the statements made by the teachers were further analyzed in the light of normcritical pedagogy and didactical awareness. The results show a diversified understanding of the concept, manifested in a broad scale of attitudes to it, ranging from negative to positive, though all were based on a reflective approach. This affected the teachers' tendency to include, or focus on, the concept of tolerance in their teaching, varying from active inclusion to exclusion. The discussion focuses on the differences and difficulties associated with acts of tolerance versus attitudes of tolerance. The teachers define religious studies as a subject with heavy focus on interpersonal relations. Acts of tolerance are therefore problematic as they are also acts of power between individuals and groups. This shows the didactical importance of discussing the concept of tolerance, mainly in relation to attitudes and acts, between teachers as well as in the classroom.


Epidemiologic studies of immunosuppressed populations (HIV-infected people and solid organ transplant recipients) can identify candidate malignancies where infection, immunity, and inflammation are likely to be etiologically important. Such studies have revealed markedly elevated risk for cancers linked to oncogenic viral infections, e.g., Kaposi sarcoma (caused by human herpesvirus 8), some non-Hodgkin lymphoma subtypes and Hodgkin lymphoma (Epstein Barr virus), anogenital cancers (human papillomavirus), and liver cancer (hepatitis B and C viruses). For these cancers, the heightened risk arises from a high prevalence of viral infection and/or loss of immune control of the infection. In contrast, risk is not elevated in immunosuppressed populations for common malignancies not strongly linked to infection (e.g., colon, prostate, and breast cancers), arguing against a more general role for immune surveillance in protecting healthy people from cancer. For a few remaining cancers, an elevated risk is observed among both HIV-infected people and transplant recipients, but the increase is not as great as for malignancies known to be caused by viruses, or data are less clearcut. Examples include various skin cancers, lung cancer, and multiple myeloma. These increased risks suggest that specific infections (with either a known or unknown agent) or altered immunity are relevant for development of these malignancies. Another possibility is that repeated or chronic infections with diverse microbes, or chronic inflammation, play a role. Citation Format: Eric A. Engels. Cancer in immunosuppressed populations: Epidemiologic clues to causation [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the AACR 101st Annual Meeting 2010; 2010 Apr 17-21; Washington, DC. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2010;70(8 Suppl):Abstract nr SY08-01


Results on soft and hard diffraction are briefly reviewed and placed in a QCD perspective using a parton model approach. Issues addressed include factorization, scaling properties, universality of rapidity gap formation, and unitarity. Predictions for differential cross sections of processes with multiple rapidity gaps are presented with examples for the Tevatron and the Large Hadron Collider. This paper is an expanded version of a paper delivered at " Snowmass-2001 " [1].


Spatial rainfall is a key input into models that simulate flood behaviour at regional scale. Stochastic rainfall data provide alternative realisations that are equally likely to have occurred, and are often used to drive hydrologic models to quantify uncertainty in environmental systems associated with climatic variability. This paper describes the development and testing of a stochastic daily spatial rainfall generation approach which comprises two components. Daily temporal rainfalls in two meso-scale square regions are first generated using a bi-variate first-order transition probability matrix model. The spatial rainfall in each region is then disaggregated using a modified non-homogeneous random cascade model that utilises scaling invariance features in the historical rain field. The models are parameterised using 100 years of daily grided rainfall data across the Gippsland Lakes region in southeast Australia. The approach is used to generate 20 replicates of 100-year daily concurrent catchment average rainfall time series for the six major catchments in the region. The generated stochastic rainfalls are evaluated by comparing key spatial and temporal statistics with those in the historical data. The results indicate that the approach is suitable for regional flood risk assessment, although the simulated 1-day and 3-day rainfall AEP (annual exceedence probability) are slightly underestimated, while the simulated rainfall correlations between catchments are mostly higher than the observed spatial correlations. The main limitations of the approach are the absence of space-time correlation of rain fields on consecutive days, and problems in simulating the clustering (i.e. spatial correlation) of daily rain field during extreme storm events, both of which would require significant research to overcome.


AN EXAMINATION OF ATHLETIC DIRECTORS' PERCEPTIONS OF THE UTILIZATION OF ATHLETIC TRAINERS IN THE SECONDARY SCHOOL SETTING Stephanie H. Clines Old Dominion University, 2018 Director: Dr. Bonnie L. Van Lunen Many secondary school athletes are lacking appropriate medical care during sport participation. Athletic trainers (ATs) are qualified healthcare professionals that can fill this need. Barriers to hiring ATs within this setting have been identified, however important information from administrators is lacking on why secondary schools choose to utilize ATs. Understanding this decision making process has the potential to guide future strategies to increase the number of secondary schools that employ ATs and improve retention of athletic training positions within the secondary school setting. Our objective was to explore athletic directors' perceptions of the roles and services provided by ATs working in the secondary school setting and to understand the needs of the athletic program and school in terms of the utilization of athletic training services. Utilizing a qualitative methodology, ten high school athletic directors employed by schools that utilize the services of full-time ATs completed a telephone interview facilitated by a semi-structured interview guide. All interviews were recorded and transcribed verbatim. Data was analyzed following the consensual qualitative research approach (CQR). Data credibility was established through peer review, field notes, member checking, and multiple analyst triangulation. Five themes emerged. Justification pertained to reasons athletic directors would use to defend or justify why they utilize ATs within their schools. Athletic trainer roles and responsibilities represented the observed services provided by ATs. Recognition of worth referred to the evaluation of and appreciation for the AT's position within the school. Challenges represented the concerns and struggles athletic directors faced regarding the use of ATs within their athletic programs. Influencing factors consisted of aspects related to the decision to utilize ATs within athletic programs. The findings demonstrate that athletic directors have an appreciation for and overall understanding of the services provided by ATs in the secondary school setting. The value of secondary school ATs is predominantly supported by anecdotal evidence rather than formalized assessment methods or the use of data driven materials. Despite the athletic director's administrative role, school board members hold the ultimate authority in the decision making process to utilize ATs in this setting.


Soybean crop plays a fundamental role in country economy, and studies on the factors that have an effect on its yields have major importance. One of these factors is related to the interaction between sowing time and crop yield. Delays during sowing operation result in yield decreases and one of the reasons for that are the necessity to apply a great quantity of fertilizer at crop establishment. These great quantities imply on longer loading time of drill, affecting its operation capacity. One way to overcome this problem is to anticipate fertilizing, carrying it out on the previous crop. Therefore, this paper aimed to evaluate the influence of fertilizing out of sowing time on soybean crop profits. In order to achieve this, an empirical model in electronic spreadsheet, was developed to simulate the effects of using different cultivars, sowing periods and productions systems on the profits. The results showed that, for the analyzed scene, fertilizing anticipation promotes rationalization of planning agricultural machinery, reducing the number of machinery necessary to sowing operation and increase crop profits.


The aim of this paper is to detect a stator inter-turn short circuit in a synchronous machine through the analysis of the external magnetic field measured by external flux sensors. The paper exploits a methodology previously developed, based on the analysis of the behavior with load variation of sensitive spectral lines issued from two flux sensors positioned at 180° from each other around the machine. Further developments to improve this method were made, in which more than two flux sensors were used to keep a good sensitivity for stator fault detection. The method is based on the Pearson correlation coefficient calculated from sensitive spectral lines at different load operating conditions. Fusion information with belief function is then applied to the correlation coefficients, which enable the detection of an incipient fault in any phase of the machine. The method has the advantage to be fully non-invasive and does not require knowledge of the healthy state.


A growing international human population and rising living standards are increasing the demand for agricultural products. Under higher pressure over natural resources, environmental concerns are increasing as well, challenging current water use decision-making processes in irrigated agriculture. Higher agricultural productivity means water should be applied more efficiently, which requires instant information on weather, soil, and plant conditions throughout the growing season. An information-based irrigation scheduling application tightened to the spatiotemporal variability of the fields is critical for enhancing the current irrigation system and making better irrigation scheduling decisions. The aim of this study is to review current irrigation scheduling methodologies based on two case studies (woody and field crops) located in semi-arid areas of Southeast Spain. We realize that optimal irrigation programming requires consistent investment in equipment, expenditure on operation and maintenance, and qualified technical and maintenance services. These technological approaches will be worthwhile in farms with low water availability, high profitability, and significant technical-economic capacity.


Dental anxiety has been reported to be a common problem affecting widespread societies, hence a global public health concern. This chapter provides an updated information to dental practitioners, about dental anxiety and its implication to oral health-care attendance and service delivery. It is introduced by defining dental anxiety, providing a summary of prevalence of the problem among children and adults; and its relationship with sociode- mography, oral health status, and cultural issues. Causes of dental anxiety and simple ways to diagnose it and management options of dental anxiety for different age groups of populations are summarized to assist dental practitioners during patient management. How dental anxiety influences dental attendance and ultimately impact oral health sta- tus of populations; and its relationship with oral health-care delivery are also discussed. Finally, preventive measures both in community and clinical settings are provided and recommendation for dental professionals and other stake holders is outlined.


The present paper aims to analyse the patterns of productivity in the information retrieval literature during the period of ten years i.e. (2009-2018). The study covers a total number of 4238 records indexed in the Scopus database. Out of a total of 4238 publications, a maximum 1915 records were contributed by two authors, followed by three authors with1176 contributions. A total of 17829 citations were recorded on 4238 publications and the maximum (29.67) annual growth was recorded in 2010 from the marked period of study. The overall relative growth was shown in fluctuating trend and lie between (0.16 to 0.83) while the doubling time was lies between (0.83 to 4.42). The average degree of authors collaborations was (0.94) recorded. The average collaboration coefficient (CC) and the collaborative index was (0.58) and (2.76) recorded respectively. Varma, V. from (International Institute of Information Technology, Hyderabad) was the most productive author with 45 publications; h-index 15; and a total citation 864. The maximum 2847 (67.18%) of publications in information retrieval were published in conference. In the field of computer science, the maximum 3370 publications were published. However, the maximum 177 research papers were contributed by Anna University while the maximum 15 publications were funded by the department of science and technology, Ministry of science and technology. Lecture Notes in Computer Science Including Subseries Lecture Notes in Artificial Intelligence and Lecture Notes in Bioinformatics was the most prolific source title with 224 publications while the most significant keyword was 'Information Retrieval' with 2963 publications during the period of study.


Community gardens can provide many benefits including increased produce consumption, improved mental health, and increased exercise. However, few studies have been done on how participation in community gardens can impact the homeless and low income populations. This study was done as a qualitative case study on the effectiveness of three community garden programs in Nashville, Tennessee: Poverty and the Arts, The Nashville Food Project, and Hands on Nashville. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with nine individuals to determine 1) if the anticipated benefits (e.g., increased produce consumption, improved mental health) were being experienced by the gardeners and 2) if any identified gaps in benefits could be addressed through programming recommendations. There was only a marginal improvement in amount of produce consumed by participants. While the participants made it clear that they were happy with the programs, they rarely experienced the potential social benefits normally associated with working in a community gardens. Minor additions to programming have potential to increase participant benefits and we recommend that gardens consider how this might be accomplished. Programming that enhances nutrition education and greater opportunities for food preparation could increase produce consumption and simultaneously advance social interaction among participants. We found that the relationship between homeless and low income populations and community gardens is complex and that more studies would help to improve community garden outreach to these groups.


This guide has been updated for us by Debbie Anker's students in her Immigration and Refugee Advocacy course. It is updated periodically.


Abstract For at least 40–50 000 years, plants played an important but supplementary role in the animal-dominated diet of Australian Aboriginal (AA) hunter-gatherers. New knowledge of the nutrient composition and the special physiological effects of their foods provides another perspective in the current debate on the composition of the 'prudent' diet and the diet on which humans evolved. In the present paper we have calculated the average nutrient composition of over 800 Aboriginal plant foods (in total and by food group) and highlighted the differences between these and modern cultivated foods. The data enable us to calculate the absolute contribution of plant foods to total food and nutrient intake of traditional living AA. If plants provided 20–40% of the energy in the diet (the most likely range), then plants would have contributed 22–44g protein, 18–36g fat, 101–202g carbohydrate, 40–80g fibre and 90–180mg vitamin C in a 12500kJ (3000 kcal) diet. Since all the carbohydrate came from plant foods, the traditional AA diet would have been relatively low in carbohydrate (especially starch) but high in dietary fibre in comparison with current recommendations. Over half the carbohydrate could have been in the form of sugars derived from fruit and honey. The low glycaemic index of their carbohydrate foods, however, would generate a relatively low demand for insulin secretion and this characteristic may have protected AA from a genetic predisposition to insulin resistance and its consequences (non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus, coronary heart disease, obesity). The dietary pattern and active lifestyle of recent hunter-gatherers such as AA may be a reference standard for modem human nutrition and a model for defence against diseases of affluence.


Measuring sea level change and understanding its causes has considerably improved in the recent years, essentially because new in situ and remote sensing observations have become available. Here we report on most recent results on contemporary sea level rise. We first present sea level observations from tide gauges over the twentieth century and from satellite altimetry since the early 1990s. We next discuss the most recent progress made in quantifying the processes causing sea level change on timescales ranging from years to decades, i.e., thermal expansion of the oceans, land ice mass loss, and land water-storage change. We show that for the 1993-2007 time span, the sum of climate-related contributions (2.85 +/- 0.35 mm year(-1)) is only slightly less than altimetry-based sea level rise (3.3 +/- 0.4 mm year(-1)): approximately 30% of the observed rate of rise is due to ocean thermal expansion and approximately 55% results from land ice melt. Recent acceleration in glacier melting and ice mass loss from the ice sheets increases the latter contribution up to 80% for the past five years. We also review the main causes of regional variability in sea level trends: The dominant contribution results from nonuniform changes in ocean thermal expansion.


We present a new strategy to estimate the geometry of a rupture on a finite fault in real time for earthquake early warning. We extend the work of Cua and Heaton who developed the virtual seismologist (VS) method (Cua, 2005), which is a Bayesian approach to seismic early warning using envelope attenuation relationships. This article extends the VS method to large earthquakes where fault finiteness is important. We propose a new model to simulate high-frequency motions from earthquakes with large rupture dimension: the envelope of high-frequency ground motion from a large earthquake can be expressed as a root-mean-squared combination of envelope functions from smaller earthquakes. We use simulated envelopes of ground acceleration to estimate the direction and length of a rupture in real time. Using the 1999 Chi-Chi earthquake dataset, we have run simulations with different parameters to discover which parameters best describe the rupture geometry as a function of time. We parameterize the fault geometry with an epicenter, a fault strike, and two along-strike rupture lengths. The simulation results show that the azimuthal angle of the fault line converges to the minimum uniquely, and the estimation agrees with the actual Chi-Chi earthquake fault geometry quite well. The rupture direction can be estimated at 10 s after the event onset, and the final solution is achieved after 20 s. While this methodology seems quite promising for warning systems, it only works well when there is an adequate distribution of near-source stations.


We deployed a buoy in the West Passage of Narragansett Bay, approximately one km east of Hope Island, within a bathymetric depression of approximately twice the surrounding water depth. The buoy contained an onboard logging computer and had three YSI-600 instruments, each capable of measuring temperature, salinity, dissolved oxygen, pH and pressure, logging at three different depths in the water column at a 20 minute sampling interval . The first deployment started on 6 January 1997 and lasted 18 days before problems required retrieving the buoy. Additionally, problems with the salinity sensors in this deployment made it impossible to use most of the salinity data. We fixed the salinity and electronic problems, modified the mooring system, and redeployed the buoy on 10 March 1997. We collected data for two months in this second deployment, until 8 May 1997. Using the temperature, salinity (when available), dissolved oxygen and pressure data from these deployments, we investigated the relationship between physical stratification as determined by density, and oxygen variations. We also used the predicted tides, observed tides from the moored, bottom instrument, wind data from the GSO Pier and from T. F. Green Airport, USGS stream flow data and NOAA-NWS precipitation data from T.F. Green Airport to investigate forcing relationships for the physical stratification and destratification cycles. Using the difference between the bottom and surface parameters as an index for stratification, we determined that the density related stratification results in increased vertical oxygen gradients, and that a 1 kg m-3 difference between surface and bottom in density is accompanied by approximately a l O % saturation difference over the same depth. The stratification cycles are related to the spring-neap tidal cycles for extended periods, and to strong wind forcing for shorter time scales. Large fresh water inputs can affect stratification as a result of estuarine entrainment whereby the vertical salinity gradient increases. This relationship suggests a linkage between the deep estuarine waters at the buoy station and the surface offshore waters, from Rhode Island Sound.


The aim of this article is to determine how can new interpretations of old institutes change the status of the taxpayers and tax administrators and to suggest what can the Ministry of Finance do to solve the problem – it can try setting a uniform interpretation of tax institutes. It deals with two findings of the Constitutional Court of the Czech Republic concerning two institutes described in Tax Administration Act: time-limits for tax assessment and tax inspection; and one finding of the Highest Administrative Court concerning local taxes. Court interpretation is only one of several possibilities of interpretation. Continental system of law differs from the Anglo-American system and we should search for information in the acts, and court practice should be used only alternatively.


Electroactive conducting polymer actuators have been proposed as alternative to conventional actuators due to their extraordinary properties. This paper reports on a stiffness enhancement methodology for cantilever type conducting polymer actuators based on a suitably designed contact surface with which the actuators are in contact during operation. Finite element analysis and modeling are used to quantify the effect of the contact surface on the effective stiffness of a tri-layer cantilevered beam, which represents one-end free, the other end fixed polypyrrole (PPy) conducting polymer actuator under a uniformly distributed load. After demonstrating the feasibility of the stiffness enhancement concept, experiments were conducted to determine the stiffness of bending-type conducting polymer actuators in contact with a range (20–40mm in radius) of circular contact surfaces. The simulation and experimental results demonstrate that the stiffness of the actuators can be varied in a nonlinear fashion using a suitably profiled contact surface. The larger is the radius of the contact surface, the higher is the stiffness of the polymer actuators.


An invaluable reference discussing the Generic Authentication Architecture (GAA), its infrastructure, usage and integration into existing networksCellular Authentication for Mobile and Internet Services introduces the reader into the field of secure communication for mobile applications, including secure web browsing with a phone or PC, Single Sign-On (SSO), mobile broadcast content protection, secure location services, etc. The book discusses the Generic Authentication Architecture (GAA) of the mobile standardization body 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) and its American counterpart 3GPP2 in full detail and with all variants. It explains the usage of GAA by various standardization bodies and standardized applications, and also looks at a number of non-standardized ones, such as secure remote login to enterprise environment and card personalization.Cellular Authentication for Mobile and Internet Services:Describes the usage of the generic authentication architecture (GAA) by various standardization bodies and standardized applications, covering mobile broadcast / multicast service security, Single Sign-On, HTTPS (i.e. secure web browsing), secure data access, secure location services, etc Provides guidance on how to integrate the generic authentication into existing and future terminals, networks and applications Explains the functionality of the application security in general as well as on application developer level Describes various business scenarios and related security solutions, and covers secure application implementation and integration Brings together essential information (currently scattered across different standardization bodies) on standards in one comprehensive volume This excellent all-in-one reference will provide system and protocol designers, application developers, senior software project managers, telecommunication managers and ISP managers with a sound introduction into the field of secure communication for mobile applications. System integrators, advanced students, Ph.D. candidates, and professors of computer science or telecommunications will also find this text very useful.


HC emission statistical features have a great effect on evaluating and controlling the pollution caused by vehicle harmful emission. Using large sample measurement, multiple parameter data analysis and mathematical modeling, the idle HC emission statistical features and statistical laws of three typical type passenger cars have been researched. The distributive parameters of HC emission have been estimated, and the mathematical models, which can exactly describe HC emission statistical features and statistical laws, have been established. The results of checking computation have proved the validity of the research method and results. At the same time, the suggestion have also been proposed to revise the relevant limit values of Chinese national standard about in-use passenger cars exhaust pollutant.


Integrating interprofessional education (IPE) activities and curricular components in health professions education has been emphasized recently by the inclusion of accreditation standards across disciplines. The Interprofessional Education Collaborative (IPEC) established IPE competencies in 2009, but evaluating how activities link to competencies has not been investigated in depth. The purpose of this project is to investigate how well two IPE activities align with IPEC competencies. To evaluate how our IPE activities met IPEC competencies, we developed a checklist and an observation instrument. A brief description of each is included as well as the outcomes. We analyzed Disaster Day, a simulation exercise that includes participants from Nursing, Medicine, and Pharmacy, and Interprofessional Healthcare Ethics (IPHCE), a course that introduced medical, nursing, and pharmacy students to ethical issues using didactic sessions and case discussions. While both activities appeared to facilitate the development of IPE competencies, Disaster Day aligned more with IPEC competencies than the IPHCE course and appears to be a more comprehensive way of addressing IPEC competencies. However, offering one IPE activity or curricular element is not sufficient. Having several IPE options available, utilizing the tools we developed to map the IPE curriculum and evaluating competency coverage is recommended.


An efficient eigenvalue algorithm is developed for the axial vibration analysis of embedded short-fiber-reinforced micro-/nano-composite rods under arbitrary boundary conditions. In the formulation, nonlocal elasticity theory is used to capture the size effect, and the deformable boundary conditions at the ends are simulated using two elastic springs in the axial direction. In addition, to determine the reinforcing effect of restrained nano-/micro-rods, a new system of linear equations with the concept of the infinite power series is presented. After performing the mathematical processes known as Fourier sine series, Stokes' transformation and successive integration, we finally obtain a coefficient matrix in terms of infinite series for various rigid or deformable boundary conditions. Some accurate eigenvalue solutions of the free axial vibration frequencies of the short-fiber-reinforced micro-/nano-composite rods with and without being restrained by the means of elastic springs are given to show the performance of the present method. The presence of the elastic spring boundary conditions changes the axial vibration frequencies and corresponding mode shapes.


This paper describes two protocols applicable to directed acrylic graph topologies. The first is a topological sorting of the successor list at each node, and the second is a shortest routing path protocol. Both of these protocols are resilient to transient failures in that they guarantee system recovery in a finite number of moves. This resiliency is obtained by using the notion of self-stabilization. This is a method by which convergence to the desired behavior is guaranteed. These algorithms have direct application in network routing.<<ETX>>


ABSTRACT Psychologists studying religiosity and spirituality (R/S) often face several challenges when conducting their research, such as collecting data from nationally representative samples, cross-cultural generalizability, statistical power, and integrated multilevel approaches. We examined one potential solution—the use of Representative, Open-Access Datasets (ROADs), which are currently underutilized. In this article, we define ROADs; discuss affordances, obstacles, and best practices in using them; document the R/S variables available in various waves of ongoing ROADs collection efforts; and delineate ways to increase usage of ROADs as a research tool in the future. This will enhance the capability of psychologists to address theory-driven questions and to better understand the role of R/S in everyday life, including social attitudes, health, and well-being, as well as social change, cohesion, and conflict. Looking forward, we recommend (a) adding more, and more nuanced, variables to future ROADs data collection efforts; (b) publishing more frequently using ROADs data; and (c) conducting workshops to promote the use of ROADs and to train researchers in secondary data analysis techniques.


The aim of this work was to determine the relationship between the calcium and phosphorus metabolism and the levels of the main hormones involved in their blood regulation in laying hen. Two breeds of hens were used in this work, 22 weeks aged each one: White Cornish (CRN), as a breed of low egg production and White Leghorn (LGH), as a breed of higher egg production. The hens were raised in industrial system and they were fed according to the technologic diets. The hens were monitored from 22 to 44 weeks of age for the evolution of the parathormone, vitamin D, calcium and phosphorus levels in the blood plasma. Blood glucose concentration, total lipid, total proteins, albumins, globulins, creatinine, and uric acid were also monitored. Analysis of the hormone evolution relieves a peak of the PTH level in LGH hens, around 30 weeks of age (amounted to 392 pg/mL vs. 198 pg/mL in CRN hens). This peak of PTH is behind the laying peak and it is significantly higher in LGH hens vs. CRN hens. It was remarked that the LGH hens reached the peak of the PTH one week sooner vs. CRN hens. Regarding vitamin D, its plasma level presented a relatively constant evolution in CRN, while in LGH it presented an increase around 30 – 32 weeks-of-age up to 142 pg/mL, then it decreased slowly. Accordingly, in LGH hens, the level of calcium (in mg/dL) raised from 9.9 at the beginning of the laying cycle to 34.4 in the peak of the laying, decreasing then, to 18.0 toward the end of the monitoring period. In CRN hens, at the same age, the values of the plasmatic calcium were: 6.2, 12.9 and 18.0, respectively. The calcium/phosphorus ratio presented an ascendant evolution in both, LGH and CRN breeds, indicating an increasing of the free calcium content of the blood plasma. Plasma albumins ranged between 16.0 and 20.0 mg / mL in the LGH hens and between 19.8 and 22.8 mg / mL in the CRN hens. Uric acid plasma levels have evolved relatively parallel to the laying percentage, showing an intensified protein catabolism, according to laying percentage, in LGH hens. Total lipids followed an ascending evolution up to the peak of the laying, and then they decreased slowly in both low and high production breeds.


The macroscopic electromechanical coupling properties of ferroelectric polycrystals are composed of linear and nonlinear contributions. The nonlinear contribution is typically associated with the extrinsic effects related to the creation and motion of domain walls. To quantitatively compare the macroscopic nonlinear properties of a lead zirconate titanate ceramic and the degree of domain orientation, in-situ neutron and high-energy x-ray diffraction experiments are performed and they provide the domain orientation density as a function of the external electric field and mechanical compression. Furthermore, the macroscopic strain under the application of external electrical and mechanical loads is measured and the nonlinear strain is calculated by means of the linear intrinsic piezoelectric effect and the linear intrinsic elasticity. The domain orientation density and the nonlinear strain show the same dependence on the external load. The scaling factor that relates to the two values is constant and is the same for both electrical and mechanical loadings.


(FULL COLOR version) ... This guide is written for people who have little or no experience operating a computer. It provides a step by step plan for the reader to have success in operating a Kindle Fire HD 8 (5th generation) and to experience the many joys and helps that come from this magnificent device. Case Studies: One 77-year-old man in our test group has had a very serious heart operation. One hand ended up partially paralyzed and he reported he was having difficulty now lifting his paper Bible. He wanted to learn to use a Kindle. He began using the guide we wrote which is "Graphically Illustrated", step by step with both pictures and words showing how to do everything. His wife reported the following: "John is very impressed. He can understand everything as we go along and the pictures of each step are a life saver. What a wonderful concept!" An 80-year-old woman in our test group just lost her 94-year-old husband. She decided to learn to use the Kindle using our "Graphically Illustrated" guide. She has many physical problems and walks with walker. She, too, had very strong success in learning to use the Kindle. Now she uses her Kindle all the time for emails, music, books, games ... Can you imagine how much this means to her at this point in life? All you have to do is learn to use the Kindle. And with this book, we believe you can do it!


SUMMARY: Several new halobacterial strains were isolated from crude solar salts commercially produced in Mexico and Australia. The presence of bacteriorhodopsin (BR)- and halorhodopsin (HR)-like pigment in their total membrane fraction was measured by flash spectroscopy and light-induced ion pumping activity. Two of these strains contained both BR- and HR-like pigments; the others contained only BR-like pigment. DNA hybridization analysis with probes from bacterioopsin and haloopsin genes revealed that the genes encoding the BR- and HR-like pigments were not homologous to those found in Halobacterium halobium R1. In addition, the presence of sensory rhodopsin (SR)- and phoborhodopsin (PR)-like pigment in these membranes was detected by flash spectroscopy. The kinetics of the cyclic photoreaction of the SR-like pigment was more than 15 times slower than that of H. halobium. A PR-like pigment existed in two strains, and the kinetics of the cyclic photoreaction of the PR-like pigment was similar to that found in H. halobium.


Wireless sensor networks have been attracting a great attention due to their wide range of potential applications. However, due to various limitations arising from their inexpensive nature, limited size, weight and ad hoc method of deployment, the power consumption is one of the major constraints in sensor networks. Moreover, it is well known that packet communication dominates the power consumption in wireless sensor network. Therefore, it is very desirable to reduce the amount of packet transmission as much as possible. Network coding can achieve this by improving network throughput. Thus, recently researchers have been emphasizing on how wireless sensor networks can get benefits from network coding. AdapCode is one of the available works which apply the practical network coding to the wireless sensor networks. However, AdapCode has some limitations. It cannot find out all actual neighbour nodes which is critical in determining the new coding scheme. In this paper, thus, we enhance the AdapCode by deploying the power efficient neighbour discovery protocol to find out all the neighbours. Our objective is to develop a data dissemination protocol that promises the full advantage of network coding by deploying the power efficient neighbour discovery protocol.


This article offers a new genealogy of the New Left in Western Europe as it developed from the mid-1950s to the mid-1970s. Differently from prevalent interpretations, it reassesses the historical influence of the Algerian War of Independence (1954-1962), and "Third-Worldism" more generally, in the genealogy of the new political cultures that flourished during the global 1960s. A whole generation of activists appropriated the memory of the anti-fascist Resistance, giving it a function that was not simply defensive but also proactive and merging the myth of the "betrayed Resistance" with the idea of imperialism as the "new Fascism". The European civil war, which Enzo Traverso has defined the distinctive feature of the first half of the twentieth century, was thus reconfigured worldwide as a "global civil war".


Nowadays, the increasing amount of greenhouse gases and diminishing of the existing petroleum minerals for future generations, has led the automotive companies to think of producing vehicles with less emissions and fuel consumption. For this purpose, Hybrid Electric Vehicles (HEVs) have emerged in the recent decades. HEVs with different configurations have been introduced by engineers.The simulation platform aim for a parallel HEV, where the intention is to reduce the emissions and fuel consumption. The simulation platform includes an Electric Motor (EM) in addition to an Internal Combustion Engine (ICE). A new transmission system is modeled which is compatible with parallel configuration for the HEV, where the inertial effects of the gearbox, clutch and driveline is formulated. The transmission system includes a gearbox which is equipped with synchronizers for smooth change of gears.The HEV is controlled by a rule based controller together with an optimization algorithm as power management strategy in order to have optimal fuel consumption. Using the rule based controller, the HEV is planned to be launched by EM in order to have a downsized clutch and ICE. The clutch modeling is the main focus of this study, where the slipping mechanism is considered in the simulation. In the driveline model, the flexibility effects of the propeller shaft and drive shaft is simulated, so that the model can capture the torsional vibrations of the driveline. The objective of modeling such a system is to reduce emissions and fuel consumption with the same performance of the conventional vehicle. To achieve this goal first a conventional vehicle is modeled and subsequently, a hybrid vehicle is modeled and finally the characteristics of the two simulated models are studied and compared with each other.Using the simulation platform, the state of charge (SOC) of the battery, oscillations of propeller shaft and drive shaft, clutch actuations and couplings, energy dissipated by the clutch, torques provided by EM and ICE, fuel consumptions, emissions and calculation time are calculated and investigated. The hybridization results in a reduction in fuel consumption and emissions, moreover, the energy dissipated by the clutch and clutch couplings are decreased.


Since 1960's, many African countries have experienced anemic growth and high levels of acute poverty, even in the presence of natural resources abundance. Ending this poverty trap has been the goal of the 2015 UN Millennium Project. There are a myriad of reasons cited for this trend. The explanations include the inward looking policies adopted by the African countries since 1960s, poor policy management or other socio/political issues, macroeconomic issues such as inflation, exchange rate volatility, poor governance, and institutions. While many previous studies have analyzed the determinants of economic growth of African countries, they fail to consider the possible impact of the economic performance of proximate countries. Results from such studies may be biased as stated in Greene, 2003. It is, therefore, important to properly investigate the determinants of economic growth in Africa and propose appropriate policy directions. In this study, we estimate a spatial economic growth model with spatial correlations in the dependent variable and the error terms by using a panel data on 48 African countries for the years spanning 1980 to 2011. The model controls for some of the conventional sources of economic growth such as gross capital formation, openness of the economy, overseas development assistance, and inflation. We use a variety of proximity matrices including cultural, ecological, developmental, economic, and regional to explore the effect of the rate of economic growth of one country on the growth rates of its proximate countries. We find significant positive spatial linkages in the dependent variable and negative ones in the error terms, indicating that proximate sub-Saharan African countries experience similar levels of economic growth due to the cluster effects and the fact that they compete intensively for growth sources when shocks such as global capital retreats occur. Based on this result, the implication is that the policy makers in Africa should consider planning and implementing strategic and comprehensive regional growth agenda for all proximate countries and consider growth forecasts of proximate nations in the process of making fiscal and monetary policy decisions. Further, our result indicates that without correcting for spatial linkages in determining growth rates, the estimation results may be downward biased. The only significant determinants of economic growth are the gross fixed capital formation as a percent of GDP and gross secondary school enrollment with larger magnitudes for the spatial model. This result, perhaps, indicates that the most important driver of economic growth and development in Africa is fixed capital formation and infrastructure development. In a continent where capital is scarce and the availability and quality of infrastructure is for the most part pathetic, it is a very important for decision makers to implement policies that improve the availability and quality of capital formation and infrastructure development.


Relevance Vector Machine (RVM) is a novel kernel method based on sparse Bayesian, which has many advantages such as its kernel functions without the restriction of Mercer's conditions, and the relevance vectors are automatically determined and have fewer parameters. In this paper, the RVM model is applied to forecasting groundwater level. The experimental results show the final RVM model achieved is sparser, the prediction precision is higher and the prediction values are in better agreement with the real values. It can be concluded that this technique can be seen as a very promising option to solve nonlinear problems such as forecasting groundwater level.


Liposomes composed of unsaturated lipids were more stable than those containing saturated lipids toward DMe-β-CDx, DMe-α-CDx and DMe-β-CDx. The Hill coefficient values (n) indicated that the saturated lipid·DMe-CDx complexes had stoichiometric ratios in the range of 1 : 3-1 : 4, while the unsaturated lipid·DMe-CDx complexes had ratios in the range of 1 : 1.5-1 : 3. That is, a cis alkene group in the unsaturated lipids prevented complexation with a second DMe-CDx in the direction toward each acyl chain. Furthermore, the liposomes composed of the unsaturated lipids were much slower to form precipitates upon the addition of α-CDx than those of the saturated lipids. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first example showing that CDxs interact with unsaturated lipids.


Two recent reports suggested that the less common, less virulent enterococcal species, Enterococcus gallinarum and E. casseliflavus, with low-level vancomycin resistance due to chromosomally encoded vanC1 and vanC2/3, may influence host immunity. We reported that peri-transplant gut colonization with E. gallinarum and E. casseliflavus is associated with lower mortality after allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT). Because most acute leukemia patients undergoing HCT have received intensive chemotherapy (usually requiring prolonged hospitalization) for their underlying disease before HCT, we hypothesized that some may have acquired vanC-positive enterococci during chemotherapy. Therefore, we evaluated the presence of the vanC gene cluster using vanC1 and vanC2/3 qPCR in thrice-weekly collected stool samples from 20 acute leukemia patients undergoing intensive chemotherapy. We found that an unexpectedly large proportion of patients have detectable vanC1 and vanC2/3 (15% and 35%, respectively) in at least one stool sample. Comparing qPCR results with 16S rRNA gene sequencing results suggested that E. gallinarum may reach high abundances, potentially persisting into HCT and influencing transplant outcomes.


Objective. To develop, implement, and review a competence-assessment program to identify students at risk of underperforming at advanced pharmacy practice experience (APPE) sites and to facilitate remediation before they assume responsibility for patient care. Design. As part of the standardized client program, pharmacy students were examined in realistic live client-encounter simulations. Authentic scenarios were developed, and actors were recruited and trained to portray clients so students could be examined solving multiple pharmacy problems. Evaluations of students were conducted in the broad areas of knowledge and live performance. Assessment. Measurements included student-experience survey instruments used to evaluate case realism and challenge; videos used to determine the fidelity of standardized clients, and clerkship performance predictions used to identify students who required individual attention and improvement prior to clerkship courses. Conclusions. The assessment program showed promise as a means of discriminating between students who are prepared for APPEs and those at risk for underperforming.


We are pleased to present this special issue of the Journal of the Society for American Music on "Music, Indigeneity, and Colonialism in the Americas." This timely collection adds a range of case studies to the discussion of Indigenous music and the history of colonial processes, while at the same time offering theoretical resources for music scholars to connect further with these threads of interdisciplinary research. While this issue only represents one step in a larger process, we see it as a meaningful part of how the Society for American Music might attempt to grapple with coloniality and engage with moves toward decolonization and decoloniality in the contemporary academy in ways that do not exacerbate current and ongoing erasures of Indigenous Peoples' presence and agency. In addressing myriad issues raised by keywords in our title, this volume effectively poses an "Indigeneity question" for American music historiography: what happens to American music studies if you put Indigeneity at its center? In addition


On the basis of in-depth simulation analysis of stress and strain, thickness and forming limit changes in the property sphere during the drawing process for the stamping part of the spiral step surface, combined with the comprehensive simulation analysis of flanging, punching and other operations for the parts, it is concluded that the most obvious non-uniform changes of sheet thickness occur in the drawing process and then in the flanging process. The possibility and the distribution of tension fracture in ironing and wrinkles in thickening has been predicted and the production feasibility of low-cost drawing process without the blank holder and multi-operation forming process for stamping parts of spiral step surface. The validity of multi-operation numerical simulation results has been verified by the actual measurement of finished product rate and product thickness in trial production.


The purpose of this study is to evaluate collection, transport, and storage protocols of urine and air allergen samples from infants in a rural setting. Infant urine and aeroallergen samples (n = 21) are collected in the home setting in rural areas where time and distance to the central laboratory is a consideration. Urine samples are analyzed using ELISA tests after being transported using three different techniques: (a) ambient temperature, (b) dry ice, and (c) packaged on dry ice and shipped commercially. Following initial ELISA testing for levels of cytokines, urine samples are frozen at -70 degrees Celsius for 6 months. Samples are then reanalyzed for levels of cytokines. Dust samples are analyzed for levels of aeroallergens, stored at 4 degrees for 6 months, and reanalyzed. The integrity of samples varies by biomarker, shipment temperature, and storage time, creating a high degree of variability in results.


The effects of phosphorous pentoxide on the properties of highly permeable MnZn ferrites have been investigated in this study. It was found that P2O5 addition had a pronounced effect on promoting crystalline grain growth. At the same time, porosity had an initial decrease followed by a subsequent increase with the increase of P2O5 content. Consequently, the initial permeability first increased, and then gradually decreased. Magnetic loss of the samples was also influenced by both grain size and porosity. With 0.06wt% P2O5 addition, the initial permeability reached to the maximum and the magnetic loss declined to the least. Porosity was the dominating factor to determine the ηB (hysteresis material constant) property of the ferrites. With 0.04wt% P2O5 addition, porosity decreased to its bottom, accordingly, the ηB value decreased to the least. Synthetically considering high initial permeability, low ηB value and good permeability frequency characteristic, the content of P2O5 addition had better be kept at 0.04wt%.


Objective. Large-scale disasters may disrupt health surveillance systems, depriving health officials and researchers of timely and accurate information needed to assess disaster-related health effects and leading to use of less reliable self-reports of health outcomes. In particular, ascertainment of cancer in a population is ordinarily obtained through linkage of self-reported data with regional cancer registries, but exclusive reliance on these sources following a disaster may result in lengthy delays or loss of critical data. To assess the impact of such reliance, we validated self-reported cancer in a cohort of 59,340 responders and survivors of the World Trade Center disaster against data from 11 state cancer registries (SCRs). Methods. We focused on residents of the 11 states with SCRs and on cancers diagnosed from September 11, 2001, to the date of their last survey participation. Medical records were also sought in a subset of 595 self-reported cancer patients who were not recorded in an SCR. Results. Overall sensitivity and specificity of self-reported cancer were 83.9% (95% confidence interval [CI] 81.9, 85.9) and 98.5% (95% CI 98.4, 98.6), respectively. Site-specific sensitivities were highest for pancreatic (90.9%) and testicular (82.4%) cancers and multiple myeloma (84.6%). Compared with enrollees with true-positive reports, enrollees with false-negative reports were more likely to be non-Hispanic black (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] = 1.8, 95% CI 1.2, 2.9) or Asian (aOR=2.2, 95% CI 1.2, 4.1). Among the 595 cases not recorded in an SCR, 13 of 62 (21%) cases confirmed through medical records were reportable to SCRs. Conclusion. Self-report of cancer had relatively high sensitivity among adults exposed to the World Trade Center disaster, suggesting that self-reports of other disaster-related conditions less amenable to external validation may also be reasonably valid.


The Barnard–Columbia Urban Studies program enables students to explore and understand the urban experience in all of its richness and complexity. It recognizes the city as an amalgam of diverse peoples and their social, political, economic, and cultural interactions within a distinctive built environment. Students study the evolution and variety of urban forms and governance structures, which create opportunities for, as well as constrain, the exercise of human agency, individual and collective. They explore the place of the city in different historical and comparative contexts, as well as in the human imagination.


The Australian wheat industry is an important contributor to the Australian economy and farm sector. This paper investigates the determinants of land use and profitability in wheat production for the Australian wheat-sheep zone. Wheat area supply response and its profitability were estimated across the wheat-sheep zone for the period 1990-2015. The results indicated that the growers in Western Australia are more (relative expected) price responsive than the growers in the South Eastern states. The current wheat area is highly depended on the previous year's wheat area, and the area adjustment is also not significantly different between the regions. Estimates for own-price (wheat-wheat) and cross-price (wheat-wool) elasticities are with the expected signs, and the cross-price elasticities are more inelastic compared to the own price elasticities. Wheat productivity influenced negatively by the area sown but showed the positive influence of locations and periods, which implies technological progress has been playing a significant role to improve wheat production. Ricardian approach for wheat profitability indicates the regional effect of minimum temperature on determining wheat net revenue in the Australian wheat-sheep zone.


expression of water channels. This finding suggests that the point of convergence between the Ang II and AVP cascades is neither signal transduction nor AQP2 trafficking but rather the capacity to express the protein. More specifically, it suggests that Ang II enhances the ability of AVP to promote AQP2 expression at the genomic level, inferring that Ang II signaling either leads to trans-activation of the AQP2 gene in the presence of AVP signaling or facilitates trans-activation in some manner by AVP signaling. The mechanism of this transcriptional control remains elusive. Other studies also have documented reduced levels of adenylate cyclases III and V/VI in the innermedullary collecting duct of AT1a receptor-null mice5 that were not apparent in the study by Stegbauer and colleagues.2 This discrepancy remains unresolved. One of the more striking observations made investigating collecting-duct–specific AT1a receptor knockout mice is that the effect of AT1a receptor deletion on water transport in the distal nephron does not arise from changes in the osmotic draw for water reabsorption but rather is restricted to the route of reabsorption. Unlike the case in the proximal tubule, where AT1a receptor deletion disturbs renal sodium handling and pressure natriuresis,7 deletion of the AT1a receptor in principal cells of the distal nephron does not produce measurable changes in sodium excretion and does not appear to affect the abundance of the epithelial Na channel. The activity of this channel is limiting for sodium reabsorption in this portion of the nephron. However, additional research is called for here in this model because it was only touched upon in brief in this study. It is also interesting that collecting duct and principal cell-specific AT1a receptor-null mice do not exhibit the morphologic abnormalities apparent in global AT1a receptor-null mice that have modest atrophy of innermedullary collecting duct and papilla. This finding suggests that other Ang II receptors play an important role in development. The shortening of the nephron in global AT1a receptor-null mice likely accounts for these animals having concentrating problems under all conditions and differences in serum AVP levels. That collecting-duct–specific AT1a receptor-null mice have normal kidney anatomy and yet show resistance to AVPdependent water reabsorption is consistent with this model providing a more precise understanding of the role of AT1a receptors in renal water metabolism. This study by Stegbauer and colleagues2 also offers additional appreciation from a broader physiologic prospective. It exemplifies that complex biologic functions often are modulated by coordinated but discrete input from converging signals, in this case Ang II and vasopressin, to achieve appropriate outcomes, namely water excretion and urinary concentrating ability. Although complex, the final result is a product of how individual contributions integrate. Thus, detailed understanding of discrete control systems, as provided by Stegbauer and colleagues for AT1a in the collecting duct, is fundamental to understanding physiology and treating disease. DISCLOSURES None.


Objective Community-associated methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (CA-MRSA) is common among men who have sex with men (MSM) in the USA. It is unknown whether this is also the case in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. Design Cross-sectional study. Setting Sexually transmitted infection outpatient low-threshold clinic, Amsterdam, the Netherlands. Participants Between October 2008 and April 2010, a total of 211 men were included, in two groups: (1) 74 MSM with clinical signs of a skin or soft tissue infection (symptomatic group) and (2) 137 MSM without clinical signs of such infections (asymptomatic group). Primary outcome measures S aureus and MRSA infection and/or colonisation. Swabs were collected from the anterior nasal cavity, throat, perineum, penile glans and, if present, from infected skin lesions. Culture for S aureus was carried out on blood agar plates and for MRSA on selective chromagar plates after enrichment in broth. If MRSA was found, the spa-gene was sequenced. Secondary outcome measures Associated demographic characteristics, medical history, risk factors for colonisation with S aureus and high-risk sexual behaviour were collected through a self-completed questionnaire. Results The prevalence of S aureus colonisation in the nares was 37%, the pharynx 11%, the perianal region 12%, the glans penis 10% and in skin lesions 40%. In multivariable analysis adjusting for age, anogenital S aureus colonisation was significantly associated with the symptomatic group (p=0.01) and marginally with HIV (p=0.06). MRSA was diagnosed in two cases: prevalence 0.9% (95% CI 0.1% to 3.4%)). Neither had CA-MRSA strains. Conclusions CA-MRSA among MSM in Amsterdam is rare. Genital colonisation of S aureus is not associated with high-risk sexual behaviour.


OBJECTIVE
We updated our incidence study by identifying Rochester, Minnesota, residents diagnosed with anorexia nervosa during 1985 through 1989.

METHOD
From a community-based epidemiologic resource, 2,806 medical records with diagnoses including anorexia nervosa, eating disorder, bulimia, amenorrhea and other conditions were screened to identify new cases of anorexia nervosa.

RESULTS
Two hundred eight (193 females and 15 males) residents fulfilled standard diagnostic criteria for anorexia nervosa. The overall age-sex-adjusted incidence rate was 8.3 per 100,000 person-years. The age-adjusted incidence among females was 15.0 per 100,000 person-years compared to 1.5 per 100,000 among males. The long-term linear increase for 15 to 24-year-old females noted during the first 50 years of the study continued. The disorder remained less frequent among older females.

DISCUSSION
Anorexia nervosa remains a relatively common disorder among young females. While there are short-term fluctuations in incidence, the long-term increasing trend for 15 to 24-year-old females has continued.


Various protection methods can be used for protecting the pipeline system from the impact of water hammer. Which includes the use of special materials for supporting the pipeline and the installation of special devices such as surge tanks, relief valves, and air chambers. In this study, to protect the pipeline system and reduce the effect of water hammer, surge tank has been used. Governing equations of transient flow with and without surge tank is numerically simulated using MATLAB software. Sensitivity analysis was investigated using several variables such as pipe diameter, wave's velocity and friction factor. Method of characteristics (MOC) was implemented in this study. It was found that the diameter and friction factor of pipe have a significant impact on the results of transient flow and surge tank compared to the effect of wave's velocity. It has been reached that the capacities of surge tanks at diameter (1m), are (1475m3) at first, second and fourth stages, (1360m3) at third and fifth stages and (570m3) at sixth stage. And at diameter (1.2m), the capacities are (1700m3), (1530m3) and (1475m3) at first, second and third stages respectively. But at diameter (1.4m), the capacities are (1590m3) at first and second stages. For all values of wave's velocity, the capacities of surge tanks are (1760m3), (1530m3) and (1420m3) at first, second and third stages respectively. But the capacities of surge tanks at friction factor (0.007) are (1810m3), (1585m3) and (1245m3) at first, second and third stages respectively. However, for the capacity of surge tanks at the friction factor (0.008), it was mentioned when the surge tanks capacity of the diameter (1.2m) was mentioned. And when the friction factor is (0.009), the capacities are (1460m3) at first stage, (1415m3) at second and third stages and (570m3) at fourth stage


The beneficial effects of consumption of berry fruits on a range of chronic diseases has been attributed (at least in part) to the presence of unique phytochemicals. Recently, we identified novel ursolic acid-based triterpenoid glycosides (TTPNs) in raspberry fruit and demonstrated their survival in human ileal fluids after feeding which confirmed their colon-availability in vivo. In this paper, in vitro digestion studies demonstrated that certain TTPNs were stable under gastrointestinal conditions and confirmed that these components may have been responsible for bioactivity noted in previous studies. Sequential extractions of raspberry puree, isolated seeds and unseeded puree showed that certain TTPN components (e.g. peak T1 m/z 679, and T2 m/z 1358) had different extractabilities in water/solvent mixes and were differentially associated with the seeds. Purified seed TTPNs (mainly T1 and T2) were shown to be anti-genotoxic in HT29 and CCD841 cell based in vitro colonocyte models. Further work confirmed that the seeds contained a wider range of TTPN-like components which were also differentially extractable in water/solvent mixes. This differential extractability could influence the TTPN composition and potential bioactivity of the extracts. There was considerable variation in total content of TTPNs (∼3-fold) and TTPN composition across 13 Rubus genotypes. Thus, TTPNs are likely to be present in raspberry juices and common extracts used for bioactivity studies and substantial variation exists in both content and composition due to genetics, tissue source or extraction conditions, which may all affect observed bioactivity.


Mango (Mangifera indica), a member of the family Anacardiaceae, is one of the world's most popular tropical fruits. Here we sequenced the variety, "Hong Xiang Ya", and generated a 371.6-Mb mango genome assembly with 34,529 predicted protein-coding genes. Aided with the published genetic map, for the first time, we assembled the M. indica genome to the chromosomes, and finally about 98.77% of the genome assembly was anchored to 20 pseudo-chromosomes. The availability of the chromosome-length genome assembly of M. indica will provide novel insights into genome evolution, understand the genetic basis of specialized phytochemical composites relevant to fruit quality, and enhance allele mining in genomics-assisted breeding for mango genetic improvement.


This book is a record of the lectures given at the third International Congress of Roman Frontier Studies held in Switzerland in 1957. Most of the lectures are presented in summary form, the exceptions being a detailed analysis by H. -G. Pflaum of the proper names recorded on the numerous inscriptions from Certa (a sequel to the same scholar's report to the second Congress on the onomastic material from Castellum Celtianum), and a paper by A. Radnoti on the disposition of the auxiliary regiments in the Danubian provinces in the second century A.D. An outstanding contribution is a summary by J. Baradez of the results of ten years research on the hinterland of the Numidian Limes, where the skilful examination of over 3,500 air-photographs has not only revealed in exquisite detail the intricate network of roads on which the Limes depended, together with many forts and irrigation-systems, but has also enabled a number of significant deductions to be made regarding the chronological relationship between various routes. Recent discoveries on other Roman frontiers are considered by H. v. Petrikovits (Lower Germany), J. Szilagyi (Hungary), and F. Krizek (Czechoslovakia), while G. Brusin discusses an interesting late Roman defensive line in the Julian Alps. The other papers range over a wide field. From Britain comes an interim report by I. A. Richmond on the excavation of the legionary fortress at Inchtuthil, and a discussion by J.P.C. Kent of the archaeological significance of barbarous copies of Roman coins.


Embryoids are initiated from single highly cytoplasmic cells of the stem epidermis of plantlets of Ranunculus sceleratus L. derived from callus cultures. The embryoids show embryological development of the Crucifer type except that the suspensor is reduced or suppressed. The cells of the young embryoids have a large central nucleus surrounded by small vacuoles, a cytoplasm rich in free ribosomes or ribosomes in small polysomes, prominent amyloplastids and abundant spherosomes. These cells also frequently contain multivesicular and myelin bodies. The spherosomes are observed in various stages of development; they are typically arranged in a layer below the cell wall, the space between the spherosomes and the wall being rich in spherical vesicles and microtubules. As embryoid development proceeds the plastids show internal differentiation; globular centres and, surrounding them, electron-transparent droplets are associated with the origin of the thylakoid membranes. The walls of the embryogenic cells are initially rich in plasmodesmata but as the embryoid develops cytoplasmic continuity with the embedding tissue is severed and the embryoid is clearly delineated. The embryology and fine structure of the embryoid cells is compared with that of zygotic embryos of Capsella and Ranunculus .


In recent decades many European political parties have broadened the selectorate for the party leadership, often clashing in so doing with their own tradition of decision-making. The article argues that in order to understand what is at stake in the staging of these contests we need to go beyond the classic literature on party change and party organisation and recast such reform through an anthropological lens. We can then explore how rules, practices and narratives constrain internal competition whilst retaining a focus on their strategic use by actors. Rather than see such reform as inspired by a search for organisational efficacy, this approach suggests that we consider leadership selection as a ritual. The conjecture is explored further and developed by comparing the 2010 Labour leadership election and the 2011 Socialist presidential primary.


Oxidative stress plays an essential role in obstructive sleep apnea-hypopnea syndrome-induced cognitive dysfunction in children. This study investigated the effects of edaravone, a potent free radical scavenger, on intermittent hypoxia (IH)-induced oxidative damage and cognition impairment in a young rat model of IH. IH rats were treated with edaravone for 4 weeks. Behavioral testing was performed using the Morris water maze, and hippocampal tissues were harvested for further analyses. Edaravone attenuated IH-induced cognitive impairment, reduced morphological and structural abnormalities, and increased the number of mitochondria in the IH rats. Furthermore, edaravone significantly increased the inhibition of hydroxyl free radicals; reduced expressions of superoxide anion, malondialdehyde, and 8-hydroxy-2'-deoxyguanosine; and upregulated the expression of manganese superoxide dismutase, catalase, cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP), protein kinase A, phosphorylated-cAMP response element-binding (p-CREB), B-cell lymphoma 2, and brain-derived neurotrophic factor in the hippocampal tissue of IH rats. Our findings suggest that edaravone attenuated IH-induced cognitive impairment and hippocampal damage by upregulating p-CREB in young rats.


OBJECTIVE Although cognitive impairments have been observed after subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH), little is known about their neurobiological bases. To examine cholinergic function in such patients, we used a known test for Alzheimer's disease based on an exaggerated pupil dilation response to a cholinergic antagonist, tropicamide (the tropicamide drop test). METHODS Seventeen patients who were treated surgically after aneurysmal SAH were divided into two groups on the basis of their scores on the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE): Group A (MMSE ≥28) and Group B (MMSE ≤27). The mean interval of time between surgery and administration of the MMSE was 4.7 ± 2.1 years for Group A and 4.2 ± 1.3 years for Group B. The tropicamide drop test was performed within 1 month after the MMSE for each patient. After measurement of the baseline pupil diameter (R1, right pupil size: L1, left pupil size), one drop of 0.01% tropicamide was applied to the right eye and physiological saline to the left eye. Pupil diameter (R2, right pupil size; L2, left pupil size) was then remeasured. Data were represented as the dilation ratio of the right pupil (R2/R1) and as the relative dilation ratio of the right pupil to that of the left pupil (R2L1/R1L2). RESULTS The mean dilation ratio of the right pupil (R2/R1) was higher in Group B (1.13 ± 0.09) than in Group A (1.07 ± 0.11), although the difference did not reach statistical significance (P = 0.18). The relative dilation ratio (R2L1/R1L2) was significantly higher in Group B (1.41 ± 0.36) than in Group A (1.06 ± 0.20) (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION We determined cholinergic dysfunction in patients with cognitive impairment after SAH on the basis of the pupillary response to tropicamide. The results provide an insight into the pathophysiology of cognitive impairments after SAH, which might lead to future treatment strategies.


In this article, the grid side converter of a low power on-grid WECS has been investigated where two Pulse Width Modulation techniques—Space Vector Pulse Width Modulation (SVPWM) and Discontinuous Pulse Width Modulation (DPWM)- applied to compare switching losses of semiconductors and THD of the system. For this purpose, SIMULINK/MATLAB simulation was run to calculate the THD of the grid current in inverter operation at the grid side converter. Also the switching instances of the active elements have been determined and Visual Basic based program has been used to calculate the switching losses at these instances. The results have shown that, SVPWM has better THD performance over DPWM at the same switching frequency. However, by carefully selecting the switching frequency of DPWM higher than that of SVPWM without increasing the switching losses of DPWM beyond the switching losses of SVPWM, it is possible to find switching frequency values at which DPWM can have better THD performance.


Cloud Computing is a promising computing paradigm that provides flexible, Internet-accessible resources allocation on demand on a pay-as-you-go basis. With the growth and expansion of Cloud services and participation of various services providers, the description of quality parameters and measurement units started to diverse and sometimes contradict. Such ambiguity does not only result in the raise of various QoS interoperability problems, but also in the distraction of the services consumers who find themselves unable to match their quality requirements with the providers' offerings. Influenced by such diversity, the available QoS models are limited to either cost-benefit analysis or performance evaluation, without being able to cover a comprehensive set of well-defined quality aspects. In this paper, we provide a complete framework for such problem. We firstly propose a novel QoS ontology that combine and define all of the existing quality aspects in a unified way to efficiently overcome all existing diversity. Using such ontology, we propose a comprehensive broad QoS model combining all quality parameters of both service providers and consumers for different Cloud platforms. We then propose a mathematical model addressing the Cloud Computing service provider selection optimization problem based on QoS-guarantee. The proposed model reports an efficient matching with the market-oriented different platforms characteristics; validated through extensive simulation studies conducted on benchmark data of Content Delivery Network providers.


A simple, accurate and precise RP-HPLC method has been developed for the quantitative estimation of prulifloxacin in pharmaceutical formulations. Prulifloxacin is a prodrug, and is metabolized in the body to the active compound ulifloxacin. Prulifloxacin appeared as effective as ciprofloxacin, coamoxiclav or pefloxacin in the treatment of bronchitis exacerbations or lower urinary tract infections. A RP-HPLC method was developed by using a Phenomenex Luna C18 column (250 mm length, 4.6 mm internal diameter and 5?m particle size) and a 60 : 40 v/v mixture of 10 mM phosphate buffer (pH adjusted to 3.0 after addition of 2.5 mL of triethyl amine) and acetonitrile was used as mobile phase. The analyte was monitored with UV detector at 275 nm. Typical retention time for prulifloxacin was found to be 6.8 min. The method was statistically validated for its linearity, accuracy and precision. Due to its simplicity and accuracy, the method can be used for routine quality control of prulifloxacin in pharmaceutical formulations.


Recent technology has involved TCP in wireless applications even if it was originally designed to work over wired links. It is well known that wireless links are usually characterized by phenomena like shadowing, multipath propagation and path loss that cause an increase in the bit error rate. Moreover,TCP protocol was supposed to interpret all the losses as due to congestion because of it was designed to work over wired networks. All these problems caused by the wireless application of TCP usually degrade TCP performances. In order to improve TCP behavior over wireless links several solutions have been proposed in literature as: the split connection approach, the end-to-end approach and the link-layer approach. Starting from the link-layer solution that have been studied by Barman and Matta, the main contribution of this thesis is the study of the effects of different modulation formats on the maximum achievable value of an objective function, defined as the ratio between the TCP throughput and a cost function. Appropriate power management and error correction techniques are assumed to improve the link reliability observed by TCP and increase the objective function performance accordingly.


Two multi-objective management models are applied on a local area selected from the regional Gaza coastal aquifer. The objectives and constraints of these management scenarios include maximizing the total volume of water pumped, minimizing the salt concentration of the pumped water, and controlling the drawdown limits. The physical model is based on the CODESA-3D density-dependent advective-dispersive solute transport model. Genetic algorithm is used as the optimization tool. The models are tested on a part of the aquifer ( ) with 9 existing pumping wells located at various depths. The results of the optim ization show that the optimization/simulation approach can give better decision if there is enough information to feed to the model. It confirms that the use of the concept of safe yield alone is not enough for sustainable development of the coastal aquifer. It shows that the optimum pumping rate is in the range of 26%–34% of the total natural replenishment. The application shows that the proposed technique is a powerful tool for solving this type of management problems. 2000 m 2000 m


Whiplash injuries due to rear-end car collisions is one of the most aggravating traffic safety problems with serious implications for the European society. Yearly more than a million European citizens suffer neck injuries from rear-end car collisions, implying tremendous societal costs. Therefore the European Community has sponsored the European Whiplash project. The objective of this paper is to present a general overview of this project. Accident studies show the relevance of rear impact related whiplash injuries and representative rear impact conditions in which whiplash is likely to occur. For the development of a Rear Impact Dummy (RID) typical human responses to rear impact are needed and were obtained with human volunteer and Post Mortem Human Subject tests at low speeds. Accident reconstructions were performed in order to derive injury thresholds for the dummy. Combining information from the accident investigations and the reconstructions, test methods for the evaluation of seats and head restraints were developed. Finally the dummy and the test methods were used to evaluate seats available on the European market.


A uniform solution is proposed to, describe the diffraction by a penetrable anisotropic dielectric halfplane illuminated at normal incidence by an electromagnetic plane wave. Resorting to second-order boundary conditions on a sheet simulating a special type of anisotropic dielectric thin layer, a physical optics (PO) approximation for the induced electric and magnetic surface currents is derived. Then, a uniform asymptotic evaluation of the corresponding radiation integral provides the diffracted field in terms of the standard transition function relevant to the uniform theory of diffraction. The effectiveness of the solution is proved by many numerical tests.


The objective of this research was to characterize the preferences of Chilean consumers toward different-colored cactus pear ecotypes (Opuntia spp.). A survey with closed questions was designed (including different topics as sensory characteristics) and applied to 80 consumers (males and females between 15 and 74 years old). Six colored cactus pear ecotypes (purple, green, yellow, dark orange, pale orange and red) were tasted. The cactus pear was placed in pieces for tasting at 8-10°C. The six ecotypes were evaluated simultaneously, whole and halved, to appreciate the peel thickness and the external characteristics of the six ecotypes studied. The experiment was conducted in two legs associated with different harvesting times, in early February and March. Each consumer performed the external evaluation first and then tasted each fruit, to avoid biases. The information was analyzed by ANOVA, factorial and cluster analysis. The main results shown that the green and yellow fruits were the most preferred from the point of view of taste, with 34.4 and 41.2% of preferences, respectively, while the purple and orange fruits were the least accepted, with 26.9 and 28.1% disapproval, respectively. The appearance of the fruit from the first harvest obtained the highest acceptance values, where the yellow cactus pear showed 31.2% and the green cactus pear 30.0% of preferences. For the second harvest, the yellow cactus pear remained in the first place, but the red cactus pear rose to second place. Three market segments have been identified, one of them where the people claim to be regular cactus pear consumers (47% of the total) and have a positive attitude toward cactus pear, but especially for yellow and green ecotypes. This is in agreement with their favorable disposition toward the texture and juiciness of the fruit.


Alternate delivery systems have made significant inroads in the delivery of health care services in the United States. The emergence of health maintenance organizations (HMOs), preferred provider organizations (PPOs) and other integrated delivery systems have changed the way patients and providers relate to each other. This paper reviews the various types of alternate delivery systems and discusses issues of concern to optometrists who wish to participate in these plans.