Data were collected at twenty-six dive stations at seven discrete latitudes along Fitzgerald Marine Reserve (FMR). Dive stations were targeted at three stratified depth zones: shallow (6.1 m), medium (10.7 m), and deep (16.8 m) in six of the seven locations. Two types of line
transects, emergent and invasive, were completed by separate dive teams at each dive station. The area surveyed totalled 1,510 m2 for emergent and 560 m2 for invasive transects.
Reef habitat dominated all depth zones, with moveable boulder and cobble increasing at medium and shallow depths. Encrusting coraline and surface algae dominated (49%), followed by turf (37%), sub-canopy (11.2%), and rare canopy (0.2%). Canopy was found only at shallow depths. Turf and sub-canopy decreased with depth.
Only two species of abalone, red, Haliotis rufescens, and flat, H. walallensis, were found. Flat abalone were extremely rare with only two found on invasive transects (0.004 abalone m-2). Red abalone densities were low at both emergent (0.02 abalone m-2, s.e.=O.Ol) and
invasive (0.07 abalone m-2, s.e.=0.03 ) transects. Red abalone concentrations differed significantly by depth and location. No abalone were found at deep depths and only one
sport-legal (178 mm shell length) abalone was found at medium depth. One commercial legal (198 mm shell length) abalone was found on the entire survey. Most sport-legal abalone were located in cryptic habitat in shallow invasive transects (38%), compared to 7% on emergent transects. The only evidence of recruitment was found on invasive transects where three young-of-the-year (<=31 mm shell length) red abalone were found. Evidence from our survey and other sources suggests that sport and commercial fisheries are not sustainable off the San Mateo coast.
Red urchin, Stongylocentrotus franciscanus, were more abundant than purple urchin, S. purpuratus, or red abalone. Red urchin densities were lower in emergent (1.08 urchin m-2,s.e.=0.04) than invasive (1.52, s.e.=0.06 m-2) transects. Densities of red urchin at deep stations in areas of lower algal abundance and potentially greater commercial fishing pressure were about one-half the densities at medium and shallow depths. ANOVA showed significant differences by depth and location. Mean Test Diameter (MTD) increased from deep to medium to shallow depths, while juvenile (<=50 mm) MTD showed an inverse
relationship with depth. Shallow-depth invasive transects revealed a missing mode of 83 mm red urchin. This size mode was not found in emergent transects, probably due to cryptic habitat.
Purple urchin were found at low densities at all three depth strata. Purple urchin densities were comparable in emergent (0.11 urchin m-2, s.e.=0.02 ) and invasive (0.09 urchin m-2,s.e.=0.03) transects. ANOVA showed densities varied significantly by location but not depth. 'Juvenile' purple urchin abundance showed an inverse relation to juvenile red urchin, increasing from deep to shallow depths. Purple urchin MTD of 84 mm (s.d.=23) was larger
than reported for intertidal areas off FMR.
Sea stars were found in high abundance off FMR. Bat stars, Asterina minata, had the highest densities (0.79 sea stars m-2, s.e.=0.03) followed by Pisaster sp. (0.47 sea stars m-2,s.e.=0.03 ), and sunflower stars, Pycnopodia helianthoides, (0.11 sea stars m-2, s.e.=0.04).
Pisaster sp. was the only group of sea stars where differences in density were significant by depth or location. (30pp.)


New Zealand has produced one of the world's most vibrant film cultures, a reflection of the country's evolving history and the energy and resourcefulness of its people. From early silent features like "The Te Kooti Trail" to recent films such as "River Queen," this book examines the role of the cinema of New Zealand in building a shared sense of national identity. The works of key directors, including Peter Jackson, Jane Campion, and Vincent Ward, are here introduced in a new light, and select films are given in-depth coverage. Among the most informative accounts of New Zealand's fascinating national cinema, this will be a must for film scholars around the globe.


The bus driver scheduling problem (BDSP) under study consists in finding a set of duties that covers the bus schedule from a Brazilian public transportation bus company with the objective of minimizing the total cost. A deterministic 2-phase heuristic algorithm is proposed using multiple assignment problems that arise from a model based on a weighted multipartite graph. In the first phase, the algorithm constructs an initial feasible solution by solving a number of assignment problems. In the second phase, the algorithm attempts to improve the solution by two different procedures. One procedure takes the whole set of duties and divides them in a set of partial duties which are recombined. The other procedure seeks to improve single long duties by eliminating the overtime time and inserting it into another duty. Computational tests are performed using large-scale real-world data with more than 2,300 tasks and random instances extracted from real data. Three different objective functions are analyzed. The overall results indicate that the proposed approach is competitive to solve large BDSP.


Osteosarcoma arising from cortical surface is classified into parosteal, periosteal and high-grade surface osteosarcoma. Along the spectrum, parosteal osteosarcoma occupies the well-differentiated end. It is a relatively rare disease entity, comprised only 4% of all osteosarcomas and barely reported in the literature. The objective of this study is to describe cases of parosteal osteosarcoma as well as a variety of treatment options amenable to such entity. Six cases of parosteal osteosarcoma were identified based on histopathological reports in a tertiary referral hospital in Jakarta, Indonesia between January 2001 and December 2019. The mean age was 29.8 years old; four of them (66.7%) were male. Distal end of femur was the most commonly involved bone (five cases, 83.3%). The patients were treated with wide excision followed by several different reconstruction methods: replacement with endoprosthesis, extracorporeal irradiation, knee arthrodesis, or prophylactic fixation. One of our patients presented with dedifferentiated component, and therefore was treated by limb ablation. While two cases died of pulmonary metastasis, other patients reported fair to excellent functional outcome.


A photocatalytic planar reactor with an immobilized nanoporous BiVO4 film has been integrated with a blue-light panel LED, which acts as the light source. The microreactor utilizes two BiVO4-coated glasses as the top and the bottom layer and a UV curable resin layer as the spacer. The UV spacer is patterned with tree-shaped microchannels and a reaction chamber (10 ´ 10 ´ 0.1 mm3). It was found that under blue light of 140 mW/cm2 (the LED is powered at 11 V, 402 nm ) and the flow rate of 37.5 µl/min, the microreactor has the optimum performance with a degradation rate of about 3%/s and a photonic utilization efficiency ³ 0.02%. However, the photonic efficiency can be improved to 0.3% when LED is powered at 9 V.


Estimation of the probability of occurrence of future flood events at one or more locations across a river system is frequently required for the design of bridges, culverts, spillways, dams and other engineering works. This study investigates some of the statistical aspects for estimating the flood frequency distribution at a single site and on regional basis. It is demonstrated that generalized logistic (GL) distribution has many properties well suited for the modelling of flood frequency data. The GL distribution performs better than the other commonly recommended flood frequency distributions in terms of several key properties. Specifically, it is capable of reproducing almost the same degree of skewness typically present in observed flood data. It appears to be more robust to the presence of extreme outliers in the upper tail of the distribution. It has a relatively simpler mathematical form. Thus all the well known methods of parameter estimation can be easily implemented. It is shown that the method of probability weighted moments (PWM) using the conventionally recommended plotting position substantially effects the estimation of the shape parameter of the generalized extreme value (GEV) distribution by relocating the annual maximum flood series. A location invariant plotting position is introduced to use in estimating, by the method of PWM, the parameters of the GEV and the GL distributions. Tests based on empirical distribution function (EDF) statistics are proposed to assess the goodness of fit of the flood frequency distributions. A modified EDF test is derived that gives greater emphasis to the upper tail of a distribution which is more important for flood frequency prediction. Significance points are derived for the GEV and GL distributions when the parameters are to be estimated from the sample data by the method of PWMs. The critical points are considerably smaller than for the case where the parameters of a distribution are assumed to be specified. Approximate formulae over the whole range of the distribution for these tests are also developed which can be used for regional assessment of GEV and GL models based on all the annual maximum series simultaneously in a hydrological region. In order to pool at-site flood data across a region into a single series for regional analysis, the effect of standardization by at-site mean on the estimation of the regional shape parameter of the GEV distribution is examined. Our simulation study based on various synthetic regions reveals that the standardization by the atsite mean underestimates the shape parameter of the GEV by about 30% of its true value and also contributes to the separation of skewness of observed and simulated floods. A two parameter standardization by the at-site estimates of location and scale parameters is proposed. It does not distort the shape of the flood frequency data in the pooling process. Therefore, it offers significantly improved estimate of the shape parameter, allows pooling data with heterogeneous coefficients of variation and helps to explain the separation of skewness effect. Regions on the basis of flood statistics L-CV and USKEW are derived for Scotland and North England. Only about 50% of the basins could be correctly identified as belonging to these regions by a set of seven catchment characteristics. The alternative approach of grouping basins solely on the basis of physical properties is preferable. Six physically homogeneous groups of basins are identified by WARD's multivariate clustering algorithm using the same seven characteristics. These regions have hydrological homogeneity in addition to their physical homogeneity. Dimensionless regional flood frequency curves are produced by fitting GEV and GL distributions for each region. The GEV regional growth curves imply a larger return period for a given magnitude flood. When floods are described by GL model the respective return periods are considerably smaller.


Electrical and optical properties of 1wt% ZnO-doped (Zr0.8Sn0.2)TiO4 thin films prepared by rf magnetron sputtering on ITO/Glass substrates at different rf power and substrate temperature were investigated. The surface structural and morphological characteristics analyzed by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and atomic force microscope (AFM) were found to be sensitive to the deposition conditions, such as rf power and substrate temperature. The selected-area diffraction pattern showed that the deposited films exhibited a polycrystalline microstructure. All films exhibited ZST (111) orientation perpendicular to the substrate surface and the grain size as well as the deposition rate of the film increased with the increase in both the rf power and the substrate temperature. Optical transmittance spectroscopy further revealed high transparency (over 60%) in the visible region of the spectrum.


A molecularly imprinted electrochemical quartz crystal microbalance (EQCM) sensor is fabricated here for taurine, a β‐amino acid significant for functioning of almost all vital organs. The polymeric film of l‐methionine was electrochemically deposited on gold‐coated EQCM electrode. Experimental parameters were optimized for controlling the performance of molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP)‐modified sensor such as ratio of monomer and template, number of electropolymerization cycles, mass deposited in each cycle, and pH. Thus, fabricated MIP‐EQCM sensor was successfully applied for estimation of taurine in solutions with varying matrices, such as aqueous, human blood plasma, milk from cow, buffalo, and milk powder. Under optimized parameters, response of MIP sensor to taurine was linearly proportional to its concentration with limit of detection as 0.12μM. Hence, a highly sensitive and selective piezoelectric sensor for taurine has been reported here via imprinting approach.


The purpose of these audits was to ensure the quality, integrity and validity of investigational data. Audits were performed by control of compliance to standard operational procedures (SOPs) for Good Clinical Practice (GCP). Guidelines were proposed and established by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 1977-1979 and adopted by several countries of the European Community in 1987-1989 and 1990. In Argentina, 12 on site audits of clinical trials performed between 1987 and 1990, were carried out. Basic data of GCP, audited in 58 out of 153 patients included in 12 different centers, were: protection of individual rights, compliance to standard operational procedures, adverse event reports, access to original investigational data and source document archives. The analysis of all audited data showed that patient case reports form recorded findings are credible and reliable and that researchers and monitors had conducted the study with an acceptable level in accordance to SOPs of good clinical practice. Otherwise, several in need of change to obtain better clinical data were identified: ethical committees, written informed consent, protocol adherence, data record, drug accountability, document source archives and the necessity of a thorough theorical and practical training on SOPs for GCP for researchers and monitors of clinical trials.


This research "The use of plants as a traditional medicine for the Tolitolinese in Pinjan village, sub-district of North Tolitoli, Tolitoli regency, Central Sulawesi Province" was carried out from December 2012 to March 2013. The research aimed at finding out information regarding the use of plant species, the use of plants, the kinds of diseases that could be treated by using plants and how to use the plans as medicines for the Tolitolinese in Pinjan village. This was a descriptive research. The data were collected through interview of semi-structured (list of questionnaire), involving 41 respondents. The research result showed that there were 42 species of plant used as traditional medicines. The species mostlyused were Zingiberaceae Family (6 Species). The parts of plants used were root, rhizome, stem, leaf, fruit, and seed, but leaves, 48 % were mostle used. The villagers consumed the plant medicine for recovering chronic, communicable, and incommunicable diseases and for maintaining health. The ways of how to produce include boiling, grilling, chewing, smearing, and slicing. The highest level of knowledge or use of the villagers was 92 % toward the medicine plants with species of Piper beetle L. Keywords: Etnobotany, Medicine Plants, Pinjan village.


Abstract With the upscaling of antiretroviral therapy (ART) in resource-poor countries, many HIV-positive persons in Ghana have been accessing treatment in hospitals. Prevalence is relatively low compared to other African countries, 1.30%. HIV/AIDS remains heavily stigmatised in Ghana, which influences the provision and use of ART. This article investigates how HIV-positive persons accessing care and treatment go about their everyday lives in the ART clinic and how they have eventually come to see the clinic as a safe place that they call 'home'. The study took place in two Ghanaian hospitals in the Ashanti Region which in 2013 had the country's highest HIV prevalence rate of 1.30% [Ghana Health Service [GHS]/National AIDS Control Programme [NACP] (2013). 2013 HIV Sentinel Survey Report, Accra, Ghana]. It was conducted through ethnographic research, with data gathered in the two facilities through participant observation, conversations and in-depth interviews. It took place over a period of 15 months, between 2007 and 2010. In all, 24 health workers and 22 clients were interviewed in depth, while informal conversations were held with many others. The findings show that clients have adopted the clinic as a second home and used it to carry out various activities in order to avoid identification and stigmatisation as People Living with AIDS (PLWA). The most dramatic outcome was that, contrary to Ghanaian norms and values, people turned to non-kin for assistance. Accordingly, fellow clients and health personnel, rather than relatives, have become their 'therapy management group' [Janzen, J. M. (1987). Therapy Management: Concept, Reality, Process. Medical Anthropology Quarterly, 1(1), 68–84]. The clients have thus created a fictive family within the clinic – made up of health workers (as 'parents'), the clients themselves (as 'children') and the peer educators (as 'aunts' and 'uncles'). In the face of persistent stigma associated with HIV infection in Ghana, the use of the clinic as a 'home' has on the one hand helped those receiving treatment to maintain their position, respect and reputation within their families and community, while on the other it prevents PLWA from disclosing. The study concludes that compassion is an important element in the professionalisation of healthcare workers in low-prevalence countries.


Abstract Background: Textbooks are integral tools for teachers' lessons. Several researchers observed that school teachers rely heavily on textbooks as informational sources when planning lessons. Moreover, textbooks are an important resource for developing students' knowledge as they contain various representations that influence students' learning. However, several studies report that students have difficulties understanding models in general, and chemical bonding models in particular, and that students' difficulties understanding chemical bonding are partly due to the way it is taught by teachers and presented in textbooks. Purpose: This article aims to delineate the influence of textbooks on teachers' selection and use of representations when teaching chemical bonding models and to show how this might cause students' difficulties understanding. Sample: Ten chemistry teachers from seven upper secondary schools located in Central Sweden volunteered to participate in this study. Design and methods: Data from multiple sources were collected and analysed, including interviews with the 10 upper secondary school teachers, the teachers' lesson plans, and the contents of the textbooks used by the teachers. Results: The results revealed strong coherence between how chemical bonding models are presented in textbooks and by teachers, and thus depict that textbooks influence teachers' selection and use of representations for their lessons. As discussed in the literature review, several of the selected representations were associated with alternative conceptions of, and difficulties understanding, chemical bonding among students. Conclusions: The study highlights the need for filling the gap between research and teaching practices, focusing particularly on how representations of chemical bonding can lead to students' difficulties understanding. The gap may be filled by developing teachers' pedagogical content knowledge regarding chemical bonding and scientific models in general.


Abstract In order to improve fast reactor performance, optimization of the design margin is required. Consequently, a probabilistic method for fuel rod design is being considered, and the Baysian Oriented Fuel Rod Performance Evaluation (BORNFREE) probabilistic code, which computed the statistical responses of several performance parameters concerning fuel rod integrity, was developed. The probability that the performance parameter exceeds the criterion and the design margin can be quantitatively estimated by using this code. In this study, uncertainties that affect the cladding stress, which is one of the performance parameters that restricts the lifetime of a fuel rod, were statistically simulated, and the probabilistic results were compared with the deterministic results of the conventional method. As a result of the trial computation, it was confirmed that the deterministic results were adequately conservative and exceeded the 3σ upper level of the probabilistic results for any case. Furthermore, the deterministic results showed significant overestimation as compared with the probabilistic results. Consequently, it is suggested that the probabilistic method is a feasible option to optimize the design evaluation to expand the lifetime of a fuel rod.


Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays were developed to detect immunoglobulin M (IgM) and immunoglobulin G (IgG) antibodies to Borrelia burgdorferi, the etiologic agent of Lyme disease. Of the 135 blood samples obtained during 1985-1986 from persons in Connecticut with erythema migrans or other clinical manifestations of this spirochetosis, 106 (79%) contained IgM antibody. In separate tests for IgG antibody, 106 (83%) of 128 specimens were considered positive. To assess the specificity of these assays, the authors analyzed sera from patients with other spirochetal infections or nonrelated diseases. Heterologous IgM antibody was detected in 32 (42%) of 77 samples, while cross-reactivity occurred in 17 (25%) of 69 sera screened for IgG antibody. Geometric mean titers for homologous reactions were usually twofold or more higher than those of heterologous reactions. Information on IgG antibody is particularly useful for serodiagnosis, but because of the cross-reactivity among Borrelia and Treponema, clinical data and the use of other serologic tests may be needed to separate Lyme disease from other spirochetal infections.


Mutually unbiased bases, mutually unbiased measurements and general symmetric informationally complete measurements are three related concepts in quantum information theory. We investigate multipartite systems using these notions and present some criteria detecting entanglement of arbitrary high dimensional multi-qudit systems and multipartite systems of subsystems with different dimensions. It is proved that these criteria can detect the k-nonseparability (k is even) of multipartite qudit systems and arbitrary high dimensional multipartite systems of m subsystems with different dimensions. We show that they are more efficient and wider of application range than the previous ones. They provide experimental implementation in detecting entanglement without full quantum state tomography.


A derivative UV spectrophotometric and a reversed phase high-performance liquid chromatographic method for the determination of ciprofibrate in tablets was developed. The first-order derivative UV spectrophotometric method was found to be accurate with 100.57±0.97 recovery and precise with a coefficient of variation of 1.44. These results were compared to those obtained by reference methods, zero-order UV spectrophotometric method and a reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography method. A reversed-phase C8 column with methanol:water (90:10, v/v, pH 3.7) mobile phase was used and the detector wavelength was set at 232 nm. Calibration solutions used in HPLC were ranging from 2 to 12 μg/ml. An ANOVA test (P = 0.0226, F = 4.935) showed that the results obtained with the derivative UV spectrophotometric method were comparable to those obtained using reference methods.


Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health (ASRH) is one of five areas of focus of the World Bank's Reproductive Health Action Plan 2010-2015 (RHAP), which recognizes the importance of addressing ASRH as a development issue with important implications for poverty reduction. Delaying childbearing and preventing unintended pregnancies during adolescence has been shown to schooling, future employment, and earnings (Greene & Merrick, 2005). Early marriage often marks the beginning of exposure to the risk of pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections (STIs). Research has shown that adolescent marriage is associated with unplanned pregnancy, rapid repeat childbirth, inadequate use of maternal health services, and poor birth outcomes, among other negative maternal and child health outcomes (Godha, Hotchkiss, and Gage, 2013; Raj & Boehmer, 2013; Santhya, 2011). Furthermore, research in Ethiopia has found that adolescent females who marry before the age of 15 are at higher risk of intimate partner violence and coercive sex than those who marry between ages 15-18 (Erulkar, 2013). At the 65th World Health Assembly, representatives agreed that early marriage is a violation of the rights of children and adolescents. Early marriage is illegal in most of the places where it occurs. It limits young girls' autonomy, knowledge, resources, and decision-making power (World Bank, 2014). Adolescent marriage is also much more likely to affect females than males: in the developing world, 16 percent of females are married in comparison to 3 percent of males (UNFPA, 2013).


The bioavailability of catchment-derived particulate phosphorus (PP) to lentic phytoplankton was investigated. Two stream inflows to Lake Rotorua (Bay of Plenty, New Zealand) were sampled during moderate (March) and large (August) discharge peaks in 2012. Phosphorus (P) fractions in samples were quantified and a bioassay was undertaken using samples from the March event to determine whether P-limited phytoplankton could utilise PP. Phosphorus composition differed markedly between events but was comparable between streams. For the March event, all PP (persulphate extractable) was bioavailable if exposed to anoxia, whereas c. 25% was potentially bioavailable for the August event. Despite this, the laboratory bioassay indicated that, under oxic conditions, suspended sediments acted as a sink rather than a source of bioavailable P to P-limited phytoplankton. This study highlights the importance of considering P speciation and the nature of the receiving environment when assessing the bioavailability of P transported through hydrological landscapes.


The integration of physicians into the management and policy-making structure of the hospital has been widely touted as necessary to achieve organizational efficiencies in a changing health care environment. This paper examines the implications of five such integrative strategies for hospital costs. Our findings indicate that greater administrative participation by physicians is consistently related to higher costs. We also found that other integrative strategies are associated with higher hospital costs in specific types of hospitals. We discuss the implications of our findings for hospital managers and policy makers.


Efficient allocation of transport supply and demand is a key element of any well-functioning modern city. Use of mobility pricing as a transport demand management tool can assist to achieve this goal by helping to provide for an economically and socially optimal use of the available infrastructure. However, pricing of public goods can affect equity and have unintended redistribution effects, making its application challenging and unpopular with the public. This is primarily due to the complexity of optimal pricing problem and the limitations of travel behaviour and transport demand allocation models. Modelling and predicting impact of pricing policies requires capturing user?s heterogeneity, understanding the distribution of diverse transport needs and assessing the available alternatives, in all of their dimensions and interdependencies. This thesis applies an activity- and agent based simulation framework (MATSim) to study the effects of optimal congestion and public transport pricing on social and consumer welfare in a multi-modal context and in the presence of user heterogeneity in travel time valuations and trip characteristics. Here, MATSim?s ability to model interaction between public and private transport, including congestion delays and boarding denials due to capacity constraints, proves to be essential. In presenting a new approach for the inclusion of value of time and schedule delay heterogeneity as well as values of in-vehicle crowding into the MATSim framework, this thesis focuses on two major aspects: the impact of the degree of heterogeneity on the benefits from congestion and dynamic public transport pricing policies and the impact of availability of alternative modes of transport on equity. Using multi-modal Corridor and extended Sioux Falls scenarios, the results of this study confirm the potential for dynamic mobility pricing schemes based on internalisation of external costs, to create significant gains in social and consumer welfare. The scale of these gains depends on the scale of road congestion, public transport crowding and demand distribution between the available modes; however, all of these factors are affected by the degree of user heterogeneity. Increasing heterogeneity in the presence of multiple modes with different travel costs can lead to self-organization effects, thereby diminishing the gains of congestion pricing policies. Furthermore, effects on consumer welfare for individuals with low values of time are highly dependent on the availability and service level of an alternative mode. These findings can have significant impact on urban transport policy design when applied to a city-specific transport system and a population with a higher degree of economic and social inequality.


OBJECTIVE
To study the association between paternal exposure to methotrexate within the 90-day period before pregnancy and congenital malformations and stillbirth in the offspring.

METHODS
We conducted a nationwide register study. Our cohort consisted of all live births in Denmark between 1997 and 2011 identified from the Medical Birth Registry. Methotrexate-exposed fathers were identified from the National Prescription Registry. From the national Hospital Registry we identified paternity, live births, and stillbirths as well as discharge diagnoses on congenital malformations.

RESULTS
We identified 849,676 live births with known paternity. There were 127 live births of methotrexate-exposed fathers. Of these, four (3.2%) had major malformations compared with 28,814 (3.4%) of the unexposed. The odds ratio (OR) for major congenital malformation among exposed fathers compared with unexposed was 0.93 (95% confidence interval [CI] 0.34-2.51) and when adjusted for year of birth, maternal age, educational length, household income, and parity, the adjusted OR was 1.01 (95% CI 0.37-2.74). There were no stillbirths in the methotrexate-exposed group compared with 2,541 (0.3%) in the unexposed group and no increased risk of preterm birth (adjusted OR 1.31, 95% CI 0.66-2.59) among the children from exposed fathers.

CONCLUSION
We found no association between paternal exposure to methotrexate within 90 days before pregnancy and congenital malformations, stillbirths, or preterm birth. Available data suggest that prepregnancy paternal methotrexate exposure should not be of major concern. Multinational recommendations should be changed accordingly.


Industrial steam turbines are operated over an extremely wide range of operating conditions. In order to ensure safe turbine operation, even in blade resonance condition, conical friction bolts are mounted between blade reinforcements of adjacent last stage low-pressure blades. These part-span connectors (PSC) provide blade damping and coupling. However, additional losses are generated, which affect the performance of the turbine. In this paper, a numerical and experimental study on aerodynamic optimization of PSCs is presented. State-of-the-art three-dimensional computational fluid dynamics (CFD) applying a nonequilibrium steam model is used to examine the wet steam flow in coupled last stage blading. The one-passage CFD model with parameterized PSC geometry features structured high-resolution hexahedral meshes. Experimental data of measurements with pneumatic multi-hole probes in an industrial steam turbine test rig are used for validation. According to the good agreement between measured and predicted flow field downstream of the last stage rotor blading, the CFD model is valid to capture the loss induced by the PSC. A numerical study on the aerodynamic effects of geometrical variations of PSCs concerning blockage area and shape is presented in this work. Based on this study, a performance assessment of different PSC designs is discussed and numerical results are compared to the loss coefficients predicted by Traupel's analytical correlation, which is widely used in industry.


Introduction Homeless women are at high risk of substance abuse (SA), leading to excess morbidity and mortality. Yet, few homeless women seek SA treatment programs. Objective To determine correlates of SA treatment initiation and completion among homeless women reporting serious drug and alcohol use. Population 1,342 homeless women were recruited from sober living or residential recovery shelters and street outreach in downtown LA. The 794 women (59%) reporting daily use of drugs or alcohol during the prior year comprise the sample. Measures Demographics, SA, childhood sexual/physical abuse, parental SA, support, coping, distress, and medical service use were assessed. Results 31% (246) underwent drug treatment; of these, 71% completed therapy. Women who did receive treatment were more likely to report support from both drug and non-drug-using friends, prior sexual or physical abuse, suicide attempt(s), parents who abused substances, and to display active coping behaviors. Latina women were less likely to receive treatment. Women completing SA treatment were more likely to report peer influence for initiating drug use, support from non-drug-using friends, less parental SA, and to display active coping behaviors. Conclusions Less than one third of homeless women with serious substance use sought treatment and less than three quarters completed therapy. Greater knowledge of the women who seek and complete treatment is valuable both in triaging limited resources and in tailoring programs to users. Strategies to improve parental modeling, coping skills, positive peer influence, and to increase utilization of SA programs are warranted.


The creation of an innovation niche depends on the interaction of three mechanisms involving: converging expectations, networking among the innovation actors, and learning about the novelty through efficient knowledge creation and diffusion. Such mechanisms define the key characteristics of a network of firms (i.e. the innovation niche), and the interaction among them guides the development and diffusion of a new technology. In this paper, we propose an agent-based model to investigate the dynamics characterising such interactions and the role that policy intervention can have in governing the niche development process. Specifically, we consider and assess the impact of two policy actions: (1) increasing actors' expectations towards the new technology by means of information spreading, and (2) providing subsidies aimed at stimulating technological switch. Our results confirm the importance of policy intervention and show the dominance of information spreading activities over subsidies. The former policy action, in fact, preserves a broad consensus around the new technology, a fact which turned out to be fundamental in order to promote efficient knowledge diffusion and the effective use of individual and network resources.


Graphene oxide (GO) is known to interact with single-stranded nucleic acids through pi-stacking interactions and hydrogen bonds between the nucleobases and the hexagonal cells of GO. It also quenches the fluorescence when the fluorophore comes near to the GO mesh. When single-stranded (ss) regions of either DNA or RNA are present, those regions were adsorbed onto the surface of GO with a quenching of fluorescence located proximally to the GO surface. We demonstrated that bound single-stranded nucleic acids can be readily dissociated from GO by disrupting hydrogen bonding with urea, which was confirmed with fluorescence measurement and gel electrophoresis. Hydrogen bonding mainly contributes to the interaction between GO and single-stranded nucleic acids such as ssDNA and RNA. The GO-coated mesoporous silica nanoparticles (GO-MSNs) were synthesized for better separation of RNAs from cells. Cellular RNAs were readily adsorbed and eluted with ease by using GO-MSN and urea, respectively, demonstrating that GO-MSN and urea elution is a facile RNA extraction method.


We analyze the approximation and smoothness properties of fundamental and refinable functions that arise from interpolatory subdivision schemes in multidimensional spaces. In particular, we provide a general construction of bivariate interpolatory refinement masks such that the corresponding fundamental and refinable functions attain the optimal approximation order and smoothness order. In addition, these interpolatory refinement masks are minimally supported and enjoy full symmetry. Several examples are explicitly computed.


A study is reported of the North Central Expressway corridor in Dallas, Texas, which is a major metropolitan area which developed around an existing freeway designed 30 to 40 years ago. The study resulted in recommendations that would increase travel capacity while maintaining its aesthetic appearance. A technical task force developed a detailed set of data concerning each viable alternative for improving transportation facilities in this highly developed corridor. The task force first studied the corridor's land use and travel patterns, both current and projected. The design was evaluated, as were the traffic volumes and traffic operations occurring on it. A framework was then created to develop solutions for the corridor and to systematically evaluate them. The several common characteristics of the solutions are noted. The levels of solutions were classified as maximum, moderate, and do nothing. The alternatives were also differentiated by service orientation. The reduction of alternatives is described. The consensus choice of the technical team and the Citizens Advisory Committee was to construct an "eight-lane plus auxiliary lanes, continuously below grade expressway," with transit in a bored tunnel. It was to be flanked by 2- or 3-lane frontage roads. All cross streets were to be widened, and the frontage road intersections would be improved.


Abstract The development of monoclonal antibodies against antigens associated preferentially with human tumors has reawakened interest in the use of antibodies as site-specific targeting agents for cancer therapy. There are now many reports of the construction of conjugates of drugs and toxins with antibodies which have in vitro toxic properties directed by the antibody moiety. Only recently, however, have limitations to the in vivo therapeutic application of these conjugates become appreciated. These include limited levels of antibodies accumulating in tumor deposits in patients, sometimes marked differences in the biodistribution of antibody-drug conjugates from those seen with free antibody, limited penetration of antibody and drug-antibody conjugates into tumor tissue together with heterogeneity of antigen expression within tumor, and limitation to the cytotoxicity of conjugates caused by the low drug to antibody molar ratios possible without denaturation. It is now becoming appreciated that effective development of this approach will require more than chemical conjugation of existing or even novel drugs or toxins to antibodies so that they are cytotoxic in vitro. Additional strategies will probably have to be employed, including the use of intermediate carriers to increase drug to antibody ratios in conjugates, the production of conjugates without extreme overall charge or conformation changes, techniques to increase antibody localization into tumors by, for example, regional perfusion, blood flow enhancement, or increase in antigenic expression, or the use of conjugates containing mixtures of antibodies or fragments directed against different tumor-associated antigens.


In paper III of this series (arXiv:0901.3612) we proposed a scenario of superconductivity driven by hole "undressing" that involved a complete redistribution of the occupation of single particle energy levels: the holes near the top of the band were proposed to all condense to the bottom of the band. Here we consider a less drastic redistribution involving electrons with a definite spin chirality and show that it is in fact energetically favored by the Coulomb exchange matrix element $J$ over the scenario proposed earlier. It is shown that spin splitting with chiral states reduces the Coulomb repulsion and hence that the Coulomb repulsion promotes spin splitting. Superconductors are proposed to possess a spin-split hole `core' at the bottom of the electronic conduction band in addition to a spin-split Fermi surface. The new scenario leads naturally to the existence of a spin current in the superconducting state and is consistent with the Spin Meissner effect and negative charge expulsion discussed earlier within the theory of hole superconductivity.


Abstract Vertical handover is the evolving concept in 4G for seamless communication between heterogeneous networks. In this paper, our main objective is to analyze handover between two WLAN, two Wimax, two UMTS networks. The vertical handover decision is taken based on the variance based algorithm, which calculates the variance of parameters such as delay, jitter, bandwidth and packet loss for various above mentioned networks and the network with most of the parameters with minimum variance is selected. This algorithm is also compared with other algorithms such as MEW (Multiplicative experiment weighting), SAW (Simple Additive Weighting), TOPOSIS (Technique for order preference by similarity to ideal solution) and GRA (Grey Relational Analysis). These algorithms are appropriate for different traffic classes. Simulation results for proposed variance based algorithm in Matlab is discussed and compared with other Multiple attribute decision making algorithm basis of bandwidth; jitter, delay etc. are discussed in the paper. It can be seen that the proposed variance algorithm gives less packet delay than all the algorithms, Jitter is also is least than all the other algorithms.


Programs that incorporate work-based learning (WBL) experiences in connection with school activities are proliferating, yet we know very little about their quality as learning experiences for young people or the costs associated with participating in them. This article examines two programs operating in the same school district, where students receive course credit for participating in WBL. One program provides unpaid internships each year of high school; the other provides paid work experience for one semester. We contrast the kinds of learning opportunities each offers to students, as measured by a student survey and a case study of program operations. We focus on two issues: the quality of students' work experiences in these programs and the relationship between program participation and school learning, including effects on school work and social experiences. We find that students perceive the quality of their work experiences to be very similar across the programs despite differences in the type of work involved and in several structural features of the programs. We find that both programs have weaknesses in establishing connections between school and work and that the number of hours students work negatively affects some aspects of school performance, such as having time to do homework and the desire to stay in school. Our findings raise questions about the value added of WBL, given costs associated with the program design and delivery and, in some cases, with participation.


Care of patients with proton therapy has increased in the past decade. It is important to report on outcomes and disease specific utilization of particle therapy. In this chapter, we review our experience in developing a registry for pediatric patients treated with radiation to assess outcomes and provide a platform for shared research interests.


The present research is about the interference of the Spanish definite article upon the English definite article usage on Students of Intermediate Intensive English II, Group 04, of the Bachelor of Arts in English Language Teaching at the University of El Salvador, Semester I-2018. The definite article is a unique and complex feature in the English language. It is also one of the most used words in English (Harb, 2014). Many studies have approached the difficulties of acquiring the English definite article when it is studied as a second or foreign language. These studies have concluded that Spanish language has an impact on this process. Students who have a L1 that does not use definite articles find it more difficult to acquire them than students that have an L2 that has articles (Zdorenko & Paradis 2011). Nevertheless, students whose native language contains article systems might find other problems. Many linguists have examined the acquisition process of English articles by learners whose L1 contains articles. Some authors have concluded that "language transfer" is the responsible why students misuse the English definite article (Nitschke, S. et al. 2010). However, there is not much information in order to know for sure that this is the case of students of the Foreign Language Department at University of El Salvador (UES). In order to expand the amount of knowledge regarding the complexity of the topic, it is necessary to determine what theories have to be studied and what particular aspects have to be taken into account in the case of intermediate students of English. This contains some aspects that can help to explain the research topic such as, measuring the influence from Spanish language, showing the hypotheses and the results. First, the statement of the problem leads the way to the whole process of the research. Then, some hypotheses are used to state the problem. Third, the theoretical framework considers some linguistic theories like: Interlanguage, Language Transfer, etc, in order to have a clear idea about the aspects that can lead to a better understanding of the problem. After that, the methodology describes: the type of focus, research method, technique and instruments. The next part is, the population, sampling frame, and sample. Then, the findings are described, containing the data analysis and interpretations of the results. After that the conclusions are presented. And finally, a list of recommendations


Background and objective: Urinary tract infection (UTI) is a condition in which the urinary tract is infected with a pathogen causing inflammation. One of the predisposing factors for UTIs is diabetes mellitus (DM), spillage of glucose into the urine provide a good culture medium for bacteria. The objectives of this study were to evaluate the distribution of UTIs among diabetic patients of both genders with studying the effect of some relative factors, and identifying types of the causal microorganisms. Methods: Diabetic patients (type1 and 2), from both genders were included in this study. All patients were interviewed. Uncontaminated urine samples were collected for microscopic and macroscopic analysis. Isolations and identifications of bacteria were done by standard methods. Results: Out of 150 diabetic patients, 53 (35.33%) have UTI. Gender, middle age and high level of proteinuria were risk factors, while type and duration of DM with its type of treatment, body mass index (BMI), and hypertension were non significant. The isolated types of pathogens were Escherichia coli (45.3%), Klebsiella pneumoniae (15.1%), Staphylococcus saprophyticus (15.1%), Citrobacter diversus (11.3%), Candida albicans (7.5%) and Staphylococcus aureus (5.7%). Conclusion: This study revealed that diabetic females were most susceptible to get UTIs than diabetic males. In both genders the most reliable age for UTI were between 31-40 years. The results showed that the level of proteinuria was higher in patients suffering from UTIs associated with DM, which considered as a risk factor. Certain types of microorganisms were isolated; the most common types were Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae and Staphylococcus saprophyticus.


The micro-morphological characteristics of PM_(2.5), collected in the Kuitun-Dushanzi petrochemical area of the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, China, were studied using a high-resolution field emission scanning electron microscope with energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (FESEM-EDX). The individual particle types of PM_(2.5) were identified, including mineral particles (regular minerals and irregular minerals), spherical particles (coal-fired fly ash and some secondary particles), soot aggregates, and other particles (some particles remained unclassified). Factories, power plants, vehicle emissions, and road dust were major sources of PM_(2.5) in the Kuitun-Dushanzi petrochemical area. Vehicle exhaust and waste gas from a power plant were defined as primary sources of mineral particles. Wind speed in September which was higher than July during the sampling time leads to the lower concentration of regular mineral particles since high wind speeds would reduce the chance of secondary particle generation. As a high wind speed would also easily diffuse the fine particles, the coarse-grained mineral particles had the highest percentages in September; the chain-like soot aggregates and the compact soot aggregates were the majority of all kinds of particles. The sizes of various particles in July and September primarily ranged from 0.1 to 0.5 μm.


The Middle to Upper Cambrian Conasauga Group of the southern Appalachians constitutes part of the thick pericratonic Cambro-Ordovician Sauk sequence that represents the interplay between an extensive carbonate platform to the east and a deeper-water intrashelf shale basin to the west. The Conasauga Group consists of a series of interfingering carbonate and shale formations; the shales represent deeper-water deposition (50 m+), and the carbonates show evidence for gradual shoaling (through aggradation and progradation) from deeper water to shallow water. The upper parts of the Craig Limestone Member (Rogersville Shale) and the Maryville Limestone (both Middle Cambrian) contain evidence for subaerial exposure of subtidal sediments followed by platform drowning. Following platform exposure that shot down carbonate production, a large relative sea-level rise (driven by an increase in the rate of subsidence) led to platform reinundation, but was rapid enough to drown the carbonate platform. Flooding was sufficient to allow deeper-water basinal shales to onlap the drowned platform. Changes in the rate of subsidence driven by thermal cooling of the lithosphere, sediment loading, and/or regional extension were probably responsible for "cyclic" sedimentation, even though burial curves suggest gradual, "thermal" subsidence through this time. Lithofacies patterns and the regional tectonism reviewed herein suggests that the Iapetan margin was not fully stabilized (subsiding uniformly spatially and temporally, a true passive margin) until the Late Cambrian. Critical stratigraphic studies of other Cambrian (and younger) "passive" margins may reveal comparable "anomalies" related to similar, "jerky" subsidence patterns.


A fast block motion estimation algorithm is proposed using modified diamond search patterns. This algorithm utilises the directions and magnitudes of motion vectors between interblocks and uses a smaller number of seach points than conventional diamond search patterns. Simulation results show that the proposed method significantly improves computational speed over other fast motion estimation algorithms without degradation of distortion.


IL-13 is an important mediator of inflammation and remodeling. We hypothesized that adenosine accumulation, alterations in adenosine receptors, and adenosine-IL-13 autoinduction are critical events in IL-13-induced pathologies. To test this, we characterized the effects of IL-13 overexpression on the levels of adenosine, adenosine deaminase (ADA) activity, and adenosine receptors in the murine lung. We also determined whether adenosine induced IL-13 in lungs from ADA-null mice. IL-13 induced an inflammatory and remodeling response that caused respiratory failure and death. During this response, IL-13 caused a progressive increase in adenosine accumulation, inhibited ADA activity and mRNA accumulation, and augmented the expression of the A1, A2B, and A3 but not the A2A adenosine receptors. ADA enzyme therapy diminished the IL-13-induced increase in adenosine, inhibited IL-13-induced inflammation, chemokine elaboration, fibrosis, and alveolar destruction, and prolonged the survival of IL-13-transgenic animals. In addition, IL-13 was strongly induced by adenosine in ADA-null mice. These findings demonstrate that adenosine and adenosine signaling contribute to and influence the severity of IL-13-induced tissue responses. They also demonstrate that IL-13 and adenosine stimulate one another in an amplification pathway that may contribute to the nature, severity, progression, and/or chronicity of IL-13 and/or Th2-mediated disorders.


Neutropenia is a frequent dose-limiting complication of chemotherapy. Although myeloid growth factors decrease the risk of febrile neutropenia and the resulting complications of hospitalizations, dose delays, and dose reductions, not all patients need or benefit from the prophylactic administration of myeloid growth factors. A recent risk model showed that the predictors of febrile neutropenia include anthracycline use, poor performance status, and low pretreatment blood counts. These predictors may be used in addition to the intensity of the chosen chemotherapy regimen to determine whether a patient warrants primary prophylaxis with myeloid growth factors. The 2005 guidelines of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network call for primary prophylactic use in all patients with a risk of febrile neutropenia above 20%. Other recent studies show that pegylated filgrastim is also effective at preventing febrile neutropenia in patients receiving intermediate- risk chemotherapy.


In 1980 Leon Lederman started Saturday Morning Physics with a handful of volunteer physicists, around 300 students and all the physics teachers who tagged along. Today Fermilab offers over 30 programs annually with help from 250 staff volunteers and 50 educators, and serves around 40,000 students and 2,500 teachers. Find out why we bother. Over the years we have learned to take advantage of opportunities and confront challenges to offer effective programs for teachers and students alike. We offer research experiences for secondary school teachers and high school students. We collaborate with educators to design and run programs that meet their needs and interests. Popular school programs include classroom presentations, experience-based field trips, and high school tours. Through our work in QuarkNet and I2U2, we make real particle physics data available to high school students in datadriven activities as well as masterclasses and e-Labs. Our professional development activities include a Teacher Resource Center and workshops where teachers participate in authentic learning experiences as their students would. We offer informal classes for kids and host events where children and adults enjoy the world of science. Our website hosts a wealth of online resources. Funded by the U.S. Department of Energy, the more » National Science Foundation and Fermilab Friends for Science Education, our programs reach out across Illinois, throughout the United States and even around the world. We will review the program portfolio and share comments from the volunteers and participants. « less


During the expansion of urban areas, small natural reserves have often been left intact within the built environment as central elements of biodiversity conservation, ecological connectivity, landscape sustainability, and quality of life of urban dwellers. Consequently, the surrounding urbanized landscape may impact the environmental conditions of these reserves (e.g., high temperatures, low moisture conditions), resulting in the need for extensive maintenance. This study presents an estimation of the water balance over two years (2017–2018) in three small urban reserves (between 2 and 30 ha) within the Greater Melbourne metropolitan area in Australia, for the purpose of understanding tree water use. Measurements of micrometeorological variables, soil moisture content profiles, water-table levels, sap flow velocities, and stem diameter variations were used to quantify the water sources of tree transpiration in these reserves. Results revealed that, despite the urban surroundings and the climate variations, these reserves have enough water to sustain tree transpiration. In two of the three reserves, groundwater was pivotal in sustaining transpiration rates; specifically, groundwater was estimated to contribute about 30–40% of the total transpiration amount during the driest periods of the year. Groundwater also played an essential role during nights with temperatures above 25 °C, helping trees to maintain night-time water use from 3 to 16% of the daily water use. In the third reserve, the presence of a shallow layer of heavy clay supplied water to the trees, which were able to maintain relatively constant transpiration rates throughout the year. These results demonstrate the importance of understanding the water regime of each urban reserve in order to support government authorities in preserving these ecosystems.


Background The rising prevalence of modifiable lifestyle-related risk factors (e.g. overweight and physical inactivity) suggests the need for effective and safe preoperative interventions to improve outcomes after cardiac surgery. This retrospective study explored potential short-term postoperative benefits and unintended consequences of a multidisciplinary prehabilitation program regarding in-hospital complications. Methods Data on patients who underwent elective cardiac surgery between January 2014 and April 2017 were analyzed retrospectively. Pearson's chi-squared tests were used to compare patients who followed prehabilitation (three times per week, at a minimum of three weeks) during the waiting period with patients who received no prehabilitation. Sensitivity analyses were performed using propensity-score matching, in which the propensity score was based on the baseline variables that affected the outcomes. Results Of 1201 patients referred for elective cardiac surgery, 880 patients met the inclusion criteria, of whom 91 followed prehabilitation (53.8% ≥ 65 years, 78.0% male, median Euroscore II 1.3, IQR, 0.9–2.7) and 789 received no prehabilitation (60.7% ≥ 65 years, 69.6% male, median Euroscore II 1.6, IQR, 1.0–2.8). The incidence of atrial fibrillation (AF) was significantly lower in the prehabilitation group compared to the unmatched and matched standard care group (resp. 14.3% vs. 23.8%, P = 0.040 and 14.3% vs. 25.3%, P = 0.030). For the other complications, no between-group differences were found. Conclusions Prehabilitation might be beneficial to prevent postoperative AF. Patients participated safely in prehabilitation and were not at higher risk for postoperative complications. However, well-powered randomized controlled trials are needed to confirm and deepen these results.


Background Anopheles funestus is a principal vector of malaria across much of tropical Africa and is considered one of the most efficient of its kind, yet studies of this species have lagged behind those of its broadly sympatric congener, An. gambiae. In aid of future genomic sequencing of An. funestus, we explored the whole body transcriptome, derived from mixed stage progeny of wild-caught females from Mali, West Africa. Principal Findings Here we report the functional annotation and comparative genomics of 2,005 expressed sequence tags (ESTs) from An. funestus, which were assembled with a previous EST set from adult female salivary glands from the same mosquito. The assembled ESTs provided for a nonredundant catalog of 1,035 transcripts excluding mitochondrial sequences. Conclusions/Significance Comparison of the An. funestus and An. gambiae transcriptomes using computational and macroarray approaches revealed a high degree of sequence identity despite an estimated 20–80 MY divergence time between lineages. A phylogenetically broader comparative genomic analysis indicated that the most rapidly evolving proteins– those involved in immunity, hematophagy, formation of extracellular structures, and hypothetical conserved proteins– are those that probably play important roles in how mosquitoes adapt to their nutritional and external environments, and therefore could be of greatest interest in disease control.


The present study aimed to evaluate the predictive value of eosinophils and markers of their activity for bronchial hyper‐reactivity (BHR) in a population of patients with recently developed clinical symptoms of asthma. The activation of eosinophils was estimated by measuring eosinophil cationic protein (ECP) in serum. In addition, flow cytometry was used to measure the expression of the EG2‐epitope on intracellular ECP in eosinophils from peripheral blood. Twenty‐eight consecutive patients with clinical history of asthma were studied. Of the 28 patients, 18 had a positive bronchial challenge test measured as PD20 1600 μg histamine. A significantly higher concentration of eosinophils and a trend to higher ECP in the peripheral blood was found in the hyper‐reactive group than in the nonreactive group. However, the intracellular expression of ECP did not correlate with the PD, value, and no significant difference between the groups was found. With one eosinophil activity marker, either serum ECP or EG2, BHR could be predicted in 70% of the patients. If we combined any two of the activity markers (serum ECP, EG2, or the percentage of eosinophils), the predictive value increased to 100%. We conclude that the blood eosinophil concentration, as well as, to some extent, serum ECP, has a high specificity for BHR in patients with recently developed clinical symptoms of asthma. Despite normal bronchial reactivity, some patients had signs of activated eosinophils, i.e., high serum ECP and increased EG2 expression. Thus, these markers may reflect early stages in the development of BHR. Our results also indicate that a combined evaluation of percentage of eosinophils and of eosinophil activity markers is of clinical value to predict BHR.


The diffusion of sugar in aqueous solution is important both in nature and in technological applications, yet measurements of diffusion coefficients at low water content are scarce. We report directly measured sucrose diffusion coefficients in aqueous solution. Our technique utilises a Raman isotope tracer method to monitor the diffusion of non-deuterated and deuterated sucrose across a boundary between the two aqueous solutions. At a water activity of 0.4 (equivalent to 90 wt% sucrose) at room temperature, the diffusion coefficient of sucrose was determined to be approximately four orders of magnitude smaller than that of water in the same material. Using literature viscosity data, we show that, although inappropriate for the prediction of water diffusion, the Stokes–Einstein equation works well for predicting sucrose diffusion under the conditions studied. As well as providing information of importance to the fundamental understanding of diffusion in binary solutions, these data have technological, pharmaceutical and medical implications, for example in cryopreservation. Moreover, in the atmosphere, slow organic diffusion may have important implications for aerosol growth, chemistry and evaporation, where processes may be limited by the inability of a molecule to diffuse between the bulk and the surface of a particle.


Despite the fact that most children growing up in family foster care remain in contact with their birth parents, the experiences of birth parents have been largely neglected. This article draws on twenty-two in-depth interviews with birth parents to examine their experiences of cooperating with social workers and foster carers. Five patterns of cooperation are empirically identified in the parents' narratives: (i) constructive cooperation; (ii) ambivalent cooperation; (iii) improved cooperation; (iv) diminishing cooperation and (v) lack of cooperation. While there are key differences in the characteristics of each pattern, there is one central similarity: all the parents seek recognition of their parenthood, especially their love for their child. Thus, actively recognising the role of parental love in parents' motivation for cooperation can enable social workers to secure better cooperation with birth parents.


Ethnicity has become prominent in popular and scholarly thinking over the last 50 years. In the late 1960s a few key works stimulated the growth of a complex body of literature, now defined by four main theoretical approaches. New insights are also emerging. Chief among these is the importance of integrating intersectionality into ethnicity theory. The Institute of Development Studies (IDS) has also made important contributions to this literature and its application to development studies. This article identifies three new frontiers in the study of ethnicity. First, theoretical effort is required to unpack how ethnicity intersects with other forms of identity. Second, as demonstrated by IDS' contributions, further research is required on the impacts of ethnicity upon development and vice versa. And, finally, the geopolitical landscape emerging since 9/11 has stimulated major shifts in conceptions of ethnicity. These shifts and the resulting new framings of identity (ethnic and otherwise) beg investigation.


: The importance of capillary imbibition and evaporation processes in the alteration of building stones under the action of salt crystallization can be estimated by various experimental techniques. The aim of this study is to understand the direct relationships between salt weathering, petrophysical and structural properties. We chose to work on calcarenite stone which was commonly used as building material in historical monuments in Morocco. Laboratory wetting-drying cycles were tested on calcarenite specimens with sodium chloride solutions of different concentrations. Results show that the permeability and specific mass of precipitated salt depend on the material porosity and solution concentration. Moreover, variations of thermal conductivity and permeability during applied cycles are less important for samples taken parallel to the sediment bedding than for those taken perpendicularly. The material anisotropy will also be discussed


This paper generalizes the proximal point method using Bregman distances to solve convex and quasiconvex optimization problems on noncompact Hadamard manifolds. We will proved that the sequence generated by our method is well defined and converges to an optimal solution of the problem. Also, we obtain the same convergence properties for the classical proximal method, applied to a class of quasiconvex problems. Finally, we give some examples of Bregman distances in non-Euclidean spaces.


Metabolic syndrome (MetS) represents an emerging disease in the paediatric population; it is characterised by a cluster of cardiometabolic abnormalities, including visceral obesity, dyslipidaemia, hypertension, and Type 2 diabetes mellitus, that directly increase the risk of developing cardiovascular disease and diabetes. Currently, several definitions of MetS are available in the paediatric setting, causing confusion and discrepancy in the identification of these patients. Moreover, in recent years, several other comorbidities, besides those traditionally used to define MetS, which are also linked to the disease have been identified, making its definition even more difficult. Among these, mainly non-alcoholic fatty liver disease and obstructive sleep disorders have been strictly linked to MetS. In this review, we discuss the importance to re-evaluate diagnostic criteria for MetS, in order to uniformly define this disease in children, considering also the inclusion of the other emerging clinical features.


Based on the dispersion characters of organic modified attapulgite (OAT) short fibers in nature rubber (NR) matrix, this paper analyzed the effects, in terms of addition amount of OAT, processing technology of rubber compound and heat treatment, on mechanical properties and anisotropy of OAT/NR composites. Results indicated that mechanical properties were better when the OAT content is 50 phr and thin-passing is 20 times, meanwhile, the longitudinal and transversal tensile strength of OAT/NR composites were 17.01 0.5 Mpa and 14.18 0.5 Mpa respectively. The anisotropy is obvious. Also the tensile and tear broken section were studied by the scanning electron microscope (SEM) and the forming mechanism of OAT/NR anisotropy composites was discussed.


To compete in today's Internet-based society, almost every college and university offers an online-based option of study whether it is a complete university experience, an entire degree program, specific course offerings, individual course sections, or web-based components used to enhance face-to-face learning. Many universities, and their faculty, have hastened to develop and keep updated online materials, yet have not stepped back to examine the materials from the end users' perspective. In this document, the authors build upon established research to apply the organizational e-learning success model developed by Wang, Wang, and Shea (2005) to the online learning environment at a regional Midwestern university with a population of approximately 10,500 students.


A specialized method has been developed to maximize the two‐dimensional detail obtained from two perpendicular bolometer arrays. The technique relies on the assumption that poloidal variation exists only near the plasma surface. The cross section is divided into appropriate zones and the emittance is reconstructed by a numerical method. The position, intensity, and width of large features are clearly displayed. A marfe is tracked as it drifts around the plasma and evolves into a radiating shell detached from the limiter. A central peak, plus inner‐wall radiating layer, plus a marfe appear in a high‐density case reached by pellet injection.


In this paper we leverage methods from submodular function optimization developed for document summarization and apply them to the problem of subselecting acoustic data. We evaluate our results on data subset selection for a phone recognition task. Our framework shows significant improvements over random selection and previously proposed methods using a similar amount of resources.


OBJECTIVE
Physical activity has been found to have a positive effect on the clinical outcomes of patients with chronic diseases, including end-stage renal disease (ESRD). The purpose of this study was to describe end-stage renal disease patients on hemodialysis and describe, as well, their physical activity levels.

METHODS
Participants were recruited from the renal unit of Hospital Universitario in San Juan. The variables of interest were 1) socio-demographic and health status information and 2) physical activity levels and patterns.

RESULTS
Thirty-one participants with end-stage renal disease completed the questionnaires (17 men and 14 women). The average age of the participants was 54+17 years. Eighty-seven percent (87%) answered that they were not active before beginning hemodialysis treatment. Only 4 patients were employed. These four patients performed activities of moderate intensity ranging from 0 to 2267 MET-mins/week. Nineteen participants reported that they performed a variety of household chores. Home physical activity scores consisted of an average of 1025+1856 MET-mins/week (median 200 MET-mins/week). The total physical activity energy expenditure in leisure-time activities was an average of 111+167 MET-mins/ week. The average total physical activity for all the categories from the IPAQ was an average of 1688+2250 MET-mins/week (median 544 MET-mins/week). They sat for about 454+293 minutes per day (approximately 7.5 hours daily). A Spearman's correlation test found there to be a significant inverse relationship between total physical activity energy expenditure and years in hemodialysis treatment, regardless of age (p = -0.301; p < 0.05).

CONCLUSION
In this study, the author describes the physical inactivity in a group of ESRD patients receiving hemodialysis and the significant physical activity variability among them. Moreover, those participants who had been on hemodialysis the longest tended to be the most sedentary, regardless of age. Therefore, it is important to raise awareness, educate and assess, and, if warranted, recommend physical activity to chronic kidney disease patients, including those with end-stage renal disease who are receiving hemodialysis.


This paper examines whether the information sources used by knowledge workers have an impact on individual performance and creativity. Although it is widely recognized that new knowledge is created through the combination and exchange of existing knowledge, there is a large variety of knowledge sources available to individuals. In this study, we examine whether individual performance varies as a result of (1) individual factors, (2) usage of a variety of information sources, (3) reliance on colocated colleagues, or (4) participation in an organizational electronic community. Results indicate that experience and education predict general performance, regardless of the type of information sources used. However, the type of information sources used by individuals relates significantly to creativity. Reliance on colocated colleagues results in less creativity while participation in an electronic community leads to higher creativity. Additional analysis reveals that participation in the electronic community does not have a direct effect on creativity, rather participation has a direct impact on the acquisition of new knowledge, which in turn influences creativity. Group tenure and type of participation (posting questions vs. responses) are also important predictors whose effects are fully mediated through knowledge acquisition. Finally, professional commitment did not contribute to knowledge exchange in the electronic community, rather professional commitment had a direct effect on creativity.


This study emphasizes the perceptions and preferences of elites relevant to the environmental pollution control policy-making process. Specifically, the analysis is based upon interviews with 53 feedlot operators, 48 manufacturing executives, 26 elected officials, 14 Environmental Protection Agency officials, and 28 state Health Department officials in the state of Kansas. By utilizing certain statistical techniques, particularly smallest-space analysis, the study arrives at the following general conclusions: (1) that feedlot operators and manufacturing executives perceive the existing system of environmental controls as overly stringent and prefer less stringent controls; (2) that Environmental Protection Agency and state Health Department officials perceive the existing system of environmental controls as insufficiently stringent; and (3) that elected officials fall between the two groups mentioned, but are closer to feedlot operators and manufacturing executives in terms of both perceptions and preferences.


The affective bond between an infant and its caregiver, the so-called mother-infant tie, was analyzed by various reputable psychologists (e.g., Ainsworth, Clark, Erikson, Anna Freud, Harlow, Klein, Spitz, and Winnicott) but both the basic tenets of the bond and the importance of the trauma of maternal deprivation for personality disorders in adults were introduced by Bowlby. Although Bowlby was a trained psychoanalyst, he rejected central cornerstones of Freudian theory (esp. drive theory) and used concepts promulgated by renowned ethologists (Tinbergen and Lorenz) to establish his framework of "instinctive behavior" that has been developed further into the concept of "attachment theory" under the influence of Mary Ainsworth. However, since any precise experimental facts were lacking when Bowlby formulated his ideas on the concept of instinctive behavior, the whole framework is a descriptive, category-driven approach (like the ones of Freudian drives). In order to connect the mother-infant tie – as propounded by Bowlby – with experimental data, this manuscript undertakes a biochemical analysis of it because this strategy proved somewhat successful in relation to Freudian drives. The analysis unfolded that the neurochemical oxytocin, released by the action of sensory nerves, is of utmost importance for the operation of the mother-infant tie. Furthermore, multiple evidences have been presented to the fact that there is strong interaction between unconsciously operating Freudian drives and the consciously acting mother-infant tie (that is now classified as a drive). The outlined interaction in conjunction with the classification of attachment urges as drives gave a very detailed insight into how a SEEKING-derived reward can be evoked during operation of the mother-infant tie. In summary, there is no need to marginalize either the mother-infant tie or Freudian drives but rather there is need to respect both (principally different) impulses in moving toward a more extensive description.


Resolution of the Nile waters question has proved, once again, to be an elusive task. Identifying the major hurdle which has bedeviled past cooperative initiatives and rendered current efforts mere Sisyphean ones is thus of paramount importance. The main thrust of this article is to identify this challenge which has thus far stifled almost all efforts at resolution of the Nile waters question in a fair and equitable manner. The consistently obstinate position Egypt has taken over the years to maintain its poignantly inequitable "share" of Nile waters forever is the heart of the problem which makes any settlement of the Nile waters question a virtual impossibility. Relying on its status as the basin's hydro-hegemon, Egypt has so far been able to not only defend the indefensible but has also been able to effectively hoodwink and contain the non-hegemonic riparians by engaging them in "cooperative initiatives" and a "benefit sharing" scheme it effectively is using as stalling tactics while aggressively pursuing giant hydraulic projects as instruments of
resource capture. A real transformation and a breakthrough in this stalemate requires, of necessity, a change in the malign, oppressive nature of Egyptian hydro-hegemony into a benign, cooperative one, at least. The non-hegemonic riparian states have thus to adopt effective counter-hegemonic strategies in order to force Egypt back to the negotiation table, developing, in the mean time, the resource and technical capability that would enable them to resist and overcome the multifaceted pressure and influence the hydro-hegemon will inevitably exert to keep them in line; failure to do so would surely condemn them to live, ad infinitum, with the grotesquely inequitable status quo. Key words: Equitable utilization; Nile waters question; cooperative framework agreement; hydro-hegemony; securitization; benefit sharing; international water law.


New York-The young, otherwise healthy men urologists see for an infertility evaluation may be hiding a condition more commonly observed in older men and women. Researchers from the Cornell Institute of Reproductive Medicine in New York report that three-fourths of men with nonobstructive azoospermia, a severe form of male infertility, are at risk for significant bone loss.


Experiments in vitro were made to study adenosine deaminase (ADA) and 5'-nucleotidase (5-N) activity in NK after their treatment with interferon inductor--Newcastle disease virus (NDV) or with prostaglandin E2 (PGE2). It has been established that treatment of human NK with NDV leads to increasing of their cytotoxic activity (CTA), which is accompanied by rising of ADA activity and reducing of 5-N activity in these cells. Decrease of CTA under the influence of PGE2 occurs together with reduction of ADA activity and increase of 5-N activity in human NK. Changes in NK activity under the influence of various exogenous or endogenous factors may be due to the modification of activity of adenosine metabolism enzymes in these cells.


Though evidence is mounting that a major function of sleep is to maintain brain plasticity and consolidate memory, little is known about the molecular pathways by which learning and sleep processes intercept. Anaplastic lymphoma kinase (Alk), the gene encoding a tyrosine receptor kinase whose inadvertent activation is the cause of many cancers, is implicated in synapse formation and cognitive functions. In particular, Alk genetically interacts with Neurofibromatosis 1 (Nf1) to regulate growth and associative learning in flies. We show that Alk mutants have increased sleep. Using a targeted RNAi screen we localized the negative effects of Alk on sleep to the mushroom body, a structure important for both sleep and memory. We also report that mutations in Nf1 produce a sexually dimorphic short sleep phenotype, and suppress the long sleep phenotype of Alk. Thus Alk and Nf1 interact in both learning and sleep regulation, highlighting a common pathway in these two processes.


The prevention of asymmetric information plays a major role in successful small business lending. The purpose of this research is to determine if small business applicants report their income information correctly when requesting a loan. Therefore, a randomized controlled trial bogus pipeline experiment was set up during a typical cash-flow analysis of a bank for small businesses in the Philippines. Results indicate that loan applicants of the treatment group reported a lower income, an effect which is most pronounced in the lowest income percentile. Moreover, our analyses reveal higher loan delinquencies in the control group.


Foreword by Senator Christopher Dodd1. IntroductionWhy Study Child Care Politics?Context of the Book2. Politics of Child Care Legislation, 1971Overview of the Book3. From Political Stalemate to Welfare Entitlement, 1972-1988Prelude to Child Care Legislation of 19714. Politics of Child Care Legislation, 1987-1990Child Care Lands on the Legislative Agenda5. Regulations, Implementation, and High Expectations, 1991-1993Moving Child Care Through Congress6. Child Care and Welfare Reform, 1994--1996Nixon and Child Care: A Battle Among the President's Men7. High Hopes, 1997-2000The Demise of Child Care Legislation8. A View from the States, 1996--2000Federal Interagency Day Care Regulations9. Looking Back and to the FutureThe Early 1980s: Retrenchment and RegroupingWelfare Reform Features the First Federal Child Care EntitlementLaunching a Child Care InitiativeThe Other Side of the Story: Conservatives Offer Competing Proposals1989: Senate Success1989: The House Imbroglio over Child Care Legislation1990: The Last ChancePlacing Child Care Regulations in ContextCCDBG Regulations Spark Feuds over Standards and Other ConcernsAt-Risk Child Care Regulations Add More Fuel to the FireImplementing the 1990 Child Care Package1993: A New Political Era1994: Elections Set a New Stage for Child CareChild Care and Welfare Reform LegislationThe Changed Face of Political Action for Child Care and Children1997: New Opportunities for Child Care1998: New Twists for Child Care LegislationUshering Federal Child Care Policy into the Twenty-first CenturyChild Care and American FederalismFederal Child Care Regulations RevisitedImpact of Welfare Reform on Child CareLinking Child Care with Other Early Education InitiativesIt's Not Just Women's Participation in the Labor ForceWhat's Institutional Structure Got to Do with It?The Influence of Organized InterestsLooking AheadState Child Care Policies Assume a New Look


The foundations of Bulgarian higher agricultural education date back to 1921. Until then, agricultural university graduates were trained in France, Germany, Italy and other European countries. In 1945, based on the Regents' Council Decree No 180 of August 4th, published in the State Gazette on August 20th, the Ordinance setting up a state university located in Plovdiv was enacted. Nowadays, the Agricultural University (AU) is the successor of that first university situated outside the capital Sofia. The history and traditions of this higher educational establishment have invariably followed the social and cultural development of the country, which has gone through difficult and complicated political and economic times. Even today, the Agricultural University in Plovdiv is the only specialized state university in Bulgaria in the area of agricultural and related sciences of national, European, and international high prestige. The purpose of the present review is to present the traditions and challenges in agricultural education in Bulgaria. The University draws strength from the rich tradition but looks to the future and global problems to provide accurate decisions to the challenges of the twenty-first century in agricultural education, science, and safe food production for a better quality of life.


East Los Angeles is the center of a flourishing musical cultural scene with a renewed "Chicana/o" sensibility. This scene is being led by a collective of socially conscious and politically active Latin-fusion bands that emerged in the 1990s, including Aztlán Underground, Blues Experiment, Lysa Flores, Ozomatli, Ollin, Quetzal, Quinto Sol, Slowrider, and Yeska. Along with visual artists, activists, and audiences, the musicians of the Eastside scene comprise an emergent cultural movement that is grounded in the new spatial and social relations generated in Los Angeles in the transnational era. The East L.A. scene's history of formation, the multiplicity of its sounds, and its commitment to political activism and coalition building all illuminate the relations between culture and politics at the present moment. The musical practices of the East L.A. scene echo the dislocations and displacements endemic to global cities in the transnational era, but they also reflect the emergence of new forms of resistance that find counter-hegemonic possibilities within contradictions. In culture and in politics, groups in the Eastside scene proceed through immanent critiques and creative reworkings of already existing social relations, rather than through transcendant teleologies aimed at the establishment of utopian sites and subjects. Rather than a politics of "either/or" that asks people to choose between culture and politics, between class and race, or between distinct national identities, this cultural movement embraces a politics of "both/and" that encourages dynamic, fluid, and flexible stances and identity categories.


Harmonic voltages and currents in electrical systems, when present to a certain degree, represent not only a power quality problem but they are also strongly associated with the electrical system overall losses and they are arguably a source of instability and a safety concern. Mitigating harmonics distortion across the entire system by actively reducing harmonic currents propagation is an effective way of coping with these issues and can be dealt with the injection of a compensating current waveform with an active filter installed at a given bus. This paper shows how, by shaping the compensating current waveform in an optimal way, the overall electrical system harmonic distortion can be optimally reduced in a cost effective manner with a minimum size of the compensating device. The process of shaping this optimal compensating current is shown by how its components are defined by the optimization algorithm using the phase and amplitude of each harmonic as degrees of freedom in the process of finding the optimal waveform. A marine vessel distribution grid is used as representative example to prove the concept.


It is argued that experiments on rotating superconductors provide evidence for the existence of macroscopic spin currents in superconductors in the absence of applied external fields. Furthermore it is shown that the model of hole superconductivity predicts the existence of such currents in all superconductors. In addition it is pointed out that spin currents are required within a related macroscopic (London-like) electrodynamic description of superconductors recently proposed. The spin current arises through an intrinsic spin Hall effect when negative charge is expelled from the interior of the metal upon the transition to the superconducting state.


Summary: Affymetrix(R) GeneChip(R) microarrays are increasingly used in gene expression studies and in greater number. A software library was developed that supports Affymetrix file formats and implements two popular summary algorithms (MAS5.0 and RMA). The library is modular in design for integration into larger systems and processing pipelines. Additionally, a graphical interface (GENE) was developed to allow end-user access to the functionality within the library. Availability: libaffy is free to use under the GNU GPL license. The source code and Windows binaries can be freely accessed from the website http://src.moffitt.usf.edu/libaffy. Additional API documentation and user manual are available. Contact: email@example.com


Abstract Based on the attachment framework, therapeutic distance conceptualization focuses on closeness–distance dynamics in the therapeutic relationship. We aimed to evaluate the psychometric properties of the Therapeutic-Distance-Scale, Observer-version (TDS-O) and apply a dyadic approach to examine associations between attachment characteristics and therapeutic distance experiences of clients, therapists, and mutual effects. Sixty-six clients and their 29 therapists completed the ECR and relational narratives collected in RAP interviews at early, mid, and late psychodynamic-therapy were rated on TDS-O scales: too close, too distant, autonomy, and engagement. The TDS-O showed good IRR, internal reliability and content validity. Client anxiety was not associated with therapeutic distance but associated with autonomy. Client avoidance associated with clients' experiencing therapist as too close, and lower engagement only at early therapy, but was not associated with therapists' experience. Therapist anxiety was not related to closeness–distance at early therapy but related to gaps between client and therapist experiences at mid and late therapy. Therapist avoidance related to clients experiencing therapists as too close and granting less autonomy at early and mid-therapy, and to therapist experience of distance at late therapy. The findings underscore the importance of therapists' regulating therapeutic distance through attunement to client's interpersonal needs and therapy phase.


This study is aimed at assessing tolerance and observance of the patients with RA (rheumatoid arthritis) treated by methotrexate at University Hospital Bogodogo, in Burkina Faso. A cross-sectional study was conducted from July to September 2015 in outpatients with rheumatoid arthritis monitored in rheumatology service. Data were obtained from interview, by reviewing medical cards of the patients and consultation report forms. In total, 205 patients with RA were included. Among them, 135 were treated with methotrexate (65.9%). All patients treated with methotrexate took folic acid tablet weekly. The duration of RA evolution varied from 1 to 360 months with a mean of 48 month. The mean duration of treatment with methotrexate was 30.2 months. Among the patients treated with methotrexate, 28.8% observed adverse reactions, 53.3% declare taking their medication without break during the last month. Discomfort (8.9%) and nausea (5.9%) were the most frequent adverse effects. Stock out of methotrexate in community pharmacy (10.4%) and adverse effect (5.9%) were the main reasons of patient's inobservance. Methotrexate is always the cornerstone of RA treatment. This study confirms the good tolerance of methotrexate and difficulty of observance with this treatment.

 Key words: Rheumatoid arthritis, observance, methotrexate, tolerance, Burkina Faso.


The theoretical treatment of absolute and contrast thresholds for moving point sources is presented. The thresholds are tested as functions of the velocity v and observation time t on the assumption that, under all conditions for minimum perceptibility, p quanta must be effectively absorbed in the retina within τ seconds the δ minutes of arc; within τ and δ the integrate capacity in time and space of the sense organ is complete. p, δ, and τ depend on the particular condition of colors of the light used, state of adaptation, place of the retina, and the like.For absolute thresholds in the dark-adapted eye, p=2 quanta independently of the color of the test stimulus. The behavior of experimental data for absolute thresholds of green and red moving point sources is also in agreement with the dependences deduced from theory when p=2. The data were obtained at retinal positions 7° nasal to the fovea in the dark-adapted right eye.


Neuro-2a neuroblastoma cells can be stimulated to extend neurites with a number of agents, one of which, neuraminidase, induces terminal differentiation by a mechanism involving enhanced Ca2+ influx. Permeabilization of such differentiated cells with saponin and treatment with cholera toxin B subunit linked to horseradish peroxidase revealed intense staining of the nuclear membrane, indicating the presence of GM1 ganglioside. Unstimulated cells had barely detectable levels of nuclear GM1. Nuclei isolated by sucrose density gradient centrifugation similarly showed intense staining with fluorescently labeled cholera toxin B subunit, in contrast to nuclei from undifferentiated controls. Treatment with chloroform-methanol removed most of the fluorogenic material. Chemical analysis of such nuclei from neuraminidase-treated cells confirmed significant elevation of GM1 above control levels, along with virtual absence of markers for plasma membrane and Golgi apparatus. Cerebellar granule cells from neonatal rats revealed a similar phenomenon following spontaneous neurite outgrowth in culture.