Resistance to chemotherapeutic drugs can be an obstacle to a successful treatment of cancer patients in part associated with individual response and differences in the DNA repair system. The Comet assay is an informative test to investigate DNA damage and repair in cells in response to a variety of DNA-damaging agents, including chemotherapeutic drugs. The aim of this study was to assess leukocytes damage after in-vitro cisplatin treatment and DNA repair action using the Comet assay in 20 patients with melanoma and 20 cancer-free individuals. Leukocytes' DNA damage before and after cisplatin treatment, in three different concentrations, was analyzed. The DNA repair capability was investigated after 1–5 h of in-vitro cells growing without cisplatin. The Comet score of the patients' basal DNA damage was higher than that observed in controls, but the difference was not statistically significant (P=0.85). Although both groups had similar Comet scores to all cisplatin concentrations tested and the DNA repair times, the basal DNA damage (P<0.001) and cisplatin damages (P<0.005) were statistically lower than the different repair times investigated. Considering the progressive increase in the Comet score due to repair time, the negative results here observed could be associated with the reduced cell culture incubation that should be better evaluated. Considering the mutagenic action of cisplatin on tumor cells and the importance of individual DNA repair mechanisms in the chemotherapeutic melanoma treatment, the peripheral leukocytes could be particularly useful as a tool for DNA repair response identified by the Comet assay.


We introduce a homemade pipeline allowing to improve the quality of the metagenomic annotations carried out when using shallow depth metagenomic datasets. The main motivation being to be able to quantify more precisely, with greater certainty, the genes involved in bacterial interactions. The limitation in our experimental design is that we use a sequencing technique with a low throughput (miSeq) compared to the metagenomic standard (hiSeq) because we carry out a fairly large sampling (almost a hundred samples) in time series. This methodological constraint from our study means that the assembly of the sequences is not very exhaustive (less than 50% of the sequences manage to be assembled). In this chapter, we will therefore present a new pipeline designed to specifically deal with such kind of data. We used co-assembly and a sequence annotation strategy in order to recover the sequences that could not be mapped on the assembled contigs. In addition, in order to avoid adding too much noise, when rescuing reads, we have built an algorithm to define a threshold of e-value based on the noise of the sequence annotation learned from sequences mapped in the assembly. We have selected several recent tools known to be effective for assembling, mapping and annotating these data. In addition, this pipeline was also built in order to be very user-friendly in terms of installation. In this idea of reproducibility, accessibility and transparency, we have designed an installation script to allow each user to install each tool required for the pipeline in a simple and reproducible way. Regarding the performances of this pipeline, we were able to show that the expected error rate (False discovery rate) for the annotation was close to 5%. Finally, we also used an actual dataset from a bioremediation site and showed that the representability of the samples seemed much better when we used our pipeline than when we used a classic metagenome assembly strategy.


Sustaining lower limb functionality is extremely important in the preventative care of the elderly. Chair exercise, in which the exerciser sits on an ordinary chair, offers a way for seniors with little physical strength to exercise without a great deal of effort. Meanwhile, Microsoft's Kinect sensor that is capable of detecting human motion without the subject having to wear any kind of a special marker are becoming widely available. Exploiting this new sensor technology, this paper describes the development and deployment of a prototype lower limb chair exercise support system that takes full advantage of the Kinect depth sensor. The system supports five different chair exercises designed to strengthen the lower limbs, recognizes and evaluates exercises based on 3D position data and joint angles for each joint obtained from the Kinect sensor. The system illustrates how to do the exercises by voice instructions and model images, and superimposes the muscles used onto an image of the exerciser in real time. The system also provides exercise assessment results and advice by voice and text. In a series of trials involving seven elderly subjects in their late 70s and early 80s, an overall average recognition rate of 89% was obtained for the five exercises. Feedback was obtained through a questionnaire given to five male subjects ranging in age from 50 to 65, which highlighted a number of issues that should be addressed to improve the effectiveness of the system.


Unless the nearby universe is subtly anomalous, it should contain a relatively normal selection of galaxies whose histories are representative of field galaxies in general throughout the Universe. We can therefore take advantage of our ability to resolve the nearby galaxies into individual stars to directly, and accurately, measure star formation histories. The star formation histories are determined from model-fitting analysis, based on stellar evolution tracks, of colour-magnitude diagrams. The most accurate information on star formation rates extending back to the earliest epochs can be obtained from the structure of the main sequence. However, the oldest main sequence turnoffs are very faint, and it is often necessary to use the more evolved stars to infer the star formation history. These can then be compared with the properties of galaxies seen over a large range of lookback times at moderate to high redshifts. There is considerable evidence that the faint blue galaxies seen in large numbers in cosmological redshift surveys are the progenitors of the small late-type irregular galaxies seen in copious numbers in the Local Group, and we concentrate on these here.


Translation training in the university context needs to train students in the processes, in order to enhance and optimise the product as outcome of these processes. Evaluation of a target text as product has often been accused of being a subjective process, which does not easily lend itself to the type of feedback that could enable students to apply criteria more widely. For students, it often seems as though they make different inappropriate or incorrect choices every time they translate a new text, and the learning process appears unpredictable and haphazard. Within functionalist approaches to translation, with their focus on the target text in terms of functional adequacy to the intended purpose, as stipulated in the translation brief, there are guidelines for text production that can help to develop a more systematic approach not only to text production, but also to translation evaluation. In the context of a focus on user knowledge needs, target language conventions and acceptability, the use of corpora is an indispensable tool for the trainee translator. Evaluation can take place against the student's own reasoned selection process, based on hard evidence, against criteria which currently obtain in the TL and the TL culture. When trainee and evaluator work within the same guidelines, there is more scope for constructive learning and feedback.


Given that social influences are among the strongest predictors of adolescents' drug use, this study examines the effects of social interactions on morphine sensitization in both adolescent and adult rats. Rats treated with morphine (twice daily, 6 days, 2.5–10 mg/kg, subcutaneously, s.c.) or saline were group‐housed in two different conditions. Thus, four experimental groups were examined for each age group: (1) morphine‐treated rats housed physically and visually separate from saline‐injected rats ('morphine only'); (2) morphine‐treated rats housed together with saline‐injected rats ('morphine cage‐mates'); (3) saline‐injected rats housed together with morphine‐treated rats ('saline cage‐mates'); and (4) saline‐injected rats housed physically and visually separate from morphine‐treated rats ('saline only'). Starting 9 days following the last morphine injection, rats were individually examined once daily for 5 consecutive days for their locomotor response to 2.5 mg/kg of morphine. For both age groups, there were no significant differences in morphine‐induced hyper‐locomotion between saline cage‐mates and saline only rats. Morphine only rats exhibited morphine locomotor sensitization as compared to both the saline only and saline cage‐mates rats. Notably, a significant difference was observed between the adolescent morphine cage‐mates and morphine only rats. The adolescent morphine cage‐mates did not exhibit the enhanced locomotor response as compared to the saline only and saline cage‐mate rats. A trend of reduced morphine locomotor sensitization was observed in the adult morphine cage‐mates as compared to morphine only but it did not reach statistical significance. Thus, this study demonstrates social influences on morphine sensitization which are more prevalent in adolescents as compared to adults.


ABSTRACT Background: Pedagogical models have become an established component of physical education over the past several decades. One such model, the Teaching Personal and Social Responsibility model, has gained momentum in practice and research, though little is known regarding its use in preservice teacher training. The model follows a flexible format focused on teaching life skills (e.g. leadership) that can be applied in all lived ecologies. Occupational socialization theory provides insight into the pretraining and teacher education experiences of preservice teachers that shape their understanding and practice of physical education and associated pedagogical models. Aims: The purpose of this study was to understand the influence of a sequence of methods courses and early field experiences on U.S. preservice teachers' understanding and implementation of the teaching personal and social responsibility model with youth from a community affected by poverty. Method: This study took on a phenomenological and social constructivist approach. Ten preservice teachers (9 males, 1 female) took part in the study. The participants were an average age of 22.10 years old (SD = 4.38) and seven identified as White and three as Black. Each participant was enrolled in methods and early field experience coursework that provided scaffolded training in primary education in a community affected by poverty. Preservice teachers team-taught groups of 10–15 children twice a week along with one day committed to on-campus reflection. Data collection included autobiographical essays, critical incident reports, reflective journals, non-participatory observations and field notes, and semi-structured interviews. Data were analyzed deductively through the lens of occupational socialization theory, and inductively as theory divergent trends were sought. Open and axial coding was completed with member checking throughout, resulting in a final set of themes and subthemes. Findings: The preservice teachers initially struggled to connect with their students due to conflicting backgrounds, but the teaching personal and social responsibility model guided the relationship-building process. As the model was continuously utilized, more empathy and care were shown towards the children. Preservice teachers felt there was a lack of progression in positive behaviors but were able to empower youth and felt that the model was culturally relevant. Overtime, the students began to appreciate the affective domain despite the challenge of working in a community affected by poverty through frustration towards the larger system limiting any potential progress was present. Conclusions: Subjective theories transitioned to include relationship building and life skills learning, likely because of the extended field experience and faculty support. The preservice teachers desire to connect with and teach the students well displays the connection between models-based practice and positive relationships. Preservice teachers' knowledge of their students was limited as it was based on secondhand knowledge of youth, teacher educators, and school staff. Evidence indicates some cultural responsiveness development though there were also elements of a deficit model due to white privilege and class differences. Further work explicitly integrating a culturally relevant approach and social justice in teacher education programming should occur.


Of all Nazi atrocities, the extermination of the Jews has, rightly, commanded the most attention from historians and the general public. But this understandable preoccupation with the horrors of Nazi anti-Semitism has led people to overlook the fact that the Jews formed only one, albeit the major, target in a broad campaign directed against a variety of groups who were considered to be 'alien to the community' (Gemeinschaftsfremd), and who were often defined in biological terms. Only recently have historians begun to focus their attention on this hitherto neglected sphere of Nazi policy and action.


Mountain regions have experienced above-average warming in the 20th century and this trend is likely to continue. These accelerated temperature changes in alpine areas are causing reduced snowfall and changes in the timing of snowfall and melt. Snow is a critical component of alpine areas - it drives hibernation of animals, determines the length of the growing season for plants and the soil microbial composition. Thus, changes in snow patterns in mountain areas can have serious ecological consequences. Here we use 35 years of Landsat satellite images to study snow changes in the Mocho-Choshuenco Volcano in the Southern Andes of Chile. Landsat images have 30 m pixel resolution and a revisit period of 16 days. We calculated the total snow area in cloud-free Landsat scenes and the snow frequency per pixel, here called "snow persistence" for different periods and seasons. Permanent snow cover in summer was stable over a period of 30 years and decreased below 20 km2 from 2014 onward at middle elevations (1,530–2,000 m a.s.l.). This is confirmed by negative changes in snow persistence detected at the pixel level, concentrated in this altitudinal belt in summer and also in autumn. In winter and spring, negative changes in snow persistence are concentrated at lower elevations (1,200–1,530 m a.s.l.). Considering the snow persistence of the 1984–1990 period as a reference, the last period (2015–2019) is experiencing a −5.75 km2 reduction of permanent snow area (snow persistence > 95%) in summer, −8.75 km2 in autumn, −42.40 km2 in winter, and −18.23 km2 in spring. While permanent snow at the high elevational belt (>2,000 m a.s.l.) has not changed through the years, snow that used to be permanent in the middle elevational belt has become seasonal. In this study, we use a probabilistic snow persistence approach for identifying areas of snow reduction and potential changes in alpine vegetation. This approach permits a more efficient use of remote sensing data, increasing by three times the amount of usable scenes by including images with spatial gaps. Furthermore, we explore some ecological questions regarding alpine ecosystems that this method may help address in a global warming scenario.


Diamond Light Source has been providing beam for users since January 2007. The electron beam in the storage ring is normally driven by two superconducting CESR-B cavities, with two similar cavities available as spares. Day-to-day reliability of the cavities, measured by storage ring MTBF, has improved enormously over the years. A full analysis of how this improvement has been achieved is given, with particular attention paid to cavity voltage and vacuum pressure management, and the scheduling and procedure of cavity conditioning. The benefits and risks of full and partial warm-ups of the cavities are discussed, and details and impacts of cavity failure and repair are presented.


This study examines the economic and environmental implications of reducing the spread of contagious pathogens and diseases by implementing a self-contained dairy grazing system. Three typical New Zealand grazing-off systems were examined represented by a Waikato farm where all young stock are grazed off the milking platform, a Canterbury farm where both non-lactating cows and young stock are grazed off the milking platform and a Lower North Island farm where two thirds of the non-lactating cows and all young stock are grazed off the milking platform. For each grazing-off system (base), two options were modelled to reduce biosecurity risk: 1) reducing stocking rate to allow non-lactating cows and young stock to be grazed on the milking platform (self-contained); and 2) leasing support land to graze only owned non-lactating cows and young stock (lease). FARMAX and OVERSEER® models were used to predict the economic and environmental implications of each option. The results were tested at different milk prices representing low ($4.25/kg) milksolids (MS), medium ($6.25/kg MS) and high ($8.25/kg MS) prices. The results showed that a self-contained grazing system reduced profitability by at least 15% across all regions and milk prices when compared with the base farms. The self-contained options leached 3–7% more nitrogen and had 7–10% more greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions per hectare, compared with the base and lease options when grazing-off land was accounted for. However, at a catchment level, the land freed by moving to self-contained might be utilised by other farming enterprises that might have a different environmental footprint compared to dairy grazing.


In this article, which addresses the academic, the researchers try to read V. S. Naipaul's In a Free State under the light of Bhabha's hybridity. The researchers try to reexamine the way this notion has been defined and inspect the way one's familiarity with this notion informs one's reading of In a Free State. The contemporary age observes a wide variety of thinkers dealing with the notion of hybridity, among whom Bhabha is the key figure. Hybridity is among the major key terms which affect postcolonial discourse. The researchers show how hybridity is defined in interaction with related concepts such as third space, ambivalence and mimicry. The researchers demonstrate the way hybridity informs the reading of the different layers of meaning in this work. The researchers illustrate the way hybridity affects the confrontation of the colonizer and the colonized. One can observe the way the concept of hybridity sheds light to the way the colonizer and the colonized interact. Key terms: hybridity, third space, ambivalence, mimicry, colonizer, colonized


Walnuts, Juglans airanthifolia, are an important food item for Japanese squirrels, Sciurus lis, which hoard them for later use. We set up feeders in small walnut patches in secondary forest, mounted radiotransmitters on nuts, placed them on the feeders and tracked them when they were cached. Of 720 nuts placed on the feeders over a 3-year period, 32.6% were eaten immediately and 50.6% were scatter-hoarded 0-168 m from the feeders. With increasing distance to the cache site, the squirrels took longer to return to the feeders (range 0.35-35 min). However, the further away a cache was, the less likely it was to be stolen by conspecifics or other nut-eating animals: nuts we hoarded ourselves disappeared more quickly from near the source trees. Squirrels took nuts further away later in the season when caches were lost at a higher rate. Using a simple model maximizing the rate of energy gain per unit time taken to search for and hoard the nuts at different distances from the source, we discuss whether squirrels alter the transport distance of hoarding nuts according to cache survival rate and/or nut availability. Copyright 1999 The Association for the Study of Animal Behaviour.


The study explores the implications of using energy efficient designs strategies in the Ghanaian construction industry to conserve energy usage and thereby save cost. It examines the role that various industrial players can play to achieve this end, especially for high rise buildings and mass housing schemes. The study is based on descriptive sample survey and computer simulation modelling. The findings show that substantial energy savings can be achieved when recommended measures are well implemented and practiced, while also achieving improved thermal comfort for building users. The results show that cooling demand can be reduced by 20% with only effective shading of windows. These recommendations would be very effective when implemented, practiced and well monitored by the building authorities to make the system easy, proficient and useful or helpful to both consumers and the building companies. The energy sectors must work with stakeholders in sustainable buildings to heighten energy efficiency in Ghana. It suggested that building authorities and other related institutions educate the contractors, building engineers, architects to realise this. The findings from this investigation show that design decision and strategies significantly influence cooling demand and overall energy use of buildings in the Ghanaian context.


We have addressed the mechanisms governing the activation and trafficking of G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) by analyzing constitutively active mating pheromone receptors (Ste2p and Ste3p) of the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Substitution of the highly conserved proline residue in transmembrane segment VI of these receptors causes constitutive signaling. This proline residue may facilitate folding of GPCRs into native, inactive conformations, and/or mediate agonist-induced structural changes leading to G protein activation. Constitutive signaling by mutant receptors is suppressed upon coexpression with wild-type, but not G protein coupling-defective, receptors. Wild-type receptors may therefore sequester a limiting pool of G proteins; this apparent "precoupling" of receptors and G proteins could facilitate signal production at sites where cell surface projections form during mating partner discrimination. Finally, rather than being expressed mainly at the cell surface, constitutively active pheromone receptors accumulate in post-endoplasmic reticulum compartments. This is in contrast to other defective membrane proteins, which apparently are targeted by default to the vacuole. We suggest that the quality-control mechanism that retains receptors in post-endoplasmic reticulum compartments may normally allow wild-type receptors to fold into their native, fully inactive conformations before reaching the cell surface. This may ensure that receptors do not trigger a response in the absence of agonist.


We designed and synthesized a new fluorescent probe for detecting pH and HSO3− using pyrene as an electron donor (D) and pyridine as an electron acceptor (A). The fluorescent probe for sensing pH and HSO3− could distinguish these by their spectral properties in different media. pH titrations indicated that the probe displayed a ratiometric emission (pH 7.10–1.36) with a pKa of 4.26, responded linearly to minor pH fluctuations within the acidic pH range of 3.00–5.50 in CH3CN/H2O (1/3, v/v), and exhibited a remarkable emission enhancement (pH 7.10–13.09) with a pKa of 10.91 and a linear response in the extremely alkaline pH range of 9.75–11.35 in CH3CN/H2O (1/19, v/v). Interestingly, the probe also responded to HSO3− with an obvious turn-off fluorescence signal in PBS buffer (pH = 5.00, 1.5% DMSO). This could be attributed to the Michael addition of HSO3− to the α,β-unsaturated ketone, which resulted in breaking of the conjugation. The detection limit (LOD) of the probe for HSO3− based on the definition by IUPAC was calculated to be 1.9 nM. Furthermore, the probe was employed successfully for the imaging of pH and HSO3− in live cells, which indicated that the probe was a suitable indicator for imaging the distribution of pH or HSO3− and tracking their changes.


The relationship between reading rate and saccadic frequency in patients with macular degeneration was studied to determine if this simple measure of eye movements would be helpful in explaining the reduction in reading rates. Nineteen subjects and five controls were tested for visual acuity, reading rate, and saccadic frequency for intended stationary, simple left-to-right, and sequencing step tasks. Eye movements were recorded using an electro-oculography technique. Absolute eye position was not known. The results demonstrated that, using a 2 degree threshold for a stationary target, patients refixated a mean of 42.7 times per min, and controls refixated 0.00 times per min. For a two-letter left-to-right task, patients averaged 3.57 times more saccades than an ideal response, and controls had 1.14 times more saccades than ideal (P less than 0.01). For a five-letter left-to-right sequencing task, patients refixated a mean of 2.10 times more than ideal, and controls refixated 1.15 times more than ideal (P less than 0.05). Regression analysis demonstrated that sequencing task scores of saccadic frequency and visual acuity were the best predictors of reading rate (r2 = 0.705). These results indicate that higher saccadic frequencies are associated with lower reading rates and that there appears to be a relationship between the sequencing of visual information and reading rate.


We have performed a systematic study on the ground-state binding energy of an on-center donor impurity confined in a GaAs/Al0.3Ga0.7As cylindrical quantum dot (QD), subjected to simultaneously applied electric and magnetic fields. The two fields are tilted with respect to the QD growth direction and they are either parallel or perpendicular to each other. All the calculations are based on the potential morphing method which is employed within the framework of the effective-mass approximation. Our results show that when the tilted electric and magnetic fields are parallel, the magnetic shift of the donor binding energy is a monotonic function of the magnetic field strength. On the other hand, when the two fields are perpendicular to each other, the magnetic shift of the donor binding energy varies nonmonotonically with respect to the magnetic field strength, exhibiting a minimum value at a critical magnetic field strength. The position of this minimum value and its dependence on the QD size, its aspect ratio and the orientation of the tilted magnetic field is systematically investigated. Moreover, we discuss in detail the competition effects which appear in the presence of the two fields, showing that the critical line which corresponds to zero shift of the donor binding energy can be manipulated by suitably adjusting the QD size, the aspect ratio and the relative orientation of the two fields.


Group projects form a large and possibly growing component of the work undertaken for assessing students in higher education, and especially in post-graduate work in business. Yet the assessments sources, methods and purposes result in an array of combinations that the literature fails to capture in its full complexity. Tutors may be able to assess the work of the group as well as they might the work of any individual. But grades - and degrees - are awarded to individuals. Writers on higher education speak of using self- and peer-assessment as a way of qualifying the evaluation of group work so as to differentiate between individuals. But these commonly used terms - drawn from approaches to assessing individual work - are ambiguous or even misleading in the context of group work. This paper proposes a framework for discussing the assessment of group projects in an effort to help identify how the benefits of group learning and be translated into fairer summative assessments.


Ultraviolet-luminous galaxies (UVLGs) have been identified as intensely star-forming nearby galaxies. A subset of these, the supercompact UVLGs, are believed to be local analogs of high-redshift Lyman break galaxies. Here we investigate the radio continuum properties of this important population for the first time. We have observed 42 supercompact UVLGs with the VLA, all of which have extensive coverage in the UV/optical by GALEX and SDSS. Our analysis includes comparison samples of multiwavelength data from the Spitzer First Look Survey and from the SDSS-GALEX matched catalogs. In addition we have Spitzer MIPS data for 24 of our galaxies and find that they fall on the radio-FIR correlation of normal star-forming galaxies. We find that our galaxies have lower radio to UV ratios and lower Balmer decrements than other local galaxies with similar (high) star formation rates. Optical spectra show they have lower Dn(4000) and H δA indices, higher Hβ emission-line equivalent widths, and higher [O III]5007/Hβ emission-line ratios than normal star-forming galaxies. Comparing these results to galaxy spectral evolution models we conclude that supercompact UVLGs are distinguished from normal star-forming galaxies firstly by their high specific star formation rates. Moreover, compared to other types of galaxies with similar star formation rates, they have significantly less dust attenuation. In both regards they are similar to Lyman break galaxies. This suggests that the process that causes star formation in the supercompact UVLGs differs from other local star-forming galaxies, but may be similar to Lyman break galaxies.


Managed honey bee colonies provide pollination services, which are an essential input in the production of many crops in the United States. Over the last decade, the supply of U.S. honey bee colonies has become volatile as a result of multiple factors inhibiting colony health. This paper investigates the impact that colony supply uncertainty has on the California almond pollination market, the largest user of managed pollinators in the world. I develop a theoretical model and show that almond growers can reduce moral hazard in pollination agreements by paying beekeepers according to delivered colony strength. I utilize two unique datasets to identify determinants of almond pollination fees and test the predictions of the theoretical model. Using the California State Beekeeper's Association pollination fee survey for years 2008-2015, I find that providing low strength colonies for almond pollination results in lower fees collected by the beekeeper. I pair the beekeeper-reported data analysis with an empirical study of an almond grower pollination contract survey that I conducted at the 2015 Almond Conference. The results of the almond grower data analysis suggest that growers whose pollination contracts specify minimum colony strength requirements of at least the industry standard pay higher pollination fees than those who have lower or no colony strength requirements. The empirical results support the theoretical model finding that almond growers use colony strength requirements to elicit beekeeper effort. Since almond pollination represents only part of a commercial beekeeper's yearly income from honey production and pollination services, this paper highlights the need for additional research on the total economic impact of volatility of U.S. honey bee colony populations to effectively implement policies that promote managed pollinator health.


INTRODUCTION
Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is a major health problem, determining the reduction in life expectancy and an increased risk of cardiovascular disease.

METHOD
An observational, cohort, retrospective, based on patient's medical records data with CKD under hemodialysis, peritoneal dialysis and kidney transplantation in the city of Curitiba, in the period from January to June 2014, evacuativo the financial impact on the Unified Health System (SUS) and the supplementary health.

RESULTS
The lowest cost of a kidney transplant in the first year was R$ 40,743.03 when cyclosporine was used and the highest was R$ 48,388.17 with the use of tacrolimus. In the second year post-transplant, hemodialysis and peritoneal dialysis have a higher cost compared to kidney transplant. Transplantation with deceased donor, treated with tacrolimus: R$ 67,023.39; Hemodialysis R$ 71,717.51 and automated peritoneal dialysis automatic R$ 69,527.03.

CONCLUSIONS
After the first two years of renal replacement therapy, transplantation demonstrates lower costs to the system when compared to other modalities evaluated. Based on that, this therapy justifies improvements in government policies in this sector.


Prosthetic control for rehabilitation, among many other applications, can leverage in-sensor hand gesture recognition in which lightweight machine learning models for classifying electromyogram (EMG) signals are embedded on miniature, low-power devices. While research efforts have demonstrated high accuracy in controlled settings, these methods have yet to make a significant commercial or clinical impact due to the wide variety of scenarios and situational contexts that are faced during everyday use. Typical static models suffer from the effects of EMG signal variation caused by changing contexts in which they are deployed. Here, we propose an incremental learning algorithm using hyperdimensional (HD) computing that can efficiently learn gesture patterns performed in new limb positions, a context-change which normally significantly degrades classification accuracy. A prototype-based learning algorithm, HD computing enables memory- and computation-efficient incorporation of new training examples into the model, while preserving information about already learned contexts. We present various configurations of the incremental HD classifier, allowing system designers to trade classification performance for implementation efficiency as measured through memory footprint. Incremental learning experiments with data from 5 subjects show that HD computing can achieve similar accuracies as incrementally trained SVM and LDA classifiers while requiring a fraction of the memory allocation.


New theory developed from action research and practical experience in higher education combines retro-marketing and student engagement theory to form a post-modern approach to motivating and supporting students to work/study abroad. It explains that 'inertia' is the normal state of a modern student and they move through several stages towards confidence to tackle challenges and take opportunities well beyond their current capabilities and self-belief.
It was developed in one of the most challenging environments: typically insular, British students with no tradition of higher education, for whom 'study abroad' is optional and an addiitonal cost to an already expensive undertaking (an undergraduate degree). In this 'new' university, outgoing mobility increased from 6 to 300+ students annually in 8 years with a zero-return rate and high reported satisfaction.
Furthermore, the most impressive results were achieved in attempting the apparently impossible - attracting such students to spend a full year in provincial South Korea or Slovenia. This expansion of the approach reflects the importance of high quality collaboration when seeking to internationalise.
At times counter-intuitive and even controversial, this session presents the theory and evidence of its effectiveness in a specific case, meeting a need in many conference delegates for some advanced and ground-breaking thinking. Elements can be adopted or rejected according to specific situations.


Group decision-making should be particularly beneficial when group members share unique information, because then a group can make a better decision than each group member alone. This study examined how elementary-school children share unique information during group-decision making. Seventy-nine groups of three same-sex and sameage 7and 9-year-old children (N= 237) had to decide which one of two hypothetical candidates should play the lead role in a school musical. When information was unshared, group members had to exchange their uniquely held information to identify the best candidate. Only a minority of groups picked the best candidate when information was unshared. Yet, groups of 7-year-old children were better at identifying the best candidate and were less likely to focus on the discussion of shared information than groups of 9-year-olds. These findings are interpreted with reference to processes underlying information sharing in groups, namely collective information sampling, preference-consistent evaluation, and collaborative inhibition/inter-subjectivity.


In contrast to the numerous papers on the influence of changes in the pepsin concentration, the influence of varying the protein concentration on the rate of digestion of protein has been but little studied. Weis ~ found that the rate was nearly directly proportional to the protein concentration in low concentration but increased more slowly than the latter in concentrations of more than 2 to 3 per cent. The experiments were made with a crude enzyme preparation which contained several proteolytic enzymes, and were made in such a way as to compare the changes in different solutions after the same time interval, instead of comparing the times required to cause an equal change. They are therefore difficult to interpret. Preliminary experiments made with a purified pepsin and purified egg albumin showed in general the same results as those found by Weis. In concentrations of more than 2 to 3 per cent the rate of digestion increases more slowly than the protein concentration and finally becomes nearly independent of it. This phenomenon is a v ~ y general one in enzyme reactions and many explanations have been offered to account for it. Brown s suggested that the relative decrease in the rate of digestion with increasing substrate concentration was due to the fact that the enzyme remained combined with the substrate for a period of time large compared with the time necessary for combination to take place. The enzyme therefore becomes more and more "saturated" with substrate as the relative concentration of substrate to enzyme increases. Van Slyke and Cullen 3


ackground: Floaters and photopsia are common eye symptoms. This prospective study aims to detect the relative importance of floaters, photopsia, or both as predictors of vitreo-retinal pathology. Material: 202 patients attending the outpatient clinic in Alkadhimya teaching hospital between 2008–2010 complaining of floaters, photopsia, or both were interrogated .starting with inquiry about the mode of presentation, then slit lamp examination of the anterior segment, and dilatation of the pupil by mydriacyl drops 0.5% and phenylphrine drops 10%, followed by 3 mirror examination of the vitreous and peripheral retina. Results: 98 patients were male while 104 patients were female. 104 patients (51.49%) presented with floaters; 24 patients (11.88%) presented with photopsia; and 74 patients (36.63%) presented with both floaters and photopsia. 102 patients (50.50%) had posterior vitreous detachment (PVD) while 52 patients (25.74%) had synchysis, and 48 patients (23.76%) had normal vitreous. The highest percentage of PVD was in the age group 60 – 69 years and was 40 patients (39.21%). Regarding the mode of presentation, the highest percentage of PVD was in the group of patients presenting with both floaters and photopsia and was 46 patients (62.16%). The total number of retinal tear cases detected was 14; 8 of them were present in patients having PVD and presenting with floaters and photopsia, while 4 cases of retinal tears were detected in patients having PVD and presenting with floaters, and finally 2 retinal tear cases were detected in patients having PVD and presenting with photopsia. 12 eyes (85.71%) who had retinal tears had vitreous pigment granules, while 2 eyes with retinal tears (14.29%) did not have vitreous pigment granules. Conclusion: the symptoms of floaters, photopsia, or both are an important predictors of vitreo- retinal pathology. A significant number of patients had PVD, and this was associated with retinal tears in a number of patients. Vitreous pigment granules in these patients were closely correlated with the presence of retinal tears. Careful examination of patients including 3 mirror contact lens examinations is mandatory.


Traditional program editing tools are separate from program evaluation tools. Exceptions are debuggers as well as REPLs and similar tools such as Smalltalk workspaces and object inspectors, or computational notebooks. However, these are not designed for full scale program development. Most such tools do not support evaluation of code within an abstraction, such as a function or class instance. Debuggers do allow such evaluation, but require the user to navigate to a position in the code by manually initiating an execution path that leads to that position. As a result of the separation of editing from evaluation, programmers writing or reading a program must mentally simulate its execution in order to understand it. To avoid the cognitive burden of such simulation, this paper argues that program editing should be tightly integrated with an evaluator, so that any expression or statement being edited can be evaluated at will. We describe the design of a development environment for the Newspeak programming language which fulfills this requirement.


Abstract. In light of technological advances, researchers have lost sight of robotic grippers/end effectors design intent. In a semi-structured environment the biomimetic approach is impractical due to the high complexity of the mechanism and control algorithms. Current industrial grippers are robust, but lack the flexibility that allows for in hand manipulation. The authors believe that underactuated grippers provide the best approach to allow for in hand manipulation along with being rugged enough for an industrial setting. Thinking of the robotic gripper and the robotic arm as one system (as opposed to two separate subsystems), one is capable of using the degrees of freedom of the robot in conjunction with that of the gripper to provide the desired motion profile without the complexity of running two subsystems. This paper will outline where recent grippers have failed and will introduce a new design paradigm for grippers along with several underactuated gripper ideas. This paper was presented at the IFToMM/ASME International Workshop on Underactuated Grasping (UG2010), 19 August 2010, Montreal, Canada.


In this work, we investigate an unexplored possibility of passivating the charged surface states on AlGaN/GaN high electron mobility transistor (HEMT) heterostructures by using organic molecules. This has further led to remarkable enhancement in the electrical properties of rectifying metal-semiconductor contacts on AlGaN/GaN. Phenol functionalized Zinc metallated-Tetra Phenyl Porphyrin (Zn-TPPOH) organic molecules were adsorbed on AlGaN/GaN via the solution phase to form a molecular layer (MoL). The presence of the MoL was confirmed using X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS). The thickness of the MoL was assessed as ∼1 nm, using Spectroscopic Ellipsometry and cross-sectional Transmission Electron Microscopy. XPS peak-shift analyses together with Kelvin Probe Force Microscopy revealed that the molecular surface modification reduced the surface potential of AlGaN by approximately 250 meV. Consequently, the Barrier height (ideality factor) of Ni Schottky diodes on AlGaN/GaN was increased (reduced) significantly from 0.91 ± 0.05 eV (2.5 ± 0.31) for Ni/AlGaN/GaN to 1.37 ± 0.03 eV (1.4 ± 0.29) for Ni/Zn-TPPOH/AlGaN/GaN. In addition, a noteworthy decrement in the reverse current from 2.6 ± 1.93 μA to 0.31 ± 0.19 nA at −5 V (∼10 000 times) was observed from Current-Voltage (I-V) measurements. This surface-modification process can be fruitful for improving the performance of AlGaN/GaN HEMTs, mitigating the adverse effects of surface states and polarization in these materials.In this work, we investigate an unexplored possibility of passivating the charged surface states on AlGaN/GaN high electron mobility transistor (HEMT) heterostructures by using organic molecules. This has further led to remarkable enhancement in the electrical properties of rectifying metal-semiconductor contacts on AlGaN/GaN. Phenol functionalized Zinc metallated-Tetra Phenyl Porphyrin (Zn-TPPOH) organic molecules were adsorbed on AlGaN/GaN via the solution phase to form a molecular layer (MoL). The presence of the MoL was confirmed using X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS). The thickness of the MoL was assessed as ∼1 nm, using Spectroscopic Ellipsometry and cross-sectional Transmission Electron Microscopy. XPS peak-shift analyses together with Kelvin Probe Force Microscopy revealed that the molecular surface modification reduced the surface potential of AlGaN by approximately 250 meV. Consequently, the Barrier height (ideality factor) of Ni Schottky diodes on AlGaN/GaN was increased (reduced) signifi...


New, efficient and highly stereoselective methods were developed for the synthesis/modification of Wudaphos type ligands. It was found that the "three hindered quadrant" model is crucial to ensure high enantiomeric control and that the substituents on the phosphine atom should be electron rich to increase the reactivity. Moreover, a new SPO-Wudaphos ligand was developed, which exhibited good to excellent enantioselectivities in the asymmetric hydrogenation of α-methylene-γ-keto carboxylic acids.


This article argues that miniature sutras allow Korean Buddhists to feel Buddha's presence and protection in their daily lives. Miniature sutras are so small that they are difficult, if not impossible, to read, but these texts are not intended for study. Instead, the mere presence of these miniature sutras is thought to be efficacious. Many Korean Buddhists possess small Buddha statues at home into whose hollow bellies they insert miniature sutras. To those Buddhists, sutras, which are the dharma of the Buddha, activate the statues and turn them into the Buddha himself. In addition, they believe that miniature sutras in their hands or pockets bless them and protect them from evil. Scriptures as the word-body of the Buddha are thought to work for Buddhists irrespective of their semantic content, and without any explicit ritual recitation or repetition.


Two recent News & Comment articles in the issue of 28 June seem to me to send contradictory messages. The article that discusses the lack ofwomen mathematicians in tenured positions in the top ten mathematics departments (Paul Selvin, "Does the Harrison case reveal sexism in math?," p. 1781) was laudable and suggests that perhaps the editors of Science are genuinely concerned about equal professional opportunities for all scientists. The adjacent article "Labstyles of the famous and well funded" (subtitled "Small labs have their partisans; so do big ones. The key, however, is not size alone but the style of the lab's chief-his [emphasis


In Reply .—I have reviewed with great interest The Edwin Smith Surgical Papyrus as transcribed by Breasted. The ancient Egyptians did use adhesive plaster made of strips of linen. These were applied, in pairs, "to the two lips of the gaping wound in order to cause that one join to the other." 1 Wound closure therefore was effected by a sutureless technique. Dr Jelenko is to be commended on his astute observations and keen knowledge of the surgical literature. We are indebted to the unknown surgeon who described a sutureless closure some 4,500 years ago, and we recognize his contribution. Although his achievement has been largely forgotten, he might take solace from the words of Longfellow, who wrote Let us, then, be up and doing, With a heart for any fate; Still achieving, still pursuing, Learn to labour and to wait. 2


Aim
Biodiversity loss is a major driver of ecosystem change, yet the ecological data required to detect and mitigate losses are often lacking. Recently, camera trap surveys have been suggested as a method for sampling local wildlife communities, because these observations can be collated into a global monitoring network. To demonstrate the potential of camera traps for global monitoring, we assembled data from multiple local camera trap surveys to evaluate the interchange between fine- and broad-scale processes impacting mammalian carnivore communities.

Location
Argentina, Belize, Botswana, Canada, Indonesia, Iran, Madagascar, Nepal, Norway, Senegal, South Africa, and the U.S.A.

Methods
We gathered camera trap data, totalling > 100,000 trap nights, from across five continents. To analyse local and species-specific responses to anthropogenic and environmental variables, we fitted multispecies occurrence models to each study area. To analyse global-level responses, we then fitted a multispecies, multi-area occurrence model.

Results
We recorded 4,805 detections of 96 mammalian carnivore species photographed across 1,714 camera stations located in 12 countries. At the global level, our models revealed that carnivore richness and occupancy within study areas was positively associated with prey availability. Occupancy within study areas also tended to increase with greater protection and greater distances to roads. The strength of these relationships, however, differed among countries.

Main conclusions
We developed a research framework for leveraging global camera trap data to evaluate patterns of mammalian carnivore occurrence and richness across multiple spatial scales. Our research highlights the importance of intact prey populations and protected areas in conserving carnivore communities. Our research also highlights the potential of camera traps for monitoring wildlife communities and provides a case study for how this can be achieved on a global scale. We encourage greater integration and standardization among camera trap studies worldwide, which would help inform effective conservation planning for wildlife populations both locally and globally.


Summary: Some kinetic properties of ribulose 1,5-bisphosphate (RuBP) carboxylase/oxygenase from Thiobacillus thyasiris, a marine, facultatively heterotrophic, sulphur-oxidizing bacterium and putative symbiont of Thyasira flexuosa (Montagu), a bivalve mussel, have been determined. The kinetic parameters for the CO2/Mg2+-activated enzyme were: K
m(RuBP) 24·3 μM, K
m(CO2) 125·5 μM, K
m(O2) 900 μM and K
m (Mg2+) 1·53 mM. The low CO2 affinity suggests that T. thyasiris may possess a CO2-concentrating mechanism. RuBP oxygenase activity was inhbited by increasing CO2 concentration. Divalent metal ions were essential for RuBP carboxylase activity; activity of the Mg2+-free enzyme could be restored by the addition of Mg2+, Mn2+ or Ca2+. The pH optimum was 7·8. The temperature optimum for RuBP carboxylase activity was 55 °C, although the enzyme rapidly lost activity at this temperature. An Arrhenius plot was biphasic, with a break at 40 °C. The activation energies were 55·5 × 103 J mol-1 and 32·9 × 103 J mol-1> over the temperature ranges 10-40 °C, and 1·47 between 40-55 °C, RuBP carboxylase activity was stable at 35 °C, the optimum growth temperature of T. thyasiris and at 7·5 °C, the temperature of the habitat of Thyasira flexuosa, but the activity was 40% and 3·5%, respectively, of the potential activity at 55 °C. RuBP carboxylase activity was stimulated by NaCl concentrations of up to 0·3 m, with a maximum (33%), occurring between 0·1 and 0·2 m-NaCl. At higher concentrations of NaCl (>0·3 m) RuBP carboxylase activity was inhibited.


Abstract In the coal industry, the coal particles need to be decreased to a very fine size because of the need of removing inorganic materials from coal. Oil agglomeration is a kind of coal cleaning technique that is used for separation of organic and inorganic parts of fine sized coal. In this study, the oil agglomeration of Sivas-Divriği (S-D) Uluçayır lignite was carried out by using kerosene, diesel oil, fuel oil, poppy oil, and sunflower oil. The amount of bridging oil was varied from 5% to 25% of the amount of lignite. The effect of oil amount, oil type, solid content, agitation rate and time, pH on agglomeration performance was investigated. Maximum recovery value of 98.18% was observed by using poppy oil. In order to investigate the effect of pH on agglomeration NaOH and HCl is added to the slurry in various amounts. It is decided that the best agglomeration condition is obtained at low pH values. The effect of nonionic surface active agent (Igepal-CA 630) on agglomeration is investigated by adding to the slurry and it is observed that the grade is increased with the amount of surface active agent.


In artificial intelligence, evolutionary algorithms (EAs) have shown to be effective and robust in solving difficult optimization problems. EAs are generic populationbased metaheuristic optimization algorithms. The mechanisms used in EAs are inspired by biological evolution: reproduction, mutation, recombination, and selection. The development of EAs can be classified into two categories: single objective and multi-objective optimization. In this thesis, both single objective and multi-objective evolutionary algorithms have been studied. For single objective optimization, various niching techniques are integrated with differential evolution (DE) and particle swarm optimization (PSO) for multi-modal optimization. Multi-modal optimization deals with optimization tasks that involve finding all or most of the global/local peaks in one single run. EAs in their original forms are usually designed for locating one single global solution. To promote and maintain formation of multiple stable subpopulations within a single population, we introduced a neighborhood mutation technique to enhance DE with ability of handling multi-modal problems. We also proposed a locally informed PSO to tackle multi-modal optimization. Beside these, several existing niching techniques from the literature were modified and improved by us. For multi-objective evolutionary algorithms, we proposed a summation of normalized objective values and diversified selection (SNOV-DS) method to replace the classical non-domination sorting. The process of classical nondomination sorting is complex and time consuming. By use of the proposed method, not only the simulation speed is increased, but also the performance of the algorithm is improved. We also introduced an ensemble of constraint handling methods (ECHM) to solve constrained multi-objective optimization problems, where each constraint handling method had its own population. ECHM allows different constraint handling methods to generate offspring and exchange information. In this way, the offspring produced by the most suitable constraint handling method will survive and be set as parents for next generation. Lastly, we applied the proposed algorithm to solve environmental/economic power dispatch problem. We demonstrated the superior performance of the proposed algorithm over other similar evolutionary algorithms reported in literature.


Study Design. Radiographic analysis was performed retrospectively. Outcomes and complications were collected prospectively. Objectives. To assess complications after posterior fusion and instrumentation for degenerative lumbar scoliosis, to determine risk factors of complications, and to analyze the clinical outcomes of surgery. Summary of Background Data. The complications after degenerative lumbar scoliosis surgery have reported to be high. Risk factors for developing complications are unknown. Methods. Forty-seven patients (average age, 66.6 years; range, 48–83 years) with degenerative lumbar scoliosis undergoing posterior fusion and instrumentation were analyzed. Seven patients had additional posterior lumbar interbody fusion at the lumbosacral junction. The average number of levels fused was 4.7 ± 2.2 segments. We evaluated the early perioperative (<3 months after surgery) and late complications. Results. There were 14 early perioperative complications and 18 late complications. There was 1 case of mortality by pulmonary embolism. Early complications included ileus, urinary tract infection, transient delirium, superficial infection, and neurologic deficit. Late complications included adjacent segment diseases, pseudarthrosis, and loosening of screws. Adjacent segment disease developed at the proximal segment in 10 patients and at the distal segment in 5 patients. Pseudarthrosis was noted at the lumbosacral junction in 2 patients. Revision surgery was performed in 7 patients. Older patients (>65 years) had the tendency to increase early complications without statistical difference (P = 0.053). Excessive intraoperative blood loss was the most significant risk factor for the development of early perioperative complications, and number of levels fused was related to blood loss. Operative time and multiple medical comorbidities were not associated with higher complication rate. There were no specific factors related to the development of late complications. Conclusion. The complication rate after posterior fusion and instrumentation for degenerative lumbar scoliosis was 68%. Abundant blood loss was a significant risk factor for early perioperative complications. The improvement of Oswestry disability index was less in patients with late complications.


Background Joubert syndrome (JS) is a ciliopathy characterised by a distinctive brain malformation (the 'molar tooth sign'), developmental delay, abnormal eye movements and abnormal breathing pattern. Retinal dystrophy, cystic kidney disease, liver fibrosis and polydactyly are variably present, resulting in significant phenotypic heterogeneity and overlap with other ciliopathies. JS is also genetically heterogeneous, resulting from mutations in 13 genes. These factors render clinical/molecular diagnosis and management challenging. CC2D2A mutations are a relatively common cause of JS and also cause Meckel syndrome. The clinical consequences of CC2D2A mutations in patients with JS have been incompletely reported. Methods Subjects with JS from 209 families were evaluated to identify mutations in CC2D2A. Clinical and imaging features in subjects with CC2D2A mutations were compared with those in subjects without CC2D2A mutations and reports in the literature. Results 10 novel CC2D2A mutations in 20 subjects were identified; a summary is provided of all published CC2D2A mutations. Subjects with CC2D2A-related JS were more likely to have ventriculomegaly (p<0.0001) and seizures (p=0.024) than subjects without CC2D2A mutations. No mutation-specific genotype–phenotype correlations could be identified, but the findings confirm the observation that mutations that cause CC2D2A-related JS are predicted to be less deleterious than mutations that cause CC2D2A-related Meckel syndrome. Missense variants in the coiled-coil and C2 domains, as well as the C-terminal region, identify these regions as important for the biological mechanisms underlying JS. Conclusions CC2D2A testing should be prioritised in patients with JS and ventriculomegaly and/or seizures. Patients with CC2D2A-related JS should be monitored for hydrocephalus and seizures.


OBJECTIVE
To compare hospital outcomes associated with commonly used antibiotic therapies for aspiration pneumonia in children with neurologic impairment (NI).

DESIGN/METHODS
A retrospective study of children with NI hospitalized with aspiration pneumonia at 39 children's hospitals in the Pediatric Health Information System database. Exposure was empiric antibiotic therapy classified by antimicrobial activity. Outcomes included acute respiratory failure, intensive care unit (ICU) transfer, and hospital length of stay (LOS). Multivariable regression evaluated associations between exposure and outcomes and adjusted for confounders, including medical complexity and acute illness severity.

RESULTS
In the adjusted analysis, children receiving Gram-negative coverage alone had two-fold greater odds of respiratory failure (odds ratio [OR] 2.15; 95% CI: 1.41-3.27), greater odds of ICU transfer (OR 1.80; 95% CI: 1.03-3.14), and longer LOS [adjusted rate ratio (RR) 1.28; 95% CI: 1.16-1.41] than those receiving anaerobic coverage alone. Children receiving anaerobic and Gram-negative coverage had higher odds of respiratory failure (OR 1.65; 95% CI: 1.19-2.28) than those receiving anaerobic coverage alone, but ICU transfer (OR 1.15; 95% CI: 0.73-1.80) and length of stay (RR 1.07; 95% CI: 0.98-1.16) did not statistically differ. For children receiving anaerobic, Gram-negative, and P. aeruginosa coverage, LOS was shorter (RR 0.83; 95% CI: 0.76-0.90) than those receiving anaerobic coverage alone; odds of respiratory failure and ICU transfer rates did not significantly differ.

CONCLUSIONS
Anaerobic therapy appears to be important in the treatment of aspiration pneumonia in children with NI. While Gram-negative coverage alone was associated with worse outcomes, its addition to anaerobic therapy may not yield improved outcomes.


When cutting titanium alloy, the temperature of a cutting tool edge is easy to rise and the tool edge is tend to be worn away quickly because the titanium alloy has the characteristics of low thermal conductivity and high chemical activity. Therefore, it is difficult to achieve a balance between the productivity and the tool life in cutting the titanium alloy, namely, low-speed cutting must be carried out at present. To examine the possibility of the improvement in the cutting efficiency, a PCD (polycrystalline diamond) tool having high thermal conductivity was adopted to the cutting of titanium alloy and its cutting performance was investigated. The PCD tool was found to have excellent flank wear resistance compared with conventional cemented carbide tools. It was also revealed that unprecedented high speed cutting become possible by use of PCD tool with an application of high pressure coolant.


The increased average of non-renewable energy consumption in the residential sector and not using the passive techniques, which are often based on the vernacular architecture concepts and principles and climate, have led to energy waste and increased costs. Due to humidity and excessive heat in summer at noon, Amol exceeds the thermal comfort and needs natural ventilation. The current study aims to study the effect of dimensions and layout of the opening on the natural ventilation and reduction of energy consumption. First, reviewing the research background, natural ventilation was determined as the main component of the building design in this climate, and the operational principles of the stated component were extracted using Climate Consultant. Among the operational principles, the value of the opening area was determined as the main criterion of the climate design using the AHP method. With simulating a one-story residential building with an area of 75 square meters in Amol's climate in Envi-Met software and inputting climate information obtained from Climate Consultant analysis in Envi-met, the wind direction was north and north-western. The building understudy was simulated in Design Builder software. By comparing the window to surface percentage ratio and annual energy consumption, the ratio of 30% with the minimum energy consumption equivalent to 6839.87 kwh was considered the criterion for studying the opening effect. Windows of the residential building were considered as three parts to study the effect of the opening dimensions. In northern and southern sides where one-third of the window was closed, the minimum energy consumption value as the total of thermal and cooling loads was 7298.93 kwh, indicating the effects of the dimensions of the opening in the natural ventilation of the building in the humid and moderate climate.


The purpose of this paper is to provide a critical comparative analysis of the disgust discourse in Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's Americanah (2013) and NoViolet Bulawayo's We Need New Names (2013) so as to better understand the current politics of Afrodiasporic subjectivation. Built primarily on Sara Ahmed's reflectionson the emotional economies of disgust developed in The Cultural Politics of Emotion (2004), the discussion explores the relationship between space, emotions and subjectivity from the perspective of the "emotional turn" which is still under development within Postcolonial and Gender Urban Studies. This approach hasenabled the understanding of the geographies of disgust in the two selected novels as an illustration of the exclusion process of racialisation in present urban spaces. Moreover, the interpretation of their protagonists as personifications of Isabel Carrera Suarez's "post-colonial and post-diasporic pedestrian" (2015) has showedhow an abject condition in non-western cities is primarily the result of the diverse forms of violence resulting from a failed process of decolonisation, while this corresponds to an ambivalent social positionality in the hegemonic metropolis. Social abjection has been thus revealed as a fundamental negotiation status in thesubjectivation process of contemporary Afrodiasporians.


This guide offers resources to help students familiarize themselves with research, writing skills, and the libraries, as well as serve as a repository for information sources and materials used in the UNIV 101 Information Literacy Unit.


Background Artificial intelligence (AI) holds the promise of supporting nurses' clinical decision-making in complex care situations or conducting tasks that are remote from direct patient interaction, such as documentation processes. There has been an increase in the research and development of AI applications for nursing care, but there is a persistent lack of an extensive overview covering the evidence base for promising application scenarios. Objective This study synthesizes literature on application scenarios for AI in nursing care settings as well as highlights adjacent aspects in the ethical, legal, and social discourse surrounding the application of AI in nursing care. Methods Following a rapid review design, PubMed, CINAHL, Association for Computing Machinery Digital Library, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Xplore, Digital Bibliography & Library Project, and Association for Information Systems Library, as well as the libraries of leading AI conferences, were searched in June 2020. Publications of original quantitative and qualitative research, systematic reviews, discussion papers, and essays on the ethical, legal, and social implications published in English were included. Eligible studies were analyzed on the basis of predetermined selection criteria. Results The titles and abstracts of 7016 publications and 704 full texts were screened, and 292 publications were included. Hospitals were the most prominent study setting, followed by independent living at home; fewer application scenarios were identified for nursing homes or home care. Most studies used machine learning algorithms, whereas expert or hybrid systems were entailed in less than every 10th publication. The application context of focusing on image and signal processing with tracking, monitoring, or the classification of activity and health followed by care coordination and communication, as well as fall detection, was the main purpose of AI applications. Few studies have reported the effects of AI applications on clinical or organizational outcomes, lacking particularly in data gathered outside laboratory conditions. In addition to technological requirements, the reporting and inclusion of certain requirements capture more overarching topics, such as data privacy, safety, and technology acceptance. Ethical, legal, and social implications reflect the discourse on technology use in health care but have mostly not been discussed in meaningful and potentially encompassing detail. Conclusions The results highlight the potential for the application of AI systems in different nursing care settings. Considering the lack of findings on the effectiveness and application of AI systems in real-world scenarios, future research should reflect on a more nursing care–specific perspective toward objectives, outcomes, and benefits. We identify that, crucially, an advancement in technological-societal discourse that surrounds the ethical and legal implications of AI applications in nursing care is a necessary next step. Further, we outline the need for greater participation among all of the stakeholders involved.


We have developed a low-power and high- sensitivity cloud profiling radar, named FALCON-I, transmitting frequency modulated continuous wave (FM-CW) at 95 GHz for ground-based observations. Millimeter wave at 95 GHz is used to realize much higher sensitivity than lower frequencies to small cloud particles. An FM-CW type radar realizes similar sensitivity with much smaller output power to a pulse type radar. Two 1m-diameter parabolic antennas separated by 1.4 m each other are used for transmitting and receiving the wave. The direction of the antennas is fixed at the zenith at this moment. The radar can observe clouds up to 20 km in height with the range resolution of 15 m and the angular resolution of 0.2 degree. Simultaneous observations of FALCON-I and a pulse type radar, SPIDER, show good performance of FALCON-I. Sensitivity of FALCON-I is -32 dBZ in radar reflectivity factor at 5 km, which is only 3 dB worse than that of SPIDER although its output power is 1/3000 to SPIDER. Ranging resolution of 15 m is realized for FALCON-I, which is 1/10 of that of SPIDER. Using developed FALCON-I, we observed clouds in various regions and oceans in the last three years.


The transmission of Plasmodium falciparum , known as being responsible for the lethal and severe form of Malaria, has been importantly reduced in the last few years [1]. However, the effective fight against the disease is still facing some difficulties due to the high capacity of adaptation to the treatment of parasite, increasing its resistance to available medicaments [2]. Indeed, the appearance of P. falciparum chloroquine-resistant happened initially in the Magdalena's Valley, Colombia, but soon it was discovered in other Latin America's endemics areas, including Brazil, and Asia. More recently, resistance emerged as well in the African Continent, where it constitutes a stunning problem for disease control. Another relevant fact is the reporting of cases of severe malaria caused by the P. vivax , parasite traditionally responsible for the benign form of the disease [3-6].


Methods for obtaining small area estimates which have emerged over the past decade are reviewed with particular emphasis given to synthetic estimation, a procedure originally developed at the National Center for Health Statistics which has found wide acceptance because of its simplicity and intuitive appeal, and yet has provoked much controversy because of its lack of good demonstrable statistical properties and its equivocal results when subjected to empirical evaluation. The various methods of obtaining small area estimates are discussed in terms of their statistical properties, the feasibility of using them and the potential scope of their application. Finally, some recommendations are made concerning possible avenues of future research in small area estimation, and some tentative guidelines are given for choosing between alternative existing methods.


A 73-year-old male was suffering from severe mitral regurgitation due to P3 torn chorda and moderate tricuspid regurgitation with absent right superior vena cava (RSVC) and persistent left superior vena cava (PLSVC). The patient successfully underwent mitral valve repair with 2 artificial chords (Gore-Tex CV3)and Cosgrove band 32 mm, tricuspid annuloplasty with Cosgrove band 34 mm, and maze procedure. Cardiopulmonary bypass was established with aortic and double caval cannulation. The PLSVC was directly cannulated with an L-shaped cannula at the left of the main pulmonary artery. We believe that it should be advantageous, because it would neither impinge on operative view nor cause damage to sinus node tissue around the coronary sinus. To our knowledge, there have been only 8 cases of open heart surgery with such systemic venous drainage anomaly so far in Japan.


This paper describes a LINC (Linear Amplification using Nonlinear Components) handset transmitter adopting DC bias control. The power amplifier is operated at a saturated output power level and its level is adjusted by DC bias control. Thus the transmitter guarantees high efficiency at all usable output power level. Due to the LINC linearization, it can operate as a linear power amplifier. The new LINC transmitter can be used as a transmitter for software defined radio (SDR), since it can efficiently amplify both the GSM type constant envelope signal and CDMA type non-constant envelope signal, and its control part is very simple and mostly embodied in the digital domain. For verification, a 1.71 GHz LINC prototype transmitter has been implemented and tested. The results, compared with conventional cases, clearly show the suitability of the new LINC transmitter for SDR application.


This book examines the Korean War, the paradigm of America's conflicts with communism. He argues that, like so many wars, the Korean War was fought broadly along the lines of the war before, World War II. It shows, however, that the consequences of this error were limited by the State Department. The book examines the roles, leadership, personalities and prejudices of five key commanders - President Harry S. Truman, General Douglas MacArthur, General Matthew B. Ridgway, General Mark W. Clark and Admiral C. Turner Joy. It goes on to look at the crucial issues that confronted them during the conflict: Truman's decision to commit US forces to war without congressional approval; MacArthur's pressure for an assault on Inchon; and the decision to open truce negotiations. The book analyzes the ground-level results and long-term consequences of command decisions, and explores the course the war might have taken had certain crucial decisions been taken differently.


Populations of most isogamous protists have gametes that belong to one of only two mating-types (alias sexes). That this should be so is paradoxical for, if there is any cost involved in the finding of a mate, then a gamete of a third mating-type would, at the point of invasion, be able to mate with the first gamete it encounters, hence suffering the minimum possible costs. The expectation is hence that the number of mating-types in most isogamous species should tend towards infinity. By the same logic, two mating-types is the least expected state. A demonstration of the evolution from three to two sexes, under the condition of costs to mate-finding, has yet to be provided. Here I show by a dynamic analysis that, if species with two mating-types coordinate uniparental inheritance of cytoplasmic genes more efficiently than do those with three, then, assuming the costs to mate finding are not too high, evolution from three to two sexes is expected as a response to the invasion of a costly selfish cytoplasmic factor that disrupts the normal pattern of inheritance. There exists also a limited domain in parameter space (in which costs to mate finding are moderate), in which collapse from four mating-types to three is possible, but the collapse from three to two is not. If costs to not finding a mate are high then it is expected that gametic fusion should be abandoned for a system in which nuclei are exchanged but cytoplasm is not.


The driving force behind Inuit interest in international affairs has been the determination to solve the problems of under-development, environmental damage, social injustice, inadequate legal recognition and limited or non-existent self-government. To assist in the solution of these problems, the Inuit Circumpolar Conference (ICC) was founded in 1977. The Conference, which is presently headed by a Canadian Inuit (Mary Simon), holds a general assembly every three years and serves as the vehicle for overall Inuit identity and interests in the world. This identity has been developed in spite of international boundaries and East-West conflicts. Thus, the next general assembly, to be held in Sisimiut (Green-land) in 1989, will be the first where Soviet Inuit will join their kin from Alaska, Canada and Greenland. They will continue to address such fundamental issues as: the development of an overall Arctic policy ; the protection of the environment; sustainable development; international aboriginal rights; and the ongoing militarization of the Arctic, which is a cause of great concern to all Inuit.


This paper presents a latent variable structured prediction model for discriminative supervised clustering of items called the Latent Left-linking Model (L3M). We present an online clustering algorithm for L3M based on a feature-based item similarity function. We provide a learning framework for estimating the similarity function and present a fast stochastic gradient-based learning technique. In our experiments on coreference resolution and document clustering, L3M outperforms several existing online as well as batch supervised clustering techniques.


The recently proposed String Gradient Weighted Moving Finite Element (SGWMFE) method is extended to include remeshing and refining. The method simultaneously determines, at each time step, the solution of the governing partial differential equations and an optimal location of the finite element nodes. It has previously been applied to the nonlinear time-dependent two-dimensional shallow water equations, under the demanding conditions of large Coriolis forces, inducing large mesh and field rotation. Such effects are of major importance in geophysical fluid dynamics applications. Two deficiencies of the original SGWMFE method are (1) possible tangling of the mesh which causes the method's failure, and (2) no mechanism for global refinement when necessary due to the constant number of degrees of freedom. Here the method is extended in order to continue computing solutions when the meshes become too distorted, which happens quickly when the flow is rotationally dominant. Optimal rates of convergence are obtained when remeshing is applied. The method is also extended to include refinement to enable handling of new physical phenomena of a smaller scale which may appear during the solution process. It is shown that the errors in time are kept under control when refinement is necessary. Results of the extended method for some example problems of water hump release are presented.


Plasmonic structure color has significant potential for visual biochemical sensing by simple instrumentation or even naked eye detection. Herein, we present a visual and real-time sensing strategy for refraction index sensing and detection of the biotin-avidin system based on three-dimensional cavity-coupled metamaterials. These metamaterials composed of a top array of gold disks, aluminium pillars and a bottom reflection film of aluminium have structures similar to the metal-insulator-metal structure. The insulating layer comprises air-gap cavities that are easily filled with gaseous or liquid dielectrics. Therefore, analytes can permeate into the nano-scale cavities and produce strong light-matter interactions. The sensor shows that any tiny change in the refraction index will induce a significant color variation and the sensitivity reaches 683.5 nm per refraction index unit with a figure of merit of 3.5. The color of the metamaterials changes from rose-red to violet and then loden after a monomolecular layer of thiolated biotin and streptavidin bind to the surface of the nanostructure successively. This sensing strategy offers new opportunities for the convenient detection of proteins, nucleic acids, and lipids.


Stomatal guard cells are formed through a sequence of asymmetric and symmetric divisions in the epidermis of the sporophyte of most land plants. We show that several D-type cyclins are consecutively activated in the stomatal linage in the epidermis of Arabidopsis thaliana. Whereas CYCD2;1 and CYCD3;2 are activated in the meristemoids early in the lineage, CYCD7;1 is activated before the final division. CYCD7;1 expression peaks in the guard mother cell, where its transcription is modulated by the FOUR-LIPS/MYB88 transcription factor. FOUR-LIPS/MYB88 interacts with the CYCD7;1 promoter and represses CYCD7;1 transcription. CYCD7;1 stimulates the final symmetric division in the stomatal lineage, since guard cell formation is delayed in the cycd7;1 mutant epidermis and guard mother cell (GMC) divisions in four-lips mutant guard mother cells are limited by loss of function of CYCD7;1. Hence, the precise activation of a specific D-type cyclin, CYCD7;1, is required for correct timing of the last symmetric division that creates the stomatal guards cells, and CYCD7;1 expression is regulated by the FLP/MYB pathway that ensures cell cycle arrest in the stomatal guard cells. Summary Statement The formation of paired guard cells in the epidermis of the Arabidopsis thaliana shoot, requires the activity of the D-type cyclin CYCD7;1 for the normal timing of the final division.


In rural areas of developing countries, education programs are often implemented through community teachers. While teachers are a crucial part of the education production function, observing their effort remains a challenge for the public sector. This paper tests whether a simple monitoring system, implemented via the mobile phone, can improve student learning as part of an adult education program. Using a randomized control trial in 160 villages in Niger, we randomly assigned villages to a mobile phone monitoring component, whereby teachers, students and the village chief were called on a weekly basis. There was no incentive component to the program. The monitoring intervention dramatically affected student performance: During the first year of the program, reading and math test scores were .15-.30 s.d. higher in monitoring villages than in nonmonitoring villages, with relatively stronger effects in the region where monitoring was weakest and for teachers for whom the outside option was lowest. We provide more speculative evidence on the mechanisms behind these effects, namely, teacher and student effort and motivation.


We consider the problem of estimating the parameters (location and intensity) of multiple radioactive sources using a system of radiation detectors. The problem formulated as maximum likelihood estimation (MLE) requires the optimization of a high-dimensional objective function and presents significant computational challenges. We propose Fisher's scoring iterations approach (a special case of Newton's iterative method) for finding the MLE. While being computationally scalable, an inherent problem with this approach is finding good initial estimates specifically when multiple sources are present. We propose an expectation maximization (EM) based approach which finds the approximate distribution of the source intensity in space. Peaks in this distribution are used as initial estimates of the parameters to bootstrap the iterative MLE procedure. Next, we consider the problem of estimating the trajectory of a moving and maneuvering source. Since a priori motion model cannot be assumed, the trajectory is approximated as a set of points which again presents a high dimensional estimation problem. The trajectory estimation is posed as a constrained weighted least squares problem which is iteratively solved using the Interior Point Method (IPM). Simulation results are presented which illustrate the behavior and performance of our proposed approaches.


Track and field pursuits of a better level of people basic actions, playing a decisive role in the sport, but with the popularity of new sports, athletics status is continuously extruded even replaced. To change this situation, concept of outward bound which breaking through the traditional training thinking mode and requirement is introduced, joining the outward game in preparation activities in the track and field training. The research uses control experiment and divides the experimental sample into observation group and control group. The observation group will add outward bound in the track and field training. After 4 months of training, test the two groups in the aspects of final track examination, psychological quality, and social adaptability, so as to study whether it is beneficial to use the outward bound in track and field training. According to the results of the survey experimental subjects who accept outward bound perfume better in the three aspects of track and field sports exam, psychological quality, social adaptation than those who have not accept outward bound. And according to the statistical analysis of the investigation result, the difference between the obtained two groups is significantly, with statistical significance. It can be concluded that the outward bound can make track and field training more interesting and improve traineesÂ' interest, so as to improve the traineesÂ' athletic performance, and exercise psychological quality and social adaptability of trainees; therefore, the trainer should use the outward game more in the track and field teaching in the future.


Elsa and Charles Chauvel's 1955 film Jedda was the first Australian feature film to cast Aboriginal actors in lead roles. The film was also unusual in the context of Australian film of the time for its rural domestic setting. Because the film explored the experiences of its lead character – Jedda – as an Aboriginal child adopted by a white woman, it is also one of the few films of the period to deal with colonial legacies in its attention to policies and practices of assimilation. The twin processes of racialisation and gendering of space in Jedda have been responded to by Tracey Moffatt in her surrealist short film Night Cries. This article uses the notion of intimate geographies to examine the production of relationships of power within domestic space that both films explore. The temporal and spatial practices deployed by the female figures within each film make visible a set of possible transformations of, as well as continuities within, enduring colonial power relations. Moffatt's retelling and respatialising of the Jedda narrative, however, is ultimately understood as a specifically feminist practice of cultural memory work, suggesting that struggles over memory are also struggles over place.


The software development life cycle (SDLC) is used to design, develop and produce high quality, reliable, cost effective and within time software products in the software industry. This is also called software development process model. There are different SDLC process models are available. In this paper I have tried to describe different SDLC models according to their best use. There are many papers which have written in this regard. I will also use their knowledge or findings in this paper. The main purpose of this paper is to explain some of important SDLC models like Waterfall Model, Iterative Model, Spiral Model, V-Model, Big Bang Model, Agile Model, Rapid Application Development Model and Software Prototype. The main purpose of this paper is to explain advantages and disadvantages of these SDLC models. I will also describe which SDLC model is best fit for which type of software applications.


The teeth in which an Endodontic Therapy is about to take place usually present destruction of the crown, which after the end of the endodontic therapy needs restoration. For this purpose various technics and materials are used. The advantages and disadvantages of each technic in clinical practice of the restoration of the endodontically treated tooth are described with details is this paper.


Energy-efficiency has become the driving force of today's LSI industry. In order to achieve minimum energy operation of LSI, we propose a built-in body biasing technique which generates independent body biases for nMOSFET and pMOSFET separately. We design and fabricate an application circuit integrated with our proposed built-in body bias generation (BBG) circuits in a 65-nm process. The application circuit consists of AES cipher and decipher modules. The BBG does not require an external supply and it is compatible with a dynamic voltage scaling scheme for the application circuit. Cell-based design of the BBG circuit has been applied to facilitate automatic place and route. Both of the AES and the BBG circuits have been routed simultaneously to reduce design and area overhead. In post-silicon, supply voltage and body bias voltages are selected to achieve the minimum energy consumption for a target frequency. From the measurement results, more than 20% of energy reduction is achieved compared with adjusting supply voltage alone.


Analysis of piezoelectric ultrasonic transducers implies a solution of a boundary value problem, for a boay which consists of different materials, including a piezoelectric part. The problem is dynamic at frequencies, where a typical wavelength is somewhat less than the size of the body. Radiation losses as well as internal losses may be important. Due to the complexity of the problem, a closed form solution is the exception rather than the rule. For this reason, it is necessary to use approximate methods for the analysis. (Continued next page) May 1986 Riso National laboratory, DK 4000 Roskilde, Denmark Equivalent circuits, the Rayieigh-Ritz method, Mindlin plate theory and in particular the finite element method are considered. The finite element method is utilized for analysis of axisymmetric transducers. An explicit, fully piezoelectric, triangular ring element, with linear variations in displacememnt and electric potential is given. The influence of a fluid half-space is also given, in the form of a complex stiffness matrix. A special stacking procedure, for analysis of the backing has been developed. This procedure gives a saving, which is similar to that of the fast fourier transform algorithm, and is also wellsuited for analysis of finite and infinite waveguides. Results optained by the finite element method are shown and compared with measurements and exact solutions. Good agreement is obtained. It is concluded that the finite element method can be a valueable tool in analysis and design of ultrasonic transducers. Thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the Lic.Techn. degree at the Technical University of Denmark. ISBN 87-550-1198-5 ISSN 0106-2840 Grafisk Service 1986


The main aims of the present study are (1) to investigate phylogenetic relationships within the Antirrhineae using both morphological and molecular data, and (2) to provide an improved classification of the genus Kickxia sensu lato.Phylogenetic relationships within the tribe Antirrhineae are analysed and discussed on the basis of parsimony analyses of morphological and ndhF gene sequence data. The two sections currently generally recognized in Kickxia, sect. Kickxia and sect. Valvatae, were treated as terminal taxa in the analyses. The results indicate that the tribe Antirrhineae consists of four major groups of genera, the Anarrhinum clade, the Gambelia clade, the Maurandya clade, and the Antirrhinum clade. The Anarrhinum clade, consisting of Anarrhinum and Kickxia, is sister to the rest of the tribe. It is concluded that hummingbird-pollination has evolved independently within Antirrhineae at least three times from bee-pollinated ancestors.In a phylogenetic analysis of Kickxia sensu lato, using morphological characters, the two sections appear as distinct clades, both supported by strong synapomorphies. The differences between the two sections are of the same magnitude as those used to separate other closely related genera in the tribe. Therefore, the treatment of sect. Valvatae as a separate genus, Nanorrhinum, is proposed. Results from a dispersal-vicariance analysis indicate that the area of origin for Nanorrhinum is Arabia, whereas for Kickxia sensu stricto it is either Macaronesia, the Mediterranean Region or both these areas combined.A synoptical overview of Kickxia sensu stricto is given, whereas for Nanorrhinum a detailed taxonomic revision has been made. The results from studies of herbarium material, field work, and cultivation experiments, indicate that the plasticity of the species of Nanorrhinum is often greater than previously thought, and that, therefore, too many species have been described. In the present study ten species are recognized and many names are reduced to synonymy. New combinations are Nanorrhinum azraqensis, N. stenanthum, N. hastatum, N. elegans, N. kuriensis, N. asparagoides, N. heterophyllum and N. woodii. Distribution maps are provided for all species of Nanorrhinum, and somatic chromosome numbers are reported for several taxa. The revised taxonomy is used in an account of Kickxia and Nanorrhinum for the Flora of Ethiopia and Eritrea.


The cloning of cDNAs encoding murine 2-5A synthetase has identified three related transcripts, represented by a previously described cDNA clone, L3 and two novel cDNAs, L1 and L2. L1 contains an open reading frame coding for a protein that shows 70% conservation at the amino acid level when compared to the protein predicted to be encoded by L3. L2 recognizes an IFN-induced transcript 600-bp larger than the L3 transcript. These three cDNAs map to a cosmid, cII, containing two murine 2-5A synthetase genes, ME12 and ME5/ME8, situated in a head-to-tail orientation separated by approximately 8 kb. Southern analyses of ME12 and ME5/ME8 using L3, L1-specific and L2-specific probes indicate that these genes have a similar organization. cII was transiently and stably transfected into CV-1 cells. When treated with interferon, the transfected cells produced mature, murine 2-5A synthetase transcripts identified using L3 and L2-specific probes. Thus all transcripts present in IFN-treated mouse cells which are recognized by the available murine 2-5A synthetase cDNA probes map to an approximately 40 kb region of the mouse genome containing two 2-5A synthetase genes.


One immediate challenge in searching the deep web databases is source selection - i.e. selecting the most relevant web databases for answering a given query. The existing database selection methods (both text and relational) assess the source quality based on the query-similarity-based relevance assessment. When applied to the deep web these methods have two deficiencies. First is that the methods are agnostic to the correctness (trustworthiness) of the sources. Secondly, the query based relevance does not consider the importance of the results. These two considerations are essential for the open collections like the deep web. Since a number of sources provide answers to any query, we conjuncture that the agreements between these answers are likely to be helpful in assessing the importance and the trustworthiness of the sources. We compute the agreement between the sources as the agreement of the answers returned. While computing the agreement, we also measure and compensate for possible collusion between the sources. This adjusted agreement is modeled as a graph with sources at the vertices. On this agreement graph, a quality score of a source that we call SourceRank, is calculated as the stationary visit probability of a random walk. We evaluate SourceRank in multiple domains, including sources in Google Base, with sizes up to 675 sources. We demonstrate that the SourceRank tracks source corruption. Further, our relevance evaluations show that SourceRank improves precision by 22-60% over the Google Base and the other baseline methods. SourceRank has been implemented in a system called Factal.


The search for a balance between nature conservation and sustainable development remains a scientific and spatial planning challenge. In social-ecological systems based on traditional rural activities and associated with protected areas, this balance is particularly complex. Quantifying the economic impact of land use changes on ecosystem services can be useful to advise policy makers and improving social-ecological sustainability. In this study, we evaluated the land use changes in a time series and estimated the monetary value of the ecosystem services of the Urdaibai Biosphere Reserve (Biscay, Spain). In addition, we linked the monetary and biophysical values of land uses in each zoning units of the reserve, in order to identify the spatial adjustment between both assessments. Results showed that land use changes have clearly homogenized the landscape without substantially affecting its economic value. The methodological approach allowed detection that the reserve zoning was performed based more on its biophysical values than on economic ones. Thus, evident divergences between the biophysical and economic assessments were found. The core area was the one that had the highest coincidences (medium values) between both ecosystem services assessments, which highlights its importance not only in biophysical terms, is also economical. The procedure followed proved to be a useful tool to social-ecological planning and design of specific conservation strategies for the sustainable development of the area.


A general theory for the electromagnetic fields of dipoles in stratified isotropic media is outlined. The stratified model consists of a stack of layers sandwiched between two semi-infinite media. Either an electric or a magnetic dipole can be placed at any position in the stack, or in the upper or lower half-space. Dipoles can be electric or magnetic and can be oriented horizontally or vertically. The fields in the layer containing the source are given in terms of reflection coefficients, impedance and admittance terms, and wavenumber ratios. Recursion relations are developed to propagate the Hankel-domain field coefficients to other layers or to the half spaces. This allows the observation point to be placed anywhere except at the source. Numerical checks show that the derived algebra is at least self-consistent.