The random nature of the abrasive geometries and their distribution in a grinding wheel results in high specific grinding energy and temperature rise, large grinding forces and large deflection in the grinding system. To overcome the shortcomings encountered in grinding, it is necessary to design a new grinding wheel that is structured in controlled abrasive geometries with preferred spatial positioning and orientation. This paper deals with an experimental research of single fibrous-abrasive grinding of a nanostructured WC/12Co Coating. Prepared by the laser cutting of polycrystalline diamond compact (PDC), the single fibrous-abrasive has the dimensions of 0.3×0.6×10mm. The paper reports the research findings on normal and tangential grinding forces in terms of depth of cut and feed rate and discusses the material removal mechanism of nanostructured WC/12Co Coating ground by fibrous abrasive.


Thunderstorma are a crucial weather phenomenon for reporting at synoptic stations (as SYNOP) and airports (as METAR/SPECI and location routine/special reports). Traditionally, it is reported based on hearing the thunder and/or seeing the lightning in association with the thunderstorm by the human observer. The use of data from weather radar and lightning location information system (LLIS) for the reporting of thunderstorm is considered in this paper. For this purpose, a method is described in determining the thresholds of radar reflectivity and the distance of cloud-to-ground lightning stroke from the prescribed reflectivity for reporting thunderstorm. It aims at achieving a balance between hit rate and false alarm for detecting thunderstorm. A comprehensive study has been conducted to identify the false alarm cases of LLIS by considering all the available meteorological data. The thresholds are determined to be 32 dBZ and 15 km respectively which are consistent with the results obtained by similar studies of another weather service, but the threshold values are not exactly the same. This points to the importance of establishing the local threshold values for the specific climatological condition of a weather station. Based on such threshold values, a set of guideline of reporting thunderstorm based on radar and LLIS data is proposed. Its impact on thunderstorm climatology is discussed using Hong Kong International Airport (HKIA) as an example.


They are known as the Little People, the Beautiful Maidens, the Godmothers, the Blessed, the Ageless Ones...for it is dangerous to say the name "faeries" without good reason. Ruling over earth, air, fire, and water, they protect forests, animals, and children, and in their hands lie the dreamy souls of all creatures. The faeries rose from the mist long, long ago, in the time of the Golden Age -- well before the creation of gods and men. In their magical fancy they created the singing grasses and the reflection of springs, the music of legends and the far side of the mirror. From the Valkyries of Valhalla to the Babouchka of Russia, Banshees, Dryads, Bogey Beasts, Sirens, and their ilk populate the imaginations and the forests of every culture. In this comprehensive celebration of the world of faery, renowned French elficologist Pierre Dubois describes the extraordinary richness of the faery kingdom, presenting dozens and dozens of lushly illustrated entries on the most powerful and enchanting denizens of this magical world. Dubois provides readers with authoritative information detailing the customs, habitat, and activities of these Little People. Faery Godmothers, we discover, were originally tall, distinguished, and rather severe; only recently have they taken up the magic wands and cheerful smiles we know them for today. We learn that the favorite foods of the Arthurian faery Viviane are the blackberries that surround Merlin's tomb. And among the customs and activities of the Bogey Beast, the prime goal is indeed to scare little children...if only for their protection. Dubois's entrancing descriptions are accompanied by Roland and Claudine Sabatier's marvelous illustrations, which depict the appearance of the faeries, the places where they are found, and their familiar objects. Without revealing any faery confidences (which must never be betrayed), Dubois and the Sabatiers have created a comprehensive and utterly enchanting survey of a magical world as old as time.


: Endothelial NO-synthase (eNOS) gene allelic polymorphism in 221 patients with acute coronary syndrome and in 83 practically healthy people was determined. It was shown that interrelations of normal homozygotes, heterozygotes and pathologic homozygotes in T/C promoter polymorphism analysis accout 48%, 36% and 16% correspondingly (in control--48%, 46%, 6%; P T polymorphism ofexon 7 analysis--34%, 58%, 8% (in control--29%, 67%, 4%; P > 0.05), and in determination of 4a/4b polymorphism of intron 4--64.5%, 31% and 4.5% (in control--62.5%, 32.5%, 5%; P > 0.05). Obtained data show that eNOS C/C promoter variant is a risk factor of acute coronary syndrome in Ukrainian population.


Alcoholic liver disease (ALD) and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) are commonest causes of chronic liver disease in developing as well as developed countries. Their incidence has increased due to widespread easy availability of alcohol and sedentary life style of people. NAFLD is a spectrum which includes fatty liver (NAFL) which is considered benign disease, steatohepatitis (NASH) which indicates ongoing injury to liver and cirrhosis of liver. Similarly, ALD spectrum comprises simple steatosis, alcoholic hepatitis, and cirrhosis and its complications. Most of the time there is significant overlap between these diseases and clinical presentation depends upon the stage of liver disease. Most of the NAFLD patients are asymptomatic and diagnosed to have fatty liver while undergoing routine health check up. ALD requires significant history of alcohol intake which is supportive by radiological and biochemical tests. In both NAFLD and ALD patients, liver enzymes are seldom raised beyond five times the upper limit of normal. Liver biopsy is required for diagnosis of NASH as it is a histological diagnosis and sometimes in alcoholic hepatitis for confirmation if diagnosis is in doubt. Non-invasive markers and prognostic scores have been developed for avoiding liver biopsy in assessment and treatment response of NASH and alcoholic hepatitis patients.


The limnology of saline water bodies at other latitudes is fairly well known, but in Argentina such studies have only recently begun. The applicability of many conclusions regarding the functioning of these environments around the world is limited due to the scant ecological knowledge of some endemic species recorded in the assemblages of Argentine lakes. The aims of this work were to determine the effects of salinity and inorganic turbidity on the taxonomic composition, abundance, and zooplankton biomass in a shallow, hypereutrophic, mesosaline lake in the north of La Pampa province characterized by seasonality, variations in level and salinity, and the lack of macrophytes and fishes, and to compare it with other shallow lakes of the province. We found important differences with other saline lakes: the species richness was lower; the mean abundance of zooplankton was between four and six times higher; and rotifers, which were not affected by salinity or the concentration of inorganic suspended solids, were numerically predominant. Crustaceans, on the other hand, were negatively affected by these environmental factors. Biomass was two- fold higher than that recorded in the same period in two shallow lakes of Pampa, with similar nutrient concentrations but lower salinities.


Natural Language Processing (NLP) helps empower intelligent machines by enhancing a better understanding of the human language for linguistic-based human-computer communication. Recent developments in computational power and the advent of large amounts of linguistic data have heightened the need and demand for automating semantic analysis using data-driven approaches. The utilization of data-driven strategies is pervasive now due to the significant improvements demonstrated through the usage of deep learning methods in areas such as Computer Vision, Automatic Speech Recognition, and in particular, NLP. This survey categorizes and addresses the different aspects and applications of NLP that have benefited from deep learning. It covers core NLP tasks and applications and describes how deep learning methods and models advance these areas. We further analyze and compare different approaches and state-of-the-art models.


1 U.S. Government work not protected by U.S. copyright. Abstract Recently large area multiple quantum well (MQW) optical modulators have been coupled to cornercube optical retro-reflectors to allow free-space optical communications using a lightweight, low-power device. A pointing/tracking system and laser are required only on one end of the link. Such a system is attractive for ground-tospace links or space-to-space communication between a satellite and a microsat. An important question for these potential space-borne systems is the radiation tolerance of the MQW modulator, which is the principle active component. To investigate this subject, we irradiated three 0.5 ̊cm diameter InGaAs/AlGaAs modulators using a sequence of bombardments of 1 ̊MeV protons. One of the devices was irradiated while under a normal operating reverse bias voltage of 15 ̊V; the other devices were unbiased. After each exposure the electronic, optical and modulation characteristics of the modulators were evaluated. No degradation was observed until a cumulative fluence of 1 ̊x ̊10 protons/cm, equivalent to an ionizing radiation dose of approximately 200 ̊Mrad(Si).


This paper explores the sharing of value in business transactions. Although there is anincreased usage of the terminology of value in marketing (such concepts as value based selling and pricing), as well as in purchasing (value-based purchasing), the definition of the term is still vague. In order to better understand the definition of value, the author's argue that it is important to understand the sharing of value, in general and the element of power for the sharing of value in particular. The aim of this paper is to add to this debate and this requires us to critique the current models. The key process that the analysis of power will help to explain is the division of the available revenue stream flowing up the chain from the buyer's customers. If the buyer and supplier do not cooperate, then power will be key in the sharing of that money flow. If buyers and suppliers fully cooperate, they may be able to reduce theircosts and/or increase the quality of the sales offering the buyer makes to their customer.


Abstract Wild radish is a major weed of field crops in southern Australia. The effects of various densities of wild radish and wheat on the growth and reproductive output of each other were investigated in field studies in 2003 and 2004. The experiments were established as a factorial combination of wheat (0, 100, 200, and 400 plants m−2) and wild radish (0, 15, 30, and 60 plants m−2) densities. The effect of wild radish density on wheat yield loss and wild radish seed production were described with a rectangular hyperbola model. The presence of wild radish in wheat reduced aboveground dry matter, leaf-area index (LAI), and grain yield of wheat, and the magnitude of this reduction was dependent on weed density. Increasing the density of wheat substantially reduced the adverse effects of wild radish on wheat. As crop density increased, wild radish dry matter, LAI, and seed production per unit area decreased. The maximum seed production of wild radish was achieved at its highest density (60 plants m−2), and was 43,300 and 61,200 seeds m−2 for the first and second year, respectively. The results indicated that higher densities of wheat were able to suppress seed production of this weed species. From a practical viewpoint, this study shows that increased wheat density in the range of 200 to 400 wheat plants m−2 can reduce wild radish seed production and also give some reduction in crop yield loss, and could be an important component of an integrated weed management program. Nomenclature: Wild radish, Raphanus raphanistrum L., wheat, Triticum aestivum L.


Part one: Key concepts: Deprivation Ethnicity Health equity audits (HEAs)/profiles Inequality/equality Inequity/equity Lay epidemiology Life course socioeconomic position Living standards Official and vital statistics Poverty Psychosocial factors Segregation Social capital Social class Social exclusion Social mobility Social status Social stratification Status inconsistency Wealth Part two: Measures of socioeconomic position: Amenities Benefit claimants Breadline Britain and the Millennium Survey of Poverty and Social Exclusion Cambridge Social Interaction and Stratification Scale (CAMSIS) Car access and ownership Carstairs Deprivation Index Child poverty - the official government measure Deprivation indices Education Erikson and Goldthorpe class schema Fuel poverty Housing conditions Housing status (including homelessness) Housing tenure Housing wealth Income Index of Local Conditions 1991 Index of Local Deprivation 1998 Indices of Deprivation 2000 Indices of Deprivation 2004 Jarman underprivileged area (UPA) score Job (in)security National Statistics Socioeconomic Classification (NS-SEC) Northern Ireland Multiple Deprivation Measure 2005 (NIMDM 2005) Occupation-based measures Occupational Social Class - Registrar General's Social Classes (RGSC) Overcrowding Poverty - the official government measure Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation 2004 (SIMD 2004) Townsend Index of Deprivation Unemployment Welsh Index of Multiple Deprivation 2005 (WIMD 2005) Part three: Measures of inequality: Absolute differences Dissimilarity Index Gini coefficient Households Below Average Income (HBAI) Index of Disparity Measures of average disproportionality Range Relative Concentration Index (RCI) Relative differences Relative Index of Inequality (RII) Slope Index of Inequality (SII) Standardised outcomes Theil Index and mean log deviation Part four: Theoretical and methodological issues: Age-period cohort analysis (or effects) Atomistic fallacy Bar charts Box and whisker plots Cartogram Choropleth map Correlation coefficients Ecological fallacy Funnel plots Geographic information system (GIS) Incidence Line graphs Percentages Populations Prevalence Proportional mortality ratio (PMR) Proportions Scatterplots.


A significant issue currently facing the field of marine archaeology is that of archiving.  Over recent years Wessex Archaeology has played an important role in developing the methodologies applied to marine archaeological investigations, and marine archaeology now routinely generates substantial quantities of digital data in various forms: bathymetric, geophysical (sidescan sonar; magnetometer; sub-bottom profiler); photographic (video; stills), interpretive and so on.  Archiving strategies have not developed to accommodate either the expansion of the sector or the changing nature of the digital products, and the long-term preservation of these large datasets in a sustainable and discoverable format remains problematic, often reliant on local or county archives and museums with variable requirements and storage capacities and whose remit only extends to mean low water. Meanwhile, growth in the Marine sector as a whole presents considerable opportunities in terms of data sharing.  A wide range of commercial, institutional and government organisations – Marine Scotland, CEFAS, JNCC, Natural England, BGS and the UKHO to name a few – are actively involved in acquiring seabed and sub-seabed data around the UK for non-archaeological purposes such as navigation or biological monitoring.  These data are capable recycled for use by marine surveyors and scientists from a variety of different fields, including archaeologists, but the lack of a reliable approach to data archiving and absence of facilities for data discovery and acquisition hamper their re-use The creation of the Marine Environment Data Information Network (MEDIN) promises to offer both a solution to the issues of marine data archiving, and an opportunity to open up access to a range of datasets and coordinate data acquisition.  Wessex Archaeology has been involved in a number of projects contributing towards the development of MEDIN, which focuses on the principle of "measure once, use many times".  MEDIN has established a network of data archiving centres (DACs) to provide secure, long-term storage for marine data from all sectors, and data discovery facilities based on the MEDIN Discovery Metadata Standard to support ease of access and re-use of the data. This paper will outline the evolution and future trajectory of MEDIN; its implications for marine archaeology investigations and data archiving strategies throughout the UK; and the practicalities of preparing, archiving and accessing large marine datasets with DACs.


Vertical clamps are representative large-capacity metallurgical lifting tool and wide spread employed to lift and to convey vertical cold or hot rolling steel coil of strip. To ensure absolute safety, the kinematics model of the vertical clamp was built, and its virtual prototype was established on Solid Edge, and the working process was simulated based on ADAMS environment. To explain the establishing mode of clamping force, the dynamic positive feedback working process of clamping was discussed. The correctness of simulation was validated by means of analytical investigation. The safe working conditions of vertical clamp were obtained.


The Xianshuihe fault is one of the most active faults in southwestern China. Recently, three large earthquakes occurred along it in 1967 (M_s = 6.1), 1973 (M_s = 7.5), and 1981 (M_s = 6.8).
The 1981 event occurred near the central portion of the fault zone. Modeling of the body and surface waves indicates pure left-lateral strike-slip motion on a vertical fault striking N40°W consistent with the surface trend of the Xianshuihe fault. Two major ruptures are suggested for this source, with a total moment of 1.3 × 10^(26) dyne-cm. The 1973 event occurred about 65 km northwest of the 1981 event and ruptured about 90 km bilaterally along the fault. The body-wave synthetics indicate three main ruptures during faulting within 43 sec, with a total moment of 1.8 × 10^(27) dyne-cm. The mechanisms are similar to the 1981 event, and the average slip is determined to be 3.8 m. The largest aftershock (M_s = 5.9) occurred 1 day after the main event with a normal-fault mechanism striking almost perpendicular to the surface breakage. The 1967 event occurred at the northwestern end of the fault zone, with a strike of N65°E. It had a nearly normalfault mechanism with a seismic moment of 4.5 × 10^(25) dyne-cm. The largest aftershock (M_s = 5.1) occurred 7 hr later with a similar focal mechanism.
The primary faulting along the Xianshuihe fault is left-lateral strike-slip, but the normal faulting with strike direction about perpendicular to the Xianshuihe fault trace is common, especially in the northwestern segment. The faulting pattern in this region is consistent with the regional stress field caused by the India-Tibet collision. The normal event which is not on the major fault seems to have more frequent foreshocks and aftershocks than those on the main fault.


In order to study the occurrence regularity of early-age plastic shrinkage cracking, a series of indoor and outdoor experiments have been done in this paper. The synthesized discriminant index which is used to discriminate the situation that whether the early-age plastic shrinkage cracking happens or not has been put forward in this paper. It includes the index of unit volume accumulated evaporation besides the index of evaporation rate. Meanwhile, using Bayes Discriminant Method, based on the former indexes, the critical figure which is in connection with given environment conditions has been obtained and it can be used to detect whether early-age plastic shrinkage cracking happens or not by plotting the sense data which comes from the check specimen. The precision of prediction results that whether early-age plastic shrinkage cracking happens or not has been raised substantially by using this kind of discrimination method. The theory and method are useful for engineering application.


Background/Context Charter schools are commonly discussed as being more effective at matching student and family interests with school mission, ensuring family choice of educational products and improving education quality and the efficiency of resource use as a result of the competitive dynamics they are assumed to generate between themselves and public schools. The rhetoric around charter schools in general puts little attention on teacher management and resource acquisition, and the literature on charter schools has tended to focus on outcomes such as student achievement. The prevalence of charter schools within and outside the United States underscores the need to understand what role such issues as teacher management and resourcing play in this increasingly popular education reform. Focus of Study The purpose of this article is to uncover and present the strategies that charter schools employ for managing teachers and acquiring resources, and with what implications. Research Design Through a qualitative case study of a charter school program in Bogotá, Colombia, that began in 1999, we investigated (a) the regulations that governed the hiring, firing, and compensation of charter school teachers, in addition to (b) how charters respond to those regulations in contracting teachers, and (c) the overall approach of charter principals and the charter management organizations (CMOs) that oversee them when it comes to teacher engagement, collaboration, supervision, and professional development. In terms of resource acquisition, the focus was on understanding (d) the extent of government-provided resources to charter schools, (e) the perceptions of charter principals and CMO directors of the resources provided by the government, (f) the ways in which these actors have sought to complement these resources, and (g) the kinds of additional resources that have been obtained. Data in the form of documents, archives, literature and evaluations, and qualitative interviews were collected over eight months. Conclusions Findings indicate that charter school teachers in Bogotá feel that many aspects of their work environment are positive, though they also report tradeoffs in terms of job security and financial compensation. Charter schools use the flexibility afforded to them around employment to spend half as much on teachers by hiring nonunionized teachers, contracting them for periods of a year or less, assigning teachers to lower compensation categories, and offering significantly lower salaries, despite teachers working over 12 hours more each week than their public school counterparts. Findings with regard to resource acquisition address differences between public and charter schools, perceptions of school leaders, and the routes to resource acquisition used by charter schools, namely budget prioritization, donations, volunteers, partnerships, and alumni networks. Implications for future research are discussed, including the need for studies to distinguish among types of charter schools. The article concludes that, when addressing the costs and benefits of charter schools, we need to ask: Costs in what sense? Benefits for whom? And at whose expense?


BACKGROUND: Two of the most prevalent problems facing youth in the United States are injury and obesity. Obesity increases the risk of injury, prolongs recovery time, and increases morbidity among injured children. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to compare characteristics of injuries between obese and nonobese children who presented to a pediatric emergency department. METHODS: Electronic medical records for all patients aged 3 to 14 years who sustained a traumatic injury (International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision [ICD-9] codes 800–899) and were seen in our hospital emergency department from January 1, 2005, to March 31, 2008, were obtained. Data collected included age, chief complaint, discharge diagnosis, gender, race, disposition, andweight. Patients with a weight at 95th percentile for age were considered obese. 2 analysis was used in comparing the groups; odds ratios (ORs) were calculated. RESULTS: During the study period, 24 588 children had ICD-9 codes that met our inclusion criteria. Of these, 1239 had noweights recorded, leaving 23 349 patients in our study population. Of these children, the mean age was 8.2 years (SD: 3.6 years), 60.7% were white, and 61.7% were male. Obese children represented 16.5% of the study population (n 3861). Overall, obese and nonobese children had the same percentage of upper extremity injuries. However, obese children were significantly more likely to have lower extremity injuries compared with upper extremity injuries than were nonobese children (OR: 1.71 [95% confidence interval: 1.56–1.87]; P .001). In addition, obese children had significantly fewer head and face injuries than nonobese children (OR: 0.54 [95% confidence interval: 0.50– 0.58]; P .001). CONCLUSIONS: Obese children are significantly more likely to sustain lower extremity injuries than upper extremity injuries and less likely to sustain head and face injuries than nonobese children. Strategies for preventing lower extremity injuries among obese youth should be sought. Pediatrics 2010;125:681–685 AUTHORS: Wendy J. Pomerantz, MD, Nathan L. Timm, MD, and Michael A. Gittelman, MD Division of Emergency Medicine, Department of Clinical Pediatrics, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, Ohio


: The most frequently seen type of infectious ophthalmia neonatorum, inclusion conjunctivitis, is caused by the organism Chlamydia trachomatis. This agent is known to be transmitted sexually. Until recently, the infections produced by C trachomatis were though to be relatively benign. Recent evidence, however, suggests that the organism may produce urethritis and epididymitis in the male; cervicitis, cervical erosions, salpingitis, and puerperal infections in the female; and prematurity and pneumonitis in the infant. An infant who develops ophthalmia neonatorum should be thoroughly evaluated for the presence of a chlamydial infection. In many instances the first evidence of chlamydial infection within the parents will be the development of inclusion conjunctivitis in their newborn infant. Family members of infants with inclusion conjunctivitis who manifest any evidence of clinical disease should be evaluated and treated with appropriate antibiotics.


In medicine, ergonomics, the clothing Industry and many other areas
such as the design of 'g' suits for military aeroplane pilots and
protective clothing for chemical warfare, there is a requirement for the
accurate 3-D measurement of the size and shape of the human form.
To meet this need a novel whole body scanner has been designed
which is capable of measuring both the size and shape of people in a
non invasive socially acceptable manner. The scanner uses structured
light and an array of television cameras to view free standing subjects
while they are being rotated on an electrically driven turntable. The
accuracy and repeatability of the scanner is as good as trained
anthropometrists using traditional manual methods.
A computer program has been written which uses a cubic spline
interpolation method to edit and interrogate the data from the scanner
and arrange it in a shape matrix form. This is a new way of arranging
the data which allows for the 3-D average of several bodies to be
obtained and also for the comparison of one body with another. A
technique which is essential if 3-D survey work is to be undertaken.
Using master files which contain information from a data base of
previously scanned people and eight circumferential measurements it
is possible to re-create body forms of any size but which correspond to
the average shape for that size. The re-creation of body shapes from
eight circumferences is accurate enough for the manufacture of all but
the most close fitting garments but may be more useful in the future as
a replacement for somatotyping (physique classification). It is perfectly
possible to manipulate the eight circumferences to create body torsos of
almost any shape. Conversely a torso of almost any shape could be
defined by eight two digit numbers.


In September 2013, leading experts in intervehicle communication from all over the world met at the renowned Dagstuhl Castle for a seminar discussing the question "Inter-Vehicular Communication - Quo Vadis?" The objective was to identify the current state of the art and, more important, the open challenges in R&D from both a scientific and an industrial point of view. After more than a decade of research on vehicular networks, the experts very seriously asked whether additional research in this field is necessary and, if so, which will be the most intriguing and innovative research directions. It turned out that the overall perspective has changed in the last few years, mainly as a result of the ongoing field operational tests in the United States and Europe. In this article, we report the key outcomes and results from the discussions, pointing to new research directions and new challenges that need to be met for a second generation of vehicular networking applications and protocols. In particular, we present the reports and findings from the four working groups on scientific foundations of vehicular networking, field operational tests, IVC applications, and heterogeneous vehicular networks.


Compression experiments of spruce along axial, radial and tangential loading directions are implemented by INSTRON equipment. Mechanical properties of spruce along three directions are gained. Spruce microscopic cell failure modes under axial, radial and tangential compression condition are observed by scan electron microscope. Results show that failure modes of spruce are fiber buckling and wrinkle when loading direction is along the grain. When loading direction is along radial or tangential across to the grain, failure modes are wood fiber slippage and delamination. Theory analytic solution to single wood cell failure under different direction compression is done. The obtained expression shows that mean limit loading is relative to yield stress, cell structure dimension and wrinkle length for complete wrinkle cases.


The quotations contained in this monumental volume consist of aphorisms, maxims, proverbs, and comments of Jewish authorship or on Jewish themes. Here is a rich treasury compiled from over 2,500 years of Jewish writingsDfrom the Talmud, the Mishnah, the Zohar, and the Bible, through excerpts from Rashi, Maimonides, the Baal Shem Tov, as well as Spinoza, Disraeli, Herzl, Freud, Einstein, and many others. For more than forty years Dr. Joseph L. Baron, the eminent Jewish scholar, gathered material for this work, mining all the great treasuries of classic Jewish literature. The result is this magnificent volume, a classic in its own time. Classified according to subject, the quotations are indexed by topic and author. Full source references are given as well as bibliographic data.


We describe two complete sets of numerical invariants of topological conjugacy for linear endomorphisms of the two-dimensional torus, i.e., continuous maps from the torus to itself which are covered by linear maps of the plane. The trace and determinant are part of both complete sets, and two candidates are proposed for a third (and last) invariant which, in both cases, can be understood from the topological point of view. One of our invariants is in fact the ideal class of the Latimer-MacDuffee-Taussky theory, reformulated in more elementary terms and interpreted as describing some topology. Merely, one has to look at how closed curves on the torus intersect their image under the endomorphism. Part of the intersection information (the intersection number counted with multiplicity) can be captured by a binary quadratic form associated to the map, so that we can use the classical theories initiated by Lagrange and Gauss. To go beyond the intersection number, and shortcut the classification theory for quadratic forms, we use the rotation number of Poincare.


A Discrete Damage Modeling (DDM) approach using a Regularized eXtended- Finite Element Method (Rx-FEM) formulation has been applied to a test specimen for characterizing delamination migration in laminated composites. The migration specimen is designed such that as a delamination propagates, the stress state alters such that delamination migration through a neighboring ply becomes favorable. The present research aims to use the DDM framework to simulate the local, micro-scale behavior at a delamination migration point. Additional functionality to the Rx-FEM formulation, required for this task, allows for Rx-FEM cracks of arbitrary shape. A four-point shear fracture specimen was used as empirical guidance in validating this capability. Excellent agreement between model and experiment was shown. A laminated effective-modulus representation of the test was then modeled using the DDM framework, establishing the point of delamination migration. Location of delamination migration was predicted accurately. A local, micro-scale model was constructed and applied at the location of migration. The micro-scale model consisted of arbitrary interacting cracks in resin-rich zones using the modified Rx-FEM formulation and standard cohesive zone disbonding between fibers and resin. Model predictions show great similarity to the initial shape of the migrating transverse cracks observed in experiment.


We try to analyze a generic model for 2-tier distributed systems, exploring the possibility of optimal cluster sizes from an information management perspective, such that the overall cost for updating and searching information may be minimized by adopting a judiciously lazy updating policy. We do not assume either centralized coordination or decentralization, and since it is an initial work, we only advocate the existence of such optimal policies rather than how such policies may be discovered by the system participants. We put our work in perspective using two examples from diverse domains of distributed systems, namely the wireless cellular networks, which are based on centralized coordination and self-organizing peer-to-peer systems using clusters (for example, Kazaa).


Although the benefits of forming cells are widely recognized, certain industrial decision makers do not wish an entire transformation because of possible changes that may occur, for example, in the demand, mix or routing of products. Therefore, hybrid organization of functional departments and manufacturing cells in the same shop may appear quite relevant. The problem addressed here is how to allocate machines and products so as to design such systems that take advantages of both types of layout. We suggest an approach that favours cells for the parts that are regularly manufactured over time (i.e. stable parts), and functional departments for the parts that require more flexibility. We also consider the difficulties arising in the collection of precise data in reality. Hybrid shop design problem is formulated as a constrained fuzzy multi-objective optimization problem and an evolutionary programming algorithm is devised to solve it. The approach is illustrated in test examples.


We propose and experimentally demonstrate a fiber-wireless transmission system for optimized delivery of 60-GHz radio frequency (RF) signals through picocell mobile backhaul connections. We identify advantages of 60-GHz links for utilization in short-range mobile backhaul through feasibility analysis and comparison with an alternative E-band (60-90 GHz) technology. The 60-GHz fiber-wireless-fiber setup is then introduced: two spans of up to 20 km of optical fiber are deployed and bridged by up to 4 m of wireless distance. The 60-GHz radio-over-fiber technology is utilized in the first span of fiber transmission. The system is simplified and tailored for delivery of on-off keying data signals by employing a single module for lightwave generation and modulation combined with a simplified RF downconversion technique by envelope detection. Data signals of 1.25 Gb/s are transmitted, and a bit-error-rate performance below the 7% overhead forward-error-correction limit is achieved for a range of potential fiber deployment scenarios. A spurious free dynamic range of 73 dB-Hz2/3 is attained for a frequency-doubling photonic RF upconversion technique. The power budget margin that is required to extend the wireless transmission distance from 4 m to a few hundred meters has been taken into account in the setup design, and the techniques to extend the wireless distance are analyzed.


The study of bare arguments mainly concentrates on the distribution of bare plurals (BPs) while little attention is paid to coordinated bare nouns (CBNs). The contribution of Heycock and Zamparelli (2003) is a serious attempt to fill this gap, but the details of their analysis lead to predictions that are not correct for French. I show that CBNs exhibit surprisingly uniform behavior across languages, unlike BPs, which are subject to crosslinguistic variation, as sketched by Longobardi (2001). To account for these facts, I propose a modification of Heycock and Zamparelli's analysis of CBNs.


A method for the simultaneous determination of Sudan I, II, III, and IV in blood samples by solid-phase extraction (SPE) combined with ultra-fast liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (UFLC-MS/MS) has been established. The samples were extracted with acetonitrile by vortex and vibrate technique, and then the supernatant was diluted with equal volume of water and cleaned up by a C18 SPE column. The separation was performed on an Agilent Eclipse Plus C18 column (100 mm x 2.1 mm, 1.8 microm) by gradient elution with acetonitrile containing 0.1% (v/v) formic acid and 0.1% (v/v) formic acid aqueous solution as the mobile phases. The electrospray ionization (ESI) source in the positive mode and multiple reaction monitoring (MRM) mode were used for the quantitative analysis. In addition, the phenomenon of E-Z optical isomer occurred by the azo group from Sudan III and IV was found, and the influencing factors were discussed. The results showed that the calibration curves were in good linearity for the four Sudan dyes ranged from 0.1 to 20.0 microg/L with the correlation coefficients of more than 0.999. The average recoveries were from 93.0% to 108.2% with the relative standard deviations (RSDs) from 4.8% to 9.5%. The limits of detection (LODs) and the limits of quantification (LOQs) were 0.06 microg/L and 0.2 microg/L for the four analytes, respectively. The developed method is simple, rapid, and highly sensitive. It can be used for the determination of trace Sudan dyes in blood samples.


Little is known about moult and moult-site fidelity of African waterfowl. Satellite telemetry and uniquely engraved colour-rings were used to study moult-site fidelity of Egyptian geese marked at two sites in South Africa — Barberspan in the summer-rainfall region and Strandfontein in the winter-rainfall region. Twelve Egyptian geese were tagged with satellite GPS PTT transmitters while moulting at Barberspan and Strandfontein during 2008 and 2009, and a further 527 were colour-ringed between June 2007 and March 2009. Bi-monthly point counts of Egyptian geese and scans for colour-ringed birds were made at each study site from July 2007 until June 2010, resulting in 139 individually colour-ringed geese being re-sighted during the study period. We explored Egyptian geese dispersal distances away from the study sites and modelled moult-site fidelity from colour-ring return rates corrected for survivorship, sampling period efficiency and colour-ring detectability estimates. There were 12% and 29.7% colour-ring return rates for geese ringed at Barberspan and Strandfontein, respectively. Four of five moulting birds tagged at Barberspan with satellite transmitters returned to Barberspan to moult the following year. Two of these same birds moulted at Barberspan in the third year while the other two moulted elsewhere. One out of seven Egyptian geese satellitetagged at Strandfontein returned to the same site to moult the following year. One bird moulted at a nearby pan (5 km away), two moulted at estuaries less than 30 km from Strandfontein and one bird moulted at a farm dam 56 km away. Two birds satellite-tagged at Strandfontein did not moult the following year and returned to moult at Strandfontein in the third year. The moult-site fidelity model suggested that a minimum of 16% of Barberspan birds and 51% of Strandfontein birds returned to the same wetland to moult the following year. The apparent low moult-site fidelity at Barberspan suggested by colour-ring resightings may reflect the small number of birds colour-ringed at the site.


Classical authors used both prose and poetry to explore and explain the natural world. In Aetna and the Moon, Liba Taub examines the variety of ways in which ancient Greeks and Romans conveyed scientific information. Oregon State University Press is proud to present this inaugural volume in the Horning Visiting Scholars Series. In ancient Greece and Rome, most of the technical literature on scientific, mathematical, technological, and medical subjects was written in prose, as it is today. However, Greek and Roman poets produced a significant number of widely read poems that dealt with scientific topics. Why would an author choose poetry to explain the natural world? This question is complicated by claims made, since antiquity, that the growth of rational explanation involved the abandonment of poetry and the rejection of myth in favor of science. Taub uses two texts to explore how scientific ideas were disseminated in the ancient world. The anonymous author of the Latin Aetna poem explained the science behind the volcano Etna with poetry. The Greek author Plutarch juxtaposed scientific and mythic explanations in his dialogue On the Face on the Moon. Both texts provide a lens through which Taub considers the nature of scientific communication in ancient Greece and Rome. General readers will appreciate Taub's thoughtful discussion concerning the choices available to ancient authors to convey their ideas about science, s important today as it was in antiquity?while Taub's careful research and lively writing will engage classicists as well as historians of science.


Effect of solid solution elements on microstructure evolution and mechanical properties was investigated using a high purity Al (purity 99.99%) and Al-0.5 at.% X ( X = Si, Ag, Mg ) alloys deformed by accumulative roll bonding (ARB) process up to 7 cycles (equivalent strain of 5.6) at ambient temperature. The ARB-processed high purity Al showed the equiaxed microstructure having mean grain size of 750 nm. On the other hand, the microstructure of the ARB-processed Al-0.5at.%X alloys showed lamellar boundary structures elongated along RD. The mean lamellar boundary spacing significantly differed depending on the alloying elements, which suggested that solute atoms had a significant effect on microstructure evolution. The difference in the grain size was regarded to be caused by the difference in recovery processes in the alloys. The tensile strength of the alloys increased with increasing the number of ARB cycles. In the Al-Si and Al-Ag alloys, the post-uniform elongation increased with increasing the number of the ARB cycles. On the other hand, the elongation of the Al-Mg hardly changed during the ARB process.


Much attention has recently focused on the lease of land throughout the global south to nations and corporations in the global north. It is argued that local people's access to and relationships with the land are being redefined and that large segments of these populations are being denied their rights to land with potentially detrimental effects for their livelihoods and food security. This article explores one such project in Sierra Leone, focusing specifically on the experiences of rural women. The data illustrate how these women experience this 40,000 hectare bioenergy project as disempowering and disruptive. While these women may have the formal right to participate in land decisions and project benefits, they had no such right in practice. I argue here that this outcome is the result of compound disempowerment that results from the complex interaction of indigenous social and cultural dynamics and the supposedly gender-neutral logic of liberal economics.


In recent years, the incidence of community- acquired methicillin-resistant S. aureus skin infections (CA-MARSA) has increased in pediatric population without associated risk factors. Ozenoxacin 10mg/g is a topical quinolone that has shown high activity on strains of S. aureus, S. pyogenes and other Gram-positive bacteria sensitive and resistant to methicillin, other quinolones, mupirocin and fusidic acid. Ozenoxacin 10mg/g cream was applied twice a day for 5 days in pediatric patients with superficial skin infections other than non-bullous impetigo where oral antibiotics were not needed. Therapeutic success was achieved in 93.7% of the patients after 5 days of treatment, with a 98.2% decrease in the mean SIRS scale of symptoms. No adverse reaction was reported during treatment. Given the achieved effectiveness, safety, and adherence of the treatment, we believe that pediatricians should consider this topical antibiotic for the treatment of other superficial skin infections, without limiting its use to non-bullous impetigo.


Lightness algorithms, which have been proposed as a model for human vision, are aimed at recovering surface reflectance in a close approximation. They attempt to separate reflectance data from illumination data by thresholding a spatial derivative of the image intensity. This, however, works only reliable in a world of plane Mondrians. An extension of the classical lightness approach of Land and McCann (1971) to curved surfaces is presented. Assuming smooth surfaces with Lambertian reflection properties and leaving aside occlusions and cast shadows, the separation of those components of the intensity gradient due to reflectance from those due to irradiance is posed as a constraint minimization problem. To do so, two classification operators were introduced which identify potential reflectance and irradiance data using a scale-space filtering approach. Two exemplary applications of the proposed extended lightness algorithm in the field of visual telecommunications are presented: (i) the simulation of more uniformly illuminated videophone portrait scenes to give dynamic range compressed images with a most realistic appearance and (ii) the synthesis of videophone portrait images from model-based coded data with a correct illumination effect. In both applications, the extended lightness algorithm is employed for estimating the reflectance functions at facial surfaces. Results obtained by applying the extended lightness algorithm are compared with results obtained by conventional methods known from literature.


The exhaust plume produced by a planar, multistream supersonic nozzle is studied with and without the effect of an aft deck and sidewalls. Measurements encompass static wall pressure of the internal flow, shadowgraphy images of the exhaust plume, and far-field acoustics for a range of pressure ratios. An experimentally validated Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes model of the internal flow is then used to reveal how the aft deck and sidewalls allow the expanding gas to persist longer, thereby extending the location of the separation shock. Where the far-field sound is concerned, the aft deck and sidewall attachments cause a noticeable reduction in overall sound pressure levels by as much as 5 dB at shallow angles and sideline observer positions. Many of the tones associated with screech and broadband shock associated noise are also absent with the addition of the aft deck and sidewalls.


(S)-3,4-Dihydroxybutyric acid ((S)-3,4-DHBA), an endogenous straight chain fatty acid, is a normal human urinary metabolite and can be obtained as a valuable chiral biomass for synthesizing statin-class drugs. Hence, its epoxide derivatives should serve as promising monomers for producing biocompatible polymers via alternating copolymerization with carbon dioxide. In this report, we demonstrate the production of poly(tert-butyl 3,4-dihydroxybutanoate carbonate) from racemic-tert-butyl 3,4-epoxybutanoate (rac-(t)Bu 3,4-EB) and CO2 using bifunctional cobalt(III) salen catalysts. The copolymer exhibited greater than 99% carbonate linkages, 100% head-to-tail regioselectivity, and a glass-transition temperature (Tg) of 37 °C. By way of comparison, the similarly derived polycarbonate from the sterically less congested monomer, methyl 3,4-epoxybutanoate, displayed 91.8% head-to-tail content and a lower Tg of 18 °C. The tert-butyl protecting group of the pendant carboxylate group was removed using trifluoroacetic acid to afford poly(3,4-dihydroxybutyric acid carbonate). Depolymerization of poly(tert-butyl 3,4-dihydroxybutanoate carbonate) in the presence of strong base results in a stepwise unzipping of the polymer chain to yield the corresponding cyclic carbonate. Furthermore, the full degradation of the acetyl-capped poly(potassium 3,4-dihydroxybutyrate carbonate) resulted in formation of the biomasses, β-hydroxy-γ-butyrolacetone and 3,4-dihydroxybutyrate, in water (pH = 8) at 37 °C. In addition, water-soluble platinum-polymer conjugates were synthesized with platinum loading of 21.3-29.5%, suggesting poly(3,4-dihydroxybutyric acid carbonate) and related derivatives may serve as platinum drug delivery carriers.


A cooperative diversity system improves the communication reliability and throughput in a multipath fading environment with the help of relay nodes. We consider a cooperative diversity system with a source (S), a decode-and-forward relay (R), and a selection-combining-enabled destination (D). In this paper, we derive the exact end-to-end symbol error probability (SEP) for <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="TeX">$M$</tex-math></inline-formula>-ary phase-shift keying (MPSK) signaling using a paired error approach and differential binary phase-shift keying (DBPSK) signaling over correlated, nonidentical, slow, and flat Nakagami- <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="TeX">$m$</tex-math></inline-formula> fading channels by assuming the correlation between SD–RD, SR–SD, and SR–RD fading channels. In addition, we perform the exact outage probability analysis for the same scenario. Furthermore, we provide the asymptotic expressions for SEP and outage probability by removing the infinite-series terms to investigate the diversity order. In a nutshell, the numerical results reveal that the SR–RD correlated channel scenario outperforms the uncorrelated channel scenario in terms of SEP. In addition, SEP performance degradation is observed in the case of other correlated channel scenarios compared with the uncorrelated channel scenario. Moreover, marginal performance improvement in outage probability is observed in the low-signal-to-noise-ratio (SNR) regime of the SR–RD correlated channel scenario compared with the uncorrelated channel scenario. Finally, Monte Carlo simulations are performed to validate the theoretical results.


Stoquastic Hamiltonians are characterized by the property that their off-diagonal matrix elements in the standard product basis are real and non-positive. Many interesting quantum models fall into this class including the Transverse field Ising Model (TIM), the Heisenberg model on bipartite graphs, and the bosonic Hubbard model. Here we consider the problem of estimating the ground state energy of a local stoquastic Hamiltonian H with a promise that the ground state of H has a non-negligible correlation with some 'guiding' state that admits a concise classical description. A formalized version of this problem called Guided Stoquastic Hamiltonian is shown to be complete for the complexity class MA (a probabilistic analogue of NP). To prove this result we employ the Projection Monte Carlo algorithm with a variable number of walkers. Secondly, we show that the ground state and thermal equilibrium properties of the ferromagnetic TIM can be simulated in polynomial time on a classical probabilistic computer. This result is based on the approximation algorithm for the classical ferromagnetic Ising model due to Jerrum and Sinclair (1993).


This essay shows how Adam Smith addressed concerns about economic decline not only by proposing quantifiable categories through which relative decline could be measured, but also by characterizing the century as the proper timescale in which such quantities could be observed. What sometimes appears up close to be a process of decline and fall, Smith suggested, could, with a shift to a more distant long view, be explained instead as part of a normal business cycle. William Playfair then used Smith's emphasis on quantification to develop elaborate graphic techniques—what we now call the time-series line graph and the pie chart—to visualize more easily the patterns Smith sought to identify. Collectively, the reordering of temporal scale by Smith and Playfair helps us to rethink not only discourses of decline, but also our understanding of the temporalities of political economy as a problem of historical distance that needs to be thought about beyond temporal terms.


Effective use of vocabulary contributes to academic language proficiency and academic success (Douglas, 2013). Sophisticated vocabulary use relates to increased quality of writing (Laufer & Nation, 1995; Kyle & Crossley, 2015). However, it is unclear which lexical sophistication characteristics contribute to writing quality assessments. Furthermore, previous studies focused on general assessments, rather than English for Specific Purposes diagnostic assessments which aid in early intervention for academic support. The present study investigates the relationship between vocabulary sophistication indices and writing scores (N = 353) on a post-entry university diagnostic test for engineers (Fox & Artemeva, 2017). Multiple lexical sophistication approaches were compared to writing scores and differences in lexical profile characteristics of successful and unsuccessful students were compared. Results indicated that samples of successful writing have a higher presence of tokens, types, lexical stretch, academic vocabulary and formulaic language. The findings have pedagogical implications for remedial writing instruction of engineering students.


The aim of this research is to apply vehicle dynamics control systems to mitigate the vehicle collision and study the effects of these systems on the kinematic behaviour of the vehicle's occupant. An unique three-degree-of-freedom vehicle dynamics/crash mathematical model and a simplified lumped mass occupant model are developed. The first model is used to define the vehicle body crash parameters and it integrates a vehicle dynamics model with a vehicle front-end structure model. In this model, the anti-lock braking system and active suspension control system are co-simulated, and its associated equations of motion are developed. The second model aims to predict the effect of vehicle dynamics control systems on the kinematics of the occupant. The Lagrange's equations are used to solve that model due to the complexity of the obtained equations of motion. It is shown from the numerical simulations that the vehicle dynamics/crash response and occupant behaviour can be captured and analysed quickly and accurately. Furthermore, it is shown that the vehicle dynamics control systems can affect the crash characteristics positively and the occupant behaviour is improved.


The drag force and diffusion coefficients for a D meson are calculated in hot dense matter composed of light mesons and baryons, such as it is formed in heavy-ion collisions. We use a unitarized approach based on effective models for the interaction of a D meson with hadrons, which are compatible with chiral and heavy quark symmetries. We study the propagation of the D meson in the hadron matter in two distinct cases. On the one hand, we analyze the propagation of D mesons in matter at vanishing baryochemical potential, which is relevant for high-energetic collisions at LHC or RHIC. On the other hand, we show the propagation of D mesons in the hadronic medium following isentropic trajectories, appropiate at FAIR and NICA heavy-ion experiments. We find a negligible baryon contribution to the transport coefficients at vanishing chemical potential. However at finite baryochemical potential we obtain a large correction to the transport coefficients with the inclusion of nucleons and Delta baryons. The relaxation time for D mesons is reduced a factor 2-3 in the later case, producing a more thermalized D meson-spectrum for FAIR physics than for the typical LHC energies. We finally present results for the spatial diffusion coefficient of a D meson in hadronic matter and the possible existence of a minimum near the phase transition to the quark-gluon plasma at zero and finite baryochemical potential.


Patient derived xenograft (PDX) models without in vitro manipulation mirror patients9 histopathological and genetic profiles1,2. This has the potential to significantly improve the predictive power of preclinical cancer animal models, and more importantly to enable the identification of predictive biomarkers for targeted therapeutics. In this study, we set out to mimic a small size clinical trial by testing cetuximab in a large cohort of CRC models. Among 19 CRC models tested, 7 models were found sensitive (37%) and 12 resistant (63%) to cetuximab. All 3 models with BRAF activating mutation are found resistant to cetuximab. Of the 11 models with KRAS activating mutation, the response profile is more complex, with 6 models resistant and 5 models responsive to cetuximab. It is interesting that 3 out of the 4 models with G13D mutation are sensitive to cetuximab. Of the 5 models which harbor neither KRAS nor BRAF mutation, 3 models are resistant, suggesting that other oncogenic drivers are involved. Interestingly, one of the resistant models harbors an EGFR R776H activating mutation. The observation that KRAS mutations such as G13D and G12C are still sensitive to cetuximab, although contrary to the accepted dogma that CRC patient with mutant KRAS does not benefit from cetuximab3, is consistent with the recent findings in clinic4–7. Other KRAS mutations such as A146T and R61H were found in the resistant models, may imply that mutations besides codon 12 and 13 can play roles in the pathogenesis of CRC and the drug resistance. The overall resistant profile of models with BRAF mutation may also suggests another potential risk factor which warrants further investigation. In summary, our results have demonstrated that large panel HuPrime® can be used to effectively evaluate investigational new drugs for efficacy prediction and to discover predictive biomarkers to guide patient stratification for clinical development. References 1. E. Marangoni et al., Clin Cancer Res 13, 3989, 2007. 2. L. Ding et al., Nature 464, 999, 2010. 3. A. Lievre et al., Cancer Res 66, 3992, 2006. 4. W. De Roock, V. De Vriendt, N. Normanno, F. Ciardiello, S. Tejpar, Lancet Oncol 12, 594, 2011. 5. W. De Roock et al., JAMA 304, 1812, 2010. 6. W. De Roock et al., Lancet Oncol 11, 753, 2010. 7. R. Kirk, Nat Rev Clin Oncol 8, 1 2011. Citation Format: {Authors}. {Abstract title} [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the AACR-NCI-EORTC International Conference: Molecular Targets and Cancer Therapeutics; 2011 Nov 12-16; San Francisco, CA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Mol Cancer Ther 2011;10(11 Suppl):Abstract nr C113.


From the 18th century to World War I, migrants from Switzerland played animportant role in Southern Italy's trade, industry, army and social life. As a whole, these migrants were characterized by heterogeneous regional origins, professional profiles and confessional identities. In Naples they pursued very different social strategies. The essay analyses how legal frames shaped group buildingprocesses in the old regime and how - from the 19* century onwards - specific social, economic and cultural resources led lower-class migrants to develop a multiplicity of ties to local protagonists through marriage, neighbourhood and work, whereas elite migrants chose to build an economically, religiously and
socially self-segregated community.


The article dwells on the topic of competition between coal and solar energy as types of fuel. The authors provide a comparison of the installed capacity of a virtual solar power station and an existing coal power station located within the land allotment of a coal mine. The development prospects of the coal industry in terms of thermal coal are shown.


The purpose of this study was to identify variables associated with traumatic amputations in the workplace. Case files of work-related amputations in Minnesota during 1977 were accessed in cooperation with the Workers' Compensation Division of Minnesota. Data analysis was conducted by computer using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences. Of the 109 amputation cases, a mean age of 31 years (range 16 to 80) was identified; 50% of all cases were below the age of 25 years. By gender, males accounted for five times as many cases as females. Operatives incurred the largest number of amputations (40%); yet, they account for only 14% of the total work force. Manufacturing accounted for a majority (43.4%) of the traumatic amputations while including only 18 percent of the work force. Prevention strategies employed subsequent to the injuries included: training only (32.1%), engineering controls (10.1%), and mixed strategies (3.0%); further analysis revealed that although application of passive controls to the specific source (eg, machine) of the injury would have been most appropriate, training was frequently the only intervention incorporated. Recommendations, including Haddon's strategies for prevention and control of amputations are presented.


Small cell lung cancer (SCLC) is a recalcitrant malignancy that urgently needs new therapies. Four master transcription factors (ASCL1, NEUROD1, POU2F3, and YAP1) have been identified in SCLC, and each defines the transcriptome landscape of one molecular subtype. However, these master transcription factors have not been found directly druggable. We hypothesized that blocking their transcriptional coactivator(s) could provide an alternative approach to target these master transcription factors. Here, we identify that BET proteins physically interact with NEUROD1 and function as transcriptional coactivators. Using CRISPR knockout and ChIP-seq, we demonstrate that NEUROD1 plays a critical role in defining the landscapes of BET proteins in the SCLC genome. Blocking BET proteins by inhibitors led to broad suppression of the NEUROD1-target genes, especially those associated with superenhancers, resulting in the inhibition of SCLC growth in vitro and in vivo. LSAMP, a membrane protein in the IgLON family, was identified as one of the NEUROD1-target genes mediating BET inhibitor sensitivity in SCLC. Altogether, our study reveals that BET proteins are essential in regulating NEUROD1 transactivation and are promising targets in SCLC-N subtype tumors. Implications: Our findings suggest that targeting transcriptional coactivators could be a novel approach to blocking the master transcription factors in SCLC for therapeutic purposes.


Early-life intestinal epithelial development is controlled by the epigenetic modifier LSD1. Intestinal epithelial homeostasis is maintained by adult intestinal stem cells, which, alongside Paneth cells, appear after birth in the neonatal period. We aimed to identify regulators of neonatal intestinal epithelial development by testing a small library of epigenetic modifier inhibitors in Paneth cell–skewed organoid cultures. We found that lysine-specific demethylase 1A (Kdm1a/Lsd1) is absolutely required for Paneth cell differentiation. Lsd1-deficient crypts, devoid of Paneth cells, are still able to form organoids without a requirement of exogenous or endogenous Wnt. Mechanistically, we find that LSD1 enzymatically represses genes that are normally expressed only in fetal and neonatal epithelium. This gene profile is similar to what is seen in repairing epithelium, and we find that Lsd1-deficient epithelium has superior regenerative capacities after irradiation injury. In summary, we found an important regulator of neonatal intestinal development and identified a druggable target to reprogram intestinal epithelium toward a reparative state.


This article argues that in order to emancipate Indian-Muslim women from an outdated family legal code, their position at the intersection of gender and a minority religion must be taken seriously. Proposals for reform that have been suggested by Western liberal, secular feminists that ignore the importance of women's religious affiliation fail to do this. Moreover, by making assumptions about the strength of secularism in India, the willingness of the state to enact legal reforms driven by gender concerns, and by failing to acknowledge the limits of formal rights alone in changing norms, these scholars do not account for the political difficulties of enacting a Uniform Civil Code. On the other hand, Muslim traditionalists discount the experience of women as a subordinated group. Their reform proposals suggesting better enforcement undervalue the importance of formal laws. Both, these reform agendas are unattractive to a majority of Muslim women because they fail to reconcile the intersectional and complex nature of Muslim women's existence. The article puts forth an alternative that combines internal reform of the Muslim Personal Law, calls for greater legal aid to women modeled on programs in other countries and suggests a renewed commitment by Indian secular feminists to a compulsory Uniform Civil Code that is drafted by a broad coalition of women's groups with minority women taking an active role.


Increasing evidence indicates that soluble aggregates of amyloid beta protein (Aβ) are neurotoxic. However, difficulty in isolating these unstable, dynamic species impedes studies of Aβ and other aggregating peptides and proteins. In this study, hydrogen–deuterium exchange (HX) detected by mass spectrometry (MS) was used to measure Aβ(1‐40) aggregate distributions without purification or modification that might alter the aggregate structure or distribution. Different peaks in the mass spectra were assigned to monomer, low molecular weight oligomer, intermediate, and fibril based on HX labeling behavior and complementary assays. After 1 h labeling, the intermediates incorporated approximately ten more deuterons relative to fibrils, indicating a more solvent exposed structure of such intermediates. HX‐MS also showed that the intermediate species dissociated much more slowly to monomer than did the very low molecular weight oligomers that were formed at very early times in Aβ aggregation. Atomic force microscopy (AFM) measurements revealed the intermediates were roughly spherical with relatively homogenous diameters of 30–50 nm. Quantitative analysis of the HX mass spectra showed that the amount of intermediate species was correlated with Aβ toxicity patterns reported in a previous study under the same conditions. This study also demonstrates the potential of the HX‐MS approach to characterizing complex, multi‐component oligomer distributions of aggregating peptides and proteins. Biotechnol. Bioeng. 2008;100: 1214–1227. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.


Clearly, the uses and application of such a work are limited. One is tempted, therefore, to conclude that the author may have been better advised to have utilized Cooper's Catalogue as the basis for a much enlarged and comprehensive bibliography of medical and scientific literature in English published before 1700, rather than settling for the more limited, but nonetheless worthy, project of a "verified edition" of a single work. Peter Elmer Harlaxton College


The main objective of this paper is to establish a precision contouring control of a biaxial piezoelectric-actuated stage. The positioning accuracy of the piezoelectric-actuated stage is limited due to the hysteretic nonlinearity of the piezo-electric actuators (PEA). To compensate this hysteresis problem, a feedforward controller based on an evolution algorithm is proposed. The dynamics of the hysteresis is formulated by the Bouc-Wen model and the evolutionary algorithms (EAs) are studied to identify the optimal parameters of the Bouc-Wen model. To verify the consistency, two micro-contouring tasks are implemented by the proposed feedforward controller with the feedback of linear optical scales in DSP based real-time control architecture.


Among various altered fractionation schedules, only hyper-fractionation has proven increased local control in head and neck cancers. MARCH (Metanalyses of Hyperfractionated or Accelerated radiotherapy in Head and neck cancer) concluded that hyper-fractionated radiotherapy in head and cancers had a survival benefit. This study attempts to combine the benefits of hyper-fractionation with the tissue sparing qualities of intensity modulated radiotherapy. Three patients with advanced oro-pharyngeal cancers were treated with HF-IMRT (Hyperfractionated-IMRT) (2 oropharynx, 1 hypopharynx). Two phase treatment planning with phase I prescribed to high risk volume (HRV) and intermediate risk volume (IRV), 60Gy in 50 fractions at 1.2Gy per fraction, 2 fractions/day, 6-8 h apart. The low risk volume (LRV) received 55Gy to the 95% volume at 1.1Gy per fraction in the same 50 fractions. In phase II, HRV alone was prescribed 1960cGy in 20 fractions over two weeks. Total dose to HRV was 7960cGy in 7 wk. No concurrent chemotherapy was given. Treatment was completed as planned (<60 days; break of 11 days was due to radiation toxicity). Only one patient had grade III toxicity. All three required diet modifications, an average weight loss of 3 kg and no hospitalization required during treatment. This pilot study shows the feasibility of an effective hyper-fractionation with IMRT for head and neck cancers. A Phase II trial is required to prove its efficacy.


Team with uncertain members and synchronous collaboration are two salient features among the many groupware-supported requirements in the business processes of electric power enterprise. Traditional workflow management systems have difficulties in supporting such features. Through extending ordinary workflow model in modeling method and groupware-supporting mechanism, we designed and implemented a groupware-supported workflow management system. Compared with traditional workflow modeling method, this method has more capabilities in describing groupware activities and makes modeling simpler. This paper introduces the modeling method for groupware activity and the mechanism supporting synchronous collaboration in our workflow management system. The applications of the system in electric power enterprise are also introduced.


Unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) has facilitated a wide range of real-world applications and attracted extensive research in the mobile computing field. Specially, developing real-time robust visual onboard trackers for all-day aerial maneuver can remarkably broaden the scope of intelligent deployment of UAV. However, prior tracking methods have merely focused on robust tracking in the well-illuminated scenes, while ignoring trackers' capabilities to be deployed in the dark. In darkness, the conditions can be more complex and harsh, easily posing inferior robust tracking or even tracking failure. To this end, this work proposes a novel discriminative correlation filter-based tracker with illumination adaptive and anti-dark capability, namely ADTrack. ADTrack firstly exploits image illuminance information to enable adaptability of the model to the given light condition. Then, by virtue of an efficient enhancer, ADTrack carries out image pretreatment where a target aware mask is generated. Benefiting from the mask, ADTrack aims to solve a novel dual regression problem where dual filters are online trained with mutual constraint. Besides, this work also constructs a UAV nighttime tracking benchmark UAVDark135. Exhaustive experiments on authoritative benchmarks and onboard tests are implemented to validate the superiority and robustness of ADTrack in all-day conditions.


Abstract The paper explores overall worldwide terrorism attacks and those targeting separately commercial and government facilities, through statistical analysis and cycling with a 40-year dataset. The results indicate a surge of lethal attacks after the Gulf War and the existence of cycles. The cyclicality of terrorist incidences in commercial buildings is estimated at 18.4 years (injury and fatality cycles are 7.8 and 8.4 years, respectively). Projections are offered until 2020, with the next period of increased casualties predicted from the end of 2008 through 2010. Concerns are raised on improvised explosive devices (IEDs), "Trojan-horses," and building-system tampering. Vigilance, information-sharing, and use of technology by building personnel may reduce the predicted casualty trends. Historically, terrorist groups shared techniques (DHS, 2007) and improved those most likely to achieve their objectives. A shift in terrorist strategy towards an increase in the number of casualties was detected since the 1990s.1 This shift towards mass casualties, along with the concentration of people in high-density commercial structures (World Trade Center attacks (1993 and 2001)] and mass transit facilities [Madrid (2004) and London (2005) train bombings] has raised significant security concerns in recent years. Terrorists have always tried to exploit the vulnerabilities of their targets and selected the path of least resistance (Enders and Sandler, 1993; and Sandler and Enders, 2004). This type of attitude is an indication of a rational actor (in economics) who tries to maximize his ultimate goal with a given amount of resources and constraints (Landes, 1978; and Sandler, Tschirhart, and Cauley, 1983). The paper presents an empirical analysis of terrorist activity (incidents and casualties) using statistical and cyclicality modeling. Also raised are five concerns regarding private commercial buildings: (1) the possible use of Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs); (2) suicide attacks; (3) the possibility of an implanted "Trojan horse" by a terrorist organization as an employee of an unaware tenant, as a contractor or a vendor with the main goal of information gathering and eventually inflicting mass casualties in the building or surrounding buildings; (4) the need to secure HVAC systems; and (5) oversight of centrally controlled building systems. More specifically, the dataset consists of the worldwide MIPT transnational terrorism data (1968-2006) in the form of overall attacks and their dissection in attacks targeting government and private commercial buildings. The methodology used verifies the general belief that the number of casualties increased in recent years and argues the existence of cycles in terrorism activity based on the forty years of observations. The results of the study indicate that the end of the Gulf War marked the beginning of a new and deadlier chapter in worldwide transnational terrorism, with overall fatalities increasing more than 100% and private commercial building fatalities increasing by almost 300%. The testing for the existence of cycles in terrorism activity (incidents and casualties) also proved to be true, allowing a short-term prediction through 2020. The empirical results suggest an increased likelihood of significant casualties (both injuries and deaths) caused by terrorist attacks targeting private commercial buildings with peaks estimated in 2009 and 2018-19. These results along with the downsizing of building security measures (due to the absence of another major incident in a commercial building and the high maintenance cost) are at least troubling considering the ultimate goal of a safe building environment. Awareness needs to be raised among building owners and security personnel to become proactive rather than reactive in defending their facility. After September 11, 2001 (9/11), a number of measures were taken but a continuous revaluation of security threats in coordination with local law enforcement and the Joint Terrorism Task Forces (JTTFs) is needed to apply new surveillance tactics/ techniques and detect/deter a possible attack. …


Although existing literature assumes that the human capital intensity of professional services leads to small and flimsy firms, several professional services feature large, long-lived firms. To develop insights about firm size and industry structure in human capital intensive industries, I analyze the structure and evolution of the advertising industry. Drawing on a range of quantitative and qualitative evidence, I develop two hypotheses regarding the industry's structure and consolidation: (1) size differentiation, in which firm size and industry structure are connected to the size distribution of clients' projects, and (2) financial intermediation, in which the industry's consolidation is ascribed to organizational innovations that mitigate transaction costs between external investors and ad agency owners. I then discuss the applicability of these two hypotheses to other professional services. The analysis suggests several new insights about the value of capital, the nature of demand, and the nature of assets in human capital intensive industries.


Although echinoderm debris is locally common, articulated specimens are rare in Late Cambrian rocks from the Great Basin and Rocky Mountains of the western United States and are mostly associated with hardgrounds. The fauna, including cornute stylophorans, trachelocrinid eocrinoids, solute homoiosteleans, and rare edrioasteroids, includes several members of the archaic Cambrian Evolutionary Fauna, which had already passed its maximum diversity for echinoderms. In addition to the low diversity, articulated specimen abundance is very low, averaging only about one-tenth that found in overlying Lower Ordovician units. The transition between the Cambrian and Paleozoic Evolutionary Faunas for echinoderms in North America apparently occurred rapidly very close to the Cambrian-Ordovician boundary, because no unequivocal examples of the Paleozoic fauna (such as crinoids, glyptocystitid rhombiferans, asteroids, or echinoids) were found in the Late Cambrian sections. New taxa include several cothurnocystid stylophorans assigned to Acuticarpus delticus, new genus and species, Acuticarpus? republicensis, new species, and Archaeocothurnus goshutensis, new genus and species; Scotiaecystis? species, a poorly preserved cornute stylophoran with lamellipores; Minervaecystis? species, a fragmentary solute homoiostelean based on several steles; Tatonkacystis codyensis, new genus and species, a well-preserved trachelocrinid eocrinoid with five unbranched arms bearing numerous brachioles; an unnamed, poorly preserved, epispire-bearing eocrinoid; an unnamed, poorly preserved, globular eocrinoid? lacking epispires; and an unnamed, heavily weathered, edrioasterid edrioasteroid. Nearly all holdfasts found in these Upper Cambrian units are single-piece blastozoan types, probably belonging to trachelocrinid and other eocrinoids. Distinctive columnals and thecal plates of several additional undescribed eocrinoids and other echinoderms were locally abundant and are also described.


CT demonstration of cavernous sinus fat deposits has been described as abnormal and potentially a specific sign of Cushing disease. CT scans of 100 patients without biochemical or clinical evidence of Cushing disease and of 10 patients with Cushing disease were studied retrospectively. Twenty-seven percent of the non-Cushing patients demonstrated fat in one or both cavernous sinuses. Forty percent of Cushing disease patients had detectable cavernous sinus fat. While fat deposits were more frequent in the Cushing disease group, this was not statistically significant (p = > .6). CT demonstration of cavernous sinus fat ordinarily should be regarded as a normal finding.


AIMS AND OBJECTIVES
To expose problems of using bespoke questionnaire-based surveys to create knowledge and to advance the use of secondary data as an alternative research approach.

BACKGROUND
Many researchers from students undertaking dissertations to those who attempt to create knowledge to advance society collect data by using questionnaires. But this raises reliability and validity concerns as a consequence of low response rates and non-response bias. This constrains knowledge creation.

DESIGN AND METHOD
First, the value of questionnaire-based research will be discussed. Then, it is argued that much can be accomplished using secondary data. The paper concludes by presenting a case study developed from the Scottish Health Survey.

RESULTS AND CONCLUSION
We demonstrate that there may be an alternative for creating bespoke questionnaires by researchers. The data to answer their research questions may already exist in official surveys whose data are available to students and researchers. By analysing a case study, we demonstrate the value of one of these secondary sources - the Scottish Health Survey.

RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE
We show that clinical practitioners in their training and in any professional research should consider alternative methods of collecting data for undertaking quantitative research. We advance the use of analysis of data collected by official surveys. Using secondary data can be more efficient in training students in research methods and make dissertations produced more meaningful.


With the increase in availability of large pre-trained language models (LMs) in Natural Language Processing (NLP), it becomes critical to assess their fit for a specific target task a priori—as fine-tuning the entire space of available LMs is computationally prohibitive and unsustainable. However, encoder transferability estimation has received little to no attention in NLP. In this paper, we propose to generate quantitative evidence to predict which LM, out of a pool of models, will perform best on a target task without having to fine-tune all candidates. We provide a comprehensive study on LM ranking for 10 NLP tasks spanning the two fundamental problem types of classification and structured prediction. We adopt the state-of-the-art Logarithm of Maximum Evidence (LogME) measure from Computer Vision (CV) and find that it positively correlates with final LM performance in 94% of the setups.In the first study of its kind, we further compare transferability measures with the de facto standard of human practitioner ranking, finding that evidence from quantitative metrics is more robust than pure intuition and can help identify unexpected LM candidates.


Renal and lung fibrosis was characterized by the accumulation of collagen-immunoreactive mesenchymal cells expressing the intermediate filament protein nestin. The present study tested the hypothesis that nestin expression was increased in the hypertrophied/fibrotic left ventricle of suprarenal abdominal aorta constricted adult male Sprague-Dawley rats and induced in ventricular fibroblasts by pro-fibrotic peptide growth factors. Nestin protein levels were upregulated in the pressure-overloaded left ventricle and expression positively correlated with the rise of mean arterial pressure. In sham and pressure-overloaded hearts, nestin immunoreactivity was detected in collagen type I(+)-and CD31(+)-cells identified in the interstitium and perivascular region whereas staining was absent in smooth muscle α-actin(+)-cells. A significantly greater number of collagen type I(+)-cells co-expressing nestin was identified in the left ventricle of pressure-overloaded rats. Moreover, an accumulation of nestin(+)-cells lacking collagen, CD31 and smooth muscle α-actin staining was selectively observed at the adventitial region of predominantly large calibre blood vessels in the hypertrophied/fibrotic left ventricle. Angiotensin II and TGF-β1 stimulation of ventricular fibroblasts increased nestin protein levels via phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase- and protein kinase C/SMAD3-dependent pathways, respectively. CD31/eNOS(+)-rat cardiac microvascular endothelial cells synthesized/secreted collagen type I, expressed prolyl 4-hydroxylase and TGF-β1 induced nestin expression. The selective accumulation of adventitial nestin(+)-cells highlighted a novel feature of large vessel remodelling in the pressure-overloaded heart and increased appearance of collagen type I/nestin(+)-cells may reflect an activated phenotype of ventricular fibroblasts. CD31/collagen/nestin(+)-interstitial cells could represent displaced endothelial cells displaying an unmasked mesenchymal phenotype, albeit contribution to the reactive fibrotic response of the pressure-overloaded heart remains unknown.


In this article we experimentally evaluate Colombias Think Equal program, which teaches socioemotional skills to children ages 3 to 6. Given the context of COVID-19, the original design was adapted as a hybrid model, alternating in-person and remote instruction and engaging families in the implementation of the curriculum. We found that the program had positive effects on childrens prosocial behavior, self-awareness, and cognitive learning. The intervention also had an impact on education centers personnel (community mothers) and caregivers implementing the activities. Treated community mothers had higher levels of empathy, lower negative health symptoms, better pedagogical practices, and a closer relationship with the childrens caregivers compared with those in the control group. Treated caregivers had better stimulation practices and lower negative health symptoms compared with those in the control group. These findings suggest that a well-designed intervention has the potential to develop socioemotional skills in children at an early age and, at the same time, to develop capacities in those who implement the activities. Our results have important implications for the design, implementation, and evaluation of early childhood socioemotional learning programs and provide novel evidence about the challenges faced by interventions combining face-to-face and remote learning.


Knowledge management has been a high priority for Cognizant Technology Solutions since its inception since its global delivery model requires the global sharing of knowledge. Its first major tool was called the Knowledge Management Appliance but as Web 2.0 tools came into wider use, this evolved into what the company called "Cognizant 2.0" (C2) which was designed to ensure that the KM Appliance capabilities for storing documents and participative tools such as blogs and wikis were directed towards supporting business goals. This required the development of a set of structured work process guidelines and tasks for each major type of work performed internally and for clients. Increasing awareness amongst its clients about C2 has led the company into considering whether it should turn this into a client-facing service offering itself. As its clients become more interested in knowledge management within their own companies, the interest in a C2-based offering could grow.


This guide accompanies the workshop "Open Access Publishing: Where Do I Start?" co-sponsored by the Grad College and University Library.


Background and Aim: Developing appropriate curriculum for the education of deaf children depends on identifying the needs of this group. We aimed to examine educational rehabilitating needs of hearing-impaired children from the point of view of their parents. Methods: In this descriptive survey study, data gathering tool was a researcher-made questionnaire completed by 64 parents of deaf children. Results: Parents expressed that fitness of training with the students in school, willingness to participate in the program, and the use of auditory-verbal therapy as a good way were the main notification preferences to families of hearing-impaired children, exceptional centers, and advertisements. They emphesied that lack of appropriate facilities, children's pertinacity, and their lack of cooperation prevented the implementation of training programs and curriculum in educational centers and home. Good verbal communication and speech was as the parents' first priority expectation of their child at the end of course. There was a significant difference between parents' opinions about the educational needs and rehabilitation (p 0.05). Also, there was no significantly association between the gender of child or the educational level of parents with the parents' view. Conclusion: It seems that parents should be supported by training workshops and consulting. Also, most of the children in this study were trained auditory-verbally and the results do not mean that other educational and rehabilitation methods have not the discussed characteristics.


Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis are chronic inflammatory diseases of the bowel with unknown etiology. Alterations of intestinal and systemic immuno-regulation are probably of importance in the pathophysiology of both diseases. Moreover, recent studies suggest that polymorphonuclear granulocytes and probably macrophages are of particular importance in the initiation of an acute flare of the disease. Interest has therefore focused on arachidonic acid metabolites, in particular leukotrienes and prostaglandins, which are important mediators in granulocyte and macrophage activation and chemotaxis. The pathophysiologic importance of various leukotriene derivatives, particularly LTB4, has been well established whereas the actions of prostaglandins in vivo, in particular PGE2, are controversial. Numerous anti-inflammatory drugs such as glucocorticoids and salicylic acid derivatives have been successfully used to treat intestinal inflammation. One possible mechanism of action is the modulation of arachidonic acid metabolism and thus regulation of the genesis of active inflammatory mediators.


OBJECTIVE
To assess the feasibility, strengths and weaknesses of using administrative data to compare hospital performance across countries, using mortality after coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery as an illustrative example.

METHODS
Country specific and pooled models using individual-level data and logistic regression methods assess individual hospital performance using funnel plots accounting for multiple testing. Outcomes are adjusted for age, sex, comorbidities and indicators of patient severity. Data includes patients from all publicly funded hospitals delivering CABG surgery in England and Spain. Inpatient hospital-level standardized mortality rates within 30 days of CABG surgery are calculated for 83 999 CABG patients between 2007 and 2009.

RESULTS
Unadjusted national mortality rates are 5% in Spain and 2.3% in England. Country-specific models identified similar patterns of excess mortality 'alerts' and 'alarms' in hospitals in Spain or England. Pooling data from both countries identifies larger numbers of alerts and alarms in Spanish hospitals, and risk-adjustment increased the already large national mortality difference. This was reduced but not eliminated by accounting for lower volume in Spanish hospitals.

CONCLUSION
Cross-national comparisons potentially add value by providing international performance benchmarks. Hospital-level analysis across countries can illuminate differences in hospital performance, which might not be identified using country-specific data or incomplete registry data, and can test hypotheses that may explain national differences. Difficulties of making data comparable between countries, however, compound the usual within-country measurement problems.


Two novel Gram-positive, acidophilic bacterial strains were isolated from forest soil. According to their 16S rRNA gene sequences, these strains are related closely to each other and form a distinct cluster within the order Actinomycetales. They show the typical features of filamentous actinomycetes, with branched vegetative hyphae and production of aerial hyphae. The distinct phylogenetic positions and the combination of chemotaxonomic characteristics of these strains justify the proposal of Actinospica gen. nov. Both strains display 3-hydroxydiaminopimelic acid plus traces of meso-diaminopimelic acid, the phospholipids diphosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylethanolamine, methylphosphatidylethanolamine and phosphatidylinositol, the predominant cellular fatty acids i-C(15 : 0), i-C(16 : 0) and ai-C(15 : 0) and the whole-cell sugars mannose and rhamnose. They differ in the fatty acid profiles, in the quantitative ratios of the major menaquinones MK-9(H(4)), MK-9(H(6)) and MK-9(H(8)) and in the occurrence of additional whole-cell sugars (arabinose and xylose in strain GE134766(T) and galactose in strain GE134769(T)). Differences in the phenotypic characteristics and in the 16S rRNA gene sequences suggest the description of two species, Actinospica robiniae gen. nov., sp. nov. (the type species) and Actinospica acidiphila sp. nov., with the type strains GE134769(T) (=DSM 44927(T)=NRRL B-24432(T)) and GE134766(T) (=DSM 44926(T)=NRRL B-24431(T)), respectively. The DNA G+C contents of strains GE134769(T) and GE134766(T) are 70.8 and 69.2 mol%, respectively. Due to the large phylogenetic distance from known actinomycete genera, it is proposed to accommodate Actinospica gen. nov. in Actinospicaceae fam. nov. In addition, Catenulisporineae subord. nov. is proposed to harbour Actinospicaceae fam. nov. and the newly proposed family Catenulisporaceae, described in the accompanying paper.


The toxic effects of herbicides are often incompletely selective and can harm crops. Safeners are "inert" ingredients commonly added to herbicide formulations to protect crops from herbicide-induced injury. Dichloroacetamide safeners have been previously shown to undergo reductive dechlorination in anaerobic abiotic systems containing an iron (hydr)oxide mineral (goethite or hematite) amended with Fe(ii). Manganese oxides (e.g., birnessite) are important redox-active species that frequently co-occur with iron (hydr)oxides, yet studies examining the effects of more than one mineral on transformations of environmental contaminants are rare. Herein, we investigate the reactivity of dichloroacetamide safeners benoxacor, furilazole, and dichlormid in binary-mineral, anaerobic systems containing Fe(ii)-amended hematite and birnessite. As the molar ratio of Fe(ii)-to-Mn(iv) oxide increased, the transformation rate of benoxacor and furilazole increased. The safener dichlormid did not transform appreciably over the sampling period (6 hours). The concentration of pH buffer ([MOPS] = 10-50 mM), ionic strength ([NaCl] = 10-200 mM), and order of solute addition (e.g., safener followed by Fe(ii) or vice versa) do not appreciably affect transformation rates of the examined dichloroacetamide safeners in Fe(ii) + hematite slurries. The presence of agrochemical co-formulants, including the herbicide S-metolachlor and three surfactants, in solutions containing Cr(H2O)62+ (as a model homogeneous reductant) also did not substantially influence rates of safener transformation. This study is among the first to examine laboratory systems of intermediate complexity (e.g., systems containing mixtures of agrochemical co-formulants or mineral phases) when assessing the environmental fate of emerging contaminants such as dichloroacetamide safeners.


Phenomenography is a qualitative research approach that seeks to explore variation in how people experience various aspects of their world. Phenomenography has been used in numerous information research studies that have explored various phenomena of interest in the library and information sphere. This paper provides an overview of the phenomenographic method and discusses key assumptions that underlie this approach to research. Aspects including data collection, data analysis and the outcomes of phenomenographic research are also detailed. The paper concludes with an illustration of how phenomenography was used in research to investigate students' experiences of web-based information searching. The results of this research demonstrate how the phenomenographic approach yields insights into variation, making it possible to develop greater understanding of the phenomenon as it was experienced, and to draw upon these experiences to improve and enhance current practice.


Summary

1. Linear features associated with transportation and riparian corridors are known to inhibit the mobility of birds and other wildlife, yet the factors contributing to their barrier effects are poorly understood. The diversity of roads in urban landscapes provides an opportunity for elucidating the relative importance of factors such as noise, traffic volume, gap width and adjacent vegetation on animal movement.

2. Using an avian mobbing call as a lure, we tested the willingness of forest songbirds to cross four types of linear features in the urban landscape of Calgary, Alberta, Canada: (1) roads of varying widths and traffic volumes, (2) conventional railways and light transit lines, (3) transportation bridges across riparian corridors, and (4) rivers.

3. Using mixed effects logistic regression, we found that the size of the gap in vegetation was the most important determinant of movement (P < 0·001). As the gap in vegetation exceeded 30 m, the likelihood of movement decreased dramatically and by 45 m, birds were only half as likely to move across gaps as they were to move an equivalent distance in continuous tree cover. Traffic volume also had a significant dampening effect on movement (odds ratio = 0·952 per 1000 vehicle per day increase; P < 0·001) and generally explained more variation in the data than noise levels.

4. Railroads proved to be the most permeable of the features we tested, probably owing to their relatively narrow width, which never exceeded 30 m. Surprisingly, rivers were less permeable than the anthropogenic linear features we tested, with a significant barrier effect evident even at widths <50 m.

5. The birds in our study showed a marked preference for flying over, rather than under, transportation bridges, particularly when adjacent vegetation was available.

6.Synthesis and applications. Our results suggest that linear features, both anthropogenic and natural, can significantly impede the movements of forest songbirds and that managing adjacent vegetation is a potentially effective way to mitigate these barrier effects in cities and other fragmented landscapes.