A series of fluorene-triphenylamine derivatives containing an electron donor-acceptor (D-A) structure based on 9,9-diarylfluorene was designed and synthesized. Their optical properties were investigated by UV-Vis spectroscopy and photoluminescence (PL) techniques in solution as well as in the solid state. The maximum PL emission wavelengths of the compounds ranged from 430 to 530 nm. A dual fluorescence phenomenon was observed in particular polar solvents and the relationship between emission properties and molecular structures was studied. The results reveal the existence of a charge transfer (CT) excited state in the molecules and the PL properties of these compounds depend on the structure of the compound and also on the polarity of the solvent. The molecular constitution of the compounds improves the hole-injection issues for fluorene-based materials because of the introduction of a triphenylamine group. Cyclic voltammetry (CV) shows that the highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO) energy level of the compounds is located between -5.24 and -5.50 eV and it can be tailored by changing the electronegativity of the substituent group. Simultaneously, the spiro-skeleton molecular structure leads to an excellent glass transition temperature (192-206 °C) and it retains good morphological stability. The thermogravimetric (TG) curves of the compounds show a thermal-decomposition temperature of higher than 400 °C.


The proportion of cells absorbing trypan blue (tb-+ character) can be used to measure the late c.p.e. of wild-type poliovirus (ts-+. tb-+), which was the same at restrictive (39-2 to 39-6 degrees C) or permissive (37 degrees C) temperatures. Of twenty ts mutants, seven showed normal c.p.e. at 37 degrees C but were defective in C.P.E. (TB) AT 39-5 degrees C; all seven tb mutants have previously been shown (Cooper et al. 1971) to give evidence of a primary defect in replicase 1 activity (to make the complementary or minus strand of virus RNA). The remainder (tb-+) have all previously been shown to give evidence of a primary defect either in replicase II activity (to make progeny plus strands) or in structural protein. Thus, the late c.p.e. is dependent on a product of the replicase I gene, of which the in vivo effector is probably double-stranded RNA. Late c.p.e. is not caused by prevention of host protein, RNA or DNA synthesis and is not necessarily correlated with lysosomal enzyme release. The tb mutants were also defective in inducing early changes in chromatin (chr) and in prevention of thymidine incorporation (pti), but the tb and pti/chr characters are probably independent expressions of replicase I activity. Virus growth does not depend on repression of DNA synthesis. Poliovirus represses the activities of host DNA-dependent RNA polymerase I and II to an equal extent. There is no evidence that repression of DNA or RNA synthesis results from direct interaction of virus protein with the DNA.


Assay systems involving iodine-125 labelled iodothyronine substrates
have been established which can detect deiodination with high sensitivity.
A HPLC separation has also been established which complements the radiochemical
assays.
Using these assays, 5'-deiodinase enzyme activities have been
localized to the plasma membranes, to the endoplasmic reticulum and to the
lysosomes prepared from liver and kidney homogenates. A further activity
in the cytosol of these tissues was also found, but evidence suggested,
in part, that its presence there may be due to an artefact of the
homogenisation procedures.
Purification studies were performed on the cytosol 5'-deiodinase
(because of its solubility) and on the combined microsomal 5'-deiodinase
activity. Substantial purification (300 fold) of the 5'-deiodinase from
cytosol was achieved using thyroxine as the ligand in affinity chromatography.
Gel electrophoresis of this purified product suggested the presence of only
a small number of proteins which combine in a regular fashion to produce
aggregates of related structures. The combined plasma membrane and endoplasmic reticulum microsomal
activity was significantly purified (3-10 fold) using iopanoic acid
(which is a 5'-deiodinase inhibitor) as the ligand in affinity
chromatography. The degree of purification compares favourably to that
achieved by other workers.
A model for deiodination of T4 is suggested in which the production
of both T3 and rT 3 occurs predominantly at the plasma membrane. The rT 3
produced is then subject to rapid catabolism by deiodination in the lysosome. The rate of rT 3 deiodination by lysosomes is controlled by the inhibition
or stimulation of lysosomal autophagy or changes in the lysosomal membrane
or both by drugs, hormones or aminoacids. This leads to alterations in
the intracellular levels of rT 3 which in turn feeds-back negatively on the
plasma membrane enzyme (and also perhaps the endoplasmic reticulum
deiodinase) to inhibit the production of T3. This then leads to a rise
in plasma rT 3 followed soon after by a fall in plasma 13.
It is further postulated that the final common pathway for dietary
changes of rT 3 /T 3 levels is via the intracellular levels of aminoacids
in the liver, especially those (e.g. Asn, Gln, Leu) which are gluconeogenic
or anabolic.
Finally drugs which are known to be lysomotrophic and markedly
affect the stability of lysosomes are predicted to have effects on the
ratio of rT3 to T3 found in plasma.


: Clinical and statistical studies of 800 case histories of schizophrenia with an unfavourable (400 patients) and slow-progredient (400 patients) course with due regard for objective anamnestic data and findings of neurological examination revealed a significant and substantial difference in the occurrence of some exogenous factors. In the patients with schizophrenia running an unfavourable course, chronic otitis occurred 15 times more frequently, severe childhood infections 4.5 times, rheumatic fever 2.2 times, pathology of pregnancy and birth 2 times more frequently. The same patients demonstrated a 10-time more frequent occurrence of residual phenomena of organic brain injury. The data obtained might attest to the possibility of the effect of the factors cited on the severity of schizophrenia.


The effect of grinding MgTiO3 on the particle size and electrical properties was studied. Initially, good dispersion conditions were optimized via rheological characterizations of the aqueous slurry in variant dispersant amounts. Then, 50% MgTiO3 slurry was grinded using balls of different diameter sizes (0.8 and 0.4 mm) for two consecutive cycles. The milled powder was characterized using laser granulometry, BET method, X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy techniques. The crystallite size was calculated using HalderWagner methods. The electrical and dielectrical properties were also monitored for different particle size. These results revealed impurities from the zirconium balls, however, without affecting the particle size even if prepared with different grinding operations. © 2013 Elixir All rights reserved ARTICLE INF O


Recently, it has become accepted that the tiny microbial cells harbored by the human gut play a significant role in health and in certain disease states, including obesity, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease. Although many details remain unclear, new technologies have uncovered many of the physiological benefits the human microbiota provides the host. A healthy gut microbiota plays a role in health, but imbalances can become pathological, increasing inflammation and contributing to metabolic dysfunction. Diet plays a significant role in shaping the composition and function of the microbiota. Eating patterns high in fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and legumes promote the abundance of healthier bacteria that produce short-chain fatty acids and other health-promoting metabolites. This article reviews the functions of the microbiota, how it is formed, and nutritional strategies to improve gut health.

The human body harbors >100 trillion organisms; these are mostly bacteria, but also include archaea, viruses, parasites, and fungi, which together make up the microbiota (1,2). In the human body, these tiny microbial cells outnumber human cells by 10 to 1 (2–5). The microbiome, which is the collective genome of the microbiota community living in our gut, outnumbers the human genome by 100- to 200-fold (2–5).

New nonculture-dependent technologies have led to the identification of 1,000 species and >3 million microbial genes, providing evidence of the symbiotic relationship this "organ" has with the human host (1,2,4). Known functions of the microbiota include degradation of nondigestible polysaccharides, synthesis of vitamins, strengthening of the microvilli, and protection of the host from pathogens by maintaining healthy gut barrier integrity (3,5–7). The gut microbiota is instrumental in the normal development of innate and adaptive immunity (4).

The composition of the human gut microbiota is highly individualized, with …


Developmental examination is part of the process of identifying children at risk of poor developmental outcomes. Development is a rapidly changing process with large variations within the population and for the same child, which limits the sensitivity and specificity of any examination method. There is now a good body of scientific knowledge and an evidence base for improving the examination method and clinical decision-making. The four main components of this examination are eliciting concerns, gathering information on social and biological risk factors, making structured observations of spontaneous and elicited behaviour, and interpreting findings with knowledge both of the features which raise significant concerns and of common behavioural phenotypes of developmental disorders. The focus of developmental examination needs to shift from simply 'measuring' development to informing the developmental profile of a child's needs and identifying children at risk of adverse outcomes. The objective of helping the child is best achieved when the interpretation of findings, management guidance and management plan are shared through good communication with parents, carers and other agencies.


We investigate the spatial dependence of high energy electrons and their radiations in pulsar wind nebulae (PWNe). By assuming a time-dependent broken power-law injection and spatial dependence of convection velocity, magnetic field strength and diffusion coefficient on the radial distance of an expanding system, we numerically solve the Fokker-Planck transport equation including convection, diffusion, adiabatic loss and radiative loss in spherical coordinates, and investigate the effects of magnetic field, PWN age, maximum energy of electrons, and diffusion coefficient on electron spectra and non-thermal photon emissions. Our results indicate that (1) electron spectra and the corresponding photon spectra are a function of radial distance r of the expanding system; (2) for a given expansion velocity, the increase of the PWN age causes a slower decrease of the convection velocity (V ∝ r−β) and a more rapid decrease of the magnetic field strength (B ∝ r−1+β), but a more rapid increase of the diffusion coefficient (κ ∝ r1−β) because the index β decreases with the PWN age; and (3) the lower energy part of the electron spectra is dominated by convection and adiabatic loss, but the higher energy part is dominated by the competition between synchrotron loss and diffusion, and such a competition is a function of radial distance. Therefore the diffusion effect has an important role in the evolution of electron spectra as well as non-thermal photon spectra in a PWN.


Pterocarpus marsupium (Roxb.) is large deciduous tree, commonly called as Indian Kino or Malabar Kino, belonging to the family fabaceae (Leguminoceae). The tree is scared with novel antidiabetic properties. Along with as an antidiabetic drug, it is also used as astringent, anti-inflammatory, haemostatic, anthelmintic, in chest pain, body pain and in indigestion, in diabetic anaemia, elephantiasis, erysipelas, urethrorrhea and opthalmopathy etc. Phytochemicaly, many phenolic constituents of which flavonoid comprising major pool, are forming the basis of most pharmacological activities possessed by Pterocarpus marsupium. The present review summarizes the phyto-pharmacological role of this valuable


Sodium hexametaphosphate, Na6(PO3)6, is often used as a dispersant in wet grain size separation procedures to obtain the clay-sized (<0.002 mm) fraction of till and soil samples. However, the complexing properties of this reagent can lead to a loss of elements through chemical leaching during the separation process. This work examines potential losses of Cr, Zn, Fe, Mn, Ni, Sb, and Hg from glacial sediment (till) to dispersant solution. Compared to dissolution by conventional aqua regia digestion, these losses are insignificant at <0.3%. However, if the elements in a loosely bound form are under study using selective or sequential leaches, then the losses can be viewed as substantial. Sodium hexametaphosphate solution, used as dispersant at a strength of 0.5%, was found to dissolve as much as 68% of the Hg in a bulk till sample (<4 mm) that would be brought into solution by a 1 M sodium acetate extractant at pH 5, designed to dissolve the adsorbed/exchangeable/carbonate phase of a geological sample. Up to 10% of the Hg and 7% of the Cr leached from the clay-sized fraction by 1 M NaOAc could have been lost to the Na6(PO3)6 dispersant during the clay-sized separation. Consequently, the concentrations of labile or weakly bound forms of elements reported in a sequential extraction scheme could be reduced because of a loss to the Na6(PO3)6 dispersant.


The purpose of this paper is the evaluation of the use of a low power CO2 laser beam (50W) to promote the thermal treatment of AISI M2 high-speed steels and evaluate the tribological properties of the graphite coating that takes place on the steel surface after laser irradiation. In order to minimize the steel surface reflection at approximately 90% of the incident radiation wavelength (10.5 μm), an incident radiation absorber layer was applied to the steel surface sample. This coating aims to absorber the incident heat and transfer part of heat to the steel surface. As results the surface presented high hardness and a thin coating of graphite on the surface. The micro-structural changes, occurred on the steels surface, resulting from heat transfer from the absorbing layer, were evaluated through optical microscopy (MO), scanning electron microscopy (MEV), micro-hardness essays (MH), X-ray analysis (XRD), Raman spectroscopy and tribological testers on the graphite coating. MO analysis showed on the transversal section of the heated affected zone a brighter layer than the sample's core, 30 micrometers thickness, in the surface sample a black coat 10 micrometers thickness. By MH analysis this brighter layer presented hardness approximately 30% superior than the regions without treatment, and by Raman spectroscopy it was evaluated the graphite coating. The XRD analysis on the surface sample reveals an increasing of the martensite and iron-carbide phase. The experimental results of pin-on-disk tests on the graphite coatings reveal a reduced coefficient friction as compared to the original surface.


Objectives: Schiff base ligand 2-thio phenyl glyoxal anthranilic acid is used as the starting material for the synthesis of many biologically active compounds. The main objectives of the Study was to synthesize, characterization and biological evaluation of a octahedral complexes of Co (II) and Mn(II) containing 2thiophenyl glyoxal anthranilic acid as ligand. Methods: Ethanolic solution of ligand 2-thiophenyl glyoxal anthranilic acid added into the ethanolic solution of metal acetate the resulting solution was refluxed for 2 hr the product thus obtained was filtered, washed with ethanol followed by ether and characterized by various spectral studies and biological significance. Results: The resulted complex was investigated by the help of elemental analysis, Molar Conductance, Magnetic moment, IR, Electronic and NMR Spectral Studies. Spectral data indicates that the geometry of the complexes are Octahedral. The result of biological and cytotoxic studies indicate that complexes are much more biologically active as compared to ligand fragments. Conclusion: The complexes are biologically active and were found to be effective in all the human cancer cell lines.


This article studies the asymptotic behaviors of nonparametric estimators of two overlapping measures, namely Pianka's and MacArthur-Levins measures. The plug-in principle and the method of kernel density estimation are used to estimate such measures. The limiting theory of the functional of stochastic processes is used to study limiting behaviors of these estimators. It is shown that both limiting distributions are normal under suitable assumptions. The results are obtained in more general conditions on density functions and their kernel estimators. These conditions are suitable to deal with various applications. A small simulation study is also conducted to support the theoretical findings. Finally, a real data set has been analyzed for illustrative purposes.


Organic molecular crystals form a condensed solid phase offering a rich vein of physical phenomena which are open to investigation. The desire to harness these properties for technological and biological purposes has led to extensive experimental and theoretical investigations. The naturally occurring ɑ-amino acids form molecular crystals in the solid state; to date there have been very few studies of these systems. The work in this thesis is concerned with attempting to understand the relationship between the properties of the molecular crystal, and how these relate to the properties of the constituent molecules in isolation. To this end, density functional calculations of the structural and electronic properties of amino acids in both the crystalline and gaseous states are performed, and the results reported. The bonding mechanisms responsible for the crystal being stable are elucidated, and used to explain the zwitterionisation of the molecules upon formation of the solid state. In order to investigate the lattice dynamical and dielectric properties, the implementation of a variational density functional perturbation theory (DFPT) scheme within the plane wave pseudopotential formalism is described in detail. This scheme is fully self-consistent, and its computational cost is comparable to that of a single-point self-consistent total energy calculation. The long wave method is used to alleviate well-known problems associated with the application of homogeneous fields to crystal systems, viz. that such fields break the crystal symmetry, and the adequate treatment of electronic screening. Calculation of the first order perturbed wavefunctions and the second order change in the Kohn-Sham functional allows properties such as the polarisability, dielectric matrix, dynamical matrix and Born effective charge tensors to be determined. The treatment of crystalline symmetries is described in detail. The DFPT formalism is extended to allow IR absorption spectra to be obtained. The lattice dynamical and dielectric behaviour of the isolated molecules and the molecular crystals are obtained; calculation of the IR spectra facilitates an insight into the effects of the crystalline environment and zwitterionisation upon the lattice dynamics. Results indicate the importance of the molecular shape and structure upon the intermolecular interactions, and hence the crystal structure formed. It is these intermolecular interactions that are found to play the major part in modification of the lattice dynamical and dielectric behaviour.


In this paper a new method is presented to analyze the testability of both linear and nonlinear analog systems. It combines a rank-test algorithm with statistical methods. The algorithm will find sets of inseparable parameters and determine whether it is possible to calculate a certain parameter with sufficient accuracy. It also determines a subset of appropriate measurements if redundant measurements are present.


Abstract Background: In the current sensitive social environment, understanding why citizens voluntarily use social media to express their opinions, can be crucial in driving constructive social outcomes and avoiding perils like online disnformation and polarization. This study aims to identify the key technical affordances of social media that can potentially impact the political participation of its users. We then try to identify the dynamics of how these characteristics of social media influence different aspects of political participation activities taken up by citizens. Method: In phase one of the study, five focused group interviews were conducted among social media users to identify the affordances of social media at promote political participation. We use the results of this section to propose a research model based on Social Capital theory and Downs theory of political participation. We verify this model in the context of Facebook use by citizens of India. We collected the data using an online survey of 229 social media users and tested the model using the PLS-SEM technique. Results: The findings of content analysis of the interviews revealed the presence of four prominent affordances in the case of social media use for political participation: Association, Metavoicing, Visibility & Convenience. The result of model verification reveals that social capital created due to the technical affordances mentioned above effectively reduces the cost of participation, and more importantly, provides added benefits such as social recognition, expressive value, and other social rewards. Conclusions: The study concludes that specific affordances of social media significantly impact citizens' social capital, perceived costs of participation, perceived benefits of participation, and in turn, impact their participation behavior. The role of social capital in online environment is analogous was crucial in leading to participation outcomes.


Seventeen upland cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) cultivars were evaluated in the field for susceptibility to Bemisia argentifolii Bellows and Perring in Imperial Valley, CA, from 1992 to 1996. All cultivars were susceptible. Sticky cotton occurred and lint yields were low. In 1995 and 1996, nine untreated and insecticide-treated cultivars were compared using 4.1 adults per leaf turn as an insecticide-treatment action threshold. Lint yields of the insecticide-treated plots increased from 1.2 to 7.9 times in 1995 and from 0.35 to 4.0 times in 1996 compared to untreated cultivars. Deltapine (DPL) 5409 and 5415 on average required 5.5 insecticide applications; DPL 50, 5461, and 5517 required six applications; and DPL 5432 and 5690 required 6.5 applications. Louisiana (LA) 887 required seven applications and Stoneville (ST) 474 required 7.5 applications. In a no-choice greenhouse trial in 1997, the nine cultivars studied were equally colonized with B. argentifolii eggs and nymphs in small leaf cages and adult emergence was not significantly different among cultivars. Results suggest the potential to reduce insecticide applications by selecting appropriate cultivars currently available. Identification of resistance mechanisms and development of breeding programs to incorporate resistance into acceptable upland cultivars appear to be promising approaches for whitefly control.


Introduction The idea of creating tourist thematic routes in Transylvania is not an innovative one, as it has already been applied on the Wine Road or more recently the Spring Mineral Water Road, in the eastern part of the region. Thus in relation with the most recent scientific research in the salt health tourism, based on solid arguments, there is a great necessity to create a path that could interconnect the former salt exploitations and the sodium chloride mineral waters, a tourism route between the two paths. A first example of a tourist road is the recent created bicycle route that goes from Sangeorgiu de Mures over the Hills of Niraj and gets to Sovata and then Praid. This road has been furnished with the help of the county council and a local tourist association. The necessity of these roads consists firstly in creating links between the wellness resorts and the tourist planning with salt waters, which for now are being developed isolated, but especially for promoting the local wellness tourism. At this we can add the landscape component, the one of geomorphologic sites on salt, of a particular tourist attraction, resulting both from the salt microforms of relief (the exokarst on salt) but mostly from impressive and spectacular underground voids, and in terms of exploitation procedures, some of them dating back in Ancient Rome, others from Middle Age or modern period till nowadays. Following the diversification of tourist motivation, nodal components, the salt exploitations and spa centers on salt, would turn into real centers of polarization and accommodation, along the "roads", but also in diffusion centers in their adjacent areas, with a direct consequence on learning more about other attractive objectives of this area. Thus, for this study were taken into consideration the two tourist routes with settlements of the former salt mining activity and salt water resulting in five points of interest in the Somes basin (Figa, Ocna Dejului, Sic, Someseni, Cojocna), and 6 in the Mures basin (Ideciu de Jos, Jabenita, Sangeorgiu de Mures, Sovata, Praid, Ocna Sibiului and Miercurea Sibiului). The development premises of a touristic road- "The Salt Roads" Salt, an essential mineral element for human life, was exploited since ancient times with different purposes, like the first most important one, the physiological one, needed for a perfect functioning of any living organism, or as an additive to our own food diet, as a supplement to domestic animals' diet, as a very good preservative for meat, bacon, cheese, vegetables, fruits, animal skin, as a wound disinfectant or as a health remedy against different diseases like rheumatic ones, respiratory failure, stomach disorders, some dermatological and gynecological problems and so on and so forth. All these applications turned it into one of the most important consuming and trading products since ancient times till nowadays. The Historical Premises Transylvania, having one of the most important salt deposits in Europe, represented over time the main source of supply for adjacent regions, where there was a total lack of resources, like the Tisa Plain, the south Danube area and the Balkans. This situation turned Transylvania into the most important and available source of salt the entire transit being made through the so called "roads of salt". The archaeological remains show us that rock salt has been exploited since the main traces of prehistory and its exploitation has been found in the Bronze and Iron Age in Ocna Muresului, Figa and Sasarm (Bistrita-Nasaud county) and Valea Florilor, Ocna Dejului and Turda (Cluj county) different wooden tools made especially for exploitation like spades, shovels, "troughs", chisels and small hammers made of ash wood provided with a metal head (Hollmann & Ciugudean 2005). In ancient Greek-Roman world (first millennium BC- mid first millennium AD), according to ancient authors, epigraphic and archaeological monuments, salt mining industry becomes a real sophisticated technology with numerous professional branches, where there were involved both free people hired by the state and many slaves. …


The Members Assembly allows Members to contribute to the governance issues of the Union. During the Assembly, Members heard Commission reports, approved IUCN's programme of work for the next four years, and voted on Resolutions and Recommendations. The Proceedings provide Members with a session-by-session account of the business activities on the agenda.


The robust behavioural courtship ritual displayed by Drosophila melanogaster males is governed by their underlying nervous system (NS). Two key genes of the Sex Determination Hierarchy, fruitless (fru) and doublesex (dsx), determine most neuronal substrates for sexual behaviour. In this study we aim to better understand the role fru plays in determining these neural substrates, as a means of better understanding the relationships between brain, behaviour and genes, and thus how the development of neuronal networks shape innate and species-specific behaviours. Fru has two major functions: control of male sexual behaviour, and viability in both sexes. Alternative splicing of fru produces transcription factors driven by four promoters: P1 transcripts are sex-specifically spliced (only viable in the male), and P2-4 transcripts are crucial to both sexes survival. The resulting proteins contain a BTB protein-protein interaction domain at the N-terminus, and one of four C-terminal zinc-finger (ZnF) DNA binding domains. Male-specific proteins (FruM) contain an additional 101 amino acid N-terminal domain, and one of three alternative C2H2 ZnF domains (FruMA, FruMB, FruMC). These male-specific isoforms are expressed in the central nervous system (CNS) beginning in the late stage larvae (L3), peaking during pupation and on into adulthood. Little is known, however, about the roles of the individual isoforms, and no clear transcriptional targets have been identified. The central aims of this thesis are to document the wild-type expression patterns of Fru isoforms throughout development in the CNS, create and characterise isoform-specific mutants, and to identify and evaluate putative transcriptional targets of Fru. Combining these findings will lead to a better understanding of the underlying molecular functions of individual FruM isoforms, as a means to understanding their roles in sexual behaviour. Expression analysis of FruM isoforms throughout development in the NS is described. To further characterise the role of individual FruM isoforms, isoform-specific mutants in fruA and fruB exons were generated using site-specific homologous recombination (HR). These novel mutants were validated by PCR and Fru isoform-specific antibody stainings. Mutants were analysed in fruM- and fru-null genetic backgrounds, to distinguish the roles of sex-specific vs. common isoforms. These analyses included: fertility, viability and morphology. FruA was found to have a role in wing extension with possible repercussions for song production. FruB was found to be developmentally lethal, in addition to having defects in male courtship behaviour. To understand the role of fru in the NS, downstream transcriptional targets of FruM isoforms were identified. DNA adenine methyltransferase identification (DamID) was used to identify putative transcription targets of FruM isoforms. The Dam protein methylates DNA in Drosophila in a sequence-specific manner allowing targets of Fru to be isolated. Candidate genes were identified using computational analysis (including gene ontology, peak analysis and motif analysis) along with a biologically significant connection with fru. The relationship between fru and six candidate genes were characterised using RNAi. The results of these studies advance our knowledge of how FruM isoforms influence the development and physiology of the NS underlying male sexual behaviour in Drosophila.


Urolithiasis is a common urological condition and an important affliction of the urinary tract; however, urethral calculi account for a small fraction of stones in the entire urinary tract. The dual occurrence of a vesicourethral collar stud calculus and a bulbar urethral diverticula calculus is exceptionally rare. We report the case of a 50-year-old man who presented with lower urinary tract symptoms that culminated into acute urine retention, which was relieved by suprapubic cystostomy after a failed attempt at urethral catheterization. His pelvic X-ray revealed vesicourethral collar stud and bulbar urethral calculi. There was no urethral stricture on retrograde urethrogram. The patient underwent cystolithotomy, urethrolithotomy, diverticulectomy, and urethroplasty. He was treated for suprapubic surgical site infection during the postoperative period. His voiding remained normal on removal of urethral catheter and he had no lower urinary tract symptoms at the last follow-up. Collar stud vesicourethral calculus coexisting with bulbar urethral diverticular calculus is rare. Appropriate patient work-up followed by cystolithotomy, urethrolithotomy, diverticulectomy with urethroplasty alleviates lower urinary tract symptoms.


disturbances, but they might also have been aware during surgery. A recently published study by Flier et aL4 reported two of 140 patients with recall of awareness during general anaesthesia. These investigators used a somewhat different approach (adapted from Brice et a[.$) to assess the number of patients with intra-operative memories. All patients were asked during a short postoperative interview three questions: What is the last thing you remember before going to sleep for your operation? What is the first thing you remember on waking up after your operation? Do you remember anything in between? A careful interview of patients, with direct questions about whether or not they have memories of intra-operative events, seems to be the appropriate strategy for assessing the incidence of awareness. If Pedersen and Johansen had used this method they would, without doubt, have found more patients with recollections of intra-operative events in their sample. Pedersen and Johansen have done valuable work in pursuing types and frequencies of complications attributable to anaesthesia, but we suggest that in future studies on the incidence of awareness patients should be interviewed with scrutiny.


The United States invests far more in providing clinical services than in addressing social and behavioral factors that powerfully affect health and mortality compared with other high-income nations that have better health.1 The United States has also large avoidable differences in health across groups, eg, life expectancy of 40-year-old men in the poorest 1% of the income distribution is 14.6 years shorter than for men in the richest 1%, and for women, the difference is 10.1 years.2 Health disparities are found also by education, race, ethnicity, sex, sexual orientation, and place of residence. Policies that reduce social disadvantage can reduce health inequalities, for example, the health gap between blacks and whites narrowed in the decades after civil rights legislation. The comparatively poor health status of the US population, existence of health inequalities, and fluctuations in health in relation to policydriven changes in social conditions highlight the importance of policies addressing social determinants. Socioeconomic conditions underlie many health inequalities and compel attention to social policies that affect health, strengthening existing programs that can reduce disparities, and shifting health financing to reward improvements in individual and community health.


Key generation from the randomness of wireless channels is a promising technique to establish a secret cryptographic key securely between legitimate users. This paper proposes a new approach to extract keys efficiently from the channel responses of individual orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) subcarriers. The efficiency is achieved by: 1) fully exploiting randomness from time and frequency domains and 2) improving the cross-correlation of the channel measurements. Through the theoretical modeling of the time and frequency autocorrelation relationship of the OFDM subcarrier's channel responses, we can obtain the optimal probing rate and use multiple uncorrelated subcarriers as random sources. We also study the effects of non-simultaneous measurements and noise on the cross-correlation of the channel measurements. We find that the cross-correlation is mainly impacted by noise effects in a slow fading channel and use a low-pass filter to reduce the key disagreement rate and extend the system's working signal-to-noise ratio range. The system is evaluated in terms of randomness, key generation rate, and key disagreement rate, verifying that it is feasible to extract randomness from both time and frequency domains of the OFDM subcarrier's channel responses.


A near-surface geophysical survey at the D-Day invasion site on top of the cliffs at Pointe du Hoc in Normandy, France, was carried out using ground-penetrating radar, electromagnetic induction and magnetic gradiometry equipment. The subsurface targets of investigation are predominantly buried concrete and steel structures and earthworks associated with the German coastal fortifications at this strongpoint of Adolf Hitler's Atlantic Wall. The targets are readily detectable, embedded within the vadose zone of a weakly magnetic, electrically resistive, loess soil cover. The radar and electromagnetic induction responses lend themselves to plan-view imaging of the subsurface, while the magnetics data reveal the presence of buried magnetic bodies in a more subtle fashion. Several intriguing geophysical signatures were discovered, including what may be the buried remains of a railway turntable, ordnance fragments in the bomb craters, a buried steel-reinforced concrete trench, and a linear chain of machine-gun firing positions. Geophysical prospecting is shown to be a very powerful tool for historical battlefield site characterization.


Objective. The concept of boron neutron capture therapy (BNCT) involves infusion of a 10B containing tracer into the patient's bloodstream followed by local neutron irradiation(s). Accurate estimation of the blood boron level for the treatment field before irradiation is required. Boron concentration can be quantified by inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry (ICP‐AES), mass spectrometry (ICP‐MS), spectrofluorometric and direct current atomic emission spectrometry (DCP‐AES) or by prompt gamma photon detection methods. Material and methods. The blood boron concentrations were analysed and compared using ICP‐AES and ICP‐MS to ensure congruency of the results if the analysis had to be changed during the treatment, e.g. for technical reasons. The effect of wet‐ashing on the results was studied in addition. Results. The mean of all samples analysed with ICP‐MS was 5.8 % lower than with ICP‐AES coupled to wet‐ashing (R2 = 0.88). Without wet‐ashing, the mean of all samples analysed with ICP‐MS was 9.1 % higher than with ICP‐AES (R2 = 0.99). Conclusions. Boron concentration analysed from whole blood samples with ICP‐AES correlated well with the values of ICP‐MS with wet‐ashing of the sample matrix, which is generally considered the reference method. When using these methods in parallel at certain intervals during the treatments, reliability of the blood boron concentration values remains satisfactory, taking into account the required accuracy of dose determination in the irradiation of cancer patients.


The purpose of this research was to know difference in the budget participation that's evaluated from education levels, gender, occupations, and job experiences. The number of research sample is 198 people coming from 45 Private Higher Education Institution in Yogyakarta. The research subject is heads from of unit who are enganged in the budget partisipation, such as heads of study program, heads of department, vice dean, dean, heads of bureau and the like in Private Higher Education Institution. The data analysis was conducted using independent sample t test. The statistical test result with 0.05 of the significance level indicated that there was no difference in the budget participation that was evaluated from education levels, gender, occupation, and job experiences.


Cryptocurrencies have emerged as a new form of digital money that has not escaped the eyes of cyber-attackers. Traditionally, they have been maliciously used as a medium of exchange for proceeds of crime in the cyber dark-market by cyber-criminals. However, cyber-criminals have devised an exploitative technique of directly acquiring cryptocurrencies from benign users' CPUs without their knowledge through a process called crypto mining. The presence of crypto mining activities in a network is often an indicator of compromise of illegal usage of network resources for crypto mining purposes. Crypto mining has had a financial toll on victims such as corporate networks and individual home users. This paper addresses the detection of crypto mining attacks in a generic network environment using dynamic network characteristics. It tackles an in-depth overview of crypto mining operational details and proposes a semi-supervised machine learning approach to detection using various crypto mining features derived from complex network characteristics. The results demonstrate that the integration of semi-supervised learning with complex network theory modeling is effective at detecting crypto mining activities in a network environment. Such an approach is helpful during security mitigation by network


ABSTRACT Norway has been a firm supporter of, and contributor to, UN peacekeeping operations. However, while increasing its financial support since the end of the Cold War, Norway has significantly downscaled its troop contributions to the UN, focusing on NATO operations. Rather than interpreting this as lessened interest in the UN, we point out that support and commitment cannot be measured solely in numbers of troops deployed. Norway's commitment to UN peacekeeping should be understood as part of its strategic culture, here read as a synthesis between self-interest and solidarity, and between the UN and NATO. This article details the institutional, political and material challenges and opportunities for renewed engagement in UN peacekeeping.


Iron losses in slag during an intensive desulfurization of hot metal can reach 0.6-1.1% from the total amount of processed hot metal. The characteristics of different metal droplets (such as morphology, number, size, composition and solidification structure) in industrial slag samples after desulfurization were investigated using SEM. All metal droplets in the slag were classified into three groups according to morphology: Type A - spherical/oval; Type B - spherical/irregular; Type C - irregular. Thereafter, some mechanisms for involving of different metal droplets into the slag during desulfurization process were studied based on obtained characteristics of metal droplets. Moreover, a possibility to remove those metal droplets from the liquid slag was estimated based on Stokes law. In addition, the effect of some parameters (such as slag viscosity and size of different metal droplets in this slag) on the possibility to reduce the iron losses during desulfurization of hot metal was considered.


Background: The growing number of novel psychoactive substances (NPS), also labelled as "legal highs", constitutes a challenge to public health. It is uncertain whether this trend is related to the increase in number of poising cases reported by emergency rooms. The aim of this study was to investigate the occurrence of NPS in acute cases of poisoning in the Swedish county Varmland. The numbers of NPS casualties were correlated with poisoning by other substances. Both, the gender and age distribution of the reported cases were recorded. Method: Records classified as poisoning casualties at the emergency rooms in Varmland during 2007- 2013 were collected and analyzed. Results: NPS and illicit drugs constituted only a small part (1.67% and 7.84% respectively) of the total poisoning casualties. The results also revealed that alcohol and pharmaceuticals were present in the majority of cases (91.2%), and were to a larger extent involved in polydrug abuse and suicide attempts. Furthermore, the results uncovered an alarming poisoning problem among women who had taken pharmaceuticals and for suicidal young people. Conclusions: It is unclear whether the comparatively low prevalence of NPS and illicit drug related poisoning casualties reflect the real prevalence of injury cases or a possible under-reporting.
Background: The growing number of novel psychoactive substances (NPS), also labelled as "legal highs", constitutes a challenge to public health. It is uncertain whether this trend is related to the increase in number of poising cases reported by emergency rooms. The aim of this study was to investigate the occurrence of NPS in acute cases of poisoning in the Swedish county Varmland. The numbers of NPS casualties were correlated with poisoning by other substances. Both, the gender and age distribution of the reported cases were recorded. Method: Records classified as poisoning casualties at the emergency rooms in Varmland during 2007- 2013 were collected and analyzed. Results: NPS and illicit drugs constituted only a small part (1.67% and 7.84% respectively) of the total poisoning casualties. The results also revealed that alcohol and pharmaceuticals were present in the majority of cases (91.2%), and were to a larger extent involved in polydrug abuse and suicide attempts. Furthermore, the results uncovered an alarming poisoning problem among women who had taken pharmaceuticals and for suicidal young people. Conclusions: It is unclear whether the comparatively low prevalence of NPS and illicit drug related poisoning casualties reflect the real prevalence of injury cases or a possible under-reporting.


The Internet contains billions of documents and thousands of systems for searching over these documents. Searching for a useful document can be as difficult as the proverbial search for a needle in a haystack. Each search engine provides access to a different collection of documents. Collections may be large or small, focused or comprehensive. Focused collections may be centered on any possible topic, and comprehensive collections typically have particular topical areas with higher concentrations of documents. Some of these collections overlap, but many documents are available from only a single collection. To find the most needles, one must first select the best haystacks.
This dissertation develops a framework for automatic selection of search engines. In this framework, the collection underlying each search engine is examined to determine how properties such as central topic, size, and degree of focus affect retrieval performance. When measured with appropriate techniques, these properties may be used to predict performance. A new distributed retrieval algorithm that takes advantage of this knowledge is presented and compared to existing retrieval algorithms.


Motor prognosis has great benefit for motion control systems. It is desirable to develop the so-called integrated prognosis capability for motion control products, i.e. with only the existing sensors of a motor drive. This paper presents a scheme of integrated wear prognosis for linear actuators driven by AC servo motor with only current measurement. The Hidden Semi-Markov Model (HSMM) was adopted as the prognostic model. Compared to a single observation for a state in the hidden Markov model (HMM), a state in an HSMM generates a segment of observations. Therefore, HSMM structure has a temporal component. For the HSMM based prognostic model, the states correspond to different levels of health status. The duration of a health state is modeled by an explicit Gaussian probability function. To avoid the underflow of computation, the modified forward-backward training algorithm was used to estimate the model parameters. The expectation-modification method was used to estimate the state transition probability matrix, initial state distribution, and observation probability matrix in the model. The trained HSMMs can be used to predict the remaining-useful-life (RUL) on the actuator. The proposed method is demonstrated through the simulation of the wear process of an AC motor driven linear actuator.


This chapter considers the justification for the 'automatic' resulting trust. It points out that, as a historical matter, the dominant explanation has been that the settler 'retains' any beneficial interest of which he has not disposed. It is suggested, by reference to the "doctrine of the old use" in the law of succession, that this explanation is far more deeply rooted in the law than has been generally recognized. However, some commentators have argued that the retention idea is flawed at the level of principle, providing support for the idea that the existing rules should be altered to allow resulting trusts to operate as an instrument to reverse unjust enrichment in a wide variety of cases. The relevant issues are investigated in this chapter and it is concluded that the retention explanation, though deeply rooted in authority, is not fully satisfactory at the level of principle. It is also noted that the proposition that all resulting trusts should be regarded as being based on unjust enrichment is not supported by authority and, at the level of principle, is vulnerable to some of the same criticisms as the retention idea. This chapter identifies an alternative rationalization of the existing rules (which does not involve any modification in the content of those rules). It suggests that, in the context of the 'automatic' resulting trust, equity is confronted with the question of what should happen when property is given on trust to a trustee but the particular trusts indicated do not exhaust the beneficial interest or are invalid. The rule chosen by equity in this situation, that there should be a resulting trust for the settler, is difficult to fault as a matter of justice. It proceeds on the basis of a logically prior decision by equity that, once property has been conveyed to a trustee in whom the settler has reposed trust to hold it according to the settler's instructions, the trust will not 'fail', even where there is a failure in the particular trusts declared or a failure to declare any such trusts. Once one is willing to accept that a trust has been brought into existence by the conveyance to the trustee, so that someone must become entitled to the beneficial interest under that trust, it is difficult to justify anyone besides the settler taking any unallocated beneficial interest.


Camptothecins are still among the most widely prescribed and effective anticancer drugs. Unfortunately, important drawbacks including water insolubility, lactone instability, reversibility of the drug-target interaction, drug resistance and toxicity are responsible for treatment failure and often require suspension of the drug administration itself. In order to overcome such drawbacks, several options in chemical manipulation of natural camptothecin have been explored, and effective compounds have been identified in a novel series of 7-oxyiminomethyl derivatives. Among the compounds of this series, the hydrophilic derivative namitecan (7 (2-aminoethoxy) iminomethyl camptothecin) has been selected for further development. The relevant features of namitecan are: 1) marked cytotoxic potency - likely related to multiple factors, including i) a potent inhibition of topoisomerase I, ii) a persistent stabilization of the cleavable complex, iii) an increased intracellular accumulation, and iv) a peculiar subcellular localization; 2) enhanced lactone stability and favorable pharmacokinetics; 3) remarkable antitumor efficacy in a large panel of human tumor xenografts (including tumor models relatively resistant to topotecan and irinotecan), particularly on squamous cell carcinomas. The clinical development of namitecan is currently ongoing. Namitecan exhibited an acceptable toxicity profile, with neutropenia being the dose-limiting toxic effect, and clinical benefit was appreciable in patients with different tumor types, particularly bladder and endometrium carcinomas. In this article, we review the relevant features of namitecan, with particular reference to its advantages compared with the two analogues (topotecan and irinotecan) approved for clinical use.


: Some philosophers think that there is a gap between is and ought which necessarily makes normative enquiry a different kind of thing than empirical science. This position gains support from our ability to explicate our inferential practices in a way that makes it impermissible to move from descriptive premises to a normative conclusion. But we can also explicate them in a way that allows such moves. So there is no categorical answer as to whether there is or is not a gap. The question of an is-ought gap is a practical and strategic matter rather than a logical one, and it may properly be answered in different ways for different questions or at different times.


Medicine is a discipline where visualization is an essential component of learning. However, the three-dimensional, dynamic structure of the human body poses difficult teaching challenges. There is a need for truly interactive computer tools that will enable students to create and manipulate computer models, not just watch them. We propose different approaches with that goal in mind. We were first interested in interactive physically-based animation of anisotropic elastic materials. One possible application scenario is an anatomy course on heart physiology where students can build interactive samples of cardiac muscular tissue. To achieve this, our model exhibits two key features. The first one is a low computational cost that results in high frame rates; the second one is an intuitive \emph{system image} that ensures easy control by the user. Next, we were interested in interaction in three dimensions using two-dimensional input, either for annotating existing models, or for creating new models; taking advantage of the fact that drawing practice is still considered a fundamental learning method by some anatomy teachers in the French medical school curriculum. Our 3D drawing system has a stroke representation that enables drawing redisplay when the viewpoint changes. Moreover, this representation can be mixed freely with existing polygonal surfaces for annotation purposes. In contrast, our modeling by drawing tool uses information from both stroke geometry and the drawn image, to allow three-dimensional modeling without explicit depth specification.


The purpose of this study is to develop and validate a numerical tool for evaluating the performance of a settling basin regarding the trapping of suspended matter. The Euler-Lagrange approach was chosen to model the flow and sediment transport. The numerical model developed relies on the open source library OpenFOAM®, enhanced with new particle/wall interaction conditions to limit sediment deposition in zones with favourable hydrodynamic conditions (shear stress, turbulent kinetic energy). In particular, a new relation is proposed for calculating the turbulent kinetic energy threshold as a function of the properties of each particle (diameter and density). The numerical model is compared to three experimental datasets taken from the literature and collected for scale models of basins. The comparison of the numerical and experimental results permits concluding on the model's capacity to predict the trapping of particles in a settling basin with an absolute error in the region of 5% when the sediment depositions occur over the entire bed. In the case of sediment depositions localised in preferential zones, their distribution is reproduced well by the model and trapping efficiency is evaluated with an absolute error in the region of 10% (excluding cases of particles with very low density).


When occupational therapy (OT) and physical therapy (PT) are provided as related services in educational settings, federal law, professional guidelines, and validated practices have pointed to appropriate models of service provision. Issues such as personnel shortages, professional isolation, and questionable educational relevance of services all create barriers to use of recommended practices. The overlap between OT and PT in special education suggests one strategy to help address these barriers: a primary therapist model. In this model, an OT or PT is assigned as primary therapist, with consultation from the other discipline as required to meet student needs. Potential benefits of the model, challenges in implementation, the best practice framework needed to support the model, and the need for research on costs and benefits are discussed.


In this paper I trace the changing practice and politics of North American border controls and analyze the implications of these changes for cross-border relations and continental integration. More than ever, I suggest, North American relations are driven by the politics of border control. I first examine U.S. border control initiatives before 9-11, and argue that these were politically successful policy failures: they succeeded in terms of their symbolic and image effects even while largely failing in terms of their deterrent effects. I then highlight the border-related economic, bureaucratic, and political repercussions of 9/11. I show why the task of border control has become significantly more difficult, cumbersome, and disruptive in the post-9-11 era, with significant ramifications for the North American integration project. I conclude by outlining three possible future border trajectories.


In this study, we investigated the effect of bryostatin-1 (Bryo-1), an antineoplastic agent, on dendritic cell (DC) maturation, activation, and functions. Murine bone marrow-derived DCs on culture with Bryo-1 alone, Bryo-1 + calcium ionophore (CI), but not CI alone exhibited morphologic changes characteristic of mature DCs and expressed increased levels of CD40, CD80, and CD86. Moreover, Bryo-1 + CI–treated DCs exhibited enhanced antigen-presenting ability to naive and antigen-specific T cells and alloreactive T cells. Bryo-1 + CI–mediated activation of DCs involved protein kinase C (PKC), especially PKC-α, -δ, and -ι, and addition of PKC inhibitors impaired their ability to activate T cells. Bryo-1 + CI treatment of DCs did not activate mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK)/extracellular signal-regulated kinase, p38 MAPK, or stress-activated protein kinase/c-Jun NH2-terminal kinase pathways. Finally, treatment of DCs with Bryo-1 alone and Bryo-1 + CI, but not CI alone, induced nuclear translocation of nuclear factor κB as studied by confocal microscopy. DCs generated from human peripheral blood monocytes or from human cord blood CD34+ hematopoietic stem cells, when cultured with Bryo-1 + CI, also showed maturation and increased T-cell stimulatory activity. Bryo-1 + CI was more potent in inducing maturation and activation of DCs when compared with other agents such as tumor necrosis factor α, lipopolysaccharide, or phorbol 12-myristate 13acetate + CI. Collectively, the current study shows for the first time that Bryo-1 alone or in combination with CI may promote the maturation of DCs and therefore may be useful in development of DC-based cancer immunotherapy.


Uganda has established numerous policy and institutional frameworks to counteract the negative impact of Climate Change (CC), since the adoption of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCC) in 1992. There have been concerns, however, that the implementation progress is debilitated by a surge of defi ciencies ranging from policy to institutional mechanisms. Several institutional actors, for example, were said to remain anonymous, disparate and uncoordinated, causing parallel initiatives that could stifl e the effort to address CC. This article, presents results of a fi eldwork and desk research study conducted to analyse the major policy and institutional mechanisms, as well as, the actors involved in CC efforts in Uganda. The article reviews major CC-related policies, actors and institutional arrangements, to establish how far they represent suitable mechanisms of dealing with the problem; and in essence fostering human development (HD). The discussion highlights on who is doing what, with whom and with what progress – across the spectrum of government, development partners, NGOs, private sector and research institutions. The study established a great effort by different stakeholders, but their initiatives remain largely disparate and weak. This is due to poor coordination and communication, exacerbated by weak organisational structures, poor inter-agency relations, limited human skills and technical capacity, and failure to enlist the private sector and local governments to support responses to CC-HD. The need to establish a national CC policy (currently lacking), create more formal and authoritative institutions, promote institutional and human resource capacity, and strengthen monitoring are advocated.


This document is an email chain between Leonardo Crippa of the Indian Law Research Center, Matthew Wooten, a student of the Human Rights Clinic at the University of Texas at Austin, and Ariel Dulitzky, director of the Clinic. They plan a phone conference call. Wooten describes meeting with people in the Estudio Juridico of Quintar, community leaders in Apra Pampa, and scientists who did initial studies of lead poisoning. He mentions the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACtHR) and the Bank of Inter-American Development (BID).


This paper presents preliminary findings from a cross sectional study of student motivation in West Australian secondary schools. Increasingly researchers using Goal Theory have been investigating how both academic and social goals are significant to adolescent students' learning and school achievement, however, relatively little is known about how these goals may change over time. Are mastery goals as prevalent in final year secondary school students as they are in first year students? Do social goals, such as relationship goals strengthen, weaken or remain the same during the five years at school between early and late adolescence?

This mixed method study examines the academic and social motivational goals of 12/13 year olds and 16/17 year olds and makes comparisons to ascertain changes in motivational goals during secondary schooling experiences. A questionnaire using both rating scale items and open ended questions determined the nature of students' goals and why these goals were deemed important. Focus group interviews were used to investigate further why particular goals were important at particular points in time.

This study develops understandings about why academic and social goals might be prevalent at particular stages of adolescence and extends the ongoing discussion about multiple goals in learning contexts. The findings that there are significant changes in both academic and social goals during adolescence have implications for educators who aim to provide developmentally appropriate learning environments for adolescents and for researchers investigating how motivation and goals change over time.


OBJECTIVE
To estimate the prevalence of hearing impairment (HI) and evaluate the cross-sectional associations of environmental and cardiovascular disease risk factors and HI in middle-aged adults.

DESIGN
Data were collected as part of the Beaver Dam Offspring Study, an epidemiological cohort study of aging. Hearing impairment was defined as a pure-tone average (0.5, 1.0, 2.0, and 4.0 kHz) greater than 25 db hearing level in either ear. Word recognition in competing message (WRCM) was measured using the Northwestern University No. 6 word list. Questionnaire information about behaviors, environmental factors, and medical history was also collected.

PARTICIPANTS
The participants (N = 3285) were offspring of participants of the population-based Epidemiology of Hearing Loss Study and ranged in age from 21 to 84 years (mean age, 49 years).

RESULTS
The prevalence of HI was 14.1%, and the mean (SD) WRCM score was 64% (15%). In a multivariate model, after age, sex, education, and occupational noise were controlled for, a history of ear surgery (odds ratio [OR], 4.11; 95% confidence interval [CI], 2.37-7.15), a larger central retinal venular equivalent (OR, 1.77; 95% CI, 1.20-2.60 [fourth quartile vs first quartile]), and a higher hematocrit percentage (OR, 0.77; 95% CI, 0.63-0.95 [per 5%]) were independently associated with HI. Factors associated with lower WRCM scores were similar but also included mean intima-media thickness (mean difference, -0.63%; 95% CI, -1.06% to -0.19%; P = .005 [per 0.1 mm]) and statin use (mean difference, -2.09%; 95% CI, -3.58% to -0.60%; P = .005).

CONCLUSIONS
Hearing impairment is a common condition in middle-aged adults. Cardiovascular disease risk factors may be important correlates of age-related auditory dysfunction.


Caldesmon, a major actin- and calmodulin-binding protein of smooth muscle, has been implicated in regulation of the contractile state of smooth muscle. The isolated protein can be phosphorylated by a co-purifying Ca2+/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase, and phosphorylation blocks inhibition of the actomyosin ATPase by caldesmon [Ngai & Walsh (1987) Biochem. J. 244, 417-425]. We have examined the phosphorylation of caldesmon in more detail. Several lines of evidence indicate that caldesmon itself is a kinase and the reaction is an intermolecular autophosphorylation: (1) caldesmon (141 kDa) and a 93 kDa proteolytic fragment of caldesmon can be separated by ion-exchange chromatography: both retain caldesmon kinase activity, which is Ca2+/calmodulin-dependent; (2) chymotryptic digestion of caldesmon generates a Ca2+/calmodulin-independent form of caldesmon kinase; (3) caldesmon purified to electrophoretic homogeneity retains caldesmon kinase activity, and elution of enzymic activity from a fast-performance-liquid-chromatography ion-exchange column correlates with caldesmon of Mr 141,000; (4) caldesmon is photoaffinity-labelled with 8-azido-[alpha-32P]ATP; labelling is inhibited by ATP, GTP and CTP, indicating a lack of nucleotide specificity; (5) caldesmon binds tightly to Affi-Gel Blue resin, which recognizes proteins having a dinucleotide fold. Autophosphorylation of caldesmon occurs predominantly on serine residues (83.3%), with some threonine (16.7%) and no tyrosine phosphorylation. Autophosphorylation is site-specific: 98% of the phosphate incorporated is recovered in a 26 kDa chymotryptic peptide. Complete tryptic/chymotryptic digestion of this phosphopeptide followed by h.p.l.c. indicates three major phosphorylation sites. Caldesmon exhibits a high degree of substrate specificity: apart from autophosphorylation, brain synapsin I is the only good substrate among many potential substrates examined. These observations indicate that caldesmon may regulate its own function (inhibition of the actomyosin ATPase) by Ca2+/calmodulin-dependent autophosphorylation. Furthermore, caldesmon may regulate other cellular processes, e.g. neurotransmitter release, through the Ca2+/calmodulin-dependent phosphorylation of other proteins such as synapsin I.


Supplemental Digital Content is available in the text. Rationale: In recent years, it has been demonstrated that a pathological change in the gut microbiota, termed gut dysbiosis, can be an underlying factor for the development of hypertension. Prevention of this dysbiosis can attenuate or abolish hypertension. Translational mechanisms to prevent gut dysbiosis as well as understanding of the mechanisms linking gut dysbiosis to hypertension are lacking. Objective: We first examined the efficacy of intermittent fasting (IF) in altering the gut microbiota and lowering blood pressure (BP). Next, we utilized a multi-omics approach to examine microbial influenced metabolites that may serve as the link between the gut microbiota and host BP regulation. Methods and Results: We demonstrate that IF significantly altered the makeup of the gut microbiota, cecal and plasma metabolome, and prevented the development of hypertension in the spontaneously hypertensive stroke-prone rat. The beneficial effects of IF were shown to be due to alterations of the gut microbiota through germ-free transplantation studies. Germ-free rats receiving microbiota from IF spontaneously hypertensive stroke-prone rat had significantly lower BP as compared with germ-free rats receiving microbiota from ad libitum fed spontaneously hypertensive stroke-prone rats. Through whole genome shotgun sequence analysis of the microbiota and untargeted metabolomics of cecal content and plasma, we identified bile acid metabolism as a potential mediator in BP regulation. Finally, we show supplementation with cholic acid, or activation of the G protein-coupled bile acid receptor (TGR5), significantly reduced BP of the spontaneously hypertensive stroke-prone rats. Conclusions: These studies demonstrate the BP-lowering effects of IF involves manipulation of the gut microbiota and metabolome and implicate disrupted bile acid signaling as novel mechanisms by which gut dysbiosis contributes to hypertension.


This paper presents an innovative design platform of piezoelectric energy harvester (EH), named segment-type EH, and its application to a wireless sensor. Energy harvesting technology is motivated to minimize battery replacement cost for wireless sensors, which aims at developing self-powered sensors by utilizing ambient energy sources. Vibration energy is one of widely available ambient energy sources which can be converted into electrical energy using a piezoelectric material. The current state-of-the-art in piezoelectric EH technology mainly utilizes a single natural frequency which is less effective when utilizing a random ambient vibration with multimodal frequencies. This research thus proposes the segment-type harvester to generate electric power efficiently which utilizes multiple modes by separating the piezoelectric material. In order to reflect the random nature of ambient vibration energy, a stochastic design optimization is solved to determine the optimal configuration in terms of energy efficiency and durability. A prototype is manufactured and mounted on a heating, ventilation, air conditioning (HVAC) system to operate a temperature wireless sensor. It shows its excellent performance to generate sufficient power for a real time temperature monitoring for building automation.Copyright © 2009 by ASME


Abstract : Nonstructural ice control measures are used for reducing the frequency and severity of ice jam damages that do not rely on the use of a structure placed in the river. This report is a comprehensive review of current nonstructural ice control methods in use. Both advance measures and emergency response methods are addressed. where possible, the effectiveness of these methods has been assessed, and cost of application has been tabulated. In terms of development, some of these are still in their infancy, while others are well advanced in terms of available guidance and field experience. Nonstructural methods can be used to extend the operating envelope of structural measures and can play a role in an ice control strategy that uses both structural and nonstructural components to provide the desired results. There is little guidance currently available to predict the reduction in ice jam potential due to application of any of these measures. Further work in this area should focus on developing governing relationships that relate ice and river properties and meteorological conditions to ice jam potential and severity.


This article presents three short passages describing coffee and coffeehouse culture among Bosnian and Herzegovinian Muslims in the late nineteenth century. These texts are drawn from manuscripts collected by lay, Croatian folklore and folklife collectors who submitted them to two early collecting projects in Zagreb. The pieces are translated here for the first time into English and placed into historical and cultural context regarding the history of coffee culture in Bosnia and Herzegovina and the wider Ottoman Empire as well as the politics of folklore collection at the time. By using the Pan-Ottoman concept of ćeif as a theoretical lens, I argue that these early folklorists produced impressive folklife accounts of Bosniak foodways, but that these depictions inevitably enfolded both genuine interest and negative by-products of the wider politics of their era.


We examined 7 breeding sites of Lanner, Falco biarmicus, situated between 150 and 1200 m a.s.l. in Lazio, we analyzed the land cover use (types of Corine land cover) for each site in a buffer of 2 km of radius (1,250 ha) from the nest and we calculated the area of the single classes of land cover use present in each buffer. We found that the "Broad-leaved forest" covers 48% (33-76%), "Non-irrigated arable land" 22% (3-47%), "Moors and heathland" 6% (1-15%), the "Sparsely vegetated areas" 5% (1-20%), the remaining area covered is represented by classes with less than 5% of the area. Locally other classes such as "Natural grassland" (13% in one site) can become relevant. The classes related to "Artificial surfaces" are scarce (max 2% on one site).


The species of the Cynodonteae tribe show great morphological diversity in their reproductive structures. Previous studies where inflorescences were comparatively analysed in the context of phylogeny have shown that although grass inflorescences seem to be excessively variable, there are certain aspects of inflorescences that store relevant information on the evolution and systematics in Poaceae. We have analysed and compared the inflorescence structures of species belonging to the Hilariinae, Monanthochloinae, Scleropogoninae, and Muhlenbergiinae subtribes. Considering the most relevant morphological characters, the most recurrent types of inflorescences in the lineage were determined by means of a principal coordinates analysis. To understand the evolution of inflorescence morphology, ancestral reconstructions of inflorescence characters were performed using the Bayesian inference method. The results obtained demonstrate that the processes of homogenization and truncation might account for the diversity observed in adult inflorescences. Five different types of inflorescences were identified out of 36 theoretical possibilities. Amongst these, inflorescence type 1 (panicle of spikelets, with a terminal spikelet, non-homogenized, and bearing third- or higher-order branches) was found to be the most frequent in the studied group. Ancestral reconstructions of morphological characters allowed us to suggest that the ancestor of the group might have had an inflorescence with the form of a raceme of spikelets, non-truncated and bearing first-order branches. More complex inflorescences bearing no terminal spikelets and having branches of higher order might have diverged this lineage.


OBJECTIVES
To study the effect of a combination of thalassotherapy, exercise and patient education in people with fibromyalgia.

METHODS
Patients with fibromyalgia, selected from a rheumatology out-patient department and from members of the Dutch fibromyalgia patient association, were pre-randomized to receive either 2(1/2) weeks of treatment in a Tunisian spa resort, including thalassotherapy, supervised exercise and group education (active treatment) or treatment as usual (control treatment). Primary outcome measure was health-related quality of life, measured with the RAND-36 questionnaire. Secondary measures included the Fibromyalgia Impact Questionnaire, the McGill Pain Questionnaire, the Beck Depression Inventory, tender point score and a 6-min treadmill walk test.

RESULTS
Fifty-eight participants receiving the active treatment reported significant improvement on RAND-36 physical and mental component summary scales. For physical health, differences from the 76 controls were statistically significant after 3 months, but not after 6 and 12 months. A similar pattern of temporary improvement was seen in the self-reported secondary measures. Tender point scores and treadmill walk tests improved more after active treatment, but did not reach significant between-group differences, except for walk tests after 12 months.

CONCLUSIONS
A combination of thalassotherapy, exercise and patient education may temporarily improve fibromyalgia symptoms and health-related quality of life.


The present study examined the differences in the relationship between emotional intelligence (EI) and self-acceptance as a function of gender and ibasho (ibasyo), a Japanese concept of 'home' or 'refuge'. Here, the ibasho represents the person who eases one's mind. The participants were 244 Japanese undergraduates who were asked to complete the Japanese version of the Emotional Intelligence Skills and Competence Questionnaire (J-ESCQ; Toyota, Morita, & Taksic, 2007), a question related to ibasho (Who is the person that eases the mind) and self-acceptance scales (Itatsu, 1989). Positive correlations between all sub-abilities in EI: (perceiving and understanding emotion (PU), expressing and labeling emotion (EL), managing and regulating emotion (MR), and self-acceptance) were found in females whereas in males, the only positive correlation was found between MR and self-acceptance. For participants who report that 'lover' is a person who eases their mind, PU has a negative correlation with self-acceptance. Both EL and MR have a strong correlation with self-acceptance in all types of groups. These results indicate that the effect of each sub-ability in EI on self-acceptance is determined by gender and the presence of the person who provides a sense of ibasho and also suggest that these determinants should be considered to clarify individual differences in adaptation.


With classic statistical approaches and novel machine learning methods, we attempt to improve insight into the connections between the quality of an organisation of firms as a type of formal social unit and the business results of firms. The research used a data set with 72 extensive and very difficult-to-obtain assessments of the quality of an organisation (recorded only once 2007) and their business results, traced in four successive business years (2006– 2009). We hypothesize that a causal relationship exists between the latter and the former. Only the final conclusions will be presented, together with some excerpts of the most interesting findings in the selected years of observation. A novel general explanation method from the computer science field of machine learning and data mining can be used to explain the influence of individual relevant organisational elements on the business results. Our findings confirm that traditional statistics and machine-learning approaches are successful at modelling this dependency relationship. Furthermore, the explanation of the influence of the organisational elements on the predicted business results provides insights that have meaningful scientific interpretations and proves the important meaning of good organisation for its firm.


Since various sports differ in number of competitions athletes participate in, difference would come in the periodisation patterns as well. For instance, endurance sports such as marathon and long distance running, limit participation of the athletes to few competitions within a year/season. This results in planning long macrocycles of training often equalling a year in duration. This happens when major competitions of the year are grouped together (ie, October–November) and athlete can successfully participate in them within one peaking attempt. In case major competitions are scattered over the year or the gap between them is too long (ie, April–May and October–November), we need to follow double periodisation. Power sports, like sprints, jumps, weightlifting, etc, can have their representatives participating in larger number of competitions a year and their planning pattern could be pretty different. It can well fit into double periodisation pattern, but when three to five major competitions are there to participate within the year (ie, March, July and November), triple or multiple periodisation patterns might be of use. Team games like football, basketball, hockey and others, with traditionally long competitive periods when they play league matches for 4–5 months or even longer, plan their macrocycle in completely different manner. They still follow single periodisation pattern but they change the ratio of periods within the macrocycle. Individual/group games like tennis and badminton follow more or less the multi-peaking patterns with very brief and precisely planned training periods (rather blocks). The reason being, besides participation in the four Grand Slam tournaments and year finale in the form of ATP/WTA world championships (top eight only), players need to play at least four warming up tournaments at various surfaces. Atop of it they need to play good number of ranking tournaments to ensure high ranking and good chances for better seeding in the major tournaments.


In this paper we provide a progress report of the LAAS-CNRS project of autonomous blimp robot development, in the context of field robotics. Hardware developments aimed at designing a generic and versatile experimental platform are first presented. On this base, the flight control and terrain mapping issues, which constitute the main thrust of the research work, are presented in two parts. The first part, devoted to the automatic control study, is based on a rigorous modeling of the airship dynamics. Considering the decoupling of the lateral and longitudinal dynamics, several flight phases are identified for which appropriate control strategies are proposed. The description focuses on the lateral steady navigation. In the second part of the paper, we present work on terrain mapping with lowaltitude stereovision. A simultaneous localization and map building approach based on an extended Kalman filter is depicted, with details on the identification of the various errors involved in the process. Experimental results show that positioning in the three-dimensional space with a centimeter accuracy can be achieved, thus allowing the possibility to build high-resolution digital elevation maps.


The response of an isotropic, nonlinear viscoelastic, thin-walled tube to combinations of axial force F, axial couple G and pressure difference p is considered theoretically and experimentally. Theory is based on the membrane theory of thin shells, applied to a thin-walled circular cylindrical tube. The components of two dimensional stress and strain in the wall of the tube are derived, allowing for arbitrarily large deformations; but restriction to small deformations is shown to be necessary if the history of stress is to be controlled at will through F,G and p. For arbitrary choice of F, G and p as functions of time the strain is shown to depend on three stress tensors P, Q, R independent of time, and three scalar functions of time. An expression for the linear strain tensor in terms of P, Q, R is obtained which involves four scalar functions ϕ0, ϕ1, ϕ2, ϕ3. These functions depend on the invariants of P, Q, R and on the three scalar functions of time. If any one of P, G, p is always zero then R = 0 and only ϕ0, ϕ1, ϕ2 are required. In the case of proportional loading (Q = R = 0) only ϕ0 and ϕ1 are required and any one of the three strain components can be calculated from the remaining two. Creep and recovery experiments under simultaneous axial force and couple were conducted on a thin-walled tube of polypropylene at 65.5 °C. Theory was used to calculate the circumferential tensile strain from the measured shear strain and longitudinal tensile strain. For this particular tube φ0 and φ1 were found to be related in a special manner, implying that nonlinearity can be adcquatcly described by allowing the shear creep compliance to change with stress history. By varying separately combinations of the invariants of P,φ1 was found to depend on both hydrostatic and deviatoric components ofthe applied stress.


BACKGROUND
Thermal therapy has been used as adjuvant therapy in patients with cardiovascular disease. However, little is known about responses to thermal stress in older adults. We examined the effects of thermal stress in younger and older healthy Japanese individuals.

METHODS
The study included 12 young (mean age, 22 years) and 12 older (mean age, 68 years) healthy adults and was performed under strict temperature and humidity control to minimize confounding. Participants lay supine throughout three consecutive 30-minute phases: Phase I (heating at 70°C in a dome-shaped sauna), Phase II (insulation in the sauna), and Phase III (cool down). Physiological parameters and subjective thermal sensations were compared within and between two age groups.

RESULTS
Mean skin temperature increased significantly in both age groups (Phase I) and after the first 10 minutes was higher among older adults (by 6.8°C vs 6.0°C among younger; p < .01). Mean rectal temperature increased by 0.6°C in both groups (Phase II). Mean heart rate increased significantly in both age groups (Phase II) and was higher among younger adults (by 21.4 vs 11.3 beats/min among older adults; p < .05). Both systolic (by 15.1 mmHg) and diastolic (by 10.5 mmHg) blood pressure dropped significantly among older adults (Phase I), returning to baseline in Phase III; no changes were noted among those younger. There was no between-group difference in fluid loss or thermal sensations.

CONCLUSIONS
Compared with younger adults, older adults are more likely to drop blood pressure in response to thermal stress but had similar fluid loss and subjective responses.


Purpose This secondary analysis examined the effect of excessive sleepiness on daytime function in older adults with diabetes from the National Sleep Foundation's Sleep and Aging poll. Methods Respondents were older adults (N = 1506; age range, 55-84 years) evaluated by telephone survey on their sleep duration, sleep disturbances, daytime functional outcomes, and self-reported height, weight, and comorbidities. Results Approximately 16% (n = 244) of the sample acknowledged a diagnosis of diabetes; they were older, had more comorbidities, had a higher body mass index (BMI), and were more likely to be sleepy during the daytime than nondiabetic respondents (all P < .05). Respondents with diabetes who reported frequent daytime sleepiness (n = 50; 20%) had significantly (P < .05) higher BMI, lower self-rated health, and more sleep disturbances than those who were not sleepy (n = 194). Sleepy respondents with diabetes also reported more frequent feelings of depression, decreased pleasure in life, naps, feeling drowsy, or dozing off while driving (all P < .05). Excessive sleepiness was significantly associated (P < .001) with an increased risk for depressive symptoms while controlling for BMI, age, and number of comorbidities. Conclusions These results indicate that sleep disturbances affect not only sleep quality but also daytime function in older adults with diabetes.


Poly(β-aminoester) dendrimers have been prepared. These systems represent the first degradable dual pH- and temperature-responsive dendrimers displaying photoluminescence. The pH/temperature sensitivities are interrelated; the lower critical solution temperature of the dendrimer decreases as the pH of the solution is increased. The sensitivities are mainly due to phase changes of the surface groups with changes in pH or temperature. These dual-responsive dendrimers are very useful in drug delivery. They may be loaded with a hydrophobic drug at low temperature without using organic solvents. The loaded drug is released very slowly and steadily at 37 °C and physiological pH, but can be quickly released at acidic pH, for example the lysosomal pH (pH 4-5), for intracellular drug release. These dendrimers also display strong photoluminescence, which can be exploited for monitoring drug loading and release. Thus, poly(β-aminoester) dendrimers constitute ideal drug carriers since their thermal sensitivity allows the loading of drugs without using organic solvents, their pH sensitivity permits fast intracellular drug release, and their photoluminescence provides a means of monitoring drug loading and release.


Kart A., M. Karapehlivan, K. Yapar, M. Citil, A. Akpinar: Protection through LCarnitine on Tissue Oxidant Status and Sialic Acid Content in Tilmicosin-Induced Alterations in BALB/c Mice. Acta Vet Brno 2007, 76: 203-207. The macrolide antibiotic tilmicosin is known to induce cardiotoxic effect when administered at large doses. In this work, the effects of tilmicosin were evaluated with respect to alterations in total sialic acid, malondialdehyde and glutathione content of the heart, liver, kidney and lung tissues after single subcutaneous injection of 75 mg/kg tilmicosin with or without L-carnitine (500 mg/kg for 5 days daily via s.c. route) in BALB/c mice. L-carnitine is a co-factor serving in the mitochondrial β-oxidation of long chain fatty acids, and it was reported to be protective in several types of toxicity cases probably via multi-factorial mechanisms. Twenty eight mice were divided into 4 groups including group 1 (control), group 2 (L-carnitine), group 3 (tilmicosin) and group 4 (tilmicosin plus L-carnitine). Following the administration of treatments, tissue samples were collected, and the samples were assayed for malondialdehyde, glutathione and total sialic acid content. Mice receiving tilmicosin treatment alone had significantly higher malondialdehyde and total sialic acid concentrations (except for MDA of lungs) but lower glutathione concentration in selected tissues compared to those of the control, group 2 (Carnitine only) and group 4 (L-carnitine plus tilmicosin) (p < 0.05). However, no significant difference was found associated with the assayed indicators between the control and mice treated with L-carnitine plus tilmicosin. These results suggest that tilmicosin may cause oxidative stress in the heart, liver, lung and kidneys, but the adverse effects could be attenuated by L-carnitine administration.


Secure sketch produces public information of its input w without revealing it, yet, allows the exact recovery of w given another value w′ that is close to w. Therefore, it can be used to reliably reproduce any error-prone secret sources (i.e., biometric) stored in secret storage. However, some sources have lower entropy compared to the error itself, formally called "more error than entropy", a standard secure sketch cannot show its security promise perfectly to these kinds of sources. Besides, when same input is reused for multiple sketches generation, the complex error process of the input further results to security uncertainty, and offer no security guarantee. Fuller et al., (Asiacrypt 2016) defined the fuzzy min-entropy is necessary to show security for different kind of sources over a family of distributions. This paper focuses on secure sketch. We propose a new technique to generate re-usable secure sketch. We show security to low entropy sources and enable error correction up to Shannon bound. Our security defined information theoretically with Shannon entropy over some random noise distribution adding to the input source. In particular, our new technique offers security guarantee for all input distributions with min-entropy at least one bit.


The fact that English has been embraced globally by most countries as a second language has prompted its adoption in various media, such as television and newspaper. As a language is adopted by a community of non-native speakers, a new variety of it tends to emerge due to the influence of the linguistic features of those non-native speakers' arterial language. In Indonesia, where English is spoken as a second or foreign language, there has been a growing number of newspapers published in it. Along with the trend of world Englishes, this raises a question about the possibility of a new variety called Indonesian English. Even though more and more Indonesian teachers start to realize that the goal of English language teaching is no longer to imitate native speakers' variety, there is still little research done on the topic of Indonesian English. For that reason, by collecting online data from an English language newspaper published in the country, this research identified the lexical characteristics of English variety used by educated Indonesians. It is basically a corpus-based lexical study that employed Corpus Pattern Analysis (CPA) to describe contextualized data gathered from the online newspaper. The focuses of this study were contextual information about loanwords, word meanings, word forms, and collocations, which are pertinent to the Indonesian variety of English. The findings indicated that the lexical characteristics of Indonesian English could be categorized into roughly four groups, namely: Indonesian-origin loanwords, Indonesian English lexicon resulting from semantic shifts and those from morphological shifts, as well as Indonesian English collocations. By doing so, it is expected that this research can provide a theoretical basis for English teachers in Indonesia to embrace an English-as-a-lingua-franca approach in their instructions and anticipate a new variety that might exist in the future: Indonesian English.


Understanding the influence of context on choice is an important goal, one which must result in communications giving greater weight to the framework to be created than to putting forward specific advantages. In this research, we study the influence of the price scale proposed to obtain a donation by a mail request on the donor's behavior. Factors which influence the behavior at the individual level, as past behavior, are controlled within an experimental frame and several price scales are tested. The results show that, at the agregate level, the price scale has only a small impact on the mailing efficiency. But, with a model explaining the donation distribution, we demonstrate first the influence of the 'appeals scale' on donor behavior. Second, we show the need for controlling underlying heterogeneity as past behavior has a far more important role than the scale modification.


Understanding the behavior of applications running on high-level language virtual machines, as is the case in Java, is non-trivial because of the tight entanglement at the lowest execution level between the application and the virtual machine. This paper proposes Javana, a system for building Java program analysis tools. Javana provides an easy-to-use instrumentation infrastructure that allows for building customized profiling tools very quickly.Javana runs a dynamic binary instrumentation tool underneath the virtual machine. The virtual machine communicates with the instrumentation layer through an event handling mechanism for building a vertical map that links low-level native instruction pointers and memory addresses to high-level language concepts such as objects, methods, threads, lines of code, etc. The dynamic binary instrumentation tool then intercepts all memory accesses and instructions executed and provides the Javana end user with high-level language information for all memory accesses and natively executed instructions.We demonstrate the power of Javana through a number of applications: memory address tracing, vertical cache simulation and object lifetime computation. For each of these applications, the instrumentation specification requires only a small number of lines of code. Developing similarly powerful profiling tools within a virtual machine (as done in current practice) is both time-consuming and error-prone; in addition, the accuracy of the obtained profiling results might be questionable as we show in this paper.


The removal of mercury(II) from wastewaters (coal-fired utility plant scrubber solutions) using a thiol functional organoceramic composite (SOL-AD-IV) is investigated. A simulant is employed as a surrogate to demonstrate the removal of mercury from real waste solutions. Equilibrium studies show a mercury uptake capacity of 500 mg/g at a low mercury concentration of 0.5 mg/L and 726 mg/g at saturation. Adsorption is observed to be independent in the pH range 3−5. The kinetic performance assessed on a recycle batch reactor shows a rapid rate of adsorption. Selectivity is found to be in the order Hg(II) > Pb(II) ∼ Cd(II) > As(V) > Cr(III). Regeneration of SOL-AD-IV is accomplished using 12 M HCl. Effluent mercury concentrations of <0.001 mg/L are achieved using a fixed-bed adsorption column. A stability test operated for 25 cycles indicates a capacity loss of <10%. A high potential is demonstrated for application for mercury cleanup of wastewaters.


"Mainstream" spaces of movement cultures within settler colonial states invite bodies that are White, cis, able, thin, and heterosexual, just as "mainstream" academic space validates knowledge about the world produced by these very subjects. Such mainstream assemblages are embedded within the broader structure of settler colonialism, mutually buttressed by White supremacy, heteropatriarchy, and (neo)imperialism. In this article, a Collective of scholars who represent voices from the margins writes back to settler colonialism, ableism, anti-Black racism, and other exclusions and harms. We do this to both elucidate relationships between systems of oppression and craft spaces of embodied freedom and to show/demonstrate belonging within decolonial enactments of "elsewheres." in the field of sociology of sport.


This special issue describes the work being done toward creating formal methods for robotics and automation. Inherent to the approaches presented in this special issue is the idea that a robot, or team of robots, can be modeled as a hybrid system - a system that is defined by both discrete (states/modes) and continuous variables. Each mode can be viewed as a node in a state machine that has a dynamics associated with it, typically a set of differential equations. The continuous variables evolve based on the dynamics of the mode in which the system is in. The first three articles of the special issue rely on the notion of reachability analysis. Given a set of initial conditions, there are several approaches for calculating, exactly or approximately, the set of states that the system might reach. The remaining four articles focus on the problem of generating correct-by-construction control for a robot or team of robots such that the robot is guaranteed to achieve a high-level, abstract behavior. These articles focus on the use of linear temporal logic (LTL) as the specification formalism although other formalisms are used in the field as well.