Integrated steel plants, in general, produce large amounts of solid wastes during the production of iron and steel. Linz–Donawitz (LD) sludge are the fine solid particles recovered after wet cleaning of the gas emerging from LD converters during steel making. In general 8 kg of LD sludge is generated per ton of crude steel production. This solid waste can have many valuable product-oriented applications if processed economically such as recovery of metal values, recycling in sinter plant etc. But its use as a particulate filler in polymer composites is not yet established. This work attempts to utilize this LD sludge as the filler material in polymers like epoxy and polypropylene for composite making. The sludge used in this work is collected from Rourkela Steel Plant located in the eastern part of India. This research reports the processing details and the wear characteristics of a series of epoxy-LD sludge and polypropylene-LD sludge composites. The composites are characterized in regard to their physical and mechanical properties. A wealth of property data has been generated by conducting different characterization tests under controlled laboratory conditions. In the present work, theoretical models have also been developed and correlations have been proposed for estimating sliding and erosion wear rates of particulate filled polymer composites respectively. Tests have been carried out for validation of these theoretical models. Dry sliding and solid particle erosion wear characteristics of LD sludge filled polymer composites have been successfully analyzed using Taguchi experimental design and response surface methodology (RSM). The material variables and the experimental factors that are found to be influencing the respective wear rates are identified. It is found that the influence of LD sludge particles in reducing the wear rates is significant. The microstructural features of the worn surfaces of various particulate filled composite specimens are examined using scanning electron microscopy in order to ascertain the wear mechanisms. Two predictive models; one based on Taguchi approach and the other on artificial neural networks approach are proposed in this work. It is demonstrated that these models well reflect the effects of various factors on the wear loss and their predictive results are in good agreement with the experimental observations. Neural computation is successfully applied in this investigation to predict and simulate the wear responses of these composites under various test conditions within and beyond the experimental domain. The predicted and the experimental values of sliding and erosion wear rates exhibit good agreement and validate the remarkable capability of a well-trained neural network for these kinds of tribological processes.


This focus note begins by briefly telling the story of recent growth in the four countries leading into the credit delinquency crises. The second section describes the key contextual factors that affected the severity and spread of the crises. The third section breaks down the three internal industry vulnerabilities that lie at the heart of the problems. This is followed by a discussion on how market infrastructure and tools can help to mitigate some of the dangers. The note concludes by placing these experiences within the broader context of the global microfinance story and makes recommendations to strengthen the industry.


This thesis deals with modeling and analysis of a special class of hybrid systems, i.e., systems displaying behavior of both continuous and discrete nature.We focus on the class of systems which are naturally modeled as having continuous trajectories, but where the trajectories evolve according to a system of first order differential equations with piecewise continuous right hand side. We further restrict our attention to models where the right hand side is piecewise affine in the continuous state variables. Systems which are naturally modeled in this fashion are called piecewise affine switched systems.The modeling is packaged into a modeling framework where the right hand side of the differential equations consists of both continuous and discrete valued variables. The equations then run in combination with a finite state machine, and their interatcion is specified via an interface. This framework allows a compact decription of a potentially large number of affine models, as well as a modular approach to modeling of complex systems.The analysis consists of verifying if a swithced system fulfills specifications given either in terms of sets of good or bad discrete states, or as formulas in temporal logic specifying sesired or undesired behavior. This kind of analysis is often applied to purely discrete systems. We therefore take the approach to discretize the switched system using conservative approximations. This is done using two different automated procedures devised in this thesis. Both methods can be seen as special instances of using invariant sets and Lyapunov theory to guarantee either that bad states are avoided and/or that goal states are reached in finite time.The former discretization method results in two different approximations, named acceptor and exceptor, which together can be utilized to obtain bounds on behavior which can be certified. We also introduce a discrete device, called reflector, which allows us to reduce the non-determinism resulting from the approximations. Furthermore, implementations of the procedure suggested, using either linear programming or quantifier elimination as computational tools, are discussed.The second method utilized invariant sets of a special type called power cones, of which quadratic sets such as cones and paraboloids are special instances. This approach results in thighter approximations while still allowing for efficient implementation using Linear Matrix Inequalities and convex optimization.Together, the discrete approximations, obtained automatically from a model of a switched system, can be used to verify properties of interest. This is illustrated as we apply one of our methods to two examples, a chemical reactor model and a model of the landing gear of a fighter aircraft.


An electron current can move atoms in a nanoscale device with important consequences for the device operation and breakdown. We perform first principles calculations aimed at evaluating the possibility of changing the energy barriers for atom migration in carbon-based systems. In particular, we consider the migration of adatoms and defects in graphene and carbon nanotubes. Although the current-induced forces are large for both the systems, in graphene the force component along the migration path is small and therefore the barrier height is little affected by the current flow. In contrast, the same barrier is significantly reduced in carbon nanotubes as the current increases. Our work also provides a real-system numerical demonstration that current-induced forces within density functional theory are non-conservative.


Engineered nanomaterials with tailored properties are highly required in a wide range of industrial fields. Consequently, the researches dedicated to the identification of new applications for existing materials and to the development of novel promising materials and cost effective, eco-friendly synthesis methods gained considerable attention in the last years. Cobalt ferrite is one of the nanomaterials with a wide application range due to its unique properties such as high electrical resistivity, negligible eddy current loss, moderate saturation magnetization, chemical and thermal stability, high Curie temperature and high mechanical hardness. Moreover, its structural, magnetic and electrical properties can be tailored by the selection of preparation route, chemical composition, dopant ions and thermal treatment. This chapter presents the recent applications of nanosized cobalt ferrites doped or co-doped with divalent transition ions such as Zn2+, Cu2+, Mn2+, Ni2+, Cd2+ obtained by various synthesis methods in ceramics, medicine, catalysis, electronics and communications.


We state the fundamental theorem of projective geometry for semimodules over semirings, which is facilitated by recent work in the study of bases in semimodules defined over semirings. In the process we explore in detail the linear algebra setup over semirings. We also provide more explicit results to understand the implications of our main theorem on maps between tropical lines in the tropical plane. Along with this we also look at geometrical connections to the rich theory of tropical geometry.


Changes in the American lifestyle are putting more individuals at risk due to the declining quality of their diets. In the last 20 years, the readily available high-fat foods (e.g., "fast foods") combined with the decreased caloric requirements due to lower physical activity levels is assumed to be the major factor in the sharp rise in the prevalence of obesity. The typical away-from-home meal is less healthy than food at home, since it tends to contain more total fat and saturated fat, less calcium, fiber, and iron, and fewer servings of fruits and vegetables. Furthermore, due to the super-sizing trend that is sweeping the market, when Americans eat out, they eat more. Thus, a rising away-from-home consumption appears to establish a significant barrier to improve American dietary habits and health status. The continuously increasing trend towards obesity is affecting the public health system tremendously, since four of the ten leading causes of death in the US, including heart disease, cancer, stroke, and diabetes, are strongly associated with poor diet and physical inactivity. In terms of lost productivity and medical expenses, it leads to an estimated cost of $200 billion each year. Despite the considerable change in demographics and lifestyles, little research has documented the impact of changes in these factors on the rising US obesity. The objective of this study is to determine the impact of food source, diet, demographic, and lifestyle on the prevalence of obesity and overweight. This study will be based on data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES, 1999-2000), which, among many other variables, includes measured weight and height and hence provides the best opportunity to track trends in weight in the US NHANES, administered by the US Department of Health and Human Services. The NHANES provides nationally representative information on the health and nutritional status of the US population. While controlling for demographics, lifestyle and diet information, the main goal is to determine whether the source from which food is obtained also contributes to the increased overweight. Linear regression is applied to estimate the effect of food source, particularly fast-food outlets and restaurants, on the body mass index (BMI). BMI expressed as weight/height2 (i.e. kg/m2), is commonly used to classify overweight (BMI: 25.0-29.9) and obesity (BMI: ≥ 30.0) among adults (age 18 years and over). Previous studies have found gender-specific differences in the effect of different factors on the BMI. This is tested empirically in this study. Quantifying the effects of demographic and lifestyle determinants on BMI will provide a better understanding of the impact of different factors on obesity.


Statistical detection theories lead to the fundamental result that the optimum test consists in comparing any strictly monotone function of the likelihood ratio with a threshold value. In many applications, implementing such a test may be impossible. Therefore, we are often led to consider a simpler procedure for designing detectors. In particular, we can use alternative design criteria such as second-order measures of quality. A necessary and sufficient condition is given for such criteria to guarantee the best solution in the sense of classical detection theories. This result is illustrated by discussing the relevance of well-known criteria.


Continual Semantic Segmentation (CSS) extends static semantic segmentation by incrementally introducing new classes for training. To alleviate the catastrophic forgetting issue in CSS, a memory buffer that stores a small number of samples from the previous classes is constructed for replay. However, existing methods select the memory samples either randomly or based on a single-factor-driven handcrafted strategy, which has no guarantee to be optimal. In this work, we propose a novel memory sample selection mechanism that selects informative samples for effective replay in a fully automatic way by considering comprehensive factors including sample diversity and class performance. Our mechanism regards the selection operation as a decision-making process and learns an optimal selection policy that directly maximizes the validation performance on a reward set. To facilitate the selection decision, we design a novel state representation and a dual-stage action space. Our extensive experiments on Pascal-VOC 2012 and ADE 20K datasets demonstrate the effectiveness of our approach with state-of-the-art (SOTA) performance achieved, outperforming the second-place one by 12.54% for the 6-stage setting on Pascal-VOC 2012.


In the studies of the squeezing it is customary to focus more attention on the particular squeezed states and their evolution than on the dynamical operations that could squeeze simultaneously some wider families of quantum states, independently of their initial shape. We look for new steps in this direction, carried out by softly acting external fields which might produce the squeezing of the canonical observables $q,p$ of charged particles. The works on these problems collect so many valuable results that the question is whether something more is indeed something more in our knowledge. Yet we decided to present some exactly solvable cases of the problem which appear in the symmetric evolution intervals permitting to find explicitly the time dependence of the external fields needed to generate the required evolution operators. Curiously, our results are interrelated with a simple anti-commuting algebra of Toeplitz which describes the problem more easily than the frequently used Ermakov--Milne invariants. Some trending topics, as well as some fundamental problems in quantum theory, might also be involved.


Nowadays, different contemporary products are modeled in a CAD environment. These involve a number of components and assembled together to form an assembly model. Such related components of a product are assembled by different mating conditions in a product design and development stage. Normally, the assembly model would be distributed to different staffs or personnel involved in the process. To ensure that the assembly model received is an original one and is not altered by any unauthorized persons during transmission and exchange of files on the internet, watermarks should be embedded into the model nowadays. In this paper, a watermarking scheme is proposed specifically for watermarking the assembly model structure and the positions and orientations of the components. In this proposed scheme, unique component ID number is assigned to each component. For each component, a hash value is calculated based on the ID numbers of the components related to it in the assembly model tree structure. By detecting the hash value, any change or update in the tree structure can be detected. To watermark a component's position and orientation, some points on a component are first selected. While keeping the selected points on the corresponding component, watermarks and hash values are embedded into the coordinates of the selected points using specified keys by changing the values of the coordinates slightly. The coordinates of the selected points are then stored in the attribute properties of the corresponding component. Todetectwhether a component's positionor orientation are altered, the selectedpoints must be checked and verified whether they are still on the component. In case some of the points are not on the component, the position or orientation of the component is considered as altered. If all the points are still on the components, the watermarks and hash values must be extracted in order to detect whether the watermarks are attacked. Based on the proposed scheme, any unauthorized changes or intended attacks on the watermarked information of an assembly model can be detected. The geometric data and information of the components for the original 3D assembly model can be protected.


River weirs are low-head dams that dissipate energy by creating hydraulic recirculation zones at their base. These recirculation zones are a major cause of human drownings and have been referred to as "drowning machines". We observed an event that allowed us to add ducklings to the list of weir victims. As a Mallard ( Anas platyrhynchos ) hen and her brood floated over the Calgary weir, the mother flew safely over the hydraulic recirculation. The ducklings drifted into the recirculation and three quickly passed through; four were stalled, repeatedly recirculated, and died. We observed other regional weirs where adult birds commonly flew over the hazard. We did not observe any other waterfowl drifting into recirculation zones, and we found no prior report of this lethal hazard. Although mortality might be rare at each weir, with hundreds of thousands of low-head dams worldwide, the collective hazard could be substantial. Weirs can be designed to eliminate the lethal recirculation zone, and the apparent hazard to ducklings could provide another motivation to redesign or modify these common structures.


From movies and documentaries to graphic novels and podcasts, this guide provides information on what the library (and other accessible media) offers!


Background: Overexpression of VEGF is implicated in the pathogenesis of both renal cell carcinoma (RCC) and age-related macular degeneration (AMD). We evaluated the association between AMD and RCC risk. Methods: We conducted a matched case–control study within a population-representative database from the United Kingdom. Study cases were defined as individuals with any diagnostic code of RCC. For every case, four eligible controls were matched on age, sex, practice site, calendar time, and duration of follow-up. Exposure of interest was diagnosis of AMD prior to cancer diagnosis. Adjusted ORs and 95% confidence intervals (CI) for RCC were estimated using conditional logistic regression. In a secondary analysis, we evaluated the association between other retinopathies and RCC and AMD and the hypovascular pancreatic cancer. Results: The study population included 1,547 patients with RCC and 6,066 matched controls. Median follow-up time was 6 years (IQR, 3–9). AMD diagnosis was associated with a significantly increased RCC risk (OR, 1.89; 95% CI, 1.09–3.29). In contrast, there was no association between other retinopathies and RCC risk (OR, 0.8; 95% CI, 0.56–1.15). AMD was associated with a lower risk for pancreatic cancer (OR, 0.47; 95% CI, 0.35–0.64). Conclusions: Patients with AMD may be at higher risk for RCC. Providers should be aware of this potential link and consider screening for RCC within this population. Impact: Providers should be aware of the potential link between AMD and RCC. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev; 26(5); 743–7. ©2017 AACR.


Bimetal nanoclusters (BNCs) have attracted great attention due to their cooperative electronic, optical, and catalytic properties. In this study, the highly luminescent Cu/Ag BNCs were prepared based on the weakly luminescent glutathione (GSH)-capped Cu NCs for the first time. After the introduction of a certain amount of Ag+, a 9-fold enhancement of the luminescence intensity was obtained from GSH-protected Cu/Ag BNCs. The luminescence emission peak was blue shifted from 620 nm (red emission) to 604 nm (orange-yellow emission). The Cu/Ag BNCs exhibited an average size of around 1.4 ± 0.2 nm, as observed from a thorough analysis of transmission electron microscopy data. The as-prepared Cu/Ag BNCs exhibited excellent anti-interference performance against various metal ions. In addition to the intrinsic optical properties, the Cu/Ag BNCs were employed as a temperature sensor by virtue of the luminescence intensity of Cu/Ag BNCs responding sensitively to temperature fluctuating in the range of 4–55 °C.


The Life Space is divided into four domains that surround personality, which broadly encompass a person's biological foundations, owned possessions, interactions and daily activities, and group memberships. In Study 1, a revised measure of the Life Space (the College Student Life Space Scale) was developed. Factor analysis of the items within each domain resulted in 96 meaningful and reliable factor-based scales that provided a rich description of college students' personal surroundings and everyday behavior. A second-order (hierarchical) factor analysis of the first-order scales resulted in seven global Life Space dimensions. In Study 2, the firstand second-order Life Space scales were used as criterion measures to test the construct validity of Openness to Experience (Openness). Also in Study 2, cross-validated criterion-keyed Life Space scales were developed to compare individual Life Space items for high and low scoring individuals on Openness. The results of Study 1 replicated and expanded upon previous research on the structure of the Life Space. The results of Study 2 supported the construct validity or social significance of Openness. The value of a more detailed and comprehensive approach to studying personality within the context of the external systems that surround the person is discussed.


Oxygen radicals have been implicated in a variety of disease processes including asthma. In this study we investigated the production of superoxide by airspace cells in 56 patients with asthma as compared with 49 normal controls. We found that with patients with asthma with a forced expiratory vital capacity in the 1st second (FEV1) of less than 80% (n = 13) had higher spontaneous superoxide (SO) production when compared with normal subjects (3.6 +/- 1.0 versus 1.9 +/- 0.2 nmol/5 x 10(5) cells/hour, p < 0.01), whereas those with FEV1 > 80% (n = 40) were similar to normal subjects in superoxide generation (2.1 +/- 0.3 nmol/5 x 10(5) cells/hour). Airspace cells from patients with mild asthma and those with moderate asthma had higher phorbol myristate acetate (PMA)-stimulated SO production when compared with those from normal subjects (8.9 +/- 0.7, 11.1 +/- 2.4, and 6.5 +/- 0.4 nmol/5 x 10(5) cells/hour respectively, p < 0.005, r = -0.35, both comparisons). However, PMA-stimulated SO production was similar in both asthmatic subgroups. Finally, spontaneous generation of SO inversely correlated with FEV1% prediction (r = 0.35, p < 0.01) in the asthma group. We conclude that worsening of airway obstruction in asthma is associated with increased spontaneous generation of SO by airspace leukocytes.


Growth of ferroelectric Bi2WO6 (BWO) mono-domain bulk crystals was attempted by the vertical-Bridgman (VB) method below the phase transition (ferro- to paraelectric) temperature of 940oC using Li2B4O7 as a flux. In this method, Pt crucibles with different shapes were used. The crucible with a wedged tip bottom produced BWO crystal with a thickness of over 4 mm along the crystallographic c-axis (perpendicular to the spontaneous polarization axis). Using BWO mono-domain crystals grown by slow cooling technique, on the other hand, their electric properties were characterized. The dielectric constants, ε ij, and electromechanical coupling factor, k33, of the crystals were 70-100 and 36% at room temperature, respectively.


The purpose of this study is to examine the measurement invariance of CEQ across gender of Malaysian undergraduate students in two public universities. A survey method was employed for data collection. A total of 315 undergraduate students in two Malaysian public universities responded to 23 items measuring five scales of Good Teaching, Generic Skills, Clear Goals and Standards, Appropriate Workload, and Appropriate Assessment. Covariance Based Structural Equation Modelling was used as the analysis method. A multigroup analysis of invariance was performed to examine measurement invariance across male and female students using AMOS 20.0 computer software. Findings showed that configural invariance was fully supported whereas metric invariance was partially supported across female and male groups. This study has shown the satisfactory psychometric properties of CEQ 23 with only one item that was found not convey the same meaning across gender. Findings could be used as the empirical evidences to compare with the future empirical-based CEQ studies.


During recent decades, the creation of value for the shareholder has become in the indisputable objective of all public limited companies. The first consequence of this fact has been the generation of a controversial polemic about the most suitable instruments for the measuring of the efficiency of value creating-biased business management. This article aims to investigate the characteristics present in companies with a financial participation of the work force with relation to said objective and to value measurements put forward of the business management. This is done with the aim of defining a behavioural proposal for the shareholders-workforce with relation to their objectives in the company, for those in which associative control is held by this collective.


Sodium-cooled Fast Reactor is one of the Generation IV reactor concepts. It has been selected to secure the nuclear fuel resources and to manage radioactive waste. In this context, the CEA (French Commission for Atomic Energy and Alternative Energy) with its partners is involved in a substantial effort on the ASTRID (Advanced Sodium Technological Reactor for Industrial Demonstration) Project. ASTRID core design is mainly guided by safety objectives. The first one is prevention of the core meltdown accident, at first through natural favourable behaviour of the core and of the reactor, and with the addition of passive complementary systems if natural behaviour is not sufficient for some transient cases. The second one is the mitigation of the severe accident to guarantee that core melting accidents do not lead to significant mechanical energy release. The robust safety demonstration is supported by complementing ASTRID core with two types of Complementary Safety Devices dedicated to core damage prevention that would passively shut down the reactor. The first type is based on the Curie point use of electromagnetic devices that hold some specific ASTRID shutdown systems to address unprotected loss of heat sink transients (ULOHS).


Scholars have studied the long-distance movements of people and goods in Phoenician and Punic society between the eighth and the second centuries BC in considerable depth. However, little attention has been paid to travelling, walking and sailing as common activities in their daily lives. it was through living in and moving through landscapes and seascapes that people constructed their sense of place. Sacred places may have been nodal points in these settings and everyday movements may well have become ritualized. This article develops the idea that journeys to shrines might be considered as pilgrimages and stresses the kinetic aspect of these practices. I suggest that trips to shrines were important elements in the ritualization of movements and landscapes. Equally, the movements performed by visitors both inside and outside the shrine have the same significance and are essential to achieving what are known as metaphoric movements. We explore these ideas in two settings, the Phoenician-Punic Western Mediterranean shrines in the cave of Es Culleram (Ibiza, Balearic Islands, Spain) and Gorham's Cave (Gibraltar, United Kingdom), which date from the period between the eighth and the second centuries BC.


The prospect of obtaining desired surface-mediated characteristics while retaining bulkmediated physical properties and avoiding potential environmental issues with wet chemical technology lends considerable appeal to photochemical approaches to surface modification. We undertook a combined experimental and computational approach to investigate the effect of deep UV irradiation on the polyethylene terephthalate (PET) surface. Its response to 172 nm UV from a xenon excimer lamp in the absence of oxygen was characterized with X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS), Time of Flight/Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry (ToF/SIMS), transmission infrared spectroscopy (IR), and Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM). The surface chemistry details suggested that the primary photochemical reactions involved a Norrish type I based decarbonylation and a Norrish type II process yielding terminal carboxylic acid groups, consistent with the possible photochemistry from n-π type lowest singlet excited states of PET according to the computational modeling results. By directly populating nπ type excited states, 172 nm UV promoted effective surface photochemistry of PET with further helps from the high UV absorptivity and the high surface mobility of the molecules. Utilizing this active surface radical chemistry, a new grafting strategy was developed to impart desirable functional properties to the surface. A broad range of grafting chemicals can be employed in their vapor forms, demonstrated with an alkene or an alkane. Surface analysis with XPS, ToF/SIMS, AFM, and water contact angle measurements confirmed the effectiveness of the approach, supporting the notion of the surface radical initiated processes. A potentially useful anti-stain/soil coating was developed by grafting with a fluorocarbon species. Surface analysis suggested that the grafted fluorocarbon formed a nano-scale selfassembled monolayer. The coating had a similar water contact angle as that of a pure fluoropolymer but a better oil repellency due to the special molecular orientation in the graft layer. A potential antimicrobial application was demonstrated with amine chemicals. Structure characterization and computational modeling results suggested that the photochemistry of the UV active grafting chemicals also played an important role in the grafting process. A double bond structure in the amine species protected the amine functional groups and the resulting coating demonstrated antimicrobial activity against E. Coli.


ABSTRACTToday, CAD-system are used for much more than just geometric modeling. They are complemented by various software and information sources forming a complete environment for handling all life-cycle aspects of the product. In such systems, the CAD-system works as a central hub. The software and information sources may be of various types making the system highly heterogenous. This presents problems with transparency and traceability in the system making long term management difficult. In this paper, a novel tool is presented to keep track of the dependencies between the various parts of such systems providing an overview and making it possible to predict the effect of proposed changes and facilitating long term management. The tool is tested in a highly heterogeneous environment at a manufacturer of aerospace components, with the result that the traceability is expected to increase at the expense of that time must be spent on defining dependencies and meta-information as the system is evolving.


9,10-dihydroxystearic acid (DHSA) was derived from commercial grade palm oil based
crude oleic acid. It was derived through the epoxidation of the unsaturation present in
the oleic acid with performic acid in the presence of sulphuric acid and hydrogen
peroxide, followed with in-situ hydrolysis of the epoxide with hydrogen donor such as
water. DHSA promises great potential in the personal care industry. It has the
prospective to act as a multipurpose intermediate in the synthesis of fine chemical
products such as decorative cosmetics. However, the impurities present in DHSA could
lead to skin irritation and thus the crude DHSA produced need to endure purification
process in order to be qualified as an additive for the cosmetic industry. Solvent
crystallization was chosen as the path in preparing DHSA crystals of at least 80% purity
and of high desirability.
The objective of this research was to study the effects of temperature and of solvent
quality and quantity on the solvent crystallization of DHSA. On detailing the effects of
temperature, four aspects were scrutinized: weight based crystal yield, particle size distribution (PSD), quality of purified DHSA crystals and crystallization operation
efficiency. PSD, crystal morphology and quality of purified DHSA crystals were
scrutinized when detailing the effects of solvent quality and quantity.
In the course of carrying out the research work, a crystallization unit was fabricated.
The detailed design and operation of the crystallization unit were described. This
research, through gas chromatography (GC), PSD, Fourier Transform – Infra Red (FTIR)
and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) analysis, revealed that solvent
crystallization of DHSA was best carried out with the cooling temperature of 20°C, 80%
isopropyl alcohol (IPA) concentration and solvent
crude dihydroxystearic acid ratio of 1.0:1.0.


This study investigated burrow use and ranging behaviour in the southern hairy-nosed wombat Lasiorhinus latifrons in semi-arid South Australia. Sixteen adult wombats were fitted with radio transmitters and monitored monthly from July 2001 to February 2002. Wombats generally used between one and five warrens, preferred large warrens with a greater number of entrances and showed a preference for one or two warrens. Across the study period there was no apparent change in burrows used within warrens. Radio-tracking indicated that animals spent very little time above ground (26% of 1115 night-time fixes), centred their activity around their preferred warrens, and moved, on average, 99 m/h and 221 m/night. Mean home-range size, estimated using minimum convex polygons and the harmonic mean method from location data, obtained through triangulation, and daytime warren fixes, ranged from 1.3 to 4.8 ha. Home-range size was similar between males and females and home ranges overlapped substantially. The data highlight the importance of burrows to southern hairy-nosed wombats in shaping their home ranges. It seems likely that the use of burrows and a specialized diet are important energy saving strategies for this species in such unpredictable regions of South Australia.


Background: Lung cancer is the most common and lethal malignancy worldwide. TCTP is highly expressed in various cancers including lung cancer. Epithelial–mesenchymal transition (EMT) could increase cancer cell invasion. Whether TCTP's expression is associated with EMT in lung adenocarcinoma is largely unknown. Methods: Several Gene Expression Omnibus datasets were used to analyze the correlation between TCTP expression and overall survival of lung adenocarcinoma patients by Kaplan–Meier survival analysis. Then, 24 surgically removed fresh lung adenocarcinoma tissue samples and paired paracancer tissue samples were used to analyze the correlation between TCTP expression and tumor stage by immunohistochemical analysis. Furthermore, stable cell lines were generated using lentiviral transduction systems to knock down or overexpress TCTP in A549 cells. Cell migration and invasion were measured by scratch and transwell assays, and EMT marker proteins such as α -SMA, ZEB1, and E-cadherin were quantitated by Western blot. The expression levels of miR-200a, miR-141, and miR-429 were determined by real-time quantitative PCR, and their target genes were predicted by an online database miRTarBase. The interaction between TCTP and these genes was analyzed by String database and visualized by Cytoscape. Results: TCTP was highly expressed in tumor tissues compared to paracancer tissues. The expression of TCTP was associated with shorter overall survival. TCTP knockdown experiment in A549 cells suggested that TCTP knockdown could decrease the migration and invasion of lung cancer cells, and the expression level of ZEB1 and α -SMA, but increase the expression of E-cadherin and p53. Vice versa, overexpression of TCTP could increase the migration and invasion of cancer cells, and the expression level of ZEB1 and α -SMA, but decrease the expression of E-cadherin and p53. Furthermore, we found the expression of miR-200a, miR-141, and miR-429 was associated with TCTP expression. Conclusion: TCTP promotes EMT in lung adenocarcinoma, and this effect may be associated with miR-200 family members like miR-200a, miR-141, and miR-429.


Optimization of drug therapy and preventing drug-related problems (DRPs) are major factors to improve health care, reduce expenditure, and potentially save lives. This study aimed at describing the types, numbers, and frequencies of DRPs in the outpatient settings of a group of hospitals in Jordan. The study was set in the cardiology, endocrine, and respiratory outpatient clinics of five major hospitals in Jordan. Patients who visited the above clinics during the period from September 2012 to December 2013, were candidates for this study. Each included subject was fully assessed for DRPs by clinical pharmacists according to a specially designed and validated pharmaceutical care manual. The main outcome measures were the number and types of DRPs. Data were collected from 2,898 patients (mean age ± standard deviation: 56.59±13.5 years). The total number of identified DRPs was 32,348, with an average of 11.2 DRPs per patient. The most common DRPs were a need for additional or more frequent monitoring, a problem in patients' adherence to self-care activities or nonpharmacological therapy, and that the patient was not given instruction in or did not understand nonpharmacological therapy or self-care advice. The numbers of DRPs per patient in our sample were associated with older age (>57 years), being unmarried, having an education level of high school or less, not having health insurance, and the presence of certain clinical conditions, including hypertension, diabetes mellitus, dyslipidemia, ischemic heart disease, cardiac catheterization, heart failure, and gout. In conclusion, implementation of clinical pharmacy services is a strategy to limit DRPs. Certain patient populations are more vulnerable to DRPs.


Abstract : Radiation effects in single crystals of ammonium bifluoride and sodium bifluoride were studied by electron spin resonance and optical methods following 1-MeV electron irradiations at 77K. The irradiations changed the samples from clear to deep blue-green and both crystal types showed paramagnetic resonances which were determined to result from F2(-) ions in anion sites. This defect resulted from the displacement of hydrogen atoms from their normal positions in the linear bifluoride (FHF) (-) ions. Only in NH4HF2 were the displaced hydrogen atoms detected. Best-fit spin-Hamiltonian parameters for the F2(-) ahd H defects are given. Optical absorption measurements on the irradiated bifluorides are discussed. The ESR annealing characteristics for the F2(-) ions in both crystals appear to follow second-order kinetics. In two of the three inequivalent sites for F2(-) ions in NH4HF2 the orientation of the F2(-) molecular axis differs by eight degrees from the reported crystallographic axis of the corresponding bifluoride anion. This is interpreted to result from weaker hydrogen bonding between nitrogen and fluorine for the F2(-) ion than for the bifluoride ion in ammonium bifluoride, because of an increased N-H-F distance for the shorter F2(-) ions. (Author)


PURPOSE
This study's purpose was to investigate the prevalence of dental fluorosis in children, whose parents had participated in an oral health program when the children were between zero and three years old, residing in a city with fluoridated water.

METHODS
Group 1 consisted of 128 eight- to 12-year-olds whose parents had visited a program on at least five occasions when the children were zero to three years old and received education about tooth-brushing and the proper use of fluoridated toothpaste in this young age group. The prevalence of dental fluorosis in the permanent maxillary incisors, using the Thylstrup-Fejerskov index, in Group 1 was compared to that of an age-matched group of children (n=128) whose parents had not participated in the program (Group 2).

RESULTS
Group 1 mothers reported higher education levels (P<.05). Group 1 children had a significantly lower prevalence (∼42 percent) and severity (P<.05) of dental fluorosis than those in the control group (∼61 percent).

CONCLUSION
Children whose parents participated in a dental program that included counselling on the proper amount of fluoridated toothpaste when their children were between zero and three years old presented less frequently with dental fluorosis than a control group when examined at eight to 12 years old.


A 7-year-old Miniature Schnauzer presented with exercise intolerance and easy fatigability. Echocardiography revealed the presence of supravalvular pulmonary stenosis. The peak velocity through the stenosis was 6.4 m/sec, and the interventricular septum was flattened. Cutting balloon angioplasty was designed for the treatment of coronary artery stenosis, which was resistant to conventional balloon angioplasty. Accordingly, the dog underwent cutting balloon angioplasty and conventional balloon dilation. One month after treatment, it showed neither exercise intolerance nor easy fatigability. The ventricular septum flattening disappeared. Five months later, the dog showed an increase in activity. Two years later, the peak velocity through the stenosis decreased to 4.4 m/sec. Neither clinical symptoms nor restenosis was observed. Thus, supravalvular pulmonary stenosis was successfully treated using this combination method. The present case showed that combined cutting balloon and conventional balloon angioplasty is a useful and minimally invasive treatment for supravalvular pulmonary stenosis.


Background Hispanic/Latino sexual and gender minorities (SGM) are the fastest growing ethnic group of SGM in the United States. Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality among Hispanics/Latinos. SGM inequities in CVD risk have been identified as early as young adulthood, and minority stress has been identified as a potential mediator. Yet, the small number of ethnic or racial minority participants in SGM studies have precluded the examination of the intersections of sexual orientation, gender identity, and race and ethnicity. Objective Minority stress models conceptualize relationships between stressors in minority groups and health outcomes. In this study, we will (1) examine the influence of sexual orientation and gender identity on CVD risk among all Hispanic Community Health Study/Study of Latinos (HCHS/SOL) participants at visit 3 (2021-2024; N~9300); (2) model pathways from sexual orientation and gender identity to CVD risk through stigma, discrimination, and stress in a 1:2 matched subcohort of SGM and non-SGM participants at visit 3 (n~1680); and (3) examine the influence of resilience factors on sexual orientation or gender identity and CVD risk relationships among subcohort participants at visit 3 (n~1680). Methods This study will leverage existing data from the parent HCHS/SOL study (collected since 2008) while collecting new data on sexual orientation, gender identity, stigma, discrimination, stress, coping, social support, and CVD risk. Data analysis will follow the SGM minority stress model, which states that excess stigma against SGM populations leads to minority stress that increases CVD risk. In this model, coping and social support serve as resilience factors that can mitigate the impact of minority stress on CVD risk. Cross-sectional and longitudinal regression models as well as structural equation models will be used to test these relationships. Results This study was funded by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute in March 2020. Recruitment is scheduled to begin in the first quarter of 2021 and continue through 2024. Conclusions Understanding the influence of stigma-induced stress on CVD risk among Hispanic/Latino SGM has significant implications for the development of culturally specific CVD risk reduction strategies. Study findings will be used to build on identified Hispanic/Latino cultural strengths to inform adaptation and testing of family and community acceptance interventions. International Registered Report Identifier (IRRID) PRR1-10.2196/28997


Strip cropping is a form of intercropping used in both tropical and temperate climate zones. Maize is a species often grown in strip cropping, because it responds to the edge effect with a substantial increase in yield. In the experiment, strip cropping of maize with blue lupin and oat was compared to sole cropping of maize in the conditions of mechanical and chemical weed control. A field experiment was conducted in 2008–2010 at the Experimental Station in Zamośc, University of Life Sciences in Lublin (50°42′ N, 23°6′ E). The study examined the effects of the cropping method and weed control methods on the content of copper (Cu), zinc (Zn), iron (Fe) and manganese (Mn) in maize biomass and their uptake by maize. The impact of the position of the row in the strip and of the adjacent plant species on the content and uptake of these micronutrients was analysed as well. Strip cropping significantly increased Zn and Fe content in maize biomass, reduced Mn content, and did not significantly affect the accumulation of Cu. In the strip cropping, interspecific facilitation between neighbouring plant species was also observed. Placement adjacent to the oat strip contributed to higher Cu content in the maize, while placement next to blue lupin increased the content of Fe and Zn. The highest Mn content was noted in maize grown in the centre row. The results indicate that appropriate selection of plant species for strip cropping can affect the chemical composition of the plants. This makes it possible to eliminate or mitigate mineral deficiencies in the plants.


Arguments from "easy knowledge" are meant to refute a class of epistemological views, including foundationalism about perceptual knowledge. I present arguments from easy knowledge in their strongest form, and explain why other formulations in the literature are inferior. I criticize two features of Stewart Cohen's presentation (2002, 2005), namely his focus on knowing that one's faculties are reliable, and his use of a Williamson-style closure principle. Rather, the issue around easy knowledge must be understood using a notion of epistemic priority. Roger White's presentation (2006) is contaminated by the so-called lottery puzzle, which is best kept separate. Distinguishing basic from non-basic visual contents limits the force of the examples discussed by Cohen, White, and Crispin Wright (2007). Finally, I present a new strategy for resisting even the best-formulated arguments from easy knowledge.


Over the past two decades deteriorated equivalence in Swedish schools has led to teachers have faced growing differences regarding students' potential, motivation and school results. However, within Swedish research concerning the role of school in the multicultural society, focus has not been on teachers' experiences, but rather problem-oriented studies on teaching materials, students' opinions and school policies. The objective of the article is to first, on the basis of Anglo-Saxon research and theories, present an analytical tool consisting of four possible strategies for teaching in a multicultural society. The analytical tool will be used to, through the results from semi-structured interviews, compare and discuss seven upper secondary school teachers' experiences from teaching history in the Swedish multicultural society. To justify the relevance of such a discussion in a Swedish context, a brief presentation of Swedish research in the field are given. The teachers interviewed have primarily been chosen from their reputation of being talented, ambitious, and that they believe they have found workable models in their teaching. The comparison and discussion of the seven teachers' experiences showed examples of similarities, but no clear pattern in relation to the four strategies as apparent from the analysis tool. It rather seems as it is foremost the teachers own background, values and educational context that affects what strategies they choose in their teaching. The result can be interpreted as if the space of interpretations regarding the school's intentions is (too) great, which may be an expression of lack of clarity in objectives and guidelines from the current school politics.


The outer membrane (OM) of Gram-negative bacteria is a complex asymmetric bilayer containing lipids, lipopolysaccharides (LPS) and proteins. While it is a mechanical and chemical barrier, it is also the primary surface of bacterial recognition processes that involve infection by and of the bacterium. Uncovering the mechanisms of these biological functions has been hampered by the lack of suitable model systems. Here we report the step-by-step assembly of a synthetic OM model from its fundamental components. To enable the efficient formation of a supported lipid bilayer at room temperature, dimyristoyl-phosphocholine (DMPC) was used as the lipid component to which we progressively added LPS and OM proteins. The assembled system enabled us to explore the contribution of the molecular components to the topographical structure and stability of the OM. We found that LPS prefers solid-state membrane regions and forms stable vesicles in the presence of divalent cations. LPS can gradually separate from DMPC membranes to form independent vesicles, pointing at the dynamic nature of the lipid-LPS system. The addition of OM proteins from E. coli and saturating levels of LPS to DMPC liposomes resulted in a thicker and more stable bilayer the surface of which displayed a nanoscale texture formed of parallel, curved, long (>500 nm) stripes spaced apart with a 15 nm periodicity. The synthetic membrane may facilitate the investigation of binding and recognition processes on the surface of Gram-negative bacteria.


: Ninety-six healthy nonpilots, aged 21 to 50 years, were exposed to 228 rotations on a 7.25 m arm human centrifuge. The study demonstrated age-related changes in +Gz tolerance of 3 to 5 G (for 30 sec). The subjects at the age 31 to 40 years showed the highest tolerance while the subjects at the age 21 to 25 and 46 to 50 years the lowest tolerance. Young subjects (21-25 years old) often developed an asthenic type of the systolic pressure reaction in the ear lobe and visual disorders whereas older subjects (46-50 years old) displayed cardiac arrhythmias, lower heart rate and delayed recovery of blood pressure after exposure. It was also found that 60-80% subjects aged over 40 well tolerated acceleration of up to 5 G and therefore can be viewed as potential candidates for cosmonauts.


Pengembangan Media Baru (PMB) is part of information management data used to support the broadcast, such as : save the news will be broadcast, save songs, supporting tasks broadcast in the scope of Radio RRI Surabaya. PMB also collect temporary news from all third class station in East Java and then sent it to first class station at a certain time span. So far, PMB had Confidentiality problems is saving news error that doesn't match with the planning. The impact of this problem is disruption of the broadcaster to read the news, so that live broadcast become inaccurate. From integrity side is the wholeness of the news coverage results directly accessed was incomplete. The woleness of the news coverage of incomplete results will have an impact on the fall of broadcast event rating and influencing the quality of that event. From availability side, is the delay of provision of information, news, live events, entertainment, and advertising. It can lead to the risk of decrease trust level from listeners and stakeholders RRI Surabaya, and causing losses for RRI Surabaya. Referring to the results of the reviews, surveys, and interviews that have been done, so standard ISO 27002: 2005 is selected. There are three clause assigned is human resources security (Clause 8), the secure area (Clause 9), access control (Clause 11).The result of the calculation process maturity level of audit information security on the PMB RRI Surabaya is 2.55 which is repeatable. That results showed the most of information security process at PMB RRI Surabaya is still in the development stage with limited documentation.


Reactivation of Psychosis by Phenothiazines SIR,-Some months ago Dr. H. H. Fleischhacker pointed out in a letter (June 17, 1961, p. 1760) that toxic-infectiods psychoses are frequently simulated by a preceding treatment with phenothiazines (particularly chlorpromazine). But nothing has been reported on the fact that it is apparently possible to reactivate an already improved psychosis of different nature by means of consuming derivatives of phenothiazine. We were recently able to observe such a case. It concerned a 49-year-old steward who had consumed large quantities of alcohol (especially brandy). He finally suffered from an acute exogenous psychosis of an uncommon kind, which showed psychopathological signs of a hallucinosis as well as those of an alcoholic delirium. Accompanied with strong fear the patient had a great number of auditory and visual delusions of an illusionary as well as a hallucinatory kind. He heard voices threatening him and saw ghosts, " imitated human beings," and dancing dolls; this was followed by feeling persecuted. After hospitalization the psychosis lasted for several days. The patient welcomed imaginary guests, spoke to them, and seemingly shook hands with them. His consciousness was unclouded almost all the time. While he recovered from the visual delusions quite quickly, he stubbornly insisted on the reality of the acoustic hallucinations. After improvement of this psychosis an " emotional hyperaesthetic" weakness could be observed. A sleeping cure was induced with chlorprothixene (600-1,000 mg.). The third day the same above-mentioned psychotic manifestations developed again with great vehemence. After ceasing medication these symptoms disappeared again within a few days. As the psychosis was accompanied with signs of strong fear we did not dare to repeat this "experiment." A follow-up exploration after discharge revealed that the patient showed no kind of psychotic symptoms and had complete insight as to the absurdity of his delusions. A relationship between chlorprothixene medication and the reactivation of the alcoholic psvchosis seems to be most likely to us. It appears, therefore, to be necessary to be careful when treating patients who have just recovered from an exogenous psychosis with phenothiazines.-We are, etc.,


We present a method that uses measured scene radiance and global illumination in order to add new objects to light-based models with correct lighting. The method uses a high dynamic range image-based model of the scene, rather than synthetic light sources, to illuminate the new objects. To compute the illumination, the scene is considered as three components: the distant scene, the local scene, and the synthetic objects. The distant scene is assumed to be photometrically unaffected by the objects, obviating the need for reflectance model information. The local scene is endowed with estimated reflectance model information so that it can catch shadows and receive reflected light from the new objects. Renderings are created with a standard global illumination method by simulating the interaction of light amongst the three components. A differential rendering technique allows for good results to be obtained when only an estimate of the local scene reflectance properties is known.
 We apply the general method to the problem of rendering synthetic objects into real scenes. The light-based model is constructed from an approximate geometric model of the scene and by using a light probe to measure the incident illumination at the location of the synthetic objects. The global illumination solution is then composited into a photograph of the scene using the differential rendering technique. We conclude by discussing the relevance of the technique to recovering surface reflectance properties in uncontrolled lighting situations. Applications of the method include visual effects, interior design, and architectural visualization.


The speed and total energy required to accomplish pull-in switching of a generic electrostatic actuator is examined. It is found that the value of the source resistance of the voltage drive used for switching has a profound effect on both switching speed and energy requirements. The source resistance governs the charging time for the actuating capacitor. As long as this time is slower than the time required to accelerate the moving mass to maximum speed in the presence of damping, the total energy required for switching can be dramatically reduced without a significant increase in switching time. Indeed, there exists a clear optimum source-resistance value that minimizes the product of switching time and switching energy. These findings are demonstrated theoretically and then applied to specific examples from the literature. In addition, the limiting case of very large source resistance, essentially a current drive, is evaluated and compared to the voltage-driven case. It is found that for equivalent switching times, the current drive requires less total energy for a switching event.


Objective: The objective of this paper was to cephalometrically determine the center of the anteroposterior curve of occlusion, and its relation to standardized landmarks, to establish a suitable occlusal curve for the restoration of maxillary and mandibular arches in a selected local population. To the best of the authors' knowledge, this was the first cephalometric study identifying variations occurring in the anteroposterior curve in this population. Materials and Methods: A total of 80 patients (40 males and 40 females) with Angle's Class I occlusion and normal growth pattern were selected. Landmarks were established following tracings on standardized lateral cephalograms. The center of the occlusal curve was determined, and its distance from the nasion, lachryma, and orbitale was statistically compared using ANOVA, post hoc and proximal matrix tests in males and females. In addition, a relationship between the depth of occlusal curve and the condyle was established. Results: The mean distances of the center from nasion, lachryma, and orbitale (statistically significant) were 11.15 mm ± 5.65 mm, 18.68 mm ± 8.6 mm and 33.10 mm ± 10.13 mm for females (P < 0.001) and 9.7 mm ± 4.69 mm, 16.80 mm ± 6.45 mm and 31.22 mm ± 8.51 mm (P < 0.001) for males, respectively. Depth of the curve and distance from the condyle had an inverse corelation. Conclusion: Nasion is closest to the center of the curve of occlusion in both females and males followed by lachryma and orbitale. Hence, nasion can be considered as a point of reference clinically while determining anteroposterior curve of occlusion.


Study Design. A prospective, cohort evaluation of 262 consecutive patients who underwent transforaminal endoscopic excision for recurrent lumbar disc herniation, after previous discectomy. Objective. To review complications and results of the endoscopic transforaminal discectomy (ETD) for recurrent herniated disc with a 2-year follow-up. Summary of Background Data. Recurrent herniation is a significant problem, as scar formation and progressive disc degeneration may lead to increased morbidity after traditional posterior reoperation. The studies published until now on recurrent disc herniation concern various operative techniques, mostly the lumbar microdiscectomy, which is still seen as the standard. The advantage of ETD could be that there is no need to go through the old scar tissue and the procedure can be performed in local anesthesia. The disadvantage may be a long learning curve for the surgeon. Method. Between January 1994 and November 2002, 262 patients with primarily radicular problems underwent an ETD for a recurrent herniated disc. Two hundred and thirty-eight of these patients (90.84%) completed our 2-year follow-up questionnaire. Initial surgery of 82 patients was performed in-house, 180 external. Average age was 46.4 years. The female/male ratio was 29/71%. Results. At 2-year follow-up 85.71% of patients rated the result of the surgery as excellent or good. 9.66% reported a fair and 4.62% patients an unsatisfactory result. Average improvement of back pain of 5.71 points and 5.85 points of leg pain on the VAS scale (1–10). According to Mac Nab, 30.67% of the patients felt fully regenerated, 50% felt their functional capacity to be slightly restricted, 16.81% felt their functional capacity noticeably restricted, and 2.52% felt unimproved or worse. All patients participated in a 3-month follow-up to establish the perioperative complications. The overall complication rate was 10/262 (3.8%), including 3 nerve root irritations and 7 early recurrent herniations ( 3 month). There was no case of infection or discitis. After 3 months and within 2 years, 4 patients have been treated for a recurrent herniated disc in our own center and 7 patients have been treated elsewhere, resulting in a recurrence rate 11/238 (4.62%). Conclusion. ETD for recurrent disc herniation seems to be an effective method with few complications and a high patient satisfaction.


: Critical thinking is the process of value assessment and reflection on the basis of reasonable judgment and appropriate criteria. Despite its short history in psychological research, the exploration of this concept began with Descartes in the age of enlightenment. Descartes held the view that most of human knowledge is constructed on erred bases. Hence, in the pursuit of truth, the best method is to first cast doubt on all concepts and knowledge at hand. The doubt helps to discover and solve problems, and in the process knowledge is advanced and certainty is obtained. This kind of doubting is precisely the essence of critical thinking. Since 1980s, Ennis and Facione have studied the characteristics of Westerners' critical thinking using modern psychological methods. They suggested that critical thinking could be measured along three dimensions: analytical ability, openness, and application. The current research is comprised of four parts. First, we determined the structures and effects of critical thinking in Chinese. Second, we explored the relation between critical thinking and creativity in college students. Third, we explored the relation between critical thinking and innovation in employees. Forth, we studied how to improve Chinese innovation by manipulating critical thinking. By systematically examining the relation between critical thinking and innovation, this line of research will help us better understand the mechanisms and effects of critical thinking and provide theoretical support for the mass innovation initiative proposed at the Eighteenth National Congress of the CPC.


The Human-Machine Interface (HMI), which displays the real-time status of electrical systems, interacts with the driver or operator, and collects and reports system fault information, is an important device in railway vehicles. The HMI is a critical component of the control and diagnosis system in the railway vehicle, thus the reliability of the HMI software affects the reliability and safety of the whole railway vehicle. Therefore, it is necessary to design the HMI software with high reliability for railway vehicles so as to ensure the reliability, stability and safety of the railway vehicle operation. This paper analyzes the HMI software function requirements, which include information display, the humanmachine interaction, and communication. A kind of redundancy mechanism is proposed, which employs two structural redundancy methods: N-version programming and recovery blocks. The HMI software is divided into the information display module, the human-machine interaction module and the communication module, and each module is made up of some components. Based on the analysis of the reliability requirement, complexity, and the implementation cost for each component in the HMI software modules, the corresponding redundancy design mechanism is proposed, which consider the tradeoff between the reliability and the cost. In order to evaluate the reliability of the designed redundancy mechanism, a scenario-based reliability analysis method is used to calculate the reliability of the HMI software, which constructs five scenarios and employs the component dependency graph to compute the reliability. The reliability of the HMI software after redundancy design is compared with that before the redundancy design.


Previous research predominantly used the conservation of resources (COR) model (Schaufeli & Enzmann, 1998) and the job demands-resources (JD-R) model (Demerouti, Bakker, Nachreiner, & Schaufeli, 2001) to explain burnout. In this study, organizational socialization was examined as a factor to explain and more completely understand burnout. Results from a sample of 397 employees in people-oriented professions and organizations in Taiwan revealed that organizational socialization was significantly related to all three components of burnout: emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and reduced personal accomplishment. The strength of the prediction was particularly apparent on the dimension of reduced personal accomplishment. The use of organizational socialization as an effective predictor of burnout is a significant departure from previous research.


In this research abstract we describe our approach towards the design of ensemble-based component systems. Our motivation lies in the fact that, in these systems, tracing the behavior of individual constituents to system-level goals and requirements is challenging. Our approach is based on a novel invariant-based model that achieves the desired traceability. Along with using the model in a method that allows for systematic contractual design, we employ the model at runtime to achieve dynamic adaptation on the basis of requirements reflection.


One of the most significant developments in corporate organisation over the last three decades has been a tendency to vertical disintegration through outsourcing and subcontracting. This has given rise to complex inter-organisational relationships for the production of goods and services which often extend over the boundaries of national countries, and which have been variously named interorganisational networks, global value chains, and global production networks. These structures are characterised by asymmetric power relationships between firms located at different levels of the value chain. The literature has analysed the consequences of such processes of reorganisation for traditional models of trade union representation. Indeed, they have weakened workers possibility to exercise their voice, especially at lower levels of the value chain, because of scarce trade union presence and lower bargaining power. Moreover, the presence of strong power asymmetries between firms reduces the effectiveness of traditional trade union strategies focused on collective bargaining with the employer: given the economic pressures that chain leaders exercise on their subcontractors, employers itself get less and less autonomous the lower the company is positioned in the value chain. Furthermore, while the power on the employment relationship transcends organizational boundaries, workers have no channels to exercise their voice beyond firm boundaries. In recent years, trade unions have become more aware of the need to engage with the «real employer» at the top of any contracting chain in order to improve working conditions at lower levels and have started experimenting with new strategies. This paper will discuss these issues through a case study analysis of two recent campaigns organised by the German metalworkers union, IG Metall, to represent and improve the working conditions of agency workers and workers employed by subcontractors in German automotive companies.


In this work, we developed a novel patterned co-culture method with thermo-responsive poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (PIPAAm) and poly(N-ρ-vinylbenzyl-Ο-β-D-galactopyranosyl-(1→ 4)-D-gluconamide) (PVLA) inducing active hepatocyte attachment. Patterned graft of PIPAAm onto PS dishes was carried out by electron beam irradiation using cover-glass as a photomask. PVLA was only coated onto PIPAAm-ungrafted domain because of hydrated hydrophilic property of PIPAAm at below the LCST. Analysis by attenuated total reflection-Fourier transform infrared and electron spectroscopy for chemical analysis revealed that PIPAAm and PVLA were successfully grafted and coated on surfaces of PS dishes. PIPAAm-grafted surface exhibited decreasing contact angle by changing temperature from 37 to 20°C, while PVLA-coated PS and non-treated PS had negligible contact angle changes with temperature alternation. Atomic force microscopy (AFM) results showed that PIPAAm-grafted and PVLA-coated PS had smoother surfaces than that of ungrafted PS dishes. After culture for 12 hours, hepatocytes were well attached on PVLA-coated domain. Hepatocytes adherent on PIPAAm-grafted domain were detached by decreasing temperature. And then, fibroblasts were seeded onto PIPAAm pattern-grafted domain. Fibroblasts were only attached and spread onto PIPAAm-grafted domain. Co-cultured hepatocytes showed better differentiated function of albumin expression compared to homotypic hepatocyte culture


A number of recent reports have interpreted paleoproxy data to describe the state of the tropical Pacific, especially changes in the behavior of the El Nino-Southern Oscillation (ENSO), over the Holocene. These interpretations are often contradictory, especially for the eastern tropical Pacific and adjacent areas of South America. Here we suggest a picture of the mid-Holocene tropical Pacific region which reconciles the data. ENSO variability was present throughout the Holocene but underwent a steady increase from the mid-Holocene to the present. In the mid-Holocene, extreme warm El Nino events were smaller in amplitude and occurred less frequently about a mean climate state with a cold eastern equatorial Pacific and largely arid coastal regions as in the present climate. This picture emerges from an experiment in which a simple numerical model of the coupled ocean-atmosphere system in the tropical Pacific was driven by orbital forcing. We suggest that the observed behavior of the tropical Pacific climate over the mid- to late Holocene is largely the response to orbitally driven changes in the seasonal cycle of solar radiation in the tropics, which dominates extratropical influences.


With the continuous development of faster and cheaper computers of late, application of
computational methods in solving engineering problems has become increasingly
popular. New techniques are continuously being researched and developed in order to
bring the numerical solution nearer to reality. A Boundary Element Method is developed
in the research to solve aerodynamic problems. Investigations revealed that the solution
obtained using boundary element method is slightly superior to the solution provided by
the currently used Panel Method. It was also found that the new technique also manages
to obtain better result employing a lower number of nodes during solution, reducing the
computational time. However, the adoption of potential theory means that the stall
conditions of airfoils could still not be predicted at all.


For verification of complex system-on-chip designs often constraint-based randomization is used. This allows to simulate scenarios that may be difficult to generate manually. For the system description language SystemC the SystemC Verification (SCV) Library has been introduced. Besides advanced verification features like data introspection and transaction recording the SCV library enables constraint-based randomization forSystemC models. However, the SCV library has two disadvantages that restrict their practical use: There is no support of bit operators in SCV constraintsand the SCV constraint solver cannot guarantee a uniform distribution of the constraint solutions. In this paper we provide a detailed analysis of these problems and present solutions that have been integrated in the library.


Active meetings (standing or walking) have the potential to reduce sitting time among office workers. The aim of the present study was to explore the feasibility and effectiveness of standing and walking meetings. The "Take a Stand!" study was a cluster-randomized trial, consisting of multiple components including the possibility of active meetings. Analyses were based on the 173 participants in the intervention group. Feasibility was evaluated by questionnaire and interview data from participants, ambassadors and leaders. Effectiveness was assessed as the change in objectively measured sitting time from baseline to 3 months follow-up. Regular standing meetings were implemented at all offices and were generally popular, as they were perceived as more effective and focused. In contrast, only a few walking meetings were completed, and these were generally associated with several barriers and perceived as ineffective. Participants who participated in standing meetings on a regular basis had 59 min less sitting per 8 h workday (95%CI −101;−17) compared to participants who did not participate in standing meetings at all. Walking meeting participation was not significantly associated with changes in sitting time, likely due to the low number of employees who used this option. This explorative study concludes that standing meetings in office workplaces were feasible and well-liked by the employees, and having frequent standing meetings was associated with reduced sitting time. In contrast, walking meetings were unfeasible and less liked, and thus had no effect on sitting time.


Title: The Effects of Congruency in Online Advertising on Swedish Consumers Subject: International Marketing, Master thesis, 15 ECTS Author: Elvan Cintosun Tutor: Erik Hunter Keywords: Advertising, online advertising, banner, congruency, congruent,incongruent, recall, recognition, attitude towards the web page, attitude towards the brand. Purpose: The purpose of this study is to investigate how thematic congruence,between the online advertising and the web site, affects brandrecognition, brand recall and attitude towards the brand and web siteof Swedish consumers. In addition, the effect of gender differences onthematic congruence of Swedish consumers has been analyzed. Method: To answer the purpose, a mixed method has been used, by collectingquantitative data from an experiment conducted on 90 participants, andqualitative data from a follow-up interview conducted on 18 respondents. Conclusion: The study has shown that advertising congruency has effects on bothadvertising processing and advertisement effectiveness categories. Inaddition, the importance of gender differences in advertisingcongruency has been shown in this study.


With businesses under increasing legislative and public pressure to improve their environmental performance, this research sought to address the issues surrounding changing employee environmental behaviour. Tingdene Homes, a park home manufacturer in Wellingborough, Northamptonshire was the case study company for this research. The research made use of different Interventionist techniques to influence employee behaviovr namely; formal training session, the formation of an environmental team and environmental posters. The impact from this blended approach was measured through a mixture of quantitative and qualitative research methods. Questionnaires were utilised at the beginning of the research to determine baseline attitudes and behaviours, and towards the end of the research to see if attitudes and behaviours had changed. Qualitative measures such as ethnography and narrative Interviews were also used to give a more in-depth view of employee attitudes and behaviours. In order to validate the impact from the Interventionist techniques, waste data along with recyclables recovered and electricity and gas consumption figures were used. What was found was that the interventionist techniques had positively Influenced employee behaviour, resulting in reductions in waste production, increased recyclables recovery, and reductions in gas and electricity consumption. This resulted in the case study company experiencing cost savings in excess of £55,000 over the course of the research. It is argued that the blended interventionist techniques approach was successful at Improving employee environmental behaviour, and is a cost effective approach that could be utilised by other businesses.


Microbial food societies are live microscopic organisms, yeasts or molds utilized in food creation. Microbial food societies complete the aging cycle in groceries. Utilized by people since the Neolithic time frame (around 10 000 years BC) aging assists with saving short-lived food sources and to improve their nourishing and organoleptic characteristics (for this situation, taste, sight, smell, contact). Starting at 1995, aged food addressed between one quarter and 33% of food burned-through in Central Europe. In excess of 260 distinct types of microbial food culture are distinguished and portrayed for their gainful use in aged food items all around the world, showing the significance of their utilization. The logical reasoning of the capacity of organisms in aging began to be worked with the revelations of Louis Pasteur in the second 50% of the nineteenth century. Broad logical examination keeps on portraying microbial food societies customarily utilized in food maturation systematically, physiologically, biochemically and hereditarily. This permits better arrangement and improvement of conventional food preparing and opens up new fields of uses.


Histopathology studies of metal nanoparticles (NPs) compared to traditional forms of metal in fish are scarce. Additionally, it is unclear whether metal nanoparticles cause greater or different pathologies compared to other forms of metal. The current study aimed to assess the pathological effects of Cu-NPs and TiO2 NPs on rainbow trout via various routes of exposure and, where appropriate, to compare them to either the equivalent dissolved metal salts or bulk powder forms. The first experiment showed that waterborne exposure to Cu-NPs and CuSO4 caused similar types of organ pathologies and alteration in the spleen content, however there were some material-type effects in the incidence injuries; with Cu-NPs in some organs by causing more injury in the intestine, liver, and brain when compared to effects caused by the equivalent concentration of CuSO4. Lowering water pH did have an effect on the toxicity of CuNPs and dissolved Cu in trout, and the results illustrated that both Cu treatments are more toxic at pH 5 than pH 7 by causing more physiological and pathological changes, although both CuSO4 and Cu-NP treatments showed similar types of organ lesions. Waterborne exposure to TiO2 NPs and bulk forms of TiO2 showed similar types of organ pathologies and alteration in the spleen contents, but there was a material-type effect in some organs (more injury with the bulk treatment than the NP form). After 96 h following intravenous injections of bulk or TiO2 NPs in trout, organs showed similar types of pathologies; except the spleen and kidney which showed a material-type effects (more injury with NPs than the bulk forms). This could be attributed to the highest Ti accumulation from the TiO2 NP treatment in the kidney and spleens, or to the role of these organs in filtrating the circulating blood. Overall, this thesis demonstrates that metal-NPs produced similar types of organ pathologies to traditional forms of metals through different routes of exposure, but there were some material-type effects on the incidence of injuries in some organs. The results have also added some understanding on the fate, and effects of NPs by identifying the target organs involved. Some of the nano-specific effects may need to be given extra consideration in environmental and human health risk assessments.


Introduction: M-learning is used to supplement traditional learning methods by dental professionals and students. There is a lack of information on quality of dental educational apps. Hence the present study was conducted. Material and Methods: A total of 210 apps were included in the study. Various features of app including, the type, cost, ratings, number of downloads, involvement of dental professional in its development, target group, applicability and, user feedback was recorded. Results: Among the apps reviewed, 165 and 45 apps were general and specialty related respectively. Most of the apps reviewed were free, developed by dentist and targeted towards students. Around 81.9% android apps had less than 1000 downloads. Around 60% of the applications were updated within last fifteen months. Discussion and Implications: Most of the apps contained only text matter with few pictures. Very few apps used high definition animation to show various intercellular interactions; and augmented and virtual reality techniques to demonstrate and allow students to practice dental procedures in the virtual model. Such apps could go a long way in improving the understanding, especially of abstract concepts. Dental educational apps are relatively less, particularly the specialty related apps.


The emotional demand of modern consumers is analyzed and it is pointed out that products based on appealing design will be widely accepted and needed by people. Under the consideration of design originality and availability, five innovate methods are concluded to instruct the product appealing design which are bionics design on product shape or character of bionics in shape, idiographic design of materials, fun character during using experience, artistic character of market positioning and the feasibility of product customization. During the dissertation of above innovative methods, some excellent products are exampled to enlighten and verify the research conclusions.


This thesis investigates the effects of bank income diversification on bank performance and systemic stability in three independent but complementary empirical studies:
The first study reviews the Glass–Steagall Act and similar specialized banking systems from a historic and macroeconomic perspective. The goal is to assess whether past specialized banking systems were introduced for financial stability concerns and whether such regimes entailed positive effects on financial stability. The historic analysis of ten countries that formerly had such regimes in place shows that such regulations were not primarily motivated by financial stability. Based on a panel of thirty high-income jurisdictions between 1970 and 2011 the study further provides an assessment of the effects of such regimes on financial stability. The results do not support the popular belief that specialized banking systems are associated with decreased crisis probability. The analysis instead yields limited evidence of a positive relation. However, the results also indicate that specialized banking systems experience less severe banking crises than universal banking regimes.
In contrast to the macro literature, a large body of empirical micro literature on the effects of bank income diversifcation exists. However, this literature provides mixed results. The second study therefore presents a meta-regression analysis on this literature, including thirty-four studies with a total of 932 regressions. The results indicate some evidence for underlying genuine effects: Diversification is generally associated with reduced risk; this includes diversification from interest income towards fee income. Diversification towards trading tends to increase profitability but decreases risk-adjusted profitability. However, the clearest result is that the findings of existing studies crucially depend on research design. The discord in the literature can partially be explained by studies not accounting for endogeneity, thus underestimating the riskiness of trading business. Furthermore, studies focusing on countries that used to separate commercial banking from investment banking tend to find a less positive relation between fee-generating activities and profitability and a more positive relation between trading and profitability. Also, samples with larger banks tend to yield more positive effects from fee-generating and trading activities on profits.
The last study analyses the effects of income diversification on large banks. The analysis is based on a panel of ninety large listed international banks from 2005 to 2015. For additional details on banks' income structure, the data set combines information on fee and trading income, assets under management, and investment banking deal volumes. The results indicate that more diversified large banks are generally less risky and more profitable. The detailed analysis of individual bank activities indicates that fee income outside investment banking and asset management (i.e. retail fees) reduces the risk and increases the profitability of banks. The results further provide some evidence that diversification towards trading and syndicated loans underwriting decreases risk and increases profitability. In contrast, equity underwriting increases risk and decreases profitability and risk-adjusted profitability of banks.
In combination, these three studies do not support the hypothesis of specialized banking improving financial stability. Instead, the three studies give a slight indication of universal banking improving the stability of individual banks or the financial system. Overall, the results do not support limiting the business model of universal banks by legally separating commercial banking and investment banking.


The paths leading to future networks are pointing towards a data-driven paradigm to better cater to the explosive growth of mobile services as well as the increasing heterogeneity of mobile devices, many of which generate and consume large volumes and variety of data. These paths are also hampered by significant challenges in terms of security, privacy, services provisioning, and network management. Blockchain, which is a technology for building distributed ledgers that provide an immutable log of transactions recorded in a distributed network, has become prominent recently as the underlying technology of cryptocurrencies and is revolutionizing data storage and processing in computer network systems. For future data-driven networks (DDNs), blockchain is considered as a promising solution to enable the secure storage, sharing, and analytics of data, privacy protection for users, robust, trustworthy network control, and decentralized routing and resource managements. However, many important challenges and open issues remain to be addressed before blockchain can be deployed widely to enable future DDNs. In this article, we present a survey on the existing research works on the application of blockchain technologies in computer networks and identify challenges and potential solutions in the applications of blockchains in future DDNs. We identify application scenarios in which future blockchain-empowered DDNs could improve the efficiency and security, and generally the effectiveness of network services.


Clays encountered during road construction are mostly weak and result in major pavement failures due to their low California bearing ratio (CBR) and high swelling potential. In this study, sustainable and eco-friendly waste materials including brick dust waste (BDW), ground granulated blastfurnance slag (GGBS), recycled plastic (RP) and recycled glass (RG) at varying proportions of 11.75% and 23.5% were used as partial replacement for cement and lime in clay treatment. After determining the water content by conducting Atterberg limit and compaction test, A CBR and swell characteristics of treated and untreated clay were also conducted. A road pavement design was conducted using the Design Manual for Road and Bridges (DMRB) as a guide to determine the performance of treated clay with varying CBR values. A road pavement failure analysis was also conducted to understand the defect formation within pavement structures supported by eco-friendly treated clay. The embodied carbon of treated clay was calculated and a life cycle cost analysis (LCCA) of flexible pavement with treated clay and road with imported materials was conducted. The results show a liquid limit of 131.26 and plastic limit of 28.74 for high plasticity index (clay 1) and liquid limit of 274.07 and a plastic limit of 45.38 for extremely high plasticity index (clay 2). An increase in CBR values from 8% and 9% to 57% and 97% with a reduction in swell values from 4.11% and 5.03% to 0.38% and 0.56% were recorded. This resulted in a reduction in pavement thickness and stresses within the road pavement leading to reduced susceptibility of the pavement to fatigue, rutting and permanent deformation. Very low embodied carbon was recorded for eco-friendly treated clay and a high life cycle cost (LCC) with clay removed and replaced with imported materials compared with clay treated using eco-friendly waste materials. The study concluded that carbon and overall construction costs can be reduced using waste materials in road construction. Owners and operators can save money when clay is treated and used in road construction instead of removing clay and replacing it with imported materials.


Hard copy is still preeminent in the form of textbooks or lab manuals in most training environments despite inroads made by microcomputer delivery. Cost per copy is still a major factor but one that is offset by convenience and the capability of including a small number of crucial color illustrations for low run laboratory manuals. Overhead transparencies and color displays are other major educational applications in which electronically generated color hardcopy is just starting to make an impact. Color hardcopy has been perceived as out of reach to the average educator because of probatively high costs in the recent past. Another reason for the underutilization of color in instruction is research that suggests that color distracts instead of directing attention among learners. Much of this research compares visuals which are designed to convey simple visual information, and in this case complexity does often get in the way of comprehension. Color can also act as an advanced organizer that directs visual perception and comprehension to specific instructional objectives. Color can elicit emotional responses from viewers which will assist them in remembering visual detail. Not unlike any other instructional tool, color can add or distract from instructional objectives. Now that color is more accessible in the hard copy format, there are many new ways it can be utilized to benefit the public or corporate educator. In the sections that follow color hard copy is considered in its present areas of application, in context to the suitability of visuals for instruction, as a important component of visual literacy and lastly in the development of measures of picture readability.


The world's population was in lockdown due to COVID 19, accompanied by stringent social measures in 2020. Surprisingly, the outbreak's positive impacts outweigh its adverse effects in terms of environmental well-being as there has been a significant decrease in greenhouse gas emissions at an average of 8% around the world. This study focuses on the relationship between greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and the strictness level of lockdown measures across the 50 states of the United States of America for the years 2019 and 2020, as the data is retrieved from the U.S federal and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) websites. We plan to conduct regression analysis to examine whether there is a significance in the relationship between the lockdown measures and the GHG emissions. However, our quantitative analysis may not show conclusive results as the data needed for this study has to be measured over a more extended period of time. This paper aims to provide the first step in analyzing the quantitative data to establish the impact of Covid-19 on climate change. Our findings may support an approach similar to the measures implemented during the outbreak and carry them forward in addition to current efforts to improve our global climate.


Congestion charging has been floated as an efficient way of managing travel demand in urban areas, reducing traffic congestion and externalities as well as raising revenues to fund transportation improvements. Moreover, the policy maker who faces heavy traffic congestion now considers it as a promising policy alternative. This situation has led to an encouraging evaluation methodology that analyses the impact of the congestion charging scenarios. However, in contrast with substantial studies on evaluation of congestion charging, comprehensive assessment, namely, trade-off between equity and efficiency, has attracted little attention so far. In addition, although studies have argued about the generated revenue for managing equity, little attention has been paid to assess the impact of revenue return as a compensating policy. The main objective of this study is to investigate and identify the impact of congestion charging measures in terms of equity and efficiency based on full implementation scenarios for Seoul in Korea. In order to achieve the objectives, the evaluation criteria has been explored in terms of equity and efficiency with the theoretical background of congestion charging, and the impacts of congestion charging have been analyzed through case studies such that charging on CBD, 2nd CBD and both. The equity is analyzed on the basis of the compensating variation measure for three income groups which can provide an index of political acceptability. The efficiency is analyzed in terms of net social welfare and traffic improvement that can be used to assess the practicability of congestion charging implementation. Finally, the revenue return which is substantially related to acceptability is examined. It is noteworthy that estimating the compensating variation by income group and expanding it to social-welfare change in a whole system in conjunction with cost-benefit analysis is a substantial advance in measuring the equity impact within the efficiency outline. Through this study, some empirical findings can be drawn; Congestion charging provides an efficiency improvement as congestion relief, increases net social welfare, but there are equity impacts as user benefit varies by toll level across the income groups. Determination of congestion charging scheme is heavily relied on not only the characteristics of charging area such as mode share, parking facilities, road network and public transport but also the traffic pattern such as traffic volume of inner, inbound, outbound, and go through in duo-centric city. It is also found that the optimal toll that is deemed to maximize social welfare is much higher than the existing toll level, so an applicable toll level has to be determined by policy objectives that maximise either social welfare or revenue. Furthermore, reduced fare of public transport as a compensating policy makes an improvement of equity as a fairer distribution whereas the economic efficiency does not make an additional improvement as a social welfare change. However, considering the limitations of the model, including use of fixed demand O/D and static short run analysis, further study would lead to an analysis of a dynamic model, variable demand and longer-term view, with more realistic assumptions


Traffic congestion tends to maintain equilibrium. Congestion reaches a point at which it constrains further growth in peak-period trips. If road capacity increases, the number of peak-period trips also increases until congestion again limits further traffic growth. The additional travel is called "generated traffic." Generated traffic consists of diverted traffic (trips shifted in time, route and destination), and induced vehicle travel (shifts from other modes, longer trips and new vehicle trips). Research indicates that generated traffic often fills a significant portion of capacity added to congested urban road. Generated traffic has three implications for transport planning. First, it reduces the congestion reduction benefits of road capacity expansion. Second, it increases many external costs. Third, it provides relatively small user benefits because it consists of vehicle travel that consumers are most willing to forego when their costs increase. It is important to account for these factors in analysis. This paper defines types of generated traffic, discusses generated traffic impacts, recommends ways to incorporate generated traffic into evaluation, and describes alternatives to roadway capacity expansion.


Key elements of supply chain theory remain relevant to emergency management (EM) logistics activities. The Supply Chain Operations Reference model can also serve as a useful template for the planning, organizing, and execution of EM logistics. Through a series of case studies (developed through intensive survey of organizations and individuals responsible for EM), the authors identified the extent supply chain theory is being adopted and whether the theory was useful for emergency logistics managers. The authors found several drivers that influence the likelihood of an organization to implement elements of supply chain management: the frequency of events, organizational resources, population density, range of events, and severity of the disaster or emergency.