SIR,-In a careful and detailed case-control study Professor Martin J Gardner and colleagues have produced strong evidence of a causal link between occupational radiation exposure of fathers at Sellafield and the subsequent occurrence of acute leukaemia in their children.' The authors suggest that this is most probably due to a germ cell mutation, but the alternative possibility is that fathers contaminate the home environment and this leads to irradiation of the fetus in utero or the infant in the early months of life. I have recently published a theoretical model of childhood leukaemogenesis based on spontaneous mutation in dividing cells that is relevant to this problem.2 I derived an equation that enables the calculation of the probability of a malignant clone arising as a result of a number of specific independent mutations (n) occurring in a population of dividing cells with a mutation rate per gene per cell generation of m. The epidemiological and kinetic data on childhood acute lymphoblastic leukaemia are best explained if m'1 x 10 6 n=4. Furthermore, it can be shown that if the mutation rate is constant throughout all cell generations during intrauterine and early extrauterine life then the incidence of acute lymphoblastic leukaemia is proportional to m4. Thus a 10-fold increase in the incidence, as seen in Seascale, would occur if the mutation rate was increased by a multiple of 1 8. Interestingly, if the increased mutation rate is confined to extrauterine life-that is, the last few cell generations-then the increase in incidence would be proportional to m. In other words a 10-fold increase in the mutation rate would be required to increase the incidence 10 times. The model can also be used to calculate the effects of a germ cell mutation. If the fetus inherits one defective gene then only three subsequent mutations are required. The chance of acute lymphoblastic leukaemia arising in these circumstances is between 0 1 and 0-9 per affected child compared with the chance in the general population of 3x 10 by age 15 years. A 10-fold increase in incidence due to germ cell mutation would require a mean frequency of mutation in spermatozoa of at least 3 x 10 ' if all affected infants develop acute lymphoblastic leukaemia and 3x 10 2 if only 10% develop it. In fact these figures are underestimates because they ignore the possibility of selection against mutant spermatozoa. The most commonly quoted estimate of the mutant frequency of genes, which is based on in vitro measurement and the appearance of new mutants, is 2x 10 5.' Thus a 10-fold increase in the incidence of acute lymphoblastic leukaemia due to germ line mutation would require a 100-fold or 1000-fold increase in the mutation rate. It is difficult to believe that Sellafield workers could sustain this without a. measurable effect on general' health and a pronounced increase in the incidence of other cancers, particularly considering that smoking increases the mutant frequency by only 50%.' Thus a 10-fold increase in the incidence of acute lymphoblastic leukaemria as a result of a radiation induced increase in the mutation rate would require a 100-fold or 1000-fold increase if acting on the germ cell; a 10-fold increase if acting on lymphocytes during early extrauterine life; but only a 1 8-fold increase if acting throughout intrauterine life, which seems the most plausible mechanism even though the pathways of exposure are unclear.


This paper investigates a passive control method of a point absorbing wave energy converter by considering the displacement and velocity constraints under irregular waves in the time domain. A linear generator is used as a power take-off unit, and the equivalent damping force is optimized to improve the power production of the wave energy converter. The results from nonlinear and linear passive control methods are compared, and indicate that the nonlinear passive control method leads to the excitation force in phase with the velocity of the converter that can significantly improve the energy production of the converter.


Pharmaceutical advertisements in medical journals have repeatedly been criticized for their influence on physicians and, ultimately, their effect on prescription practices. Specifically, advertisements manipulate or bias their message using various techniques: • presenting their information in certain ways in graphs • presenting benefits as relative rather than absolute risk reductions or numbers needed to treat • omitting confidence intervals and power calculations • making unsubstantiated claims about clinical or economic efficacy and quality-of-life benefits • failing to provide key messages required for guidelineconcordant care • using poor-quality references Doctors claim to have a negative viewpoint about the educational value of advertisements and report they do not use advertisements as a source of information. However, despite these statements, there is little doubt of the success of advertising on influencing physicians. Advertisements target the newest and most expensive products contributing to the increase in prescription drug spending, thereby diverting financial resources from other areas of health care. Extensive advertising of new drugs also leads to widespread use before adequate safety information is available; this may have serious safety consequences, such as those seen with rofecoxib (Vioxx). Not only are journal advertisements successful in increasing sales, and therefore prescriptions, there is also some evidence that physicians who use journal advertisements as sources of information prescribe less appropriately. Journals justify running advertisements because of the income generated. This revenue can be used to build the journal and reduce subscription rates. Richard Smith, former editor of the BMJ, argues that carrying advertisements helps to diversify the revenue sources for journals and thereby contributes to their financial independence. Some societies generate more money from journal advertisements than they do from membership fees, which raises the prospect of serious potential conflicts of interest and possibly undermines the public's confidence in the independence of the medical advice that these societies give. In light of the biases in journal advertisements, the possible negative effects that they may have on doctors' prescribing habits, their contribution to rising drug costs and the potential threat that they pose to the independence of medical societies, CJEM should refuse all advertisements for pharmaceutical products. Can the Canadian Association of Emergency Physicians (CAEP), which owns CJEM, take this step and survive financially?


ABSTRACT The lithofacies of Barataria Basin, an interlobe basin of the Mississippi Delta Plain, were established from analyses of 115 boreholes. Five organic lithofacies are distinguished by organic matter content, botanical origin and degree of decomposition. Organic-rich facies accumulated in three stages (A, B, and C) during two depositional events. Stage A developed locally, but stages B and C developed as blankets over abandoned delta lobes, protected from marine influx by a shoreline. Stage B lasted from 2,300-1,000 yr BP and ended when clastic sediments from renewed deltaic sedimentation blanketed the peats, expanding the basin about 50 km seaward. Peat accumulation of stage C lasted from 900 yr BP to the present and is currently being terminated by subsidence-induced transgression. High-quality stage B peats accumulated beneath herbaceous, freshwater-floating and emergent marshes, mainly above the footwall of a strike-oriented, reactivated growth fault. Above the footwall, the basin was shallower than on the hanging wall, where the deeper basin invited more overbank sedimentation, which increased ash content and diluted peats. Thus, both tectonic and sedimentary factors influenced organic facies. The quality and quantity of Barataria Basin peats differ from those of many deltaic coals. However, these peats accumulated in only 2,300 yr immediately after a rapid sea-level rise. Frequent delta-lobe switching increased organic matter preservation potential but did not provide sufficient time for the accumulation of thick, low ash peats. The geometries of organic and clastic facies are similar to those of some coal-bearing strata.


In wireless sensor networks, communications are usually destroyed by signal attenuation, multipath fading and different kinds of interferences like WLAN and microwave oven interference. In order to build a stable wireless communication system, reactions like retransmission mechanisms are necessary. Since the way we must react to interference is different from the way we react to multipathfading and attenuation, the retransmission mechanism should be adjusted in different ways under those different cicumstances. Under this condition, channel diagnostics for discriminating the causes that corrupt the packets between multipath fading and attenuation (MFA) and WLAN interference are imperative. This paper presents a frame bit error rate (F-BER) regulated algorithm based on a joint RSSI-LQI classifier that may correctly diagnose the channel status. This discriminator is implemented on MicaZ sensor devices equipped with CC2420 transceivers. This discriminator is able to improve the accuracy to 91%. Although we need to wait for 2 or 3 necessary packets to make a decision, higher stability and reliability are presented when operating this discriminator.


A case of gastric adenocarcinoma with argyrophilic property and psammomatous calcification is reported. Histologically, the psammoma bodies are found most frequently within the glandular lumina. Electron microscopy, however, reveals that calcium first appears within the cytoplasm of tumor cells. Electron probe x‐ray microanalysis demonstrates calcium and phosphorus in granular or floccular osmiophilic deposits found in intracytoplasmic electronlucent zones of tumor cells. By x‐ray diffractometry, the calcium component is presumed to be hydroxyappatite (Ca5(PO4)3(OH)). The findings strongly support the view of the intracytoplasmic origin of psammomatous calcification. The tumor yielded a parathyroid hormone (PTH)‐like substance, and a possible relationship between this substance and psammomatous calcification is speculated.


The inner cascaded structure-based grid-forming control is a typical solution used to impose an AC voltage magnitude across the output filters of the power inverters. Yet, because of the limited inverter's bandwidth resulting from the low-switching frequencies in transmission systems, the interaction (i.e., coupling) between control loops is highly likely making the understanding of the system behavior complex and its simplification unaffordable and may also lead to instabilities. The novelty of this paper consists in proposing a simple open-loop direct voltage control to reduce the number of the inner control regulators, and thereby guaranteeing a decoupling between the inner and outer control layers as well as increasing the system stability margin. This statement is well supported with a small-signal analysis and progressive order model reduction of the system. The overall concept is validated in a 10-bus grid case while comparing the EMT and Phasor-based simulations. The practical feasibility of the control itself is experimentally proved with different test cases.


We perform calculations using the semiclassical Fourier approach for quasimolecular spectra induced by thermal collisions of the excited calcium atom (Ca*) with the helium atom in the ground state (He) for the following quasimolecular optical transitions: (Ω = 0+,4s4p 1P)↔(Ω = 0+,4s2 1S0) and (Ω = 0+,4s3d 1D)↔(Ω = 0+,4s2 1S0) in the Ca-He quasimolecule. As a comparison with the experimental results obtained under gas-cell conditions, we average the spectra under study over the impact parameters and the Maxwellian distribution of the colliding particles. For the asymptotically forbidden Ca(4s2 1S0→4s3d 1D2)-He quasimolecular transition, the first comparison between the calculated spectral line profile and the experimental one is made not only in shape, but also in absolute value. We clarify the physical mechanisms for the initiation of a spectral line satellite at the position of the forbidden atomic transition being investigated. The reasonable agreement confirms that the spectral lineshapes of the asymptotically forbidden transitions are formed due to the interplay between the structure of the potential energy curves involved and the strong dependence of the radiative width.


One of the most notable business trends in recent years has been the surge in alliance formation. Globalization, escalating R&D expenses, shortening product life cycles, and convergence of technologies are often cited as important factors that contribute to this phenomenon. This article develops a framework for multi-firm alliances. Multi-firm alliances can be classified on the basis of distinct payoff structures, leading to critical differences in their predicted development and final result. This article presents four multi-firm alliance game scenarios to describe the dynamics that underlie the interactions among firms and provides industry examples. It offers a number of lessons to help managers improve their ability to manage multi-firm alliance relationships.


Purpose: Some industries whose products are considered to have a negative effect on health and environment, are categorized as controversial industries. Empirical studies in such studies have not been widely carried out. Design/methodology/approach: This study was carried out in a controversial industry to examine the level of employee collectivism in the face of various challenges in this industry. The number of samples is 150 people, with the method of non purposive random sampling. Respondents were taken from several cigarette factories in Kudus. The method of analysis in this study is the multiple linear regression analysis, with SSPS testing reliability and validity, correlation, hypothesis testing, simultaneous effect and the coefficient of determination. Findings: The results demonstrate that in this industry, employees are trying to increase collectivism to strengthen solidarity in the workplace. Practical Implications: This findings can be used implementatively for management to improve the elements supporting the strengthening of employee commitment and increasing collectivism in the workplace. Theoretically, this finding is useful to know more about industrial relations and human resource management in controversial industries. Originality/value: The study examines how individual commitments can unite employees to continue working in controversial industries, and whether individual commitment can strengthen fellow employee relations.


Enhanced salt reabsorption by the kidney, which may arise from impaired regulation of proximal tubule Na(+)-K(+)-ATPase activity, has a central role in the pathogenesis of essential hypertension. Guanine nucleotide binding proteins (G proteins) are involved in many regulatory pathways and have been implicated in the regulation of proximal tubule Na(+)-K(+)-adenosinetriphosphatase (ATPase) activity. The present study was designed to evaluate further the regulation of Na(+)-K(+)-ATPase activity by G proteins in proximal tubule suspensions from Wistar-Kyoto rats (WKY) and to determine whether such regulation is abnormal in spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR). Cholera toxin (CTX) inhibited Na(+)-K(+)-ATPase activity by approximately 40% in WKY but had no effect on Na(+)-K(+)-ATPase activity in SHR. In WKY, pretreatment of tubules with pertussis toxin (PTX), followed by the application of dopamine, inhibited Na(+)-K(+)-ATPase activity significantly, compared with the inhibition produced by dopamine alone. In SHR, dopamine alone did not inhibit Na(+)-K(+)-ATPase activity. However, in the presence of PTX, dopamine inhibited Na(+)-K(+)-ATPase activity significantly. These studies indicate that the renal proximal tubule Na(+)-K(+)-ATPase in WKY is regulated by both a PTX- and CTX-sensitive G protein(s) and that this regulation is abnormal in SHR. Such a defect could cause enhanced sodium reabsorption in SHR and contribute to the pathogenesis of hypertension in this model.


Abstract: The barrier function of endothelial cells is known to be positively regulated by protein kinase A (PKA) and negatively regulated by protein kinase C (PKC). We found that exogenously administered GM3(NeuAc) promoted PKA activity in cultured brain microvascular endothelial cells (BMECs). Other glycolipids, including GM1, sulfoglucuronyl paragloboside, and GM3(NeuGc), did not have any effect on the PKA activity of BMECs. PC12 cells did not respond to exogenously applied GM3(NeuAc). GM3(NeuAc) also suppressed the PKC activity of BMECs. Thus, GM3(NeuAc) may function as a modulator of blood‐brain barrier function via the two different kinase systems.


This essay aims to investigate the possibility of a post-gender world, as posited by D. Haraway, and of the possibility of freedom for women within cyberspace, as proposed by S. Plant, by analyzing the dynamics of online gaming. It asserts that the cyberspace is a male-created and dominated world that does not allow for the emergence of the cyborg.


A new method for solving the discrete scattering problem for a linear single-valued difference operator of arbitrary order with almost constant coefficients is proposed. The treatment is concerned with the asymptotic behavior of its eigenfunctions as |t| → ∞. The purpose of the paper is to investigate the transition between the asymptotically free states of the underlying system, defined in terms of the monodromy operator. A rare mathematical tool is used: an infinite matrix product. It is shown that, if the coefficients of the aforementioned operator are suitably behaved, the monodromy operator exists in the form of the convergent two-sided infinite product of matrices associated with the matrix eigenvalue equation corresponding to the scattering problem. The application of the method to the solution of the scattering problem for Toda lattice equations is demonstrated. However, the approach is quite general and should be applicable to other forms of lattice equations.


This paper is based on an ongoing research on impact of cash crops on living standards under different farm and family conditions. Kenya relies on production of coffee and tea among other industrial cash crops to earn foreign exchange. The rural small scale coffee and tea farmers in Murang'a District do not understand much about foreign exchange but toil in their land every day, month, and year to earn some income from these crops. For many years, coffee farmers have earned handsomely from their farms. However, in the late 1980's, due to decline in coffee prices, competition in the world and wrangles in coffee co-operative societies among other factors, coffee farmers have found themselves in a very poor state financially and emotionally. In tea farming, the conditions in the market have also changed. Increased competition in the tea industry, high demands for high quality tea and as farmers claim, too many channels in tea marketing have drastically reduced their income. Due to early year's attractive income from the two crops, most farmers left little land for food production. The tea farmers spend all their time in their farms since tea grows through out the year. Production cost is therefore very high and with small farm sizes, both crops are not paying back. The farmers are now faced with double problem low income from cash crops and no food from their farms. The paper aims at assessing the impact of different farming practices and economic diversification on living standards. The paper will discuss to what extent the farmers have diversified and strategies which they have adapted to improve their living standards. The paper is motivated by the fact that despite low income from coffee and tea and little external assistance, the farmers have identified survival strategies to raise their living standards from total poverty.


hereby accept the Terms. Non-commercial uses of the work are permitted without any further permission from Dove Medical Press Limited, provided the work is properly attributed. For permission for commercial use of this work, please see paragraphs 4.2 and 5 of our Terms Abstract: The current study aimed at measuring whether coping flexibility is a reliable and valid construct in a UK sample and subsequently investigating the association between coping flexibility, optimism, and psychological health – measured by perceived stress and life satisfaction. A UK university undergraduate student sample (N=95) completed an online questionnaire. The study is among the first to examine the validity and reliability of the English version of a scale measuring coping flexibility in a Western population and is also the first to investigate the association between optimism and coping flexibility. The results revealed that the scale had good reliability overall; however, factor analysis revealed no support for the existing two-factor structure of the scale. Coping flexibility and optimism were found to be strongly correlated, and hierarchical regression analyses revealed that the interaction between them predicted a large proportion of the variance in both perceived stress and life satisfaction. In addition, structural equation modeling revealed that optimism completely mediated the relationship between coping flexibility and both perceived stress and life satisfaction. The findings add to the occupational stress literature to further our understanding of how optimism is important in psychological health. Furthermore, given that optimism is a personality trait, and consequently relatively stable, the study also provides preliminary support for the potential of targeting coping flexibility to improve psychological health in Western populations. These findings must be replicated, and further analyses of the English version of the Coping Flexibility Scale are needed.


As an important text coherence modeling task, sentence ordering aims to coherently organize a given set of unordered sentences. To achieve this goal, the most important step is to effectively capture and exploit global dependencies among these sentences. In this paper, we propose a novel and flexible external knowledge enhanced graph-based neural network for sentence ordering. Specifically, we first represent the input sentences as a graph, where various kinds of relations (i.e., entity-entity, sentence-sentence and entity-sentence) are exploited to make the graph representation more expressive and less noisy. Then, we introduce graph recurrent network to learn semantic representations of the sentences. To demonstrate the effectiveness of our model, we conduct experiments on several benchmark datasets. The experimental results and in-depth analysis show our model significantly outperforms the existing state-of-the-art models.


The usage of video surveillance systems increases more and more every year and protecting people privacy becomes a serious concern. In this paper, we present ASePPI, an Adaptive Scrambling enabling Privacy Protection and Intelligibility. It operates in the DCT domain within the H.264 standard. For each residual block of the luminance channel inside the region of interest, we encrypt the coefficients. Whereas encrypted coefficients appear as noise in the protected image, the DC value is dedicated to restore some of the original information. Thus, the proposed approach automatically adapts the level of protection according to the resolution of the region of interest. Comparing to existing methods, our framework provides better privacy protection with some flexibilities on the appearance of the protected version yielding better visibility of the scene for monitoring. Moreover, the impact on the source coding stream is negligible. Indeed, the results demonstrate a slight decrease in the quality of the reconstructed images and a small percentage of bits overhead.


Optimization algorithms for large margin multiclass recognizers are often too costly to handle ambitious problems with structured outputs and exponential numbers of classes. Optimization algorithms that rely on the full gradient are not effective because, unlike the solution, the gradient is not sparse and is very large. The LaRank algorithm sidesteps this difficulty by relying on a randomized exploration inspired by the perceptron algorithm. We show that this approach is competitive with gradient based optimizers on simple multiclass problems. Furthermore, a single LaRank pass over the training examples delivers test error rates that are nearly as good as those of the final solution.


AIM
The aims of this study are the development of a contrast enhanced ultrasonography (CEUS) protocol for rats' evaluation and the assessment of the potential benefits of CEUS in Walker 256 tumor rats.

MATERIAL AND METHOD
In the study were used 36 albino Wistar rats grafted subcutaneously with Walker 256 tumor. The implementation of the ultrasound (US) guided injection technique (30 subjects - group A) was performed between 4 to 8 weeks after implantation. The contrast agent (CA) - Sono Vue (Bracco) - was administered either into the lateral vein of the tail or directly into the heart under US guidance. The US validation, focusing on CEUS (6 subjects - group B) was realized at 4 to 6 weeks after implantation. The US procedures aimed to obtain morphological (2D), vascular (color Doppler and pulsed Doppler) and angiospecific functional data (CEUS). The Vevo 2100 equipment was used for US and Time Intensity Curves (TIC) were analyzed with Sonoliver (TomTec). The tumor specimens which were resected after the last study underwent a pathology exam.

RESULTS
A number of 23 successfully CEUS explorations were performed in 17 subjects (11 in group A and 6 in group B). Nineteen rats could not be evaluated (in 8 cases the tumor was not viable; 4 subjects died during CA administration; in 4 cases the administration line could not be obtained). In group B, CEUS was performed in 6 subjects at 4 weeks after implantation and in 5 subjects at 6 weeks. The statistical analysis of the TIC parameters identified significant differences between the Time to Peak, mean Transit Time and Rise Time parameters of the muscles and those of the tumor.

CONCLUSIONS
CEUS was easily implemented on the studied tumor model and is adequate for the evaluation of tumor vascularity. US guided intracardiac administration of the CA is an easy and reproducible procedure. If the examination is performed at defined time intervals it detects the alterations within the tumor circulatory bed.


State-of-the-art GaAs low-noise MESFET and monolithic amplifier have been fabricated using a high yield, planar, ion-implantation process. A 0.5 µm-gate FET has achieved 1.2 dB noise figure with 8.8 dB associated gain at 12 GHz and 1.7 dB noise figure with 6.6 dB associated gain at 18 GHz. A two-stage monolithic amplifier using this FET process has achieved 1.8 dB noise figure with 23.6 dB associated gain at 9.5 GHz. The dc yield of the amplifier chips is better than 40 percent.


This article reviews the use of electrotherapy for pain relief. Authors present the basis of the successfull electrotherapy to treat many types of pain. In addition, the article described neurophysiological and neurochemical mechanisms by which non-pharmacological methods like: direct current stimulation (DCS), microcurrent electrical therapy (MET), transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS), Bernard's currents and interferential currents demonstrate their efficacy.


This simple handbook is written by a health visitor and a school teacher on behalf ot the Sickle Cell Society. It is based on the experiences of these workers with the families who are having to 8pe with cases of sickle cell disease. lie handbook is well written and gives all the basic information about the disease covering briefly the causation, epidemiology, recognition of crises and the prevention of crisis situations. The inheritance of abnormal haemoglobin is explained with simple illustrations. The thirty questions and answers in Section II are very informative. Though the text is simple, I am not certain that an average Afro-Caribbean or an Asian parent would be able to understand it. However, the book should prove useful to midwives, health visitors and clinic nurses who often are the first point of contact in the Health Service, and therefore can allay the fears of a mother who has a child with sickle cell disease. In addition these


This paper investigates two accelerated primal-dual mirror dynamical approaches for smooth and nonsmooth convex optimization problems with affine and closed, convex set constraints. In the smooth case, an accelerated primal-dual mirror dynamical approach (APDMD) based on accelerated mirror descent and primal-dual framework is proposed and accelerated convergence properties of primal-dual gap, feasibility measure and the objective function value along with trajectories of APDMD are derived by the Lyapunov analysis method. Then, we extend APDMD into two distributed dynamical approaches to deal with two types of distributed smooth optimization problems, i.e., distributed constrained consensus problem (DCCP) and distributed extended monotropic optimization (DEMO) with accelerated convergence guarantees. Moreover, in the nonsmooth case, we propose a smoothing accelerated primal-dual mirror dynamical approach (SAPDMD) with the help of smoothing approximation technique and the above APDMD. We further also prove that primal-dual gap, objective function value and feasibility measure of SAPDMD have the same accelerated convergence properties as APDMD by choosing the appropriate smooth approximation parameters. Later, we propose two smoothing accelerated distributed dynamical approaches to deal with nonsmooth DEMO and DCCP to obtain accelerated and efficient solutions. Finally, numerical experiments are given to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed accelerated mirror dynamical approaches.


We tested the hypothesis that acidic atmospheric pollution deposition, originating from the South African central industrial area, poses an environmental threat across a larger region within the dispersal footprint. A network of 37 passive monitoring sites to measure SO2 and NO2 was operated from August 2005 to September 2007. The area extended over the entire northern and eastern interior of South Africa. Monitoring locations were chosen to avoid direct impacts from local sources such as towns, mines and highways. Dry deposition rates of SO2 and NO2 were calculated from the measured concentrations. Concentrations of sulphur and nitrogen species in wet deposition from a previous study were used in conjunction with measured rainfall for the years 2006 and 2007 to estimate the wet deposition over the region. The calculated total (non-organic) acidic deposition formed the basis for an assessment of exceedance of critical loads based on sensitivity of the regional soils. Regional soil sensitivity was determined by combining two major soil attributes available in the World Inventory of Soil Emission Potentials (International Soil Reference and Information Centre). Results indicate that certain parts of the central pollution source area on the South African Highveld have the potential for critical load exceedance, while limited areas downwind show lower levels of exceedance. Areas upwind and remote areas up and downwind, including forested areas of the Drakensberg escarpment, do not show any exceedance of the critical loads.


Sinomenine is one of the most widely known alkaloids owing to different therapeutic properties including anti-inflammatory and immunosuppressive activities, as well as the potency in neurodegenerative disorders, such as Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease. Sinomenine has been studied as a potential anti-inflammatory agent through appropriate structural modifications. Recently, a number of such approaches have been attempted in various laboratories with great success. Several series of derivatives have been synthesized with changes at rings A, B, C and D. Herein, we present an up to date review of modifications and bioactivities of important modified derivatives. These studies offer interesting knowledge on the bioactivity and structural specificity of sinomenine, providing better understanding of the structure-activity relationships (SAR) between designing and development of sinomenine derivative with better therapeutic and lower side effects.


This study presents the findings from 6- and 12-month follow-up assessments of 158 children ages 4–11 years who had experienced sexual abuse and who had been treated with Trauma-Focused Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT) with or without the inclusion of the trauma narrative (TN) treatment module and in 8 or 16 treatment sessions. Follow-up results indicated that the overall significant improvements across 14 outcome measures that had been reported at posttreatment were sustained 6 and 12 months after treatment and on two of these measures (child self-reported anxiety and parental emotional distress) there were additional improvements at the 12-month follow-up. Higher levels of child internalizing and depressive symptoms at pretreatment were predictive of the small minority of children who continued to meet full criteria for posttraumatic stress disorder at the 12-month follow-up. These results are discussed in the context of the extant TF-CBT treatment literature.


Background Dementia is common in Parkinson's disease (PD) but measures that track cognitive change in PD are lacking. Brain tissue iron accumulates with age and co-localises with pathological proteins linked to PD dementia such as amyloid. We used quantitative susceptibility mapping (QSM) to detect changes related to cognitive change in PD. Methods We assessed 100 patients with early-stage to mid-stage PD, and 37 age-matched controls using the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA), a validated clinical algorithm for risk of cognitive decline in PD, measures of visuoperceptual function and the Movement Disorders Society Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale part 3 (UPDRS-III). We investigated the association between these measures and QSM, an MRI technique sensitive to brain tissue iron content. Results We found QSM increases (consistent with higher brain tissue iron content) in PD compared with controls in prefrontal cortex and putamen (p<0.05 corrected for multiple comparisons). Whole brain regression analyses within the PD group identified QSM increases covarying: (1) with lower MoCA scores in the hippocampus and thalamus, (2) with poorer visual function and with higher dementia risk scores in parietal, frontal and medial occipital cortices, (3) with higher UPDRS-III scores in the putamen (all p<0.05 corrected for multiple comparisons). In contrast, atrophy, measured using voxel-based morphometry, showed no differences between groups, or in association with clinical measures. Conclusions Brain tissue iron, measured using QSM, can track cognitive involvement in PD. This may be useful to detect signs of early cognitive change to stratify groups for clinical trials and monitor disease progression.


The process of rehearsing and performing a choral piece involves numerous decisions by the conductor. One part of this decision-making is related to the sung text and includes aspects of diction that are not indicated by Western musical notation, for instance the exact instant of articulation of initial consonants. Although choices related to diction have consequences for elements such as clearness of enunciation, rhythmic precision, or intonation, only a few writings on choral conducting are explicit about them. This paper aims to discuss conductors' choices concerning the instant of articulation of initial consonants in choral performances of works sung in German. It compares conductors' theoretical suggestions with analyses of six recordings of Johann Sebastian Bach's movement Trotz dem alten Drachen, BWV 227/5, and four recordings of Franz Schubert's part-song An die Sonne, D439. Methods include analyses of writings on choral conducting, interviews with conductors, and analyses of recordings using the software programme Sonic Visualiser. Similarities are observed between the theoretical suggestions of conductors and the analysed recordings, however there are some striking differences, including conductors' underestimations of the actual duration of consonants. Analyses of the recordings reveal that initial consonants are nearly always anticipated (i.e., articulated ahead of the beat to which they are assigned). Exceptions to this concern the plosive [kʰ] and the second consonant of a cluster on occasion. Analyses of recordings also point to the impact on timing anticipation due to the consonant's surroundings and from the ability or otherwise for the sound of a consonant to be lengthened (i.e., its "lengthenability"). Evidence from the recordings is discussed in relation to conductors' varying theoretical suggestions on the articulation of consonants, flagging up inconsistencies as well as considering practicalities, and providing insights for choral conductors into the nuances of consonant articulation with ramifications for conducting pedagogy and future research.


Compression studies were conducted on the ligamentous thoracolumbar spines of fresh human male cadavers. For comparison, forces were applied to the posterior upper thoracic region of intact seated cadavers. Since thoracolumbar flexion injury routinely involves ligament failure and vertebral body wedge compression fractures, studies were conducted on single vertebral bodies and isolated ligaments. Similar studies were conducted in isolated monkey ligaments. The intact and ligamentous thoracolumbar spines failed predominantly in the region of the thoracolumbar junction at forces from 1113-5110 N. For both the human and monkey cadavers, the anterior longitudinal ligament was the strongest. The human ligaments were 2-5 times stronger than those of the monkey. For the covering abstract of the conference see HS-036 716. (Author/TRRL)


Altruism is an important omitted variable in much of the Political Economy literature. While material self-interest is the base of most approaches to redistribution (first affecting preferences and then politics and policy), there is a paucity of research on inequality aversion. I propose that other-regarding concerns influence redistribution preferences and that (1) they matter most to those in less material need and (2) they are conditional on the identity of the poor. Altruism is a luxury good most relevant to the rich, and it is most influential when the recipients of benefits are similar to those financing them. Using data from the European Social Survey from 2002 to 2010, I will show that group homogeneity magnifies (or limits) the importance of altruism for the rich. In making these distinctions between the poor and the rich, the arguments in this paper challenge some influential approaches to the politics of inequality.


The reaction of FePS3 single crystals with a 1.6M n-butyl lithium solution in n-hexane has been followed through de electrical conductivity measurements as a function of the intercalation time. In order to investigate the influence of lithium insertion on the FePS3 electronic properties we have also measured as a function of both temperature and intercalation time the de conductivity of equilibrated LixFePS3 single crystals. Upon lithium intercalation we have observed the following main effects: (i) an increase in the electrical conductivity, (ii) a simultaneous decrease in the activation energy, and (iii) a degenerate semiconductor behavior at the highest lithium content. In analogy to the LixNiPS3 systems, these results, discussed in terms of both the rigid band model and the so-called transition-metal weakly interacting one, seem to indicate that in the LixFePS3 complexes a new conduction mechanism appears at a different energy level from the beginning of the intercalation process with respect to the pure FePS3. Aiming at a better understanding of the still uncertain nature of reduction sites in the FePS3 lattice during lithium intercalation, we have also carried out Fourier transform infrared absorption measurements on single crystals of FePS3 and their lithium intercalation compounds at room temperature and in the frequency region from 800 to 3000 cm(-1). The results agree well with both the literature and the above conductivity data allowing a better identification of the lithium 2s electron accepting levels.


Optimization of production from unconventional reservoirs requires estimates of reservoir properties such as porosity, total organic carbon (TOC) content, clay content, fluid saturation, and fracture intensity. The porosity and TOC content help to determine reservoir quality, and the natural fracture intensity provides information important for the completion strategy. Because shale reservoirs display intrinsic anisotropy due to layering and the partial alignment of clay minerals and kerogen with the bedding plane, the minimum acceptable representation of the anisotropy of naturally fractured shale-gas reservoirs is orthotropy, in which a set of vertical compliant fractures is embedded in a vertical transverse isotropic (VTI) background medium. Full-azimuth seismic data are required to characterize such reservoirs and to invert for the anisotropic elastic properties. Orthotropic inversion uses azimuthally sectored seismic data stacked according to the incident angle. Even for high-fold acquisition, this azimuth/angle grouping can result in low-fold angle stacks. Orthotropic amplitude-variation-with-offset-and-azimuth (AVOAz) inversion requires seismic preconditioning techniques that ensure proper primary amplitude preservation, noise attenuation, and data alignment, and a workflow implemented for the construction of an orthotropic rock-physics model. This model integrates well and core data to estimate reservoir properties using the results of the AVOAz inversion. The seismic inversion results include the P- and S-impedance and parameters quantifying the azimuthal anisotropy. The rock model assumes a VTI kerogen-rich layer, containing aligned vertical fractures, and it uses prestack orthotropic AVOAz inversion results to predict porosity, TOC, and fracture intensity.


Economists tend to focus on monetary incentives. In the model developed here, both sociological and economic incentives are used to diminish the apparent moral hazard problem existing in commodity grading. Training that promotes graders' response to sociological incentives is shown to increase expected benefits. The model suggests this training be increased up to the point where the marginal benefit due to training equals its marginal cost. It may be more economical to influence the grader's behavior by creating cognitive dissonance through training and rules rather than by using economic incentives alone.


After a single-phase high-impedance fault (HIF) for low-resistance grounded distribution network (LRGDN) occurs, fault current level is very low and cannot be detected by conventional overcurrent relays. In this study, composite power of each feeder which is composed of complex power and its conjugate is defined, and a HIF protection method based on the composite power of each feeder is presented. For a sound feeder, the phase angle of the composite power is equal to 0, and its amplitude is approximately 0. However, for the faulty feeder, the phase angle of the composite power is π, and its amplitude is much greater than 0. Base on the above significant difference, the protection criterion for HIFs in the LGRDN can be obtained. Theory analysis and simulation results show that the proposed method does not need to check the polarities of the zero-sequence current transformers and is able to remove faulty feeder reliably. Besides, the protection can accurately operate for HIFs in the case of noise interference and unbalanced current. The experimental results based on RTDS also show the efficiency of the proposed method.


A family of multiblock copolymers consisting of alternating fully sulfonated hydrophilic poly(phenylene sulfone) and hydrophobic poly(phenylene ether sulfone) segments are prepared and characterized. The multiblock copolymers are formed by the coupling of preformed hydrophilic and hydrophobic blocks using a specially designed coupling agent. The block lengths (degree of polymerization) of both segment types were varied in order to control the ion exchange capacity. Solution cast films show spontaneous nanophase separation leading to distinct bicontinuous morphologies with correlation lengths around 15 nm. The hydrophobic phase gives the membranes their advantageous viscoelastic properties even at high temperatures under both wet and dry conditions, while proton conductivity takes place within the hydrophilic phase. Since the properties of fully sulfonated poly (phenylene sulfone)s are locally preserved within the hydrophilic domain, the membranes show very high proton conductivity and high hydrolytic stability. The very high degree of water dispersion within the hydrophilic domains leads to very low electro‐osmotic water drag. Because of their superior transport and stability properties these multiblock copolymers have a great potential for use as a substitute for perfluorosulfonic acid membranes which are used as separator materials in electrochemical applications such as polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) fuel cells and redox flow batteries.


We describe the first three-dimensional imaging of the termination of a continent-ocean fracture zone (COFZ), the Chain Fracture Zone, located offshore of the Niger Delta. The COFZ marks the abrupt transition between extended continental crust, comprising multiple half-graben, and oceanic crust that has a pervasive seafloor-spreading fabric. It preserves a history of continent-continent shearing followed by oceanic crust accretion and continent-ocean shearing during the inception of Atlantic rifting. The termination is marked by steeply dipping faults with sigmoidal planform and thrusts that probably formed as a result of continent-continent or continent-ocean shearing. These are crosscut by the seafloor-spreading fabric that formed during the subsequent phase of oceanic crust accretion. The accreted oceanic crust is cut by listric and planar faults that curve in the direction of the COFZ, where they terminate. The transition from continental to oceanic crust across the COFZ is sharp and resolvable to ∼100–200 m. Complexes of lava flows emanate from volcanoes along the COFZ, bifurcating and trifurcating down the volcano flanks. The volcanoes are 2–5.5 km wide and 1.4 km in height relative to adjacent oceanic crust and were injected at the COFZ, probably as the spreading center migrated along it.


The impact motherhood has on midwives and nurses should be understood by both those professionals within its own ranks and the greater UK health sector. These professions remain predominately female (89.3%) (NMC, 2007), and at some stage during their professional lives 90% become mothers, directly impacting on staffing levels and ultimately the care given to women and patients. The aim was to explore transition to motherhood for midwives and nurses, including their perceptions of its impact and implications on their professional lives. Twenty-two participants volunteered from the health professions of midwives and nurses (including health visitors) providing narratives through two sets of interviews. This article focuses on midwives' and nurses' knowledge levels and changes in professional practice resulting from their experiences of becoming a mother, childcare and treatment on return to work. Understanding these midwives' and nurses' unique perspectives may contribute to allaying the stress related to r...


Cyclophilin 40 (CyP40) is a tetratricopeptide repeat (TPR)-containing immunophilin and a modulator of steroid receptor function through its binding to heat shock protein 90 (Hsp90). Critical to this binding are the carboxyl-terminal MEEVD motif of Hsp90 and the TPR domain of CyP40. Two different models of the CyP40-MEEVD peptide interaction were used as the basis for a comprehensive mutational analysis of the Hsp90-interacting domain of CyP40. Using a carboxyl-terminal CyP40 construct as template, 24 amino acids from the TPR and flanking acidic and basic domains were individually mutated by site-directed mutagenesis, and the mutants were coexpressed in yeast with a carboxyl-terminal Hsp90β construct and qualitatively assessed for binding using a β-galactosidase filter assay. For quantitative assessment, mutants were expressed as glutathione S-transferase fusion proteins and assayed for binding to carboxyl-terminal Hsp90β using conventional pulldown and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay microtiter plate assays. Collectively, the models predict that the following TPR residues help define a binding groove for the MEEVD peptide: Lys-227, Asn-231, Phe-234, Ser-274, Asn-278, Lys-308, and Arg-312. Mutational analysis identified five of these residues (Lys-227, Asn-231, Asn-278, Lys-308, and Arg-312) as essential for Hsp90 binding. The other two residues (Phe-234 and Ser-274) and another three TPR domain residues not definitively associated with the binding groove (Leu-284, Lys-285, and Asp-329) are required for efficient Hsp90 binding. These data confirm the critical importance of the MEEVD binding groove in CyP40 for Hsp90 recognition and reveal that additional charged and hydrophobic residues within the CyP40 TPR domain are required for Hsp90 binding.


Background Previous work demonstrated that physical activity during pregnancy mediates the relationship between maternal insulin action and infant body composition. It could, therefore, be an important target for intervention to improve metabolic outcomes for pregnant women and reduce the risk of future obesity and diabetes in their offspring. This study examined the relationship between physical activity during pregnancy and offspring health. Methods Participants were 183 women recruited to the pilot phase of the UK Pregnancy Better Eating and Activity Trial (UPBEAT). Physical activity was assessed objectively by accelerometer at recruitment (16–18 weeks' gestation), at 27–28 weeks' gestation and at 35–36 weeks' gestation. The relationships between sedentary behaviour and moderate and vigorous physical activity (MVPA) and neonatal health were examined using Spearman partial correlations, adjusted for maternal age and body mass index. Results Valid accelerometry data were available for 140 women at baseline, 75 women at 27–28 weeks' gestation and 54 women at 35–36 weeks' gestation. Maternal sedentary time at 35–36 weeks' gestation was positively associated with infant abdominal circumference (Spearman correlation coefficient 0.435, p = 0.023) and head circumference (0.408, p = 0.035) and inversely associated with abdominal circumference at baseline (-0.333, p = 0.016). Sedentary time was not associated with these outcomes at 27–28 weeks' gestation. MVPA at 35–36 weeks' gestation was inversely associated with infant abdominal circumference (-0.466, p = 0.014) and head circumference (-0.443, p = 0.021). No associations between physical activity and birthweight were apparent. Conclusion This analysis supports previous work suggesting that physical activity during pregnancy is associated with indicators of offspring health and that maternal physical activity is an appropriate target for intervention to improve infant outcomes.


A comparative study is presented of the estimated wind load capacities of low-rise steel building frames based on loading patterns (magnitude and distribution) established from aerodynamic databases on the one hand, and on patterns specified in the ASCE 7 Standard on the other. The estimated capacities are based on the assumption, verified by numerous sets of calculations, and also used in the development of the ASCE 7 Standard, that the most unfavorable wind load occurs at the instant in time when the peak knee-joint bending moment is attained. The estimates are obtained from detailed inelastic finite element analyses of the frames with ultimate states associated with local and global instabilities. It is shown that the estimates based on the aerodynamic database are more realistic and risk consistent and can therefore lead to safer designs at lower costs. These estimates represent a significant advance over the ASCE 7 Standard-based estimates.


Effective project management, change management and risk management are key to the successful implementation of elearning. Connected to risk is the notion of unintended consequences, and it is with the issues and concerns surrounding the borrowing of the Failure Mode and Effects Analysis method for a research study to elicit the unintended consequences of the processes and policies put in place at one higher education institute in Ireland to facilitate the roll out of elearning there, that this paper is concerned. The Law of Unintended Consequences holds that any action undertaken can result in desirable and undesirable, as well as anticipated and unanticipated outcomes that fall beyond those originally intended. There is no research method readily available to the education researcher that is designed specifically to elicit this type of information, however, the Failure Mode and Effects Analysis (FMEA) method, native to the field of engineering, is a systematic and disciplined method designed to highlight the unintended or unanticipated consequences of all identifiable aspects of a system, design, process or service, thereby making it possible for procedures to be put in place to counteract, eliminate or plan ahead for the occurrence of any identified consequences, ultimately leading to increased success and quality. There is no set pattern to 'borrowing', and it is a common practice amongst researchers. However, it does bring with it many challenges as the researcher struggles to understand that which they wish to borrow in its traditional context in order to maintain its integrity as they adapt it and render it useful for an alternative context. This is not an impossible task, but one that requires a great deal of epistemological reflexivity on behalf of the researcher as they prepare for and execute the process. This paper will discuss issues surrounding 'borrowing' in general before going on to describe specifically the practical issues and concerns that arose when modifying the FMEA for use in the educational context.


Although digitisation offers multiple opportunities for rural areas, they still lag behind cities in terms of access and adoption of Internet-based services. This divide is the result of multiple market failures in both the demand and supply of broadband access, which have been addressed through public, private and community-led initiatives. Based on interviews and ethnographic analysis, this paper explores how a community network and a public-private partnership have contributed to promoting the delivery and adoption of superfast broadband in rural Cumbria, a county in the north of England. The case study analysis compares the outcomes of each model, highlighting their strengths and weaknesses. Although expanding the coverage of superfast broadband across the county, the publicprivate partnership did not solve the access divide afflicting the hardest to reach areas. Some of the latter were served by the community network, which relied on volunteers and demand aggregation to reduce the cost of fibre rollout. The scalability of this approach, however, has yet to be demonstrated. On the demand side, both initiatives achieved a high take-up proving that the rural 'adoption' divide has decreased over the years. Nevertheless, more needs to be done to ensure that rural communities and businesses are able to leverage the benefits deriving from superfast broadband.


Receptor interacting protein 140 (RIP140) is a versatile transcriptional co-repressor that contains several autonomous repressive domains (RDs). The N-terminal RD acts by recruiting histone deacetylases (HDACs). In a comprehensive proteomic analysis of RIP140 by MS, 11 phosphorylation sites of RIP140 are identified; among them five sites are located in the N-terminal RD including Ser104, Thr202, Thr207, Ser358, and Ser380. The role of phosphorylation of RIP140 in regulating its biological activity and the underlying mechanism are examined using a site-directed mutagenesis approach. Mutations mimicking constitutive phosphorylation or dephosphorylation are introduced. The N-terminal RD phosphorylation, mediated by the mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK), enhances its repressive activity through increased recruitment of HDAC. Mutations mimicking constitutive dephosphorylation at Thr202 or Thr207 significantly impair its repressive activity and HDAC recruitment, whereas mutation at Ser358 only slightly affects its HDAC recruitment and the repressive activity. Consistently, mutations mimicking constitutive phosphorylation at either Thr202 or Thr207 convert RIP140 into a more potent repressor, which is less responsive to a disturbance in the MAPK system. Furthermore, constitutive phosphorylation at both Thr202 and Thr207 residues renders RIP140 fully repressive and strongly interacting with HDAC. The activity of this mutant is resistant to the MAPK inhibitor, indicating an essential role for Thr202 and Thr207 in MAPK-mediated modulation of RIP140 function. The study provides insights into the modulation of RIP140 biological activity through a specific cellular signaling pathway that augments phosphorylation at specific residues of RIP140 molecule and alters its cofactor recruitment.


An overview is given of results achieved by F. Matúš on probabilistic conditional independence (CI). First, his axiomatic characterizations of stochastic functional dependence and unconditional independence are recalled. Then his elegant proof of discrete probabilistic representability of a matroid based on its linear representability over a finite field is recalled. It is explained that this result was a basis of his methodology for constructing a probabilistic representation of a given abstract CI structure. His embedding of matroids into (augmented) abstract CI structures is recalled and his contribution to the theory of semigraphoids is mentioned as well. Finally, his results on the characterization of probabilistic CI structures induced by four discrete random variables and by four regular Gaussian random variables are recalled. Partial probabilistic representability by binary random variables is also mentioned.


Objectives: To discuss methods for the assessment of creatinine clearance (Clcr) when serum creatinine (SCr) is not at steady state in order to estimate kidney function and apply the estimate to kidney function staging for clinical assessment or drug dosing. Data Sources: A PubMed search was conducted from 1976 to mid-January 2021 with other articles identified through review of bibliographies of retrieved articles and citations in Scopus. Study Selection and Data Extraction: Articles assessing Clcr under non–steady-state conditions and studies evaluating predictive equations were selected. Data Synthesis: When SCr is systematically changing (ie, trending up or down), kinetic methods to estimate Clcr are appropriate. Estimates from kinetic methods should be individual based and not indexed to body surface area, and careful monitoring is required to confirm predictions as the situation evolves. Standard methods intended for steady-state conditions should not be used to estimate Clcr in patients with unstable SCr. Relevance to Patient Care and Clinical Practice: Creatinine continues to be a monitoring parameter of choice and is an important variable in all the commonly used equations for estimating Clcr and most important for estimating glomerular filtration rate. However, standard methods of estimating Clcr for medication dosing are not accurate under non–steady-state conditions. Conclusion: The methods for kinetic clearance estimation and standards methods for clearance estimation, such as the Cockcroft-Gault equation, are mutually exclusive. There are no benefits of using the kinetic method in patients with stable SCr concentrations, and standard equations are not appropriate with unstable SCr concentrations.


This study is carried out to characterize the size distribution of exhaust particulate from gasoline engine. Accordingto the results,particulate number concentrations show bimodal size distribution including nucleation and accumulation mode below the range of 50nm in coldstarting. While in hot start state, number concentration with bimodal size distribution different from coldstarting are less than 40nm in size.The distribution of particulate number,surface area and particulate mass characterized by nucleation and accumulation distribution mode goes below 40nm,and the trends go up with the increase of engine speed.


The flow of the low-salinity Antarctic Intermediate Water (AAIW) at 700–1150 m depth across the Rio Grande Rise and the lower Santos Plateau is studied under the auspices of the World Ocean Circulation Experiment (WOCE) in the context of the Deep Basin Experiment. Our data set consists of several hydrographic sections, a collection of 15 RAFOS float trajectories, and records from 14 moored current meters. The data were gathered during different intervals between 1990 and 1994. The inferred flow field strongly supports a basinwide anticyclonic recirculation cell in the subtropical South Atlantic underneath the wind-driven gyre. Its center, which appears to be southeast of the Rio Grande Rise, separates the eastward advection of AAIW below the South Atlantic Current from the westward flowing, recirculating AAIW. The two near-shelf limbs closing the circumference of AAIW flow are formed in the east by the deep Benguela Current, potentially modulated by salty inflow of Indian Ocean Intermediate Water, and in the west by the Brazil Current system. Further important circulation elements are the Brazil-Falkland (Malvinas) Confluence Zone at 40°S and an unnamed divergence at 28°S close to the 1000 m isobath. The resulting broad southward flow of AAIW augments the share of modified, i.e., saltier, intermediate water in the source region of the South Atlantic Current, while the smaller northward flow marks the source of a narrow equatorward Western Intermediate Boundary Current, ultimately leaving the South Atlantic. This shelf-trapped jet is clearly documented in hydrographic data from 19°S and in nearby current meter records. The jet contrasts a sluggish flow across this latitude east of 35°W. A continuous flow of AAIW from its subpolar region in the southwestern Argentine Basin all along the western slope toward the equator appears unlikely between 35°S and 25°S.


We describe a new method of modeling duration at word level. These duration models are easily trained from the acoustic training data and can be used to rescore N−best lists of recognition hypotheses. The models capture some of the well known durational effects such as prepausal lengthening. They incorporate a simple back off mechanism to handle unseen words during rescoring. Experiments with various large vocabulary conversational speech recognition (LVCSR) evaluation sets showed consistent improvements of 0.7−1.0% in word error rate (WER).


A comprehensive understanding of the tip heat transfer characteristics is important to the blade tip design. In this work, the heat transfer coefficient (h) data of several multicavity tips were measured using a steady-state method with an infrared camera. The multicavity tips with different cavity numbers were developed by placing ribs into the traditional squealer tip. All the measurements were conducted in a low-speed plane cascade. Moreover, to gain insight into the heat transfer characteristics of the multicavity tips, computational simulations verified by measurements were implemented to acquire the detailed flow structure of these tips. Measurement results show that the h distributions of the multicavity tips are changed by the ribs. Due to the reattachment of the leakage flow, additional high-h regions are observed at downstream of the rib. And the h values in the suction-side rim corner increase, especially at near the trailing-edge. A low-h region is found in the corner upstream of the rib. Furthermore, adopting a high freestream turbulence level would enhance the heat transfer. The augment of h values on the tip front portion is more evident than that on the mid-to-rear part. The validation in a turbine stage indicates that the present data obtained in the stationary condition still could reveal the heat transfer characteristics of these multicavity tips in a rotating condition.


The tectonic significance of the Muness Phyllite, which overlies the Unst–Fetlar ophiolite in Shetland, Scottish Caledonides, is poorly understood. U–Pb analyses of detrital zircons show that it was deposited after c. 469 Ma. Early Paleozoic grains have εHf values of −0.3 to +12.3 and were probably derived from the extension of the Midland Valley arc. Psammite clasts and the matrix of the Muness Phyllite contain Proterozoic and Archean detrital zircons with age peaks of c. 1, 1.4–1.5, 1.6–1.7, 1.8–1.9 and 2.7 Ga. These are consistent with ultimate derivation from NE Laurentia sources and were probably recycled from the Neoproterozoic East Mainland Succession that underlies the Mesozoic East Shetland Basin. The Muness Phyllite is interpreted to have been deposited soon after the Grampian I orogeny in a successor basin that overstepped and received detritus from the Midland Valley arc, the East Mainland Succession and the Unst–Fetlar ophiolite. It was then deformed and metamorphosed, probably at c. 450 Ma during the Grampian II orogenic event. The Muness Phyllite therefore provides a record of middle to late Ordovician tectonic events along the Scottish sector of the Laurentian margin following ophiolite obduction. Supplementary material: Analytical details and instrumentation parameters and U–Pb and Lu–Hf isotopic data are available at https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.c.5324986


Black, A., Evans, J. C., Hadfield, Esme H., Macbeth, R. G., Morgan, A., and Walsh, M. (1974).British Journal of Industrial Medicine,31, 10-17. Impairment of nasal mucociliary clearance in woodworkers in the furniture industry. Measurements of mucociliary clearance from the anterior end of the middle turbinate were made using technetium-99m-labelled particles in nine woodworkers from the furniture industry and in 12 controls, none of whom had been occupationally exposed to wood dust. Clearance rates in the controls ranged from 1·9 to 18·5 mm min-1 with a mean of 6·8. These values are in good agreement with measurements reported elsewhere for normal subjects. Only one of the woodworkers had a clearance rate which fell within the normal range and he had been occupationally exposed for the shortest period (6 years). In four woodworkers clearance was very slow (< 1 mm min-1) and in three there was almost complete stasis. The results of this preliminary investigation suggest that nasal mucociliary function is significantly impaired in workers who have been exposed to wood dust in the furniture industry for more than 10 years.


The buckling delamination around the band cracks contained with the simply supported all edge-surface rectangular sandwich thick plate is investigated. It is assumed that the sandwich plate is composed of two face layers and a core layer. Face and core layers are made of different materials and it is assumed that there are two same cracks at the interfaces between the layers. Material of each layer is isotropic and homogeneous. For the solution procedure it is supposed that the surfaces of the cracks have insignificant initial imperfections. The development of this initial imperfection with an external compressive loading acting along the cracks is studied in the framework of the three dimensional geometrically nonlinear field equations of the elasticity theory and the piece-wise homogeneous body model. For the determination of the values of the critical force the initial imperfection criterion i.e. the case where the imperfection starts to increase and grows indefinitely, is used. The corresponding boundary value problems are solved by employing the boundary form perturbation techniques and the three dimensional FEM. The numerical results on the critical force are presented and analyzed. The influences of the material and geometrical parameters on these critical values are discussed.Copyright © 2010 by ASME


This paper is the opening chapter from EU Security and Justice Law: After Lisbon and Stockholm. The coming into force of the Lisbon Treaty has provided the EU with new powers in the fields of criminal law and security law while reinforcing existing powers in immigration and asylum law. The Stockholm Programme is the latest framework for EU action in the field of justice and home affairs. It includes a range of new legislation in the fields of immigration and asylum, substantive criminal law, criminal procedure and co-operation between national criminal justice systems. The combination of the new treaty and programme have made security and justice key areas of legislative growth in the EU. This volume brings together a range of leading scholars, as well as some of the most interesting new voices in the debate, to examine the state of EU security and justice law after the Lisbon Treaty and the Stockholm Programme. It provides a critical examination of EU law in the fields of immigration, asylum, counter-terrorism, citizenship, fundamental rights and external relations. The book also examines the evolving roles of the EU institutions and criminal justice agencies. It provides a critical account of EU law in this field under the developing constitutional and institutional settlement.


Various adverse symptoms resulting from exposure to very high-frequency sound (VHFS) and ultrasound (US) have previously been reported. This study aimed to establish whether these symptoms are experienced under controlled laboratory conditions and are specific to VHFS/US. To do this, participants were exposed to VHFS/US (at frequencies between 13.5 and 20 kHz and sound pressure levels between 82 and 92 dB) and to a 1 kHz reference stimulus, both at 25 dB above their hearing threshold. The VHFS/US and reference stimuli were presented 4 times, each time for 3 min, during which participants performed a sustained attention task, rated their symptom severity, and had their galvanic skin response (GSR) measured to assess their level of anxiety. Prior to exposure, participants were assigned either to a symptomatic or an asymptomatic group, based on their prior history of symptoms that they attributed to VHFS/US. In both groups, overall discomfort ratings were higher in the VHFS/US condition than the reference condition. In the symptomatic group only, difficulty concentrating and annoyance were also rated higher in the VHFS/US than the reference condition. No difference between the two stimulus conditions was seen in performance on the attention task or on average GSRs for either group.


This article explores battered immigrant women's use of protection orders. It presents an exploratory view of battered immigrant women's knowledge of protection orders, the reasons leading them to file for protection orders, the remedies they sought in the protection orders, their views on what would improve the process of obtaining protection orders, and their experiences with the violations of protection. One hundred and fifty-three abused immigrant women were recruited from agencies serving immigrants and interviewed by advocates they knew. The results showed that, like women from other marginalized populations, battered immigrant women were unaware of protection orders as legal remedies. Other results showed some commonalties between battered immigrant women's experiences and abused women from mainstream cultures in the United States. However, unique factors such as immigration-related abuse and the unpreparedness of the justice system to serve abused women with diverse needs require further research and more appropriate personnel training and policy.


The sunflower is one of the most important crops used for the production of biofuels. While the literature does contain some information, the hydric and nutritional requirements of sunflowers are still not completely defined. In order to correct this deficiency, an experiment was conducted at the Federal University of Campina Grande, Campina Grande, Paraiba State, Brazil, with the aim of evaluating the effect of nitrogen, phosphate, and potassium fertilization and available soil water (AW) on the behavior of Sunflower cv. Embrapa 122 V2000. The experiment consisted of 44 treatments with compound fertilizers using a Baconian Matrix (1: 0-0-0, 2: 0-80-80, 3: 80-80-80, 4: 100-80-80, 5: 60-0-80, 6: 60-100-80, 7: 60-120-80, 8: 60-80-0, 9: 60-80-80, 10: 60-80-100, 11: 60-80-120 kg ha-1 of N, P and K, respectively, and four difference quantities of available soil water (55, 70, 85 and 100%). The 9th compound fertilizer treatment was considered the reference since its doses are those used by the region's sunflower growers in Rio Grande do Norte State. The treatments were arranged in a completely randomized design with three replications. The height, stem diameter, number of leaves and leaf area of the plants were evaluated at 40 and 60 days after sowing. The results showed that the effects of available soil water and NPK fertilization on sunflower crop occurred independently for all variables except for the number of leaves. All variables increased linearly as a function of available soil water, except for leaf area. For the conditions studied, the doses 100, 80 and 80 kg ha-1 of N, P2O5 and K2O resulted in the highest growth rates, respectively.


Acute and chronic eosinophilic pneumonia can be distinguished by their clinical, laboratory, and radiographic features. Patients with both acute and chronic eosinophilic pneumonia present with cough, dyspnea, and fever. Patients with chronic eosinophilic pneumonia present subacutely over weeks to months but patients with acute eosinophilic pneumonia present within 5 days of symptom onset. Chest radio-graphs in chronic eosinophilic pneumonia show peripheral alveolar infiltrates. In contrast, radiographs in acute eosinophilic pneumonia show mixed interstitial and alveolar infiltrates, Kerley B lines, and pleural effusions. Both disorders are characterized by high percentages of bronchoalveolar lavage eosinophils, but high numbers of blood eosinophils accompanies only chronic eosinophilic pneumonia. The diagnosis of both disorders can usually be made based on clinical and radiographic findings; however, lung biopsy is occasionally necessary to distinguish the eosinophilic pneumonias from other eosinophilic lung diseases. In both conditions, patients will respond rapidly and completely to cortico-steroids but patients with chronic eosinophilic pneumonia usually relapse if less than 6 months of treatment is given, whereas patients with acute eosinophilic pneumonia do not relapse after a brief course of treatment.


TERMINAL FLOWER2 (TFL2) is the plant homologue of metazoan HETEROCHROMATIN PROTEIN1 (HP1) protein family. It is known that, unlike most HP1 proteins, TFL2 does not primarily localize to heterochromatin; instead it functions in regulation of specific genes in euchromatic regions. We show that the tfl2 mutant has a lower rate of auxin biosynthesis, resulting in low levels of auxin. In line with this, tfl2 mutants have lower levels of expression of auxin response genes and retain an auxin response. The reduced rate of auxin biosynthesis in tfl2 is correlated to the down-regulation of specific genes in the tryptophan-dependent auxin biosynthesis pathway, a sub-set of the YUCCA genes. In vivo, TFL2 is targeted to a number of the YUCCA genes in an auxin-dependent fashion revealing a role of TFL2 in auxin regulation, probably as a component of protein complexes affecting transcriptional control.


We performed a phylogenetic analysis of mtDNA variation among seven sympatric pairs of dwarf and normal morphotypes of whitefish from northern Québec and the St. John River drainage to address three questions relevant to understanding their radiation. Are all sympatric pairs reproductively isolated? Do phylogenetic analyses confirm that sympatric whitefish morphotypes found in eastern North America represent the outcome of polyphyletic evolutionary events? If so, did all sympatric pairs from the St. John River drainage originate from the same scenario of allopatric divergence and secondary contact? The hypothesis of genetic differentiation was supported for all sympatric pairs from the St. John River drainage, whereas lack of mtDNA diversity precluded any test of reproductive isolation for northern Québec populations. Patterns of mtDNA variation confirmed that dwarf and normal morphotypes evolved in parallel among independent, yet closely related, lineages, thus providing indirect evidence for the role of natural selection in promoting phenotypic radiation in whitefish. Patterns of mtDNA diversity among sympatric pairs of the St. John River indicated a complex picture of whitefish evolution that implied sympatric divergence and multiple allopatric divergence/secondary contact events on a small geographic scale. These results suggests that ecological opportunities, namely trophic niche availability, may promote population divergence in whitefish.


Throughout the world there is growing recognition of the vital contribution parks make to a healthy environment, to the health of individuals and to a healthy society. The natural environment and wildlife are also key elements of Australia's global tourism appeal and are attributes that differentiate Australia from competing tourism destinations. Within Australia, the state of Victoria is fortunate to have inherited a world-class network of parks and reserves, now accounting for more than 17% of the state. Parks Victoria is responsible for managing these national and state parks, marine national parks and sanctuaries, regional and major metropolitan parks and conservation reserves. These include many of the iconic locations on which Victoria is marketed, such as Port Campbell (the 12 Apostles), the Grampians and Wilsons Promontory National Parks. Parks Victoria receives over 70 million visits a year, making it one of the biggest tourism providers in Australia. Parks Victoria's overall role is to protect the natural and cultural values of the parks and other assets it manages, while providing a range of outdoor opportunities for all visitors. Its specific role in tourism is to work in partnership with industry, government and the community to facilitate appropriate and sustainable tourism on and for public land. During the past three years, Parks Victoria has worked closely with the tourism industry in recovering from significant regional bushfires. Innovative solutions have been developed to enable ongoing park tourism and address the challenges facing sustainable park tourism state-wide. This paper outlines these initiatives including the balance of protection and promotion, creation and maintenance of appropriate visitor facilities and services, recognition of the value of parks, and effective partnerships.


The First Aid Training among society has a huge effect in limiting the proportion of injuries. The pupil's dynamic in sports is practically on the danger of having wounds due to a pool of fundamental information to oversee sports wounds. This exploration study was led to determine the capability of the program on first aid training of the Pupils of schools. Seventy volunteer students were chosen arbitrarily for First Aid Training from government model secondary school Bhakkar, PunjabPakistan. At first, the medical aid information and abilities of the students have evaluated arbitrarily 70 game dynamic students. After that fourteen-day, First Aid Training was directed, through proficient Emergency Medical Technicians (EMTs) for those school students. After the fruition of First Aid Training, an overview was directed to know the adequacy of Training through a survey. The gathered information was dissected on (SPSS) rendition 20 the frequencies, rates, and t-test was performed. This examination demonstrated that First Aid Training improves the abilities and information on the students about First Aid.


In this paper, the distribution of temperatures on specimen and the variations in punch forces on friction coefficients during press forging of AZ31 sheets have been analyzed by Finite Element Analysis technique. Results show that the top of rib and boss areas showed lower temperatures than other areas because of the heat dissipation to air by radiation. The foot regions of the rib and boss showed greater temperature rise due to greater plastic flow. The applied punch force significantly increased at 473K or lower temperatures indicating the forming temperature of AZ31 sheet should not lower than 473K. The friction condition of the punch influenced more significantly on the materials flow pattern compared to those of the die. Using a lubricant on the contact area between the punch and specimen would effectively reduce the punch force and enhance the forming capability.


The reception of Benedict Anderson's ideas was very fruitful in many disciplines, and his work provided key concepts that can now throw a clarifying light in some blurry matters. The expression "imagined community" has known a remarkable proliferation, a situation that led to both the formation of a research direction and to the perpetuation of a cliche. In this respect, my article pointed out some suggestive characteristics of virtual communities, explaining why the imagined community is a valuable subject for the theorists of new media. The impossibility to know in person all the members of a big community is just one factor that determines its imagined face. Moreover, the set of values and inner presuppositions that guide the members are important bricks in the construction of community. In my opinion, the virtual community is imagined as a multi-layered experience (technological, conversational, relational etc.). The dynamic of a virtual community contains the tension amongst these layers and the degree of its imagined side depends on multiple factors. In order to illustrate these aspects, I gave a brief example by analysing a Romanian virtual community, using the triad common language – temporality – high centers. In spite of its limitations, the perspectives offered by this concept are still useful for understanding the nature of online communities. Thus, the imagined community is a valuable set of beliefs and practices that underlie and bolster the effective meaning and functioning of the virtual communities.


Although the replacement of feathers apparently represents the major event of somatic production in the annual cycle of wild birds, knowledge about the energetics of molt has always been hampered by logistical and technical difficulties, which are exacerbated by the fact that birds are able to compensate behaviorally to buffer any variation in energy demand. During wing molt, sea ducks (Mergini) and other diving birds lose all of their wing feathers at once, leading to a period of temporary flightlessness of variable duration, a condition that considerably restricts their movements and increases the probability of predation. In the present study, we present the first results aimed at quantifying the duration of flightlessness, energy expenditure, and foraging effort during molt of a wing-propelled diving bird, the Common Eider (Somateria mollissima). Data loggers were implanted in the body cavity of 13 females to record heart rate and hydrostatic pressure (depth) every two seconds for a period of 220 days. Flight frequency and duration were assessed from elevated and constant heart rate, and the absence of flight was used to quantify the duration of flightlessness, which lasted, on average, 36 +/- 8 days (mean +/- SD). Using a period of four weeks before and four weeks after the flightless period, we found that dive depth (ranging from 1 to 2 m, on average) and daily diving time did not vary during the course of the study. Daily metabolic rate increased by 9%, and resting metabolic rate by 12% from the pre-molt period to the flightless period and remained high during the post-molt period. This study indicates that the energetic costs of replacing flight remiges in female eiders are substantial, although this is not associated with any change in foraging effort, which suggests that female Common Eiders lose mass during wing molt. Finally, estimates of energy savings associated with the total absence of flights during wing molt represent 6% of daily metabolic rate or 14% of resting metabolic rate. This finding contrasts with the classical view that little or no benefit is associated with a flightless condition. We suggest that such energy savings may have favored the evolution of temporary flightlessness in diving birds.


Molten salts and fused media provide the key properties and the theory of molten salts, as well as aspects of fused salts chemistry, helping you generate new ideas and applications for fused salts. Molten Salts Chemistry: From Lab to Applications examines how the electrical and thermal properties of molten salts, and generally low vapour pressure are well adapted to high temperature chemistry, enabling fast reaction rates. It also explains how their ability to dissolve many inorganic compounds such as oxides, nitrides, carbides and other salts make molten salts ideal as solvents in electrometallurgy, metal coating, treatment of by-products and energy conversion. This book also reviews newer applications of molten salts including materials for energy storage such as carbon nano-particles for efficient super capacitors, high capacity molten salt batteries and for heat transport and storage in solar plants. In addition, owing to their high thermal stability, they are considered as ideal candidates for the development of safer nuclear reactors and for the treatment of nuclear waste, especially to separate actinides from lanthanides by electrorefining. It explains the theory and properties of molten salts to help scientists understand these unique liquids. It provides an ideal introduction to this expanding field. It includes illustrated text with key real-life applications of molten salts in synthesis, energy, nuclear, and metal extraction.


JACOBSEN, N.O. 1984. Estimates of pup production, age at first parturition and natural mortality for hooded seals in the West Ice. FiskDir. Ser. HavUnders., 17: 483-498. An analysis of the population of hooded seals breeding in the West Ice near Jan Mayen was carried out on the basis of catch statistics for 19461978 and age samples comprising a total of 5 094 four years old and older breeding females. A deterministic population model for females without density dependent control was constructed and applied to estimate pup production, age at first parturition and natural mortality. The method was based on minimizing devations between the age structure of the hypothetic population generated by the model and the age composition in samples. The mean age at first parturition was estimated to 4.9 years. Production was estimated to 95 000 pups in 1956 (samples collected in 1961-1965) and 54 000 pups in 1978 (samples 1972-1978). Combining these figures in the model, instantaneous natural mortality was estimated to 0.12. By projection, pup production in 1979 was estimated to 50 000 pups from a population of 100 000 females. These figures are, however, very sensitive to the estimate of natural mortality.


A modified Monte Carlo algorithm for single-phase normal grain growth is presented, which allows one to simulate the time development of the microstructure of very large grain ensembles in two and three dimensions. The emphasis of the present work lies on the investigation of the interrelation between the local geometric properties of the grain network and the grain size distribution in the quasi-stationary self-similar growth regime. It is found that the topological size correlations between neighbouring grains and the resulting average statistical growth law both in two and three dimensions deviate strongly from the assumptions underlying the classical Lifshitz- Sloyzov-Hillert theory. The average local geometric properties of the simulated grain structures are used in a statistical mean-field theory to calculate the grain size distribution functions analytically. By comparison of the theoretical results with the simulated grain size distributions it is shown how far normal grain growth in two and three dimensions can successfully be described by a mean-field theory and how stochastic fluctuations in the average growth law must be taken into account.


Pest management can have substantial impacts on non-target species both within and outside the units being managed. Assessment of these impacts is hampered by the lack of even the most basic checklist of the species present in most systems. The maize agroecosytem is of particular interest because of the large area covered and the intensity of widely varying forms of pest management. In this study a database of lepidopteran species that occur within the maize agroecosystem in the United States was compiled. The process was initiated by developing a list of plants present in maize using published sources and the first-hand knowledge of "weed" experts. This list of plant species associated with maize was then cross-listed with lepidopteran host feeding records using published sources. Finally, phenological profiles and conservation rankings were added. Although our list is not exhaustive, we found 132 plant species in 33 families associated with maize, and 229 lepidopteran species in 21 families that feed on these plants. The database of plants and lepidopteran species can be a starting point for assessment of risk to non-target Lepidoptera in maize from chemical control, biological control, and the use of transgenic Bt maize. The lepidopteran species associated with maize were found to be significantly less imperiled, as measured by their conservation rankings, than lepidopteran species as a whole in all habitats. This finding suggests that rare or endangered lepidopteran species are unlikely to be impacted by pest management in maize. Based on the likely lack of impact of pest management in maize on individual species, future studies should focus on potential impacts on the ecological services that lepidopteran species provide.


Author(s): Ma, Qi | Abstract: Enhancers are well established and are known to be important genomic regulatory elements, which play an essential role in coding gene transcription regulation. They have a significant impact on multiple epigenetic regulatory events including development and disease. The use of high performance sequencing technologies coupled with bioinformatic analysis has been widely applied in epigenetic research, and many models for enhancer regulatory mechanisms have been proposed and studied. But the research process is still incomplete with many questions remaining. Recently, there has been increasing evidence leading us to believe that in the nuclei, there are multiple layers of epigenetic factors influencing enhancer function in genome-wide effects, such as eRNA expression on enhancers, recruitment of diversified combinatory transcription factors on enhancers, spatial epigenetics, and kinetic epigenetics. In my projects described in Chapter 1, I show that ligand dependent eRNA induction on enhancers is a significant mark of active/ functional enhancers, which affects enhancer targeted coding gene transcription activation. In Chapter 2, I identify one type of unique anti-pause enhancer (A-PEs), JMJD6/BRD4 co-bound enhancers, which regulate their target genes transcription by Polymerase II promoter proximal pause release. This research provided one important example showing that enhancers function by loading combinatory transcription factors biochemical properties assembly. In Chapter 3, I demonstrate that nuclear organization and nuclear local environmental play an important role in regulating gene transcriptional activation. My studies have described that Pit1 (homo- domain transcription factor) bound enhancers require a supportive environment, which is under collaboration with nuclear matrix, matrin-3 to fully function on their targeted gene transcription activation. In Chapter 4, I perform the existence of burst transcription in MCF7 cell system by implementing the method of time-course traveling ratio plots based on using time-course GRO-seq data. This has allowed us to understand the kinetic epigenetic mechanism beneath the cellular multi-steps cyclic regulatory process. I propose that the assembly of combinatory multiple transcription factors is processed kinetically in a time manner to cyclically regulate Pol-II polymerases on their targeted coding gene promoter proximal region from a transiting status among non- productive initiation, pausing, and productive elongation status for transcriptional regulation


Developing successful service concepts has to rely on the efficient exploitation of knowledge about everyday life. This design thinking is called life-based design (LBD) and it is based on examining different aspects of forms of life as a starting point for technology design. Here, we consider LBD in the context of reducing the feeling of loneliness. Via the implementation of focus groups, we studied how different age groups experienced loneliness, and examined whether generational formation could give insight into analysing different life situations and forms of life in the context of social relationships. Exploring forms of life is a focal tool of LBD, stressing the importance of understanding the cultural, social and psychological facts and values that would explain people's actions in a particular life situation. Finally, we suggest an integrated service system to decrease the feeling of loneliness.


Nanotechnology is considered as one of the key techniques that provide unique materials with high reactivity due to large surface to volume ratio and which could address the fundamental issues in water sector and environment. The present study investigates the efficiency of magnetic iron oxide nanoparticles in wastewater treatment based on Central Composite Face centered (CCF) matrix of response surface methodology for the reduction of turbidity and total nitrogen. The multiple linear regression fit (MLR) obtained for turbidity (r2 0.97) and total nitrogen reduction (r 0.94) supports the future predictions obtaining a significant model. The maximum reduction of turbidity and total nitrogen achieved was 93% and 41% respectively. Other contaminants such as color, total organic carbon, nitrate and microbial content could be reduced. The present study reveals that magnetic property, time and reduction of pollutants by magnetic nanoparticles could impart an efficient treatment process.


Throughout history there has been considerable speculation about the possibility of a link between creative expression and mental distress. Plato described artistic talent as "madness that comes from God", and Aristotle claimed that "all men who are outstanding in … the arts are melancholic".1 In recent years the relationship betweenship creativity and mental distress has been explored in retrospective studies which have compared levels of mental disorder among successful artists with those among the general public. Andreasen2 reported that among a sample of 30 well known authors 24 had experienced depression, and 13 had received treatment for bipolar affective disorder. Schildkraut and colleagues3 reported that 40% of notable abstract expressionists sought treatment for mental disorder and 20% were hospitalised for psychiatric problems.

There has also been longstanding interest in the role that the creative arts may play in helping people adapt to, or recover from, mental disorder. Healthcare staff have used art materials, music and creative writing for many years, a tradition which is especially strong in China, Japan and other parts of the Far East. In Europe and the US, artists who were interested in the creative abilities of people who experience mental distress began working in asylums in the first half of the 20th century.1 However it was not until the 1940s that more formal efforts were made to combine the use of art materials and psychotherapy as the basis for "arts therapies".4 Since then professional bodies have been established which regulate training of arts therapists. This includes a requirement to obtain a primary arts-based degree and specialist training in one of the arts therapies.

Four main arts therapies are currently provided in the UK: art therapy, dance movement therapy, drama therapy, and music therapy. While each employs a variety of different techniques …


: The current paper presents a new simple and clear and implementation method for prototype Electro-pneumatic prototype elevator system. The controller used for the prototype was implemented in Ladder logic on a PLC. The PLC used for this work is (LS\GLOFA-G7M-DR20A) series with (8) input and (12) output. This elevator system can be used for learning the structure of the elevator as well as the control strategy involved in elevator system for educational purposes. The research work can serve in learning enhancement for the undergraduate's students in the Electromechanical Department in the University of Technology.