The pervasive impact of invasive species has motivated considerable research to understand how characteristics of invaded communities, such as native species diversity, affect the establishment of invasive species. Efforts to identify general mechanisms that limit invasion success, however, have been frustrated by disagreement between landscape-scale observations that generally find a positive relationship between native diversity and invasibility and smaller-scale experiments that consistently reveal competitive interactions that generate the opposite relationship. Here we experimentally elucidate the mechanism explaining the large-scale positive associations between invasion success and native intertidal diversity revealed in our landscape-scale surveys of New England shorelines. Experimental manipulations revealed this large-scale pattern is driven by a facilitation cascade where ecosystem-engineering species interact nonlinearly to enhance native diversity and invasion success by alleviating thermal stress and substrate instability. Our findings reveal that large-scale diversity-invasion relationships can be explained by small-scale positive interactions that commonly occur across multiple trophic levels and functional groups. We argue that facilitation has played an important but unrecognized role in the invasion of other well studied systems, and will be of increasing importance with anticipated climate change.


The long term trial, on a Templeton fine sandy loam, is a factorial combination of 3 pasture swards (pure WL320 lucerne, lucerne-'Grasslands Matua' prairie grass and lucerne-'Grasslands Maru' phalaris) and 2 grazing durations (long and short). The O&I-ha plots were sown in November 1986 with lucerne drilled across the grass rows. For the water use study, in 1988-89, 8 m* mini plots of pure lucerne, lucerne-phalaris, and lucerne-prairie in deep or shallow soil were selected. Pure lucerne plots produced annual dry matter (DM) yields of 12700 kg/ha, lucerne-phalaris 11600 and lucerne-prairie 10400. Deep soils had higher production (12600 kg/ha) than did shallow soils (10900 kg/ha). The lucerne-phalaris mixture had about 75-95% lucerne, while lucerne in the lucerne-prairie mixture ranged from 25% in winter to 65% in summer. The lucerne-prairie plots with deep soilSliad at last 60% lucerne while shallow soils had as little as 25%. Mean water use efficiency (WUE) was 25, 22 and 20 kg DM/ha/mm for pure lucerne, lucernephalaris and lucetne-prairie, respectively. Shallow soils had WUE of 21 kg DM/ha/mm H,O and deep soils 24 kg DM/ha/mm. Soil water extraction 'patterns differed little in shallow soils, but in deep soils pure lucerne extracted water to at least 100 cm while lucernephalaris and lucerne-prairie extracted soil moisture down to about 80 cm. Lucerne and phalaris roots were both found down to 90 cm and from O-20 cm most of the root mass was lucerne. With the lucerne-prairie mixture from O-20 cm, root mass was about 50% for each species and lucerne root mass was significantly reduced below 50 cm.


The optical properties of an aerosol of given mass concentration are derived from Mie theory. The visibility is calculated, via the optical extinction coefficient, for several log-normal distributions of carbon particles. Normalizing the optical cross sections of particles by their mass allows clear identification of the diameters at which scattering, absorption, and extinction are greatest. For highly absorbing particles this occurs in the 0.15-0.5-lambda diameter range.


The interaction between carbon buckminsterfullerene (C60) and carbon nanohorns (also referred to as nanocones) with different tip angles is investigated theoretically. Attachment of C60 to both the interior and the exterior of the horns are considered. Calculations cover a range of cone angles from flat graphene, through 114 degrees, 84 degrees, 60 degrees, 39 degrees and 20 degrees to fullerene pair interaction. Full DFT/LDA calculations are performed and the influence of dispersion forces are considered independently using a numerical potential. Fullerenes bind weakly to the external nanocone wall with approximately 2.9 angstroms spacing (0.5-0.9 eV binding energy), showing no discernable trend with cone tip angle. Fullerene binding inside cones is significantly stronger (> 3 eV), primarily due to strong dispersion force interactions, with higher (approximately 3.1 angstroms) fullerene-nanohorn spacing. In this case, the binding energy increases with number of pentagons in the tip. In all cases the fullerenes will be freely rotating below liquid nitrogen temperatures. For pristine cones and fullerenes, the fullerenes will experience a driving force towards (away) from the nanohorn tip when inside (outside) the nanohorn.


Political mechanisms of accountability were marginalized by Conservative government reforms during the 1980s and 1990s which sought a more market-oriented approach within the public sector in order to enhance 'consumerism'. In education, parents were given more choice between schools and were provided with more information on school performance. The promotion of market accountability has involved a reduction in the powers of local education authorities (LEAs) which had been central to the operation of political accountability. However, whilst market-based forms of accountability were firmly enhanced in principle by the legislation, to what extent have the forms of accountability operating within LEAs changed in practice? Interviews with Chief Officers and the Chair of the Education Committee are used to identify changing perceptions and practices of accountability in LEAs in Wales. The findings indicate that although local politicians and officials have been forced to operate within the legislative framework of market accountability, they have sought to impede its successful implementation. The policy community in Wales facilitated the LEAs' capacity to respond in this way. The market-based reforms conflicted with fundamental values held in Wales, which remain those of professional accountability.


Enteroviruses, hepatitis A virus (HAV) and other enteric viruses can survive wastewater treatment processes, even after chlorination, and are found in the final effluents. These viruses can be detected by cell culture techniques with observations for cytopathic effect (CPE). Recently molecular detection of viral nucleic acids has been used. Most viruses found in wastewater are RNA viruses and RT-PCR is a rapid and sensitive method to detect these single-strand RNA enteric viruses. This methodology does not distinguish between infectious and non-infectious viruses. Viruses inactivated in the treatment process can be detected but do not pose a public health threat.

Methods are needed to quickly distinguish the infectious viruses from inactivated viruses, both of which may be present in effluents. In this project we investigated the use of a method that combines cell culture and molecular detection. If a sample contains viruses that replicate in cell culture even without CPE, the proof of replication can be demonstrated by the detection of a replicative form (RF) in cell culture that is only present during replication of infectious RNA viruses. A negative sense strand of RNA is generated from the viral positive strand virus, and these two are found primarily bound in a replicative form. This RNA was specifically detected by RT-PCR, including the positive and negative strands. This assay was developed and explored for the detection of low levels of CVB3 and HAV laboratory strains first and then for low levels of wild-type enteroviruses isolated from sewage samples.

As few as four infectious units of wild-type enteroviruses, contained in 2.0 ml of water concentrate prepared from 600 ml of treated wastewater effluent, could be detected within two days. Treated wastewater effluents were collected weekly over an 18 months period, and viruses were concentrated with a developed method. About 7% of the final effluent wastewater samples were found positive for infectious enterovirus with the developed RF method, although only 1% of the samples were positive by presence of cytopathic effect. This method avoids the use of two complete cycles of cell culture to detect infectious virus, while confirming infectivity with a molecular method.

This title belongs to WERF Research Report Series

ISBN: 9781780404295 (eBook)

ISBN: 9781843397229 (Print)


Aims: To investigate alveolar bone dimensions in the anterior segment of maxilla and mandible in 2 age group samples; adolescents and adults. Materials and Methods: Cephalometric radiographs of 60 adolescent (30 males and 30 females) and 60 adult subjects (30 males and 30 females) with Class I normal occlusion were included in this study. The anterior alveolar segment was assessed using several parameters that measure the thickness (labial and lingual) and height of alveolar bone surrounding upper and lower incisors. Upper and lower incisor inclination and palatomandibular plane (PMP) angle were also measured. Independent samples t– test and Pearson correlation coefficient were used for data analysis. Results: Sexual dimorphism was noticed in labial and palatal alveolar bone thickness of maxilla for both adolescent and adult subjects. Adult males also demonstrated significantly higher values for lower alveolar height and symphysis width than females. The comparison between 2 age groups revealed no significant difference for most variables and the most evident finding was the significantly higher values reported for upper and lower alveolar heights and symphysis width in adult males compared to adolescent males. The results of correlation analysis showed that upper incisor inclination has positive correlation with upper labial alveolar width and negative correlation with palatal alveolar width indicating that thinner palatal bone thickness is associated with more proclined upper incisors. Labial alveolar bone thickness at apical level of maxilla and mandible showed negative correlation with upper and lower alveolar heights in both age groups and with PMP angle in adults only. While, symphysis width showed positive correlation with the width of lingual alveolar bone and with alveolar heights. Conclusions: No significant differences were found between the 2 age groups, however in both adolescents and adults anterior alveolar dimensions showed sexual dimorphism and correlations with other cephalometric parameters.


This paper argues that for the study and facilitation of collaborative learning, existing theories of grounding such as that of Clark and Shaefer [5] cannot be applied without adjustments. When comparing collaborative learning and conversation, four dimensions can be identified where grounding at a knowledge level differs from the grounding at an utterance level. Firstly, the indirect access and the existence of a range of manifest meanings, poses the need for a notion of `groundedness'. Secondly, we propose providing evidence in `co-referenced actions' to be an important process as well as an additional marker to assess grounding. Thirdly, instead of simply repairing misunderstandings after they arise, `perspective taking' becomes a more prominent mechanism. Fourthly, effort into grounding is turned from needing to be minimised, into needing to be `optimised'.


The glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor (GLP-1R) is a key regulator of blood glucose and a prime target for the treatment of type II diabetes and obesity with multiple public drugs. Here we present a comprehensive computational analysis of the interactions of the activated GLP-1R-Gs signaling complex with a G protein biased agonist, Exendin P5 (ExP5), which possesses a unique N-terminal sequence responsible for the signal bias. Using a refined all-atom model of the ExP5-GLP-1R-Gs complex in molecular dynamics (MD) simulations, we propose a novel mechanism of conformation transduction in which the unique interaction network of ExP5 N-terminus propagates the binding signal across an array of conserved residues at the transmembrane domain to enhance Gs protein coupling at the cytoplasmic end of the receptor. Our simulations reveal previously unobserved interactions important for activation by ExP5 toward GDP-GTP signaling, providing new insights into the mechanism of class B G protein-coupled receptor (GPCR) signaling. These findings offer a framework for the structure-based design of more effective therapeutics.


In the event of an emergency due to a fire or other crisis, a necessary but time consuming pre-requisite, that could delay the real rescue operation, is to establish whether the ground or area can be entered safely by human emergency workers. The objective of the VIEW-FINDER project is to develop robots which have the primary task of gathering data. The robots are equipped with sensors that detect the presence of chemicals and, in parallel, image data is collected and forwarded to an advanced Control station (COC). The robots will be equipped with a wide array of chemical sensors, on-board cameras, Laser and other sensors to enhance scene understanding and reconstruction. At the Base Station (BS) the data is processed and combined with geographical information originating from a web of sources; thus providing the personnel leading the operation with in-situ processed data that can improve decision making. This paper will focus on the Crisis Management Information System that has been developed for improving a Disaster Management Action Plan and for linking the Control Station with a out-site Crisis Management Centre, and on the software tools implemented on the mobile robot gathering data in the outdoor area of the crisis.


In this paper, an Infrared Sulfur Analyzer is set to measure the desulphurization degree during thermal decomposition of phosphor-gypsum, which provides a much quick, convenient, continuous and accurate method. It might be considered as an effective way to study kinetics of phosphor-gypsum (or phosphogypsum) thermal decomposition (or pyrolysis). With the help of this method, the desulphurization degree and desulphurization rate of broadly constituted phosphor-gypsum samples in the temperature range of 1250-1400°C were studied. The experimental results show that the desulphurization degree increase with the rising of temperature in the range of 1250-1300°C quickly, however, this increase is not obvious when the temperature is above 1300°C. Besides, the corresponding regression equations are obtained. The decomposition degree of phosphor-gypsum could be judged according to the regression equations mentioned above.


Fluorocarbons are known to be stiffer than their hydrocarbon analogues, a property that underlines the extensive industrial application of fluorocarbon materials. Although there has been previous studies on the rotational barrier of molecules having fluorocarbon centers, a detailed systematic study is necessary to quantify flurocarbon stiffness. The molecules, Pyrene-(CF2)n-Pyrene, Pyrene-(CF2)n-F, Pyrene-(CH2)n-Pyrene and Pyrene-(CH2)n-H were therefore synthesized to enable the determination of the barrier to rotation of the carbon backbone in fluorocarbons. Conformational studies will be completed with steady-state and time-dependent emission spectroscopy.


OBJECTIVE
The objective of this study is to evaluate the benefits of drainage in the Stoppa procedure for inguinal repair.

PATIENTS AND METHODS
The use of a suction drain was randomized at the end of the surgical intervention in 26 male patients undergoing inguinal hernia repair, divided into 2 groups: Group A, 12 patients undergoing drainage, and group B, 14 patients not undergoing drainage. On the second postoperative day, all patients underwent abdominal pelvic computed tomography scan examination to detect the presence of abdominal fluid collection.

RESULTS
In group A, no patient developed fluid collection in the preperitoneal space, and 1 patient presented with an abscess in the preperitoneal space on the 15th postoperative day. In group B, 12 patients presented with fluid collections in the preperitoneal space on computed tomography scan evaluation. However, only 3 patients presented minor complications. None of the patients developed a major complication.

CONCLUSION
The use of suction drainage with the Stoppa procedure does not provide any benefit.


Composite actuators consisting of sheets of the solid polymer electrolyte (similar to Nafion(R)) with Cu2+ counter-ions inserted and coated with platinum and copper metal layers (so-called Ionomeric Polymer-Metal Composites; IPMCs) have been synthesised and their electromechanical performance upon actuation has been monitored. Resistance measurements on the electrodes show that the electrical conductivity of the membranes metal surface increases on the cathode side during the actuation process, contradictory to the situation when Cu is absent from the metal coating. This phenomenon is explained by the subsequent reduction of Cu2+ ions on the cathode upon actuation; Cu layer growth in this side prevents it from cracking and decreases its electrode resistance. The phenomenon opens up for longer life-times for Cu-based IPMCs. However, additional problems with Cu layer oxidation and Cu dendrite growth on the electrodes should be considered.


Umbilical cable is composed of electronic cables, optical cables, steel tubes and structural strengthening components, which can be regarded as a key industrial equipment integrating mechanical and electronic functions. Especially, when it is oriented at the power supply with a relatively high rated voltage, the power transmission will produce a large amount of heat with the sectional temperature rising up, which impacts on the material performance and mechanical responses of the cable and even the whole umbilical. Therefore, the thermo-elastic analysis is the critical technology in the cross-sectional design of umbilical cable. Analytical and numerical methods are proposed to conduct the thermo-elastic analysis of the cross-section. Firstly, the steady-state thermal analysis of cross-section of the umbilical cable is implemented, and the thermal field distribution with different cable ampacity is obtained. Then, the thermo-elastic coupled analysis of the cross-section is presented. It is found that the results are quite different from that of static mechanical analysis, which provide a helpful guide for the design of umbilical structures.


In Greek Mythology the Titan Atlas was condemned by Zeus to bear the weight of the sky upon his shoulders as punishment for his rebellion. This paper explores just how titanic in stature a humanoid Atlas would have to be to perform such a task.


The relevance of this study is due to the ever-growing demands that the rapidly developing society makes to the education system, according to which the priority factor in the development of students is the ability to independently plan their activities to acquire the necessary knowledge and skills during joint creative and cognitive activity. It is confirmed that it is during the implementation of projects that it is possible to reveal the potential of students in self-realization, interaction with others and development of critical thinking. The goal of this article is to study the theoretically grounded and practically proven effectiveness of the use of project-based training in the study of mathematics by students of the secondary school. The main method of this research is a pedagogical experiment, as well as observation, a quantitative method and statistical processing. In the process of teaching mathematics, the specifics of project training as a student-centered method aimed at improving analytical and creative skills were taken into account. Gradual methodological methods for the organization of the project activity of students are developed. In the course of testing, model images of lessons were obtained, substantive content was determined and specified, thematic lines of the project activity in teaching mathematics in basic school were built, and the use of variable forms of the project activity was justified. The peculiarities of the author's approach to the study of the features of project-based learning are the allocation of special criteria for project assessment; comparative analysis of approaches of foreign and domestic scientific schools to the project activity. The study revealed the effectiveness of project-based training in teaching mathematics. The materials of the article are valuable for primary and secondary school teachers, teachers of secondary vocational and higher educational institutions. The use of the project activity in teaching mathematics in basic school contributes to increasing the level of motivation to study the most difficult topics of the course, ensures the implementation of an integrated approach to the study of natural sciences.


Aggressive behavior is common in many species and is often adaptive because it enables individuals to gain access to limited resources. However, aggression is also highly plastic and the degree of plasticity could be influenced by factors such as resource limitation and the social environment. In this study, we examined how the effects of social experience and resource limitation could persist to affect future aggressive interactions. Using naturally inbred strains of Drosophila melanogaster that differ in aggressiveness, we manipulated the level of available resources by varying fly density (two treatments: high and low per capita resources) and group composition by varying strain frequency (five treatments: homogeneous strains, or mixed at 1:3, 1:1 or 3:1 ratios of the more aggressive to less-aggressive strain). For each treatment group, we measured aggression before and after flies were placed through a 4-day period of fixed resources. There was no consistent effect of resource competition on aggression. Instead, changes in aggression depended on resource availability in combination with group composition. In homogeneous groups made up of only one strain, all males became more aggressive following the fixed-resource period, regardless of fly density. In mixed-strain treatments at high density, we observed plastic shifts in aggression of males from both strains, but the direction of plastic responses depended on social composition. Our results show that aggression may not only be influenced by the intensity of previous competitive experiences caused by resource limitation, but also through social effects caused by the composition of the group.


In the article, with 72 patients, taken as an example, with tuberculosis of respiratory organs the authors present their clinical experience with using various methods of surgical correction of the hemithorax volume (by means of extrapleural, intrapleural extra-intrapleural correcting thoracoplasties and diaphragm plasty) during performing resections on the lungs and/or pleura. Substantiation is given to the necessity of correcting hemithorax volume in patients with tuberculosis of respiratory organs in performing resections of great volume.


The purpose of this study is to offer basic data of education to improve farm lives though investigating rural homemakers' life style. The results of this study are as follows : 1. The life structure of rural homemakers was classified into two structures as a material resources and human resources. The life style of rural homemakers was classified into systematical life style, traditional value style, social active style, and progressive active style. 2. The life styles of rural homemakers according to social population variance were as follows. The lower of age, homemakers whose family incomes more 30 million won or below 10 million won, who has religions, who employed in livestock were showed at very systematical life style. The homemakers who live in mountain village, higher the much age becomes, and the education level become lower, have showed traditional value style. Rural homemakers the lower of age, the higher incomes, composed of single parent + children who remain single were appeared social active style. Rural homemakers the lower of age, the more shortened farm life periods, who employed in livestock were appeared progressive active style. 3. Systematical life style was more affected by material resources structure, traditional value style was affected by material resources. And social active style was more affected by human resources, progressive active style was affected by human resources.


— The purpose of the study is to record the oldest printing technique hand-block printing and preserve its evergreen product Ajrak 1 which is the traditional textile of Sindh. To find out the reasons of abandoning this traditional craft and to witness the difference in block printing done before and now. Different towns of Sindh were visited and eleven artisans (Ajrak-maker/block-printer and block-maker) were interviewed and a questionnaire was filled. The results illustrate that they are suffering from many problems but one of the major problem is lack of clean water which is badly affecting their business. It was also observed that traditional Ajrak formats and patterns are disappearing as only one or two patterns are mostly used nowadays. Whereas the machine block printing has somehow also affected the traditional craft. Despite all the problems they are still so passionate about this craft that they are training their children as well but there are certain evidences that Ajrak-making may not remain a family business anymore as it may be transferred to outsiders in future. However, they have also invented different contemporary products using various types of fabrics and patterns in hand-block printing according to the demand of the modern world. There may be a good contribution of this research to aware the people of the current situation of the ancient craft and a little effort can save the craft from further vanishing. It may also help the government to identify their problems and fulfill their basic needs so that the remaining centers can be saved.


ABSTRACT Scrub typhus, caused by Orientia tsutsugamushi, has emerged recently in areas of northern China where the disease had not been known to exist. We analyzed epidemiological, clinical, and laboratory data for 104 patients who were admitted to a hospital in Fuyang City between 26 September and 1 November 2008. We showed that the major clinical manifestations of the patients were fever (100%), headache (82%), myalgias (77%), eschar (67%), rash (52%), and unusual facial flushing (62%). Among the 104 patients, the sera of 98% contained IgM antibodies to O. tsutsugamushi detected by indirect immunofluorescence assays (IFA), and DNA of the O. tsutsugamushi 56-kDa gene was amplified by PCR from the blood of 36 patients. We conclude that 104 patients were infected with scrub typhus in Fuyang City, Anhui Province. Our study indicates that physicians need to consider the diagnosis of scrub typhus for febrile patients living in northern China, where scrub typhus had not been considered to exist in the past.


Aneurysmal bone cyst (ABC) is a locally destructive lesion of the bone rather than a true neoplasm. The pelvis is not an unusual site for an ABC; approximately 12% of cases occur in this location. We present a case of aneurysmal bone cyst (ABC) in ischiopubic ramus in a 22 years old male who presented with right inguinal swelling and pain. He was evaluated with X-ray and  Magnetic  Resonance Imaging (MRI) of pelvis. A review of literature regarding this rare site of ABC with radiological features is also described in this case report.
ABC of ischiopubic ramus is an uncommon entity hence diagnosis of such  a  case  requires  proper  clinical, radiological and histopathological evaluation to rule out other differential diagnoses  of  an  expansile, osteolytic lesion. This will help in selecting a proper treatment plan.


Trisomy 21 is common in ETV6/RUNX1‐positive acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL); both these aberrations are associated with a favourable outcome. The prognostic impact of +21 as a sole cytogenetic change could be due to a cryptic t(12;21)(p13;q22). The occurrence of ETV6/RUNX1 was determined in 66 childhood ALLs with an acquired +21 and a chromosome number <51. ETV6/RUNX1 was found in 45% of cases and in the majority (10/18; 56%) of ALLs with sole +21. Event‐free survival did not differ between the t(12;21)‐positive and ‐negative cases. Thus, the prognostic impact of +21 is not attributable to cryptic ETV6/RUNX1.


An increasing number of organizations are migrating their critical information technology services, from healthcare to business intelligence, into public cloud computing environments. However, even if cloud technologies are continuously evolving, they still have not reached a maturity level that allows them to provide users with high assurance about the security of their data beyond existent service level agreements (SLAs). To address this limitation, we propose a suite of mechanisms that enhances cloud computing technologies with more assurance capabilities. Assurance becomes a measurable property, quantified by the volume of evidence to audit and retain in a privacy-preserving and nonrepudiable fashion. By proactively collecting potential forensic evidence, the cloud becomes more accountable, while providing its regular services. In the case of a security breach, the cloud provides the appropriate reactive security framework for validating or repudiating claims. Moreover, different levels of assurance relate to different levels of storage and privacy protection requested by users, leading to an assurance-based price model for cloud services.


We study a recently introduced class of strategic games that is motivated by and generalizes Schelling's well-known residential segregation model. These games are played on undirected graphs, with the set of agents partitioned into multiple types; each agent either occupies a node of the graph and never moves away or aims to maximize the fraction of her neighbors who are of her own type. We consider a variant of this model that we call swap Schelling games, where the number of agents is equal to the number of nodes of the graph, and agents may swap positions with other agents to increase their utility. We study the existence, computational complexity and quality of equilibrium assignments in these games, both from a social welfare perspective and from a diversity perspective.


The present essay reflects on the significances of a major turning point in global sustainable development governance: the adoption by the United Nations of the "2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development". The Agenda and its seventeen "Sustainable Development Goals" (SDGs) authoritatively redefine the very concept of development, as holistic synthesis of long-term achievements in the interconnected domains of society, politics, economics and environment. As a consequence, new, comprehensive metrics – quantitative and qualitative in nature - are required, so as to measure the pursuit of this new, complex form progress. While it appears important to overcome approaches that aim exclusively at unconditional market output maximization, economic growth remains, at this point, central to any development design. Yet, qualitative considerations about growth are, in a sustainable framework, now in order more than ever: in particular, factors such as diversity of productive know-how and economic inclusion matter greatly, as the observation of global development patterns over time demonstrates. Fundamentally, the 2030 Agenda calls for a paradigmatic shift investing all components of society – from citizens to governments, corporations, academics, media - and possibly challenges the very nature and content of the traditional social contracts that govern them. Keywords: sustainable development; 2030 Agenda; SDG; complexity; quality; diversity.


Tectonic strain readjustments associated with large underground explosions have been observed at the Nevada Test Site. The BENHAM event of December 19, 1968 produced a peak quasi-static radial strain of 1.2 × 10^(−7) at a distance of 29 km. This strain transient was followed by an exponential return to the initial state with a time constant of 13 minutes, and is interpreted as the direct elastic response of the medium to a time varying pressure in the BENHAM cavity. An upper bound on the tectonic strain release was determined to be 0.7 × 10^(−8). Using these measurements it is estimated that the permanent and quasi-static strains associated with this explosion could significantly effect local earthquake occurrences out to distances of about 15 km. The size distribution of aftershocks of this explosion resembles that seen in model experiments of brittle fracture, in which the distribution is controlled by the dimensions of inhomogeneities in the medium.


GASTROJEJUNAL ulcers began to be observed shortly after the introduction of gastroenterostomy and have remained a serious complication of gastric surgery to the present time. Indeed, success in the treatment of duodenal ulcer is all too often cancelled by the development of a new ulcer in the jejunum adjacent to the anastomosis with the stomach, which may be more disabling and dangerous than the original disease. Recent observations in both the laboratory and the clinic have shed new light on the cause of gastrojejunal ulcer and form the basis for this editorial. The view that gastrojejunal ulcers, along with those occurring in the lower end of the esophagus, the stomach proper, the first portion of the duodenum, and in the ileum near the entrance of a Meckel's diverticulum containing heterotopic gastric mucosa, are peptic ulcers and are due to the corrosive action of the gastric content is widely accepted. The


Competing risk failure time data occur frequently in medical studies, and a number of methods have been proposed for the analysis of these data. To assess covariate effects, a standard approach is to model the cause-specific hazard functions of different failure types. Recently, Fine and Gray (1999) proposed directly modeling the subdistribution of a competing risk with a Cox type model. In this paper, we consider a more flexible and general hazard model for the subdistribution. It is a combination of the additive model and the Cox model and allows one to perform a more detailed study of covariate effects. Inference procedures are developed for estimation of both parametric and nonparametric components of the model, and the asymptotic properties of the proposed estimators are established. Robust variance estimates along with some goodness-of-fit test procedures are also presented, and the prediction of the cumulative incidence function is discussed. The proposed methodology is applied to a set of competing risk data from a bone marrow transplant study.


The city of Oxford has a long and prosperous history. First mentioned by name in 912 as one of the 'burghs' or fortified places that King Alfred and his descendants had constructed to protect Wessex from the Vikings, Oxford has played a significant part in many of the great historical events that have shaped the country. In the twelfth century the University of Oxford began to take shape, establishing the city as a centre of learning, which remains today. Join the author on a nostalgic trip around historic Oxford, showcasing some of the finest buildings and streets in this quintessentially English university city. Arranged geographically, starting in Carfax, the reader journeys through the streets of Oxford to the rivers Cherwell and Thames. City of Oxford Through Time is sure to reawaken nostalgic memories for many.


Abstract Background: Due to the increasing incidence of cancer and toxicity of cisplatin, there have been many attempts to find new complexes with greater potency and less toxicity. Palladium (II) complexes can induce cell death and serve as good anticancer drugs with less toxicity than platinum (II) complexes. Objective: The aim of this study was to determine the anti-cancer properties of a new synthetic complex of palladium [Pd (2-foran-2-yl) 1H-imidazo–[4, 5–f] (1, 10-phenanthroline)] and cell death mechanism induced by this complex in human chronic myeloid leukemia cell line-K562. Methods: This experimental study was conducted in the Vital Macromolecules laboratory of Kharazmi University in 2014. The K562 cells were cultured in the RPMI-1640 medium and were treated with different concentrations of the Pd (II) complex for 24 and 48 hours. Cell viability was measured using 3-(4, 5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2, 5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay. The mechanism of cell death induced by this complex was analyzed by flow cytometery using Annexin V and propidium iodide. Findings: In the MTT assay, the Cc50 value (50% Cytotoxicity Concentration) of the Pd (II) complex was 95 and 86 µM after 24 and 48 hours, respectively. The analysis of results for Annexin V antibody indicated that the cell death induced by the Pd (II) complex was mainly apoptosis. Conclusion: With regards to the results, it seems that this Pd complex and its analogues can be considered as a new drug for cancer treatment in the future.


Certain dyes are deleterious to the biological system, including animals and plants living in the water sources, soil sources, and so on. Thus, the analysis of these dyes requires a potent, quick, and cost-effective approach to the environmental samples. The present research work shows a modest, low-cost, and eco-friendly electrochemical device based on poly(dl-phenylalanine)-layered carbon nanotube paste electrode (P(PAN)LCNTPE) material for indigo carmine (ICN) detection in the presence of tartrazine. The cyclic voltammetric, field emission scanning electron microscopy, and electrochemical impedance spectroscopic methods were operated for the detection of the redox nature of ICN and electrode material surface activities, respectively. In better operational circumstances, P(PAN)LCNTPE provided better catalytic activity for the redox action of ICN than the bare carbon nanotube paste electrode. The P(PAN)LCNTPE showed good electrochemical activity during the variation of ICN concentrations ranging from 0.2 µM to 10.0 µM with improved peak current, and the limit of detection was about 0.0216 µM. Moreover, the P(PAN)LCNTPE material was performed as a sensor of ICN in a tap water sample and shows adequate stability, repeatability, and reproducibility.


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Shaded relief derived from high-resolution terrain models often contains distracting terrain details that need to be removed for medium and small scale mapping. This paper introduces Terrain Sculptor, a software application that prepares generalized terrain models for relief shading. The application uses a generalization methodology based on a succession of raster operations. Terrain Sculptor offers a graphical user interface to adjust the algorithm to various scales and terrain resolutions. The freeware application is available at http://www.terraincartography.com/terrainsculptor/.


Osteogenesis imperfecta (OI) is a congenital disease of connective tissue, most often caused by single amino acid substitutions of glycine residues within the triple helical region of collagen I. Collagen I consists of two alpha 1 chains and one alpha 2 chain. Thus, a substitution in the alpha 1(I) chain is thought to affect the function of the collagen molecule more than would a similar substitution in the alpha 2(I) chain, thereby causing more severe OI. Theoretically this hypothesis may be tested by comparing patients with identical substitutions in different alpha-chains. We present a Gly586Val substitution in the alpha 1(I) chain, and compare our findings to those resulting from Gly586Val substitutions in the alpha 2(I) chain (Forlino et al., 1994; Bateman et al., 1991). Our proband had lethal OI type II. Most alpha-chains of collagen I produced by his cultured fibroblasts were overmodified. The denaturation temperature of the abnormal collagen was 1.5 degrees C below normal. Cyanogen bromide cleavage and subsequent sequencing revealed a G-to-T base substitution at nucleotide 2420 of COL1A1, resulting in a Gly586Val substitution. The collagen findings were almost identical to those reported by Bateman et al. (1991) and Forlino et al. (1994), but the clinical phenotypes were different: the patients with the alpha 2(I) substitutions had OI type IV and III and not the lethal OI type II of our proband. It is known that identical biochemical aberrations in the same chain may have different phenotypic effects, both within families and between non-related patients. This must be taken into account in our cautious proposal that substitutions in the alpha 1(I) chain may have more serious consequences than similar substitutions in the alpha 2(I) chain.


We study the electrocaloric (EC) effect in bulk BaTiO$_3$ (BTO) using molecular dynamics simulations of a first principles-based effective Hamiltonian, combined with direct measurements of the adiabatic EC temperature change in BTO single crystals. We examine in particular the dependence of the EC effect on the direction of the applied electric field at all three ferroelectric transitions, and we show that the EC response is strongly anisotropic. Most strikingly, an inverse caloric effect, i.e., a temperature increase under field removal, can be observed at both ferroelectric-ferroelectric transitions for certain orientations of the applied field. Using the generalized Clausius-Clapeyron equation, we show that the inverse effect occurs exactly for those cases where the field orientation favors the higher temperature/higher entropy phase. Our simulations show that temperature changes of around 1 K can in principle be obtained at the tetragonal-orthorhombic transition close to room temperature, even for small applied fields, provided that the applied field is strong enough to drive the system across the first order transition line. Our direct EC measurements for BTO single crystals at the cubic-tetragonal and at the tetragonal-orthorhombic transitions are in good qualitative agreement with our theoretical predictions, and in particular confirm the occurrence of an inverse EC effect at the tetragonal-orthorhombic transition for electric fields applied along the [001] pseudo-cubic direction.


Background With all the legislative changes (patients' rights law, decisions of the German constitutional court on forces medication) taking place at the moment, Advance Care Planning and medical treatment agreement are becoming particularly topical. At the Clinics of Upper Bavaria representatives of the clinics, the organised relatives and those affected developed the pilot project «medical treatment agreement» in a trialogical process. Aim to test and enhance the processes associated with the medical treatment agreement to identify and define the target group of patients to reduce coercive actions, compulsory hospizalisation and to promote voluntary treatment Methods The pilot project has been designed as a learning project. The model project is supervised by a trialogical steering committee. The result and quality control within the pilot project will be performed by means of qualitative evaluation. Results a practical example of a trialogical (psychiatric acute care hospital, relatives and those affected) implementation of the pilot project "medical treatment agreement" experience based treatment recommendations to support the implementation of the medical treatment agreement in a psychiatric acute care hospital a systematic overview of the project's phases and structures Discussion/conclusion Advance Care Planning and the medical treatment agreement promote participative decision making as well as mutual confidence building, which is an important process of shared decision making in psychiatric treatment. Using the experience gained from the trialogical pilot project, we will establish the medical treatment agreement in all kbo clinics.


Many communities are concerned about the reuse of potentially contaminated land ("brownfields") and believe that environmental liability is a hindrance to redevelopment. However, with land price adjustments, liability might not impede the reuse of this land. Existing literature has found price reductions in response to liability, but few studies have looked for an effect on vacancies. This paper studies variations in state liability rules -- specifically, strict liability and joint and several liability -- that affect the level and distribution of expected private cleanup costs. It explores the effects of this variation on industrial land prices and vacancy rates and on reported brownfields in a panel of cities across the United States. In the estimated equations, joint and several liability reduces land prices and increases vacancy rates in central cities. Neither a price nor quantity effect is estimated from strict liability. The results suggest that liability is at least partly capitalized, but does still deter redevelopment.


Space debris has been and still remains a growing threat for the international space community. As a source of pollution, orbiting debris adversely damages the space environment. There is an increased risk of additional debris being generated by colliding with space objects, and such fragments remaining in space permanently. Every space actors, whether State-sponsored, civilians or commercial, are affected by the space debris population. Human lives are endangered: astronauts undertaking extra-vehicular activities or even the paying public enjoying commercial human spaceflights run the risk of colliding with pieces of debris. The continuing growth of debris in heavily used orbital regions, like Low Earth Orbit (LEO) and Geostationary Earth Orbit (GEO), not causes minor or complete abruptions to space operations, but potentially could prevent launches of planned space vehicles; thus, denying future access to, and use of, outer space. Further to stifling space development, the quality of the space environment is degrading, therefore. Preserving and sustaining that environment as a valuable resource for future space users has motivated interested space bodies to consider mechanisms to control the increase of debris. Such international meetings like the 5th European Conference on Space Debris and the US House of Representatives Committee on Science and Technology's Subcommittee on Space and Aeronautics on 'Keeping the Space Environment Safe for Civil and Commercial Space Users' have arrived to the same conclusion: better international agreed space debris mitigation methods to reduce the probability of additional debris must be created as well as remediation mechanisms being imposed. This Paper shall explore the different meanings and sources of 'space debris'. The population of orbital debris, also, is quantified, and three galvanising events are identified and commented as exacerbating its growth since 2007. This Paper then shall examine the effectiveness of space debris mitigation practices, which were adopted by the international space community, to tackle the rising population of orbiting debris. These measures are not binding under international space law: compliance is voluntary. The Space Debris Mitigation Guidelines are preventative practices designed to control the increase of space congestion in popular orbital regions like LEO and GEO to preserve their commercial and scientific value as well as use of, and access to, by future space users. It shall be demonstrated that in the absence of legal liability and sanctioning being imposed on space operators the mitigation practices can be ignored.


We examined the hypothesis that genotypic variation among populations of commonly co‐occurring phreatophytic trees (Populus fremontii, Salix gooddingii) and the shrub (Salix exigua) regulates aboveground net primary productivity (ANPP) at a hot site at the edge of the species' distribution. We used a provenance trial in which replicated genotypes from populations varying in mean annual temperature were transplanted to a common garden adjacent to the Lower Colorado River in southeastern California. The garden environment represented an extreme maximum temperature for the study species. Four major findings emerged: (1) Genotypic variation in ANPP was significant for all species with broad‐sense heritability (H2) across populations of 0.11, 0.13, and 0.10 for P. fremontii, S. gooddingii, and S. exigua, respectively, and within‐population H2 ranging from 0.00 to 0.25, 0.00 to 0.44, and 0.02 to 0.21, respectively. (2) Population ANPP decreased linearly as mean annual maximum temperature (MAMT) transfer distance increased for both P. fremontii (r2 = 0.64) and S. gooddingii (r2 = 0.37), whereas it did not change for S. exigua; (3) Populations with similar MAMT to that of the common garden were 1.5 and 1.2 times more productive than populations with 5.0 °C MAMT transfer distances for P. fremontii and S. gooddingii, respectively; and (4) Variation in regression slopes among species for the relationship between ANPP and MAMT indicate species‐specific responses to temperature. As these plant species characterize a threatened habitat type and support a diverse community that includes endangered species, ecosystem restoration programs should consider using both local genotypes and productive genotypes from warmer environments to maximize productivity of riparian ecosystems in the face of global climate change.


Background To facilitate the development of therapies for rheumatoid arthritis (RA), the Innovative Medicines Initiative BTCure has combined the experience from several laboratories worldwide to establish a series of protocols for different animal models of arthritis that reflect the pathogenesis of RA. Here, we describe chronic pristane-induced arthritis (PIA) model in DA rats, and provide detailed instructions to set up and evaluate the model and for reporting data. Methods We optimized dose of pristane and immunization procedures and determined the effect of age, gender, and housing conditions. We further assessed cage-effects, reproducibility, and frequency of chronic arthritis, disease markers, and efficacy of standard and novel therapies. Results Out of 271 rats, 99.6% developed arthritis after pristane-administration. Mean values for day of onset, day of maximum arthritis severity and maximum clinical scores were 11.8±2.0 days, 20.3±5.1 days and 34.2±11 points on a 60-point scale, respectively. The mean frequency of chronic arthritis was 86% but approached 100% in long-term experiments over 110 days. Pristane was arthritogenic even at 5 microliters dose but needed to be administrated intradermally to induce robust disease with minimal variation. The development of arthritis was age-dependent but independent of gender and whether the rats were housed in conventional or barrier facilities. PIA correlated well with weight loss and acute phase reactants, and was ameliorated by etanercept, dexamethasone, cyclosporine A and fingolimod treatment. Conclusions PIA has high incidence and excellent reproducibility. The chronic relapsing-remitting disease and limited systemic manifestations make it more suitable than adjuvant arthritis for long-term studies of joint-inflammation and screening and validation of new therapeutics.


This paper introduces a segmentation algorithm for object-based image coding techniques. This scheme is based on discrete wavelet transform (DWT)/redundant discrete wavelet transform (RDWT) and multiresolution Markov random field (MMRF). The DWT based MMRF works well for noise-free images. It merges details in the original image with their respective visual objects and divides the image into different segments according to their textures. The RDWT based MMRF is a generalization of the DWT based MMRF. When the noise level is high, the RDWT based MMRF reduces the influence of noise in the segmentation procedure and generates much better results at some computing costs. The proposed algorithm has been successfully integrated with our DWT based region of interest (ROI) compression coder, the generalized self-similarity trees (GST) codec, for networking applications.


Branta Port, located in Pamekasan Madura, is a connecting port area around Java Island and Madura Island. The port has an important role in logistics and supply chain activities as well as economic development in Indonesia, especially in Java and Madura. But the reality is Branta Port has some shortcomings in the port facilities to security sector. It based on the lack of regulation enforcement of the port management itself. The lack of renewal of the port master plan is also one of the obstacles to the port's poor performance. Therefore, with this research, it is expected to obtain a broad picture of the development strategy at the Branta Port. The methods are Location Quotient (LQ) & ships loading and discharge at port forecast using several forecasting analysis. The results show the ships call, loading and discharge flow at Branta Port have a fluctuating pattern follow the seasonal trends in salt production activities in Madura region. Where in 2039 (long-term) the loading and discharge flow at Branta Port is predicted to reach 380,927 tons which in 2018 amounted to 139,855 tons. The results of the port performance calculation are performed using port performance indicators called Berth Occupancy Ratio (BOR), where the BOR value from year to year to the long-term forecasting year (2039) is 22.08%, which is still below 40% for an additional indicates that the jetty is not busy according to UNCTAD criteria. Whereas the need for port facilities such as warehouses and stacking fields has increased. The development strategy focused on port facilities such as the berth length expansion from 100m to 186m, construction of port warehouses of 183m2, improvement of several port facilities such as navigation facilities and causeways, also the addition of port waste treatment facilities.Keywords: Location Quotient, forecasting, econometric method, Berth Occupancy Ratio


Polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS)-based flexible films have substantiated advantages in various sensing applications. Here, we demonstrate the highly sensitive and programmable thermal-sensing capability (thermal index, B, up to 126 × 103 K) of flexible films with tunable sandwiched microstructures (PDMS/cracked single-walled carbon nanotube (SWCNT) film/PDMS) when a thermal stimulus is applied. We found that this excellent performance results from the following features of the film's structural and material design: (1) the sandwiched structure allows the film to switch from a three-dimensional to a two-dimensional in-plane deformation and (2) the stiffness of the SWCNT film is decreased by introducing microcracks that make deformation easy and that promote the macroscopic piezoresistive behavior of SWCNT crack islands and the microscopic piezoresistive behavior of SWCNT bundles. The PDMS layer is characterized by a high coefficient of thermal expansion (α = 310 × 10-6 K-1) and low stiffness (∼2 MPa) that allow for greater flexibility and higher temperature sensitivity. We determined the efficacy of our sandwiched, cracked, flexible films in monitoring and switching flexible devices when subjected to various stimuli, including thermal conduction, thermal radiation, and light radiation.


The range of responsibilities for construction managers has become increasingly complex due to additional legal requirements and more widespread stakeholder involvements. These additional pressures potentially impact on the integrity of managers' decisions when advancing building projects safely and efficiently. The aim of the study is to develop a greater understanding of the direct and indirect effects of work stress upon the critical decision making practice of those charged with significant responsibility in construction projects. Fifty-five questionnaires and a further five interviews were completed by construction project development managers to test and ascertain the hypothesis: "What are the effects of accumulated personal stress buildup upon important project decision making and how can this be managed by construction managers?" The results of the survey indicated that stress is highly subjective and not readily assigned to specific decision making impacts for all managers. However, in terms of the mitigation of stress upon decisions, the results of this study revealed that decision confidence in relation to managerial support had the greatest overall influence upon decision clarity and outcome.


Optical parametric oscillators (OPOs) have been widely used for decades as tunable, narrow-linewidth, and coherent light sources for reaching long wavelengths and are attractive for applications such as quantum random number generation and Ising machines. To date, waveguide-based OPOs have suffered from relatively high thresholds on the order of hundreds of milliwatts. With the advance in integrated photonic techniques demonstrated by high-efficiency second-harmonic generation in aluminum nitride (AlN) photonic microring resonators, highly compact and nanophotonic implementation of parametric oscillation is feasible. Here we employ phase-matched AlN microring resonators to demonstrate low-threshold parametric oscillation in the telecom infrared band with an on-chip efficiency up to 17% and milliwatt-level output power. A broad phase-matching window is observed, enabling tunable generation of signal and idler pairs over a 180 nm bandwidth across the C band. This result establishes an important milestone in integrated nonlinear optics and paves the way towards chip-based quantum light sources and tunable, coherent radiation for spectroscopy and chemical sensing.


Chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), with an incidence rate between 4 and 6 cases per 100,000 persons per year, is considered the most prevalent leukemia in the western world. Chemoimmunotherapy (such as fludarabine, cyclophosphamide, and rituximab), bendamustine plus rituximab, and, more recently, novel agents such as ibrutinib (Bruton tyrosine kinase inhibitor), idelalisib (phosphatidylinositol-3-kinase δ inhibitor), and venetoclax (BCL-2 inhibitor) have changed the management of CLL. Shanafelt and colleagues compared the efficacy of ibrutinib–rituximab with that of standard chemoimmunotherapy in patients with treatment-naïve CLL. They did not, however, mention that the therapy varies on the basis of where patients live and, given that local guidelines not immediately reflect US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) updates, discrepancies in treatment occur. Important CLL goals are the availability of rapidly reproducible tests, standardization of national and international guidelines, and FDA approval-based treatment reimbursement.


This paper addresses point-to-point communication over block-fading channels with independent fading blocks. When both channel state information at the transmitter and receiver (CSIR) are available, most achievable schemes use separable coding, i.e., coding independently and in parallel over different fading states. Unfortunately, separable coding has drawbacks, including large memory requirements at both communication ends. In this paper, a lattice coding and decoding scheme is proposed that achieves the ergodic capacity without separable coding, with lattice codebooks and decoding decision regions that are universal across channel realizations. We first demonstrate this result for fading distributions with discrete, finite support whose sequences are robustly typical. Results are then extended to continuous fading distributions, as well as multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) systems. In addition, a variant of the proposed scheme is presented for the MIMO ergodic fading channel with CSIR only, where we prove the existence of a universal codebook that achieves rates within a constant gap to capacity for finite-support fading distributions. The gap is small compared with other schemes in the literature. Extension to continuous-valued fading is also provided.


Based on the identification of rock slice and cast thin sections, the observation of scanning electron microscopy, the technology of high pressure Hg injection and X-ray diffraction analysis of clay minerals, the Siegenian Formation reservoir in Devonian, X block, was evaluated and classified. The reservoir is a tight sandstone reservoir with relatively poor porosity and low permeability and it is divided into three types: mesopore-ultra low permeability reservoir (type I), low-middle porosity-ultra low permeability reservoir (type II) and low porosity-ultra low permeability reservoir (type III). The type II is the main reservoir in this area. The conclusions are useful for the petroleum exploration in future.


Sensitivity of 167 strains of beta-hemolytic streptococci of group A was studied with the method of serial dilutions on a solid agar medium for cultivation of streptococci. The medium was developed at the I. I. Mechnikov Research Institute of Vaccines and Sera. It does not require addition of blood or serum. The strains were found to be highly sensitive to penicillin, cephalothin and erythromycin. The number of the strains resistant to tetracycline, streptomycin, gentamycin, levomycetin (chloramphenicol) and ristomycin amounted to 51, 36, 23, 1.8 and 1.8 per cent, respectively. One of the strains (0.6 per cent) was resistant to lincomycin. Strains with multiple resistance were isolated. The necessity of regular control of distribution of antibiotic resistance among staphylococci is indicated.


Background: Third vaccination against SARS-CoV-2 is recommended for patients with multiple sclerosis (pwMS), usually six months after the last vaccination. Methods: In this prospective multicenter study on 292 pwMS and 46 healthy controls (HC), who had all received two vaccinations prior to study enrollment, SARS-CoV-2 IgG response was measured in the month before and 2 – 4 months after third vaccination. DMT, disease-modifying treatment; EDSS, Expanded Disability Status Scale; er-DMT, disease-modifying treatment with expected humoral response; HC, healthy control; N-DMT, no disease-modifying treatment; nr-DMT, disease-modifying treatment with no expected humoral response; PPMS, primary progressive multiple sclerosis; pwMS, patients with multiple sclerosis; RRMS, relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis; SPMS, secondary progressive multiple sclerosis; S1PM, modulator.


Using a new firm-level dataset on private and listed firms from 20 countries, we document five stylized facts on market power in global markets. First, competition has declined around the world, measured as a moderate increase in average firm markups during 2000-2015. Second, the markup increase is driven by already high-markup firms (top decile of the markup distribution) that charge increasing markups. Third, markups increased mostly among advanced economies but not in emerging markets. Fourth, there is a non-monotonic relation between firm size and markups that is first decreasing and then increasing. Finally, the increase is mostly driven by increases within incumbents and also by market share reallocation towards high-markup entrants.


Many giant oil fields in the Middle East produce from prolific carbonate reservoirs. Collectively these reservoirs hold over 50% of world oil reserves. The high rigidity of rock matrix, a small contrast between the elastic properties of pore fluids, low gas-oil-ratio oil and mixed salinity water are responsible for the observed weak 4D seismic effect. An alternative reservoir monitoring technique is therefore considered. Permanent seismic sensors installed in a borehole and on the ground surface detect passive microseisms generated by reservoir pore pressure perturbations. Production and injection operations create these perturbations, induced by shear stress release, along zones of weakness in these rocks. Permanent pressure gauges will also be deployed for monitoring reservoir pressure changes. Microseisms emanating from the reservoir would be recorded simultaneously at multicomponent seismic sensors deployed permanently, at various levels in the borehole and over a surface area, surrounding the borehole. The triggered microseisms at the borehole sensors will be synchronized with microseismograms recorded in the surface sensors. The hypocenters are computed from such dense sensor network. Geophones with frequency response over 10-800Hz frequency would be installed. Reservoir heterogeneities affecting the fluid flow are mapped by the distribution of hypocenter locations of these microseisms.


Together with the magnetic energy, the magnetic helicity is an important quantity used to describe the nature of a magnetic field configuration. In the following, we propose a new technique to evaluate various components of the total magnetic helicity in the corona for an equilibrium reconstructed magnetic field. The most meaningful value of helicity is the total relative magnetic helicity which describes the linkage of the field lines even if the volume of interest is not bounded by a magnetic surface. In addition if the magnetic field can be decomposed into the sum of a closed field and a reference field (following , Berger 1999 in Magnetic Helicity in Space and Laboratory Plasmas, ed. M. R. Brown, R. C. Canfield, & A. A. Pevtsov, 1), we can introduce three other helicity components: the self helicity of the closed field, the mutual helicity between the closed field and the reference field, and the vacuum helicity (self helicity of the reference field). To understand the meaning of those quantities, we derive them from the potential field (reference) and the force-free field computed with the same boundary conditions for three different cases: a single twisted flux tube derived from the extended Gold-Hoyle solutions, a simple magnetic configuration with three balanced sources and a constant distribution of the force-free parameter, and the AR 8210 magnetic field observed from 17:13 UT to 21:16 UT on May 1, 1998. We analyse the meaning of the self and mutual helicities: the self and mutual helicities correspond to the twist and writhe of confined flux bundles, and the crossing of field lines in the magnetic configuration respectively. The main result is that the magnetic configuration of AR 8210 is dominated by the mutual helicity and not by the self helicity (twist and writhe). Our results also show that although not gauge invariant the vacuum helicity is sensitive to the topological complexity of the reference field.


Current understanding of the epigenetic regulator roles in plant growth and development has largely derived from studies in the dicotyledonous model plant Arabidopsis thaliana. Rice (Oryza sativa) is one of the most important food crops in the world and has more recently becoming a monocotyledonous model plant in functional genomics research. During the past few years, an increasing number of studies have reported the impact of DNA methylation, non-coding RNAs and histone modifications on transcription regulation, flowering time control, and reproduction in rice. Here, we review these studies to provide an updated complete view about chromatin modifiers characterized in rice and in particular on their roles in epigenetic regulation of flowering time, reproduction, and seed development.


ABSTRACT In the face of COVID-19 pandemic caused by the newly emerged SARS-CoV-2, an inactivated, Vero cell-based, whole virion vaccine candidate has been developed and entered into phase III clinical trials within six months. Biochemical and immunogenic characterization of structural proteins and their post-translational modifications in virions, the end-products of the vaccine candidate, would be essential for the quality control and process development of vaccine products and for studying the immunogenicity and pathogenesis of SARS-CoV-2. By using a panel of rabbit antisera against virions and five structural proteins together with a convalescent serum, the spike (S) glycoprotein was shown to be N-linked glycosylated, PNGase F-sensitive, endoglycosidase H-resistant and cleaved by Furin-like proteases into S1 and S2 subunits. The full-length S and S1/S2 subunits could form homodimers/trimers. The membrane (M) protein was partially N-linked glycosylated; the accessory protein 3a existed in three different forms, indicative of cleavage and dimerization. Furthermore, analysis of the antigenicity of these proteins and their post-translationally modified forms demonstrated that S protein induced the strongest antibody response in both convalescent and immunized animal sera. Interestingly, immunization with the inactivated vaccine did not elicit antibody response against the S2 subunit, whereas strong antibody response against both S1 and S2 subunits was detected in the convalescent serum. Moreover, vaccination stimulated stronger antibody response against S multimers than did the natural infection. This study revealed that the native S glycoprotein stimulated neutralizing antibodies, while bacterially-expressed S fragments did not. The study on S modifications would facilitate design of S-based anti-SARS-CoV-2 vaccines.


The multi-scale strategy in studying biological regulatory networks analysis is based on two level of analysis. The first level is structural and consists in examining the architecture of the interaction graph underlying the network and the second level is functional and analyse the regulatory properties of the network. We apply this dual approach to the "immunetworks" involved in the control of the immune system. As a result, we show that the small number of attractors of these networks is due to the presence of intersecting circuits in their interaction graphs. We obtain an upper bound of the number of attractors of the whole network by multiplying the number of attractors of each of its strongly connected components. We detect first the strongly connected components in the architecture of the interaction digraph of the network. Secondly, we study the dynamical function of the attractors by looking further inside these components, notably when they form circuits (intersecting or not).


Abstract This paper empirically analyses the effect of terror on internal migration between Israeli subdistricts. Using a unique data-set comprising migration flows for the period 1999–2012 and the number of rocket and non-rocket attacks, we test the hypotheses that terror reduces migration into an affected subdistrict and increases migration out of it. According to our results, the effect of terror on migration is asymmetric as we only find evidence for the first hypothesis. This result remains when we use an instrumental variables strategy that corrects for underreporting of the number of rocket attacks. The largest effects of rocket attacks are found for migration into the Southern subdistrict of Ashqelon as well as into other border regions in Northern Israel, while non-rocket attacks also have substantial effects in the more populous centres of Jerusalem and Tel Aviv.


Abstract While developed and most developing nations have seen the need and continue to invest heavily in the development and training of her manpower as shown by huge budgetary allocations to education and health, Nigeria continues to play politics with her human capital development policy which has been poor and only been effective on paper despite the huge outlay of human capital available at our disposal. This study therefore examined the impact of human capital development on the macroeconomic performance of Nigeria. Using autoregressive distributed lagged model, the study proxied human capital development using government expenditure on education, government expenditure on health, secondary school enrolment rate, and school enrolment rate at tertiary level, while per capita GDP was used as proxy variable for measuring macroeconomic performance. The results of the estimated short and long run ARDL models indicated, an insignificant and negative relationship between human capital development and gross domestic product per capita (GDPPC) in the short run. Another result of this study is that, only tertiary enrolment rate (TER) has a significant and positive impact on gross domestic product per capita (GDPPC). This finding was an indication of relatively good but insufficient efforts by government to boost human capital. The study concluded that while human capital development is crucial for accelerated macroeconomic performance, government efforts aimed at boosting human capital has had a depressing effect on macroeconomic performance. On the strength of this, the study recommended that government and economic policy makers in Nigeria should place greater emphasis on human capital development.


Individual recognition is considered to have been fundamental in the evolution of complex social systems and is thought to be a widespread ability throughout the animal kingdom. Although robust evidence for individual recognition remains limited, recent experimental paradigms that examine cross-modal processing have demonstrated individual recognition in a range of captive non-human animals. It is now highly relevant to test whether cross-modal individual recognition exists within wild populations and thus examine how it is employed during natural social interactions. We address this question by testing audio–visual cross-modal individual recognition in wild African lions (Panthera leo) using an expectancy-violation paradigm. When presented with a scenario where the playback of a loud-call (roaring) broadcast from behind a visual block is incongruent with the conspecific previously seen there, subjects responded more strongly than during the congruent scenario where the call and individual matched. These findings suggest that lions are capable of audio–visual cross-modal individual recognition and provide a useful method for studying this ability in wild populations.


During the last decade there has been a significant expansion in higher education (HE) in the UK, and widening participation is high on the government's agenda, as it is seen as one means of achieving a better-qualified workforce. In their work with clients, Careers Advisers are required to promote equality of opportunity, which becomes problematic when studies show the HE system in the UK to be segregated along racial lines (Ball et al, 2002; Reay et al, 2001), with students from ethnic minorities much more likely to study in new universities in metropolitan areas, than in older, more established institutions.

This study seeks to explore the ways in which Careers Advisers can promote equality of opportunity effectively, and critically evaluates the possible application of collectivist interpretations of the zone of proximal development, situated approaches and activity theory, to career guidance practice. The methodology chosen is that of social constructivism, and the study focuses on a small number of students (most of whom are from ethnic minorities) from a sixth form college in inner London who are making their HE choices. The method of enquiry adopted is one of a qualitative case study (Bassey, 1999), through which the stories of the students are interpreted.

This study shows that whilst agency on the part of the individual may by itself not be enough to widen participation into HE, the opportunity for sixth formers to participate in the community of practice of HE, together with a level of openness to their participation on the part of HE systems could do much to bring about transformatory change in the HE system from within via expansive learning (Engestrom, 2001). The work highlights a role for Careers Advisers in promoting individual agency, and in fostering a culture of participation in career guidance.


Suppose that I have intentionally killed another person and that I have done so without any justification. At first glance, it appears that I am guilty of murder, a very serious crime. Since I am guilty of this very serious crime, the state may inflict a very serious punishment on me—at least many years in prison, if not my whole life or the death penalty. But suppose that one of the following is also true in my case: (A) At the time that I killed my victim, I suffered from a mental disease and, as a result, lacked the substantial capacity to appreciate the wrongfulness of my conduct. (B) Throughout my childhood and into my adolescent years, my father physically and sexually abused me, leaving me significantly more prone to violence than I would otherwise have been. Both A and B are ethically and interpersonally important facts. Both are likely to inspire some combination of sympathy, empathy, and compassion. Both suggest that my story is not just the story of a murderer and that there is a complicated explanation for my crime.


The local electron energy flux produced by magnetic fluctuations has been measured directly in the edge plasma of the Madison symmetric torus (MST) reversed field pinch (RFP), continuous current tokamak (CCT), and the scrape-off layer of the TEXT-U tokamak. The flux produced by electrons travelling parallel to a fluctuating magnetic field is obtained from correlation between the fluctuations in the parallel heat flux and the radial magnetic field. The fluctuations in the parallel heat flux were measured with a fast insertable pyrobolometer. The measurements reveal fundamental differences in the nature of electron energy transport in the RFP and the tokamak. In the RFP the fluctuation-induced energy flux is large (, comparable to the total ohmic heating power) inside the reversal surface where the magnetic field is expected to be stochastic, and small in the edge. The magnetic fluctuation induced radial energy flux Q and radial particle flux (measured independently) are related by a `convective' formula . The electron heat transport is significantly lower than the value predicted by the Rechester - Rosenbluth transport model. This feature of the electron energy transport can be explained using self-consistent calculations that account for clumping of electrons streaming along the magnetic field. In the tokamak the magnetic fluctuations do not contribute to the total energy transport except in the vicinity of the q = 2 magnetic surface, where the transport is associated with large amplitude Mirnov oscillations.


This is the first study on patient evaluation of the psychosocial treatment interventions in the four methadone maintenance programmes (MMPs) in Sweden, i.e. in Uppsala, Stockholm, Lund and Malmö. The study was performed in two phases. An inventory of psychosocial treatment elements was conducted through interviews with managers or responsible staff members. The Stockholm MMP offers many psychosocial activities and interventions within its own organisation, while the other programmes are highly dependent on co-operation with municipal social welfare services. The Uppsala and Lund MMPs run remote MMP-services in co-operation with local psychiatrists in other parts of the country. A questionnaire based on the inventory was completed by 190 patients, rating the importance of different elements and to what extent their respective needs had been met. In general, the psychosocial elements were regarded as important by patients in all programmes. Female patients rated daily activities and co-operation with municipal social services as more important than men did. Patients in early phases of treatment rated relapse prevention support, daily activities and involvement of relatives as more important than did patients in late phases. There were also differences between the four programmes in evaluations of how needs were met. In conclusion, psychosocial treatment elements were regarded as highly important by patients in MMPs, and there is a demand for more emphasis on such elements.


The study aimed to explore the impact of university governance in entrepreneurial orientation at Al-Aqsa University. To achieve the objective of the study, the Descriptive Analytical Approach was adopted. The study population consisted of all academic staff with supervisory positions at Al-Aqsa University whose number is (233) employees. The study sample was selected using stratified random sample method, whose number is (146) employees. (165) questionnaires were distributed and (150) questionnaires were returned with a recovery rate of (90.9%). The study concluded that the level of availability of university governance at Al-Aqsa University involved a high degree of approval with a relative weight of (70.04%), and the level of entrepreneurial orientation also had a high degree of approval with a relative weight of (70.34%). It also indicated that there is a statistically significant positive relationship between the university governance, in terms of its dimensions (participation, accountability, transparency, independence), and the entrepreneurial orientation at Al-Aqsa University in Gaza, and the results also showed that there is a statistically significant impact of the university governance dimensions of (participation, accountability, independence) in entrepreneurial orientation at Al-Aqsa University of Gaza. Still, there is no a role impact of transparency in entrepreneurial orientation at Al-Aqsa University of Gaza. The study recommended the necessity of reformation a board to work on governance the university, consists of administrative leaders and faculty members who has experience and efficiency, as representatives of students and community. They also must work on updating legislation, regulations and administrative procedures in consistent with goals and requirements of governance the university. The study also recommended on the necessity of promoting the principles of transparency in university policy especially in awarding bonuses and grants, in addition to working on setting standards of serving administrative and leading positions at the university.


To elucidate age-related changes of the Atrioventricular Nodal (AVN) artery, the authors investigated age-related changes of elements in the AVN artery by direct chemical analysis. In addition, the effects of different arterial origins, arterial sizes, and genders on element accumulation were investigated in the AVN arteries. Sixty-two formalin-fixed adult Thai hearts were dissected, and the following two types of the AVN artery were found: The first type was a single AVN artery arising from the Right Coronary Artery (RCA). The second type was a single AVN artery arising from the terminal part of the Left Circumflex Artery (LCX). For element analysis, both 55 and 7 AVN arteries arising from the RCA and the LCX, respectively, were used. After the arteries were incinerated with nitric acid and perchloric acid, element contents were determined by inductively coupled plasma-atomic emission spectrometry. It was found that the Zn content decreased significantly in the AVN arteries with aging, but six element contents such as Ca, P, S, Mg, Fe, and Na did not change significantly with aging. Regarding the relationships among seven elements in the AVN arteries, extremely significant direct correlations were found both between Ca and Mg contents and between P and S contents, and a significant direct correlation was found between S and Mg contents. However, no significant correlation was found between Ca and P contents in the AVN arteries. To examine an effect of the different arterial origins on element accumulation, the AVN arteries were separated into the RCA and the LCX groups by the arterial origin and age-related changes of element contents were compared between two groups. It was found that there were no significant differences between the RCA and LCX groups in age-related changes of Ca and P contents. No gender differences and effect of arterial size were found in age-related changes of Ca and P contents in the AVN arteries. To elucidate whether calcification occurred in the AVN arteries in old age, both the mass ratios of Ca/P and Mg/Ca were estimated in the AVN arteries. The mass ratio of Ca/P increased progressively in the AVN arteries with Ca increase, being not constant. The mass ratio of Mg/Ca decreased gradually in the AVN arteries with Ca increase, but the average mass ratio of Mg/Ca was moderate, being 8.9% ± 0.9%. These results indicated that calcification scarcely occurred in the AVN arteries in old age, independently of the arterial origin, arterial size and gender.


Internalizing carbon value for forest landowners has the potential to increase carbon supply in forests and mitigate CO2 in the atmosphere. In this study, we developed a modified Hartman model to investigate how payments of carbon offsets impact the optimal management of hardwood forests in Kentucky considering price uncertainty and the risk of catastrophic events such as fire or storm damage. An Expected Value (E-V) model was used to conduct a sensitivity analysis of landowner aversion to price uncertainty. Best management strategies were examined to achieve maximized financial return for landowners in the face of both catastrophic risk and price variability.


Background: Foreign body inhalation is a common presentation in thoracic surgery and it is well known to present mainly in toddlers, commonly due to sun flower seeds or water melon seeds. Objectives: To determine the changes in clinical pattern of foreign body inhalation regarding the age, sex, and type of foreign body. Methods: This is a case series study of patients with foreign body inhalation admitted to Al-Jumhori teaching hospital in Mosul. The parameters used in this study are sex, age group and type of foreign body. Results: The main age group affected was adolescents, and the commonest foreign body inhaled was the veil pin. Conclusion: The bad habit of holding pins in mouth while doing other things with your hand has led to this change in clinical pattern of foreign body inhalation. Keyword: Foreign body inhalation, veil pin, adolescent females.


The essential oil of Mentha longifolia L., is very important to some culinary usage and antimicrobial activity. The essential oil of Mentha longifolia subsp. longifolia growing in the Bahçesaray area (Van Province, Turkey) was studied. This study designed for determine of essential oil constituent Mentha longifolia subsp. longifolia that collected from wild area. Mint leaves sample essential oils obtained by hydro distillation and essential oil components were determined using GC-MS. The main component of wild grown Mentha longifolia subsp. longifolia was Menthone (19.31%). Second one and others were Pulegone (12.42%), Piperitone (11.05%), Dihydrocarvon (8.32%), Limonene (6.1%), 3-Terpinolenone (5.66%), 1,8-Cineole (4.37%), Germacrene D (3.38%) and Caryopyllene (3.19%), respectively.


In this article, Turkey's and the European Union's foreign policy approaches to the Middle East and North Africa region are analyzed by focusing on "normative power" and "soft power" concepts, the historical relations among the countries of the region, and the projects developed by the EU and Turkey. The Arab Spring and its repercussions on the EU's and Turkey's foreign policy approaches to the region, along with a brief historical background of the Turkey-EU relationship, are evaluated in order to determine whether Turkey should coordinate its foreign policy with the EU.


Wireless ad-hoc mesh network is a special kind of network, where all of the nodes move in time. Node is intended to help relaying packets of neighboring nodes using multi-hop routing mechanism in order to solve problem of dead communication. Wireless mesh network which engages broadcasting and contains multiple hops become increasingly vulnerable to problems such as routing problem and rapid increasing of overhead packets. During this progress, the delay on account of multi hop characteristics and redundant packets caused by communication nature potentially existed during communication. Typically, delay will increase in linearity with number of hops. There is a certain minimum level of delay that will be experienced due to the time it takes to transmit a packet through a link. Topology development holds a significant point prior to the data transmission. Without improved topology development protocol, this problem can decrease network's performance in overall data transmission. We analyze the delay performance of a multi-hop wireless network with a dynamic route between each source and final destination pair. There are fluctuate interference constraints on the set of links that impose a fundamental delay performance of any instant network topology. At first, we present a similar Link State Routing network simulation to derive such referential lower bounds. We conduct extensive simulation studies to suggest that the average delay of multi-hop transmission policy can be made lower compared to the referential bound by using appropriate functions of network metrics. This paper provides a broadcast framework that engages various network metrics and at the same time maintaining connectivity of nodes (mobile terminals). The framework captures the essential features of the wireless network metrics, i.e. bandwidth, throughput, network buffer, direction, and round trip time. This research is useful since, in many cases, it find that the throughput is the most important parameter in reduction of delay transmission. This result is confirmed with another composite simulation result. Most of network hop delay is impacted with this composite metric, particularly in delay minimization on the longer hops. The reduction achievement on average delay by this algorithm is 0.577% and the total average delay reduction for this simulated network is 0.683%. This research will be further designed primarily for achieving maximum throughput in the multiple wireless network area .


Sensor nodes are often organized into clusters to facilitate many network operations such as data aggregation. Clustering has to be protected in hostile environments. Otherwise, an attacker can easily mislead a cluster-based application by attacking the clustering protocol. This paper proposes three techniques for resilient cluster formation. The simple neighbor validation provides a simple yet effective way to validate a sensor's neighbors; the priority-based selection organizes clusters basedon the sensor's priority of being a cluster head; and the centralized detection further enhances the security by detecting misbehaving nodes. Another appealing benefit of this protocol is that a sensor node can make a clustering decision immediately once the neighborhood information is available. This further increases the difficulty of attacking the clustering protocol. The analysis also shows that the proposed protocol is efficient and effective in dealing with attacks.


Fibroblast growth factors (FGFs) constitute a large family of signaling molecules that act in an autocrine/paracrine, endocrine, or intracrine manner, whereas the cellular communication network factors (CCN) family is composed of six members that manipulate extracellular signaling networks. FGFs and CCNs are structurally and functionally distinct, except for the common characteristics as matricellular proteins. Both play significant roles in the development of a variety of tissues and organs, including the skeletal system. In vertebrates, most of the skeletal parts are formed and grow through a process designated endochondral ossification, in which chondrocytes play the central role. The growth plate cartilage is the place where endochondral ossification occurs, and articular cartilage is left to support the locomotive function of joints. Several FGFs, including FGF-2, one of the founding members of this family, and all of the CCNs represented by CCN2, which is required for proper skeletal development, can be found therein. Research over a decade has revealed direct binding of CCN2 to FGFs and FGF receptors (FGFRs), which occasionally affect the biological outcome via FGF signaling. Moreover, a recent study uncovered an integrated regulation of FGF and CCN genes by FGF signaling. In this review, after a brief introduction of these two families, molecular and genetic interactions between CCN and FGF family members in cartilage, and their biological effects, are summarized. The molecular interplay represents the mutual involvement of the other in their molecular functions, leading to collaboration between CCN2 and FGFs during skeletal development.


Synaptic responses in hippocampal granule cells to stimulation of their afferent fibers from the entorhinal cortex fluctuate with a 24-hour period. The phase of this cycle for rats and monkeys depends on whether the animal is naturally nocturnal or diurnal. In a rat blinded by enucleation, the rhythm persists but drifts out of phase with the rhythm of sighted controls.


"Every revolutionary movement has its own music, lyrics, and poets. The music does not create organizations, nor do musicians necessarily lead the revolution. But revolutionary/protest music gives voice to the dreams, visions, and fantasies of the revolutionaries and the utopian society they hope to establish" (Loow 1998:126). Music might seem a peripheral concern in the study of radical movements. Groups and individuals typically do not gain their status as political radicals—as agents pursuing "revolutionary alternatives to hegemonic social and political institutions" (Versluis and Larabee 2006:vii)—because of the songs they produce. Instead, radicalism often distinguishes itself through acts of violence, instances of large-scale vandalism, or efforts to secure appreciable power via democratic process. It is through these avenues that radicals seek to affect fundamental change in society. Music making, in contrast, might appear only a byproduct, a preamble, a reflection, or a gateway, but never the stuff of radicalism. The following articles undermine such assumptions, and call into question scholarly paradigms that would relegate music to the role of mere accessory to radical activism. Combining the perspectives of multiple academic disciplines, the authors featured in this special issue apply diverse methodologies to an array of musical and radical phenomena. Their studies show how music provides, not only a means to expand community, but also a unique and vital arena to assimilate and manage political expressions. To read and download the complete article you can sign up here for free: http://journals.sfu.ca/jed/index.php/jex/user/register


Introduction Parkin (Park2), an E3 ubiquitin ligase, is critical to maintain mitochondrial function by regulating mitochondrial biogenesis and degradation (mitophagy), but recent evidence suggests the involvement of Parkin in promoting inflammation. In the present study, we determined if Parkin regulates airway mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) release and inflammatory responses to type 2 cytokine interleukin (IL)-13 and allergens. Methods We measured Parkin mRNA expression in brushed bronchial epithelial cells and mtDNA release in the paired bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) from normal subjects and asthmatics. Parkin-deficient primary human tracheobronchial epithelial (HTBE) cells generated using the CRISPR-Cas9 system were stimulated with IL-13. To determine the in vivo function of Parkin, Parkin knockout (PKO) and wild-type (WT) mice were treated with IL-13 or allergen (house dust mite, HDM) in the presence or absence of mtDNA isolated from normal mouse lungs. Results Parkin mRNA expression in asthmatic airway epithelium was upregulated, which positively correlated with the levels of released mtDNA in BALF. IL-13-stimulated HTBE cells increased Parkin expression. Moreover, IL-13 induced mtDNA release in Parkin-sufficient, but not in Parkin-deficient HTBE cells. PKO (vs WT) mice attenuated airway mtDNA release and inflammation following IL-13 or HDM treatments. mtDNA amplified airway inflammation in mice treated with IL-13 or HDM. Notably, Parkin also mediated mtDNA-induced exacerbation of airway inflammation. Conclusion Our research findings suggest that Parkin promotes mtDNA release and inflammation in airways, thus improving our understanding of the complex role of Parkin and mitochondrial dysfunction in asthma pathogenesis.


Abstract Weed control in rice is challenging, particularly in light of increased resistance to herbicides in weed populations and diminishing availability of irrigation water. Certain indica rice cultivars can produce high yields and suppress weeds in conventional flood-irrigated, drill-seeded systems in the southern United States under reduced herbicide inputs, but their response to reduced irrigation inputs in these systems in not known. Rice productivity and weed control by weed-suppressive cultivars and conventional nonsuppressive cultivars were evaluated in a nonflooded furrow-irrigated (FU) system and a conventionally flooded (FL) system under three levels of weed management (herbicide inputs) in a 3-yr field study. Rice yields across all weed management levels yielded ∼ 76% less in the FU system than in the FL system. The allelopathic indica cultivar, 'PI 312777', and commercial hybrid rice 'CLXL729' generally produced the highest grain yields and greatest suppression of barnyardgrass in both irrigation systems. 'Bengal' and 'Wells' were the top-yielding conventional cultivars whereas 'Lemont' and 'CL171AR' yielded the least. Weed suppression by PI 312777 and CLXL729 under "medium" weed management was equivalent to that of Lemont and CL171AR at the "high" management level, suggesting that the weed-suppressive cultivars may be able to compensate for suboptimal herbicide inputs or incomplete weed control. Nomenclature: Barnyardgrass, Echinochloa crus-galli (L.) Beauv; rice, Oryza sativa L., 'Bengal', 'CLXL729', 'Lemont', 'PI 312777', 'Wells'.