Graphene wires have been fabricated from large-area multilayer graphene sheets grown by chemical vapor deposition. As the methane concentration increases, a larger percentage of thicker graphene layers are grown. The multilayer graphene sheets have an average thickness of 10-20 nm with sheet resistances between 500 and 1000 Ω/sq. The sheet resistance shows a strong correlation with the average surface roughness. This letter reports measured breakdown current densities up to 4×107 A/cm2, where resistive heating is proposed as the main breakdown mechanism. Increasing the uniformity of the graphene layers is important in achieving a higher breakdown current density.


CROWELL et al. (1997), using series of sparsely sampled sea-level values as surrogate data for shoreline change evaluated several well-known shoreline position prediction algorithms. They concluded that in the absence of physical changes such as opening of inlets or shore engineering, linear regression over the longest possible period was the most reliable predictor of shoreline trends for extended intervals (30+ years). They also noted that shorelines, like sea-level, have unpredictable interannual and longer quasi-periodic fluctuations that can mask an underlying trend for many years. Thus an effective prediction algorithm for predicting shoreline position at all temporal scales must reflect persistence of these variations while at the same time correctly accounting for the underlying long-term trend. Successful interpretation of shoreline behavior and prediction of future position requires knowledge of the nature and impact of past erosional events, particularly due to major storms. A simple mathematical model that mimics many of the characteristics of shoreline position variation and real shoreline position data from Delaware between 1845 -1993 are employed to illustrate the difficulties of the prediction problem. The northeaster of March 1962, the largest in this century, provides a revealing case study of the response of a shoreline to a severe storm event. The effect of this storm, which lasted through five high tides, was to "overshoot" the long-term trend of erosion by a very large amount, with subsequent accretion taking place for a decade or longer back toward the position predicted by the underlying long-term (~150 year) trend. Thus for a long time, the beach appeared to be accreting rather than eroding. Long-term planning, such as for 30 or 60 year building setbacks, requires the most careful attention to the long-term erosion trend and the historical record of storms, including their impacts on the shoreline position and beach recovery.


Abstract Objective To estimate the effects on homicide rates of the gang truce that was brokered in El Salvador in 2012. Methods Mathematical models based on municipal-level census, crime and gang-intelligence data were used to estimate the effect of the truce on homicide rates. One model estimated the overall effect after accounting for the linear trend and seasonality in the homicide rate. In a moderated-effect model, we investigated the relationship between the truce effect and the numbers of MS13 (Mara Salvatrucha 13) and Eighteenth-Street gang members imprisoned per 100 000 population. We then ran each of these two models with additional control variables. We compared values before the truce – 1 January 2010 to 29 February 2012 – with those after the truce – 1 March 2012 to 31 December 2013. Findings The overall-effect models with and without additional control variables indicated a homicide rate after the truce that was significantly lower than the value before the truce, giving rate ratios of 0.55 (95% confidence interval, CI: 0.49–0.63) and 0.61 (95% CI: 0.54–0.69), respectively. For any given municipality, the effectiveness of the truce appeared to increase as the number of MS13 gang members imprisoned per 100 000 population increased. We did not observe the same significant relationship for imprisoned Eighteenth-Street gang members. Conclusion In the 22 months following the establishment of a national gang truce, the homicide rate was about 40% lower than in the preceding 26 months. The truce's impact appeared particularly strong in municipalities with relatively high numbers of imprisoned MS13 gang members per 100 000 population.


In this study, aluminum-based composites reinforced with various amounts of α-Si3N4 were produced by powder metallurgy (P/M). The machinability properties of MMCs were determined by means of cutting forces and surface roughness. Machining tests were carried out by using PCD and K10 cutting tools. Increasing of Si3N4 volume fraction in the matrix resulted in a decrease of the surface roughness and turning forces. PCD cutting tools showed better cutting performance than K10 tools. Surface roughness and turning forces were decreased significantly by PCD tool.


BACKGROUND
Feline hepatic lipidosis (HL) is associated with alterations in lipid and carbohydrate metabolism. The adipokines, adiponectin, and leptin have lipid-lowering and insulin-sensitizing effects.

HYPOTHESIS
Serum concentrations of adiponectin and leptin are altered in feline HL.

ANIMALS
Client-owned cats: 55 healthy and 45 with liver disease.

METHODS
Cats with liver disease were categorized as having HL (n = 20), HL and concurrent disease (n = 19), or other liver disease (n = 6), based on clinical signs, laboratory findings, abdominal ultrasound examination as well as liver cytopathology, histopathology, or both. Serum samples were collected and body condition score determined.

RESULTS
Mean serum concentrations of adiponectin were higher in overweight cats with HL (4.5 μg/mL), HL and concurrent disease (4.4 μg/mL), or other liver disease (6.1 μg/mL), as compared with healthy cats (1.5 μg/mL; P < .001, P < .001, and P = .04, respectively). Mean serum concentration of leptin was higher in cats with HL (9.8 ng/mL) or HL and concurrent disease (10.7 ng/mL) than healthy cats (4.9 ng/mL, P < .001 and P < .001, respectively). Cats with other liver disease had leptin concentration (4.9 ng/mL) similar to healthy cats. Concentrations of adiponectin were correlated with alanine aminotransferase activity (r = 0.40, P = .0069), and concentrations of leptin were correlated with alkaline phosphatase activity (r = 0.42, P = .0051) in cats with liver disease.

CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL IMPORTANCE
Adipokine concentrations are altered in feline HL. Increased concentrations of adiponectin are related to liver disease, whereas increased concentrations of leptin are specifically related to HL.


The importance of literacy and literacy practices as an instrument of conceptual and cognitive development is well documented. Reading and writing skills have an integral role in higher education, yet the application of these skills is normally the domain of language specialists or academic support programmes and not the focus of subject lecturers. This article reports on business education student teachers' reflections of a small-scale 'read-talk-write' project. I argue that introducing a disciplinary  literacy component in business education may infuse a critical-reflective approach in business education teacher training to encourage habits of reading, writing, speaking and reasoning with the intention to cascade it to school level.  Data was collected by means of open-ended survey questions using content analysis. Findings suggest that content literacy instruction in business education can be applied by introducing deliberate and consistent literacy practices for students to become critically aware of and confident in interrogating disciplinary content in business.


This article presents information about labor historian James Henry Wood. Wood was always catholic in his interests and activities. Born in Bristol in 1872 or 1873, he was trained as an engineer, but applied himself to statistics, and was eventually appointed to the statistical staff of the Labour Department of the Board of Trade. From the late 1890s until about 1912, the Labour Department was involved in the gathering of wage enquiry and Wood was involved in the gathering of wage statistics and other material connected with labour questions generally. Wood's work on wage statistics brought him into close contact with the employers and trade unionists of the various industries which he studied, and particularly so in the Yorkshire woollen and worsted trade which dominated so much of his later career. He had certainly contacted many Yorkshire textile trade unionists, such as Allen Gee and Ben Turner, before coming to live and work in Yorkshire. Although frequently in conflict with trade-union opinion, Wood's statistics did not reflect an ignorance of labour's attitudes.


Although the origins of bariatric surgery to treat obesity can be traced back to the 1950s with the jejunoileal bypass, which is considered a malabsorptive bariatric procedure, its practice remained in obscurity until two things happened. First, obesity becoming a pandemic disease state with life threatening comorbidities such as diabetes, hypertension, sleep apnea, dyslipidemia and metabolic syndrome, resulting in a higher risk for premature death. Second, the introduction, development, and refinement of minimal access surgical techniques along with newer laparoscopic stapling devices. With the advent of laparoscopy in the 1980s, bariatric surgery began to be performed through minimally invasive techniques. The purpose of this article is to describe the science and evolutionary development of various laparoscopic bariatric surgical techniques and the associated surgical anatomy.


A federally funded program that provides opportunities for disadvantaged students with the goal of increasing diversity and cultural awareness in the health professions.


Although short-term therapy for patients with anxiety disorders has been the accepted mode of therapy, it has become increasingly evident that certain patients with generalized anxiety disorder, panic disorder, and chronic illness may require longer-term therapy. Therapeutic goals for such patients include reducing anxiety symptoms, returning the patient to normal or near-normal functioning, and improving quality of life. Clinicians must choose the appropriate drug regimen with regard to duration, continuous versus intermittent treatment, and administration on a daily versus as-needed basis. Because of the nature of some anxiety disorders, intermittent therapy very often may be preferred. Benzodiazepines are highly effective and safe anxiolytics, but with continuous use these agents have demonstrated psychologic and physical dependence problems. Other agents, such as tricyclic antidepressants and monoamine oxidase inhibitors, also relieve anxiety, although they have been shown to be unsuited for indiscriminate use. Buspirone, a newer anxiolytic, seems to be both effective and without abuse or dependence potential. In all cases, the prudent clinician should combine good patient management within the context of a good doctor-patient relationship.


The opportunities that may be provided by synergistic
antiviral action of drugs for battling SARS-CoV2 are currently underestimated.
Modern AI technologies realized as text, data, and knowledge mining and
analytics tools provide the researchers with unprecedented opportunities for
"smart" design of drug combinations with synergistic antiviral activities. The
goal of this study is to emphasize the combination therapy as a potential
treatment against COVID-19 and to utilize the combination of modern machine
learning and AI technologies with our expertise to select the most promising
drug combinations with further experimental validation. To the best of our
knowledge, we are the first who applied the combination of data, text, and
knowledge mining and modeling towards identification of drug combinations
against SARS-CoV2. As a result, we have identified 281 combinations of 38 drugs
that may serve as potential treatment for COVID-19. Among them, we selected
twenty binary combinations that were submitted to experimental testing and twenty
treble drug combinations that will be submitted for experimental testing as
soon as necessary infrastructure will be developed. We hope that this study
will promote the combination therapy as an efficient treatment for COVID-19.


With the Tibetan diaspora in the late 1950s, Tibetan Buddhism spread to nearly every continent on the globe and has begun transforming western landscapes through the construction of stūpas , Buddhism's principal architectural form.  The Great Stupa of Dharmakaya Which Liberates Upon Seeing , located at Shambhala Mountain Center in Red Feather Lakes, Colorado and dedicated to the meditation master Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche, is an especially rich example of Tibetan Buddhist visual culture in the diaspora.  An iconographic analysis of the monuments exterior and interior architectural elements, sculptures and paintings, when contextualized within their historical context, reveals an intimate biography of Trungpa Rinpoche's life.  Specifically, the visual narrative conveys two main Tibetan Buddhist themes:  the teacher's progressive path of meditation and his lineage affiliations within Vajrayāna Buddhism.  In this way, the  stūpa acts as a visual namtar ( rNam-thar ), a traditional Tibetan biography that emphasizes a teacher's personal journey to liberation and the masters who guided the way.  Although located far from the Himalayas and its Tibetan heritage, The Great Stupa of Dharmakaya's affinity to traditional Tibetan Buddhist architectural and religious modalities provides a window into Tibet Buddhism's history prior to 1959.  At the same time, the monument serves as coherent, visual documentation of Tibetan art during the diaspora's early period and will, no doubt, become an increasingly important part of the tradition's historical record.


A method for determining the diameters and shell thicknesses of microbubble resonators is presented; it entails simulating whispering gallery mode (WGM) spectra using a newly developed finite-difference time-domain (FDTD)-based toolkit. Spectra for a range of shell thicknesses are simulated using FDTD, assuming a linear dependence of the free spectral range on the diameter, and the free spectral ranges and positions of the prominent modes are matched to those of the measured spectrum. This method improves upon existing techniques for extracting the diameter and thickness, such as SEM imaging, which typically require the microbubble to be dissected or otherwise rendered unusable for subsequent use. The model allows a variety of methods of mode excitation to be simulated. Dye coatings are simulated by placing a layer of dipole sources on the surface of the resonator, yielding mode couplings comparable to those measured in experiments. The model is tested for a small-diameter silica glass microbubble, with the free spectral range being simulated for a range of diameters and shell thicknesses. The numerically simulated spectra are then compared to the experimentally measured spectrum. The ability to determine the geometric parameters of such resonators directly from their WGM spectra represents a step forward in the characterization of microbubble resonators. Furthermore, the model opens the way to previously unstudied spectral behavior of microbubbles with small diameters and thin shell thicknesses.


A cash flow's value depends on its (1) expected amount, (2) risk and (3) time of occurrence. This applies especially to uncertain payments that are generated by a company for its stake-holders. However, a cash flow's risk is not adequately considered when it comes to valuation by the traditional DCF method. This is owed to the fact that historical stock return fluctuations, rather than the risk of cash flows, are the subject of the beta factor in Capital Asset Pricing Models (CAPM).

To summarise the dark, likely-to-be-hidden secret of corporate valuation practice (see also Damodaran, 2018): a company's true opportunities and threats (risks) are currently ignored. The failure to explicitly consider, or 'typify', threats and opportunities (see Henselmann, 2006, pp. 144ff., Berger and Gleißner, 2018 and Gleißner 2019e) can lead to the undervaluation of a company which, in fact, has (1) good opportunities, (2) low cashflow volatility and (3) a very good rating.

This working paper clarifies the significance and effects of earnings risk, in general, and of insolvency risk, more precisely.


Marginal Paradises: Bungalow Tourism on the Islands of Southem Thailand. Erik Cohen. Annals of Toursim Research, vol. 9, no. 2, 1982, pp. 189-228. Pergamon Press, Inc., Maxwell House, Fairview Park, Elsmford, New York 10523. $55 annual subscription. In a longitudinal comparative study, some current issues concerning the nature, penetration, and impact of youth tourism on two beaches on two differentially developed islands in southern Thailand are examined. The beaches are marginal paradises-touristic paradises marginal to both the life plan of the tourists and the ecology and economy of the native society. Vacationing youth seek mainly recreational experiences and show marked narcissistic tendencies. The study lends some support to the multi-lineal model of touristic development, with the two beaches manifesting differential development dynamics.


INTRODUCTION In 19th century colonial Cuba, Boards of Health (Juntas de Sanidad) were created to administer public health, in tandem with and later replacing the older Royal Protomedicato Court (Real Tribunal de Protomedicato). Development of the Board of Health in the northeastern city of Holguín reflected local historical processes, as well as class relations and social issues characteristic of this period. Among the highlights of the Board's activities were epidemic control during cholera and smallpox outbreaks, monitoring the city's sanitary conditions, and support for charitable work. Studying the history of such epidemiological surveillance activities may benefit design and implementation of related current research and prevention/control campaigns. OBJECTIVE Describe the development of the 19th century Board of Health in the city of Holguín. EVIDENCE ACQUISITION The research was conducted through a critical analysis of primary sources contained in the Historical Archives of (today's) Holguín Province, specifically relevant documents from the regional and city government (Fondo Tenencia de Gobierno y Ayuntamiento) and town council (Cabildo). Cuban and international scientific publications were also consulted. DEVELOPMENT The Board of Health was the main institution conducting health and hygiene control and charitable activities in the city of Holguín during the 19th century. It was created mainly to take preventive measures against diseases affecting the population, an effort it undertook with support from the Urban Health Police. Its efforts to confront smallpox and cholera epidemics greatly helped to reduce the toll of these diseases on the population, albeit not sufficiently to prevent their reccurrence. Beginning in the 1870s, weakened government support eroded the Board's position, and health-related measures were implemented mainly by the Board of Charity, which focused on matters concerning the city's Civil Hospital. CONCLUSIONS Although established in 1820, Holguín's Board of Health carried out preventive actions most actively from 1850 to 1865, with support from the Urban Health Police. Its gradual disappearance from the health policy arena beginning in the 1870s reflects its failure as an institution, in large part due to weak government support. KEYWORDS Board of Health, prevention, epidemics, Cuba.


Restriction endonucleases cut and partially removed DNA throughout fixed air-dried human metaphase chromosomes. Some enzymes produced a G-banding pattern; some revealed the presence of multiple chromosome-specific classes of highly repetitive DNA in C-band heterochromatin. Enzymes that produced the informative C-band patterns had recognition sequences that were four or five, but not six, base pairs long and did not contain a cytosine-guanine doublet. In both rat and human chromosomes, regions containing amplified ribosomal RNA genes were specifically removed by the restriction endonuclease Msp I.


Context. The rich open cluster M 67 is known to have a chemical composition close to solar and an age of about 3.5–4.8 Gyr. It offers an important opportunity to check and develop our understanding of the physics and the evolution of solar-type stars. Aims. We present a spectroscopic study at high resolution, R ≈ 50 000, of 14 stars located on the main sequence, at the turn-off point, and on the early subgiant branch in the cluster in order to investigate its detailed chemical composition, for comparison with the Sun and solar twins in the solar neighbourhood, and to explore selective atomic diffusion of chemical elements as predicted by stellar-structure theory. Methods. We have obtained VLT/FLAMES-UVES spectra and analysed these strictly differentially in order to explore chemicalabundance similarities and differences between the M 67 stars and the Sun and among the M 67 stars themselves. Results. Individual abundances of 19 different chemical elements are obtained for the stars. They are found to agree very well with solar abundances, with abundance ratios closer to solar than those of most solar twins in the solar neighbourhood. An exception is Li, which shows considerable scatter among the cluster stars. There is a tendency for the cluster-star abundances to be more depleted than the abundances in the field stars in correlation with the condensation temperature of the elements, a tendency also found earlier for the Sun. Moreover, the heavy-element abundances are found to be reduced in the hotter stars and dwarfs by typically ≤0.05 dex, as compared to the abundances of the subgiants. Conclusions. The results support the hypothesis that the gas of the proto-cluster was depleted by formation and cleansing of dust before the stars formed. They also add support to the proposal that the Sun was formed in a dense stellar environment. Moreover, the observed minor reductions of heavy elements, relative to our standard star M 67-1194 and the subgiants, in the atmospheres of dwarfs and turn-off point stars seem to suggest that diffusion processes are at work in these stars, although the evidence is not compelling. Based on theoretical models, the diffusion-corrected initial metallicity of M 67 is estimated to be [Fe/H] =+ 0.06.


Since September 2010, the ROBOFOOT consortium, a group of 10 partners, including Footwear Industry, Research institutes and Robotic solution providers is working together to promote the introduction of robotics in the European Footwear Manufacturing Industry. This paper presents the initial results achieved, in particular they are described the user requirements and operations selected and the technical achievements reached so far. The approach followed allows the coexistence of current working practices and facilities with robotic solutions. Due to the nature of the industry, either in size and financial capability, it has been identified as one of the requirements by end-users taking part in the project.


The role of the primary healthcare nurse practitioner (NP-PHC) has a long history in Ontario. In this paper, we describe the evolution of the role with a focus on geographic distribution, a profile of client populations and the services provided by NP-PHCs. Comparisons will be made to findings from previous studies and reports on the NP-PHC role in Ontario. In 2004 and 2005, two-thirds of the nurse practitioners registered with the College of Nurses of Ontario responded to a descriptive self-reporting survey. The data collected revealed that NP-PHCs work throughout the healthcare system, including with underserviced and marginalized populations, in community health centres and in outpatient areas within acute care hospitals. They provide the entire spectrum of primary healthcare services. Barriers to fully enacting the role are related to restrictive legislation that limits NP prescribing and diagnosing, and the ability to work to full scope of practice in hospitals (for example, in emergency departments). Targeted funding has promoted the role throughout the province. However, inadequate and insecure pilot funding continues to be a concern. Findings from this study indicate that policy decisions to support the NP role in rural and remote areas have resulted in expansion of the role across the province. Yet, NPs perceive that legislation has lagged and inhibits their ability to meet patient and health systems needs.


We provide physically intuitive mechanisms for the effect of noise on excitation energy transfer (EET) in networks. Using these mechanisms of dephasing-assisted transport (DAT) in a hybrid basis of both excitons and sites, we develop a detailed picture of how noise enables energy transfer with efficiencies well above 90% across the Fenna–Matthew–Olson (FMO) complex, a type of light-harvesting molecule. We demonstrate explicitly how noise alters the pathways of energy transfer across the complex, suppressing ineffective pathways and facilitating direct ones to the reaction centre. We explain that the fundamental mechanisms underpinning DAT are expected to be robust with respect to the considered noise model but show that the specific details of the exciton–phonon coupling, which remain largely unknown in these type of complexes, and in particular the impact of non-Markovian effects, result in variations of dynamical features that should be amenable to experimental verification with current or planned technology. A detailed understanding of DAT in natural compounds could open up a new paradigm of 'noise-engineering' by which EET can be optimized in artificial light-harvesting structures.


The current study used an eye tracker to examine how auditory input affects the latency of visual saccades, fixations, and response times while using variations of a Serial Response Time (SRT) task. In Experiment 1, participants viewed a repeating sequence of visual stimuli that appeared in different locations on a computer monitor and they had to quickly determine if each visual stimulus was red/blue. The visual sequence was either presented in silence or paired with tones. Compared with the silent condition, the tones slowed down red/blue discriminations and delayed the latency of first fixations to the visual stimuli. To ensure the interference was not occurring during the decision or response phase and to better understand the nature of auditory interference, we removed the red/blue discrimination task in Experiment 2, manipulated cognitive load, and developed a gaze-contingent procedure where the timing of each visual stimulus was dependent on a saccade crossing a gaze-contingent boundary surrounding the target. Participants were slower at initiating their saccades or fixations and made more fixations under high load. As in Experiment 1, auditory interference was found with participants being more likely to fixate on the visual stimuli and were faster at fixating on the visual stimuli in the unimodal condition. These findings suggest that auditory interference effects occur early in the course of processing and provide insights into potential mechanisms underlying modality dominance effects. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).


A male neonate with maternally inherited Marfan syndrome was also diagnosed with Down syndrome at 3 weeks of age. To our knowledge this is the first described case in the literature of the co-occurrence of Down syndrome and Marfan syndrome in a neonate. The diagnosis of Down syndrome was delayed and we hypothesise that Marfan syndrome had masked the usual phenotypic features of Down syndrome. The phenotype of this child is intriguing and has lead to speculation of the possible interaction of the two syndromes.


White layer (WL) formation in metal cutting is generally found to have negative effects on the corrosion and fatigue life of machined components. Nowadays, the mechanism of the WL formation has not been understood very well, especially about the contribution of the thermal and mechanical loadings generated by the cutting process on WL formation. The relationship between subsurface plastic strain caused by mechanical loadings and the formation of WLs is of our concern. To address this issue, WL formation in hard turning of AISI 52100 under dry and cryogenic cooling conditions is investigated by subsurface plastic strain measurement using the microgrid technique, observed by scanning electron microscope (SEM). Due to the considerable low temperature, WL is mainly generated by mechanical effect rather than the thermal one, and this hypothesis is supported by physically-based finite element method (FEM) simulations. From the investigations, we discover the existing of plastic strain threshold, which governs the occurrence of WL in hard turning of AISI 52100 steel under cryogenic cooling conditions.


Eulachon smelt Thaleichthyspacificus are anadromous forage fish of the North Pacific Ocean that annually spawn in coastal rivers of North America in late winter and early spring. These spawning runs range from northern California to southwestern Alaska and provide important resources to nearby communities, indigenous cultures, and wildlife predators. However, eulachon life history is not well understood or documented throughout their range. In recent years, concerns for eulachon population abundances in the southern portions of their range have led to federal protection. Though there are no federal listings in Alaska, there have been local concerns documented for eulachon runs of the Chilkat and Chilkoot rivers since approximately 1990. However, eulachon run timing and abundance trends are difficult to detect due to limited available data and variability in eulachon runs. To document baseline information and explore patterns of eulachon runs of the Chilkat and Chilkoot rivers, we sought local and traditional knowledge from residents of nearby communities to document information about local uses, run timing, abundance, and wildlife observations related to eulachon runs. Observations of eulachon runs were integrated with historical records from newspaper articles and scientific reports to construct temporal trends in eulachon run timing and abundance. Based on the findings of this study, annual eulachon runs of the Chilkat and Chilkoot rivers generally occur for about a week or two between mid-April and mid-May. The arrival dates of eulachon runs often vary from year to year, but the timing appears to have shifted earlier, from mid-May to mid-April, over the past couple of decades. Abundance records were not sufficient to quantify trends. However, qualitative information regarding abundance did not suggest any clear trends in eulachon abundances of the Chilkat and Chilkoot rivers over the years, nor did there appear to be prominent local concerns about abundance declines. Many respondents suggested that eulachon populations were naturally too variable to be able to describe trends in abundance. Interviews also provided insight into local perspectives on eulachon life history and ecology. These results suggest that variability in eulachon run timing and abundance could be related to environmental conditions, including tidal height, river habitat, and water temperature. For a data-limited species like eulachon, integrating local observations and historical records offers a promising approach to documenting baseline information and improving the scientific understanding of eulachon runs and other environmental phenomena.


Single and double indicator-dilution measurements of the circulating blood volume were made in chronically catheterized sheep fetuses averaging 131 days gestation. Blood volume measured with 51Cr-labeled red blood cells averaged 110.3 +/- 10.7 (SD) ml/kg with a range of +/- 15% of the mean (n = 23). The 125I-albumin (n = 7) and 125I-fibrinogen (n = 5) blood volumes averaged 126.2 +/- 9.8 (SD) and 124.5 +/- 6.9 ml/kg, respectively. The double-indicator fetal blood volume averaged 120.6 +/- 8.3 ml/kg (n = 12); however, this value is too high due to the assumptions used when determining plasma volumes. In addition, after either a 15% fetal hemorrhage or intravenous epinephrine infusion, there was no statistically significant release of red blood cells into the circulation. Labeled maternal red blood cells were removed from the fetal circulation at an average rate of 18%/h, whereas there was no detectable loss of labeled autologous fetal cells from the circulation. Finally, there were spontaneous changes in fetal blood volume including an average decrease of 2.3 +/- 0.3% (SE) (n = 10) during low-level uterine contractions (i.e., contractures). In summary, it appears that labeled fetal red blood cells provide the most accurate estimate of circulating fetal blood volume because of unresolvable problems in extrapolating the plasma label back to zero time. In addition, changes in blood volume can be accurately calculated from either hematocrit or hemoglobin concentration because there appeared to be no red cell reservoirs in the fetuses.


Abstract This article focuses upon the most recent trends in nuclear deterrence and strategic stability. It addresses the contemporary developments in three interconnected domains: first-strike, crisis and arms race stability. It traces the evolution of strategic stability studies, highlights the most fundamental contribution in the three above-mentioned study areas, and attempts to explain the change in contemporary nuclear deterrence. During the Cold War the superpowers developed international practices and unwritten rules of nuclear deterrence. Political practices emerged together with extensive studies of nuclear deterrence, which were based on a rational choice approach and game modelling. Contemporary international relations (IR) faces revival of nuclear deterrence studies. While some scholars are rediscovering the Cold War IR analysis models and adapting them to contemporary realities, others are looking for new analytical possibilities. This article focuses upon interlinkages between first-strike, crisis and arms race stability, and attempts to explain how changes in strategic environment can help better understanding the contemporary nuclear deterrence. It discusses whether and under what conditions nuclear parity, first-strike stability, arms control and crisis equilibrium can guarantee the strategic stability and military balance. It also addresses the qualitative or quantitative change in the conflict or crisis perception, and its implications on contemporary deterrence.


Over the past several decades, the Yellowstone caldera has experienced frequent earthquake swarms and repeated cycles of uplift and subsidence, reflecting dynamic volcanic and tectonic processes. Here we examine the detailed spatial‐temporal evolution of the 2010 Madison Plateau swarm, which occurred near the northwest boundary of the Yellowstone caldera. To fully explore the evolution of the swarm, we integrated procedures for seismic waveform‐based earthquake detection with precise double‐difference relative relocation. Using cross correlation of continuous seismic data and waveform templates constructed from cataloged events, we detected and precisely located 8710 earthquakes during the 3 week swarm, nearly 4 times the number of events included in the standard catalog. This high‐resolution analysis reveals distinct migration of earthquake activity over the course of the swarm. The swarm initiated abruptly on 17 January 2010 at about 10 km depth and expanded dramatically outward (both shallower and deeper) over time, primarily along a NNW striking, ~55° ENE dipping structure. To explain these characteristics, we hypothesize that the swarm was triggered by the rupture of a zone of confined high‐pressure aqueous fluids into a preexisting crustal fault system, prompting release of accumulated stress. The high‐pressure fluid injection may have been accommodated by hybrid shear and dilatational failure, as is commonly observed in exhumed hydrothermally affected fault zones. This process has likely occurred repeatedly in Yellowstone as aqueous fluids exsolved from magma migrate into the brittle crust, and it may be a key element in the observed cycles of caldera uplift and subsidence.


ABSTRACT This article reports on a study that assessed farmers' access to, and coverage of, five plant clinics operating from market places in two districts of Uganda. Despite the noticeable geographic and thematic coverage of the services, placing plant clinics at markets did not automatically ensure equitable access and high farmer attendance. Clinic users were predominantly middle-aged male farmers and overall attendance was relatively low. Uganda has taken plant clinics to scale in recent years due to their potential to strengthen the country's responsiveness to pests and diseases. Optimising farmer reach and ensuring equity in access requires reviewing clinic placement, timing, and mobilisation strategies.


The purpose of this thesis is to gain understanding and analyze how Scandinavian firms' relationships and networks can help them to create opportunities and reduce risks when conducting project business on African markets. Through this purpose we have created a main research questions that aims to answer:In order to answer the main research question a theoretical framework will be built on project business theories in order to understand project business and the opportunities and risks that are known to the project marketer. The Network Model and Uppsala Internationalization Model will also be applied to gain understanding of how to create opportunities and reduce risks through your networks and relationships. The research approach of this thesis will be an abductive approach and the gathering of primary data will be done through qualitative interviews using a multiple case study of two experienced project business actors. The gathered empirical data will interpreted with the help of the theoretical framework. The conclusion of this thesis indicates that project business risks and opportunities many times are interrelated to the same actors and that coordination and communication among the project marketer's relationships and networks are vital to project business success on African markets. Onwards a theoretical gap and our theoretical contribution within the field will be presented, along with suggestions for further research and implications for practicing project business actors.


Abstract The cost of producing a unit of output is a critical management aspect in the dairy industry, particularly in South Africa. The ability of minimise unit costs of producing milk, while not curtailing output levels, is often a determining factor of the long-term survival of dairy farms in South Africa. In this study, average cost curves showing the variation of unit cost with output are estimated for dairy production in the KwaZulu- Natal Midlands of South Africa, using a panel of 37 farms for the period 1999 to 2007. The results show that economies of size exist, with larger farms able to produce any given level of output at lower costs compared to their smaller counterparts. The study found that the long-run average cost curve (LAC) for the sample of dairy farms is L-shaped rather than U-shaped. The best farmers, in terms of average costs of producing a litre of milk, are found between the 100 000 to about 170 000 litres of milk per year output range and these were found to spend less than R1 per litre.


It is extremely challenging to prepare room-temperature ferromagnet
(RTF) semiconductors as it is of great importance for development of electronic
and spintronic devices in future. Herein, we report that
significant radical signals were detected in three low bandgap small molecules
based on diketopyrrolopyrrole derivatives, since these molecules have an open-shell singlet
diradical ground state. A new mechanism of aggregation-induced radical (AIR) was
proposed to interpret the origin of radical signals and the transformation from
the aromatic structure to the quinoid-diradical (Q-D) structure in D-A type low bandgap organic
semiconductors. More importantly, the molecule Py-TTDPP exhibited obvious ferromagnetism
at room temperature, which also showed extensive radical signals due to the
thermally-excited triplet state in aggregation state. It was the first report
on the RTF based on neutral organic small
molecule semiconductors. Our findings unambitiously indicate the coming of the
room-temperature magnets based on organic small molecule radicals in future.


Abstract. The exploratory spatial data analysis (ESDA) process refers to the use of various functions to gain an initial understanding of a spatial dataset. These include measures of spatial heterogeneity and spatial autocorrelation. Currently, the ESDA process is repetitive and time-consuming. Additionally, while different results arise for different datasets, how these results are generated does not change significantly. Results are also generated individually for each variable which means that they cannot be easily compared or shared.The automation of the ESDA process would therefore have multiple benefits as it would not only save time, but it would also allow the data analyst to keep up with the rapid rate at which we generate data. This paper aims to introduce the first iteration of autoESDA – a Python library capable of automating the ESDA process by summarising the results into a single report.In this paper, we present the defined high-level requirements for the implementation of autoESDA. Various dependency libraries are discussed and a high-level overview of the workflow of autoESDA is described. The library is then evaluated against the requirements laid out earlier in the study. Semi-structured interviews were carried out, which yielded a wealth of feedback and suggestions from the participants, describing how the output report could be improved. Finally, a roadmap of proposed further developments and improvements is discussed.The first version demonstrates that the automation of ESDA is possible and lays the foundation for further development in this regard. This is an important contribution to understanding spatial data as it enables the data analyst to keep up with the magnitude of data that is generated on a daily basis.


Since the end of World War II, social science research has become increasingly quantitative in nature. A Case for the Case Study provides a rationale for an alternative to quantitative reserach: the close investigation of single instances of social phenomena. The first section of the book contains an overview of the central methodological issues involved in the use of the case study method. Then, well-known scholars describe how they undertook case study research in order to undersand changes in church involvement, city life, gender roles, white-collar crimes, family structure, homelessness, and other types of social experience. Each contributor contronts several key questions: What does the case study tell us that other approaches cannot? To what extent can one generalize from the study of a single case or of a highly limited set of cases? Does case study work provide the basis for postulating broad principles of social structure and behavior? The answers vary, but the consensus is that the opportunity to examine certain kinds of social phenomena in depth enables social scientists to advance greatly our empirical understanding of social life. The contributors are Leon Anderson, Howard M. Bahr, Theodore Caplow, Joe R. Feagin, Gilbert Geis, Gerald Handel, Anthonly M. Orum, Andree F. Sjoberg, Gideon Sjoberg, David A. Snow, Ted R. Vaughan, R. Stephen Warner, Christine L. Williams, and Norma Williams.


This project seeks to develop methods and software for computer-based scientific analysis that are sufficiently powerful, flexible and accessible to (i) enable domain experts to achieve significant advancements within their domains, and (ii) enable innovative use of advanced computational techniques in unexpected scientific, technological and industrial applications. In this poster we report on the progress towards this goal by describing advancements both in the development and application of the associated cyberinfrastructure. In particular, we report on the use of mathematical optimization techniques for the analysis of economically viable pathways for decarbonization of electrical power networks. We also report on the development of next-generation of interior point algorithms for convex optimization and their potential to revolutionize applications in machine learning and optimal control. Finally, we report on various community building activities.


Previously, we demonstrated that progesterone (P(4)) promoted adult rat neural progenitor cell (rNPC) proliferation with concomitant regulation of cell-cycle gene expression via the P(4) receptor membrane component/ERK pathway. Here, we report the efficacy of seven clinically relevant progestins alone or in combination with 17β-estradiol (E(2)) on adult rNPC proliferation and hippocampal cell viability in vitro and in vivo. In vitro analyses indicated that P(4), norgestimate, Nestorone, norethynodrel, norethindrone, and levonorgestrel (LNG) significantly increased in rNPC proliferation, whereas norethindrone acetate was without effect, and medroxyprogesterone acetate (MPA) inhibited rNPC proliferation. Proliferative progestins in vitro were also neuroprotective. Acute in vivo exposure to P(4) and Nestorone significantly increased proliferating cell nuclear antigen and cell division cycle 2 expression and total number of hippocampal 5-bromo-2-deoxyuridine (BrdU)-positive cells, whereas LNG and MPA were without effect. Mechanistically, neurogenic progestins required activation of MAPK to promote proliferation. P(4), Nestorone, and LNG significantly increased ATP synthase subunit α (complex V, subunit α) expression, whereas MPA was without effect. In combination with E(2), P(4), Nestorone, LNG, and MPA significantly increased BrdU incorporation. However, BrdU incorporation induced by E(2) plus LNG or MPA was paralleled by a significant increase in apoptosis. A rise in Bax/Bcl-2 ratio paralleled apoptosis induced by LNG and MPA. With the exception of P(4), clinical progestins antagonized E(2)-induced rise in complex V, subunit α. These preclinical translational findings indicate that the neurogenic response to clinical progestins varies dramatically. Progestin impact on the regenerative capacity of the brain has clinical implications for contraceptive and hormone therapy formulations prescribed for pre- and postmenopausal women.


Ectopic breast tissue is rare and typically presents as an axillary mass. Previous reports have identified ectopic breast tissue in the vulva, but malignancy is exceedingly uncommon. We present a 62 years old with locally advanced breast carcinoma arising in the vulva demonstrates the utilization of sentinel lymph node mapping to identify metastatic lymph nodes previously unable to be identified via traditional surgical exploration. Our case supports the principles of adjuvant therapy for breast cancer to be applied to ectopic breast cancer arising in the vulva. A literature review highlights common key points in similar cases to guide management.


This chapter reports on a study of oracy in a first-year university Business course, with particular interest in the oracy demands for second language-using international students. The research is relevant at a time when Higher Education is characterised by the confluence of increased international enrolments, more dialogic teaching and learning, and imperatives for teamwork and collaboration. Data sources for the study included videotaped lectures and tutorials, course documents, student surveys, and an interview with the lecturer. The findings pointed to a complex, oracy-laden environment where interactive talk fulfilled high-stakes functions related to social inclusion, the co-construction of knowledge, and the accomplishment of assessment tasks. The salience of talk posed significant challenges for students negotiating these core functions in their second language. The study highlights the oracy demands in university courses and foregrounds the need for university teachers, curriculum writers and speaking test developers to recognise these demands and explicate them for the benefit of all students.


Multidimensional scaling (MDS) is a popular technique for mapping a finite metric space into a low-dimensional Euclidean space in a way that best preserves pairwise distances. We overview the theory of classical MDS, along with its optimality properties and goodness of fit. Further, we present a notion of MDS on infinite metric measure spaces that generalizes these optimality properties. As a consequence we can study the MDS embeddings of the geodesic circle $S^1$ into $\mathbb{R}^m$ for all $m$, and ask questions about the MDS embeddings of the geodesic $n$-spheres $S^n$ into $\mathbb{R}^m$. Finally, we address questions on convergence of MDS. For instance, if a sequence of metric measure spaces converges to a fixed metric measure space $X$, then in what sense do the MDS embeddings of these spaces converge to the MDS embedding of $X$?


The long term influence of objects crossing or abandoned in GEO was evaluated, based on current practices, using the new Space Debris Mitigation model SDM 4.0. It was the latest version of a long term evolution code originally developed in the early 1990's, specifically designed to model with high accuracy the high Earth orbit regimes. Starting from the MASTER-2005 debris population, the long term evolution of the GEO environment was simulated under a few realistic scenarios, based on increasingly aggressive mitigation strategies. Beyond the high eccentricity objects, also the influence of the rocket stages separated from GEO spacecraft and left in geosynchronous drift orbits was analyzed. The main mitigation measures considered included the re-orbiting of GEO spacecraft at the end-of-life in the super-GEO graveyard zone, the de-orbiting of GTO/HEO upper stages and the re-orbiting of the rocket stages usually abandoned in drift orbits. These simulations allowed the quantitative estimation of the collision probability related to all the above mentioned classes of objects. The effectiveness of the current mitigation measures was assessed and the rationale of new mitigation guidelines devised to minimize the future collision risk in GEO was discussed.


The Hg isotopic signature may provide insight into tracking the sources and pathways of both airborne particulate matter (PM) and particle-bound Hg (PHg) in the atmosphere. However, separating and concentrating trace levels of PHg and accurately analyzing its isotope ratios remain a technical challenge. Here, we optimized a combustion-trapping dual-stage protocol specifically for the pre-concentration of Hg from a PM sample collected on a quartz fiber membrane (QFM) for high-precision Hg isotopic analysis. The protocol was validated by testing synthetic samples of varying concentrations and trapping solutions of different volumes, and by comparison with two conventional methods (acid digestion and column purification). Using the dual-stage protocol, an individual sample containing up to 570 ng of Hg can be combusted at programmed temperatures in an Hg-free O2 stream, and the volatilized gaseous Hg was trapped in a 5 mL acid (4 M HNO3 and 1.3 M HCl) mixture. The method results in a relatively lower procedural blank and quantitative recovery (99 ± 6%, 2SD, n = 90). Long-term measurements of three certified reference materials (CRM021, CRM024, and GBW07405) with complex matrices using the optimized protocol gave identical Hg isotopic ratios of both mass-dependent fractionation (MDF) and mass-independent fractionation (MIF), in agreement with the results obtained from the standard addition method. The protocol was applied to two PM2.5 samples collected on a 20.3 × 12.5 cm QFM. The result showed evident variations of both MDF and MIF, highlighting the importance of studying Hg isotopic compositions in PM of variable environments in order to fully understand the behaviors of Hg and its isotopes in the atmosphere.


1. The rate of fatty acid synthesis by particle-free extracts prepared from rat liver is increased greatly if the enzyme system is first activated with citrate. 2. The extent of the activation depends on the citrate concentration and on the time of activation in an interdependent manner. 3. Citrate activation is strongly dependent on temperature. 4. Tricarballylate can replace citrate as an activator, but its presence in the assay inhibits fatty acid synthesis. 5. Mg(2+) ions can replace citrate in the activation but not in the complete reaction system. 6. ATP prevents the activating effect of citrate and Mg(2+) ions. 7. The rate of fatty acid synthesis is increased by palmitoyl-dl-carnitine. This type of activation, additional to that caused by citrate, is rapid and does not depend on prior incubation. 8. Inhibition of fatty acid synthesis by palmitoyl-CoA can be prevented by palmitoyl-dl-carnitine or by increasing the concentration of protein.


Forty-five adults with type IV-A choledochal cysts (CDC) who underwent extrahepatic cyst excision from January 2013 to December 2021 were followed up for a median interval of 25 months (range, 2 to 10 years) to observe the long-term complications in the remaining intrahepatic cyst. Late complications in varying combinations were seen in 10 patients, which included cholangitis and/or intrahepatic stones in 9 patients, intrahepatic bile duct stenosis with stones in 2 patients, anastomotic stricture in 6 patients, and left lobar atrophy with intrahepatic stones in 3 patients. Out of 6 patients who required re-do hepaticojejunostomy (HJ), three patients had left lobe atrophy with patent HJ anastomosis and a recurrent attack of cholangitis on follow-up at 3, 8, and 10 years. Complications occur frequently after extrahepatic cyst excision for type IV-A CDC and require a long-term follow-up.


Failure to attribute retail sales variation to weather shocks can result in biased demand forecasts, misinterpretation of nancial indicators, and undue volatility in commission-based pay. I estimate retail sales responses to weather shocks using proprietary national daily store-level apparel and sporting goods sales data combined with a weather index. Developed using the lasso method, this index allows for seasonally and regionally heterogeneous nonlinear responses. The worst 5 percent of weather shocks decrease daily store sales by 20 percent. These losses are permanent with limited shifting of sales between indoor and outdoor malls and no substitution to e-commerce.


ABSTRACT Thirty-three children with acute lymphocytic leukemia who were in remission and who did not have central nervous system (CNS) leukemia were studied in an effort to detect effects of CNS prophylaxis on brain function. Nineteen children had received intrathecal methotrexate plus cranial radiation, eight had intrathecal methotrexate alone, and six had intrathecal plus intravenous methotrexate. Intrathecal methotrexate, 12 mg/m2, was given six times over 2 months. The dosage of cranial irradiation was 2400 rads in 12 divided doses over 16 days. Intravenous methotrexate, 500 mg/m2, was given at 21-day intervals three times. All except two patients had been in remission for more than 1 year, 10 for 1–2 years, nine for 2–4 years, and 12 for more than 4 years. Computed tomography of the head, electroencephalograms, neurologic examination, and a modified form of the Halsted-Reitan neuropsychologic test battery revealed 13 patients with an abnormal finding, but only one of these patients had an abnormality in more than one area. There was thus no correlation between the observed structural and functional abnormalities. These preliminary results fail to confirm any significant difference in neuropsychologic function related to the various CNS regimens and do not indicate a need to modify presently accepted methods of CNS prophylaxis. A prospective longer-term follow-up study with a larger patient sample is needed to assess the long-range relationship of measurable abnormalities to CNS prophylaxis and to help establish a preferred method of prophylaxis.


AbstractInvestigation of market entry strategies is critical for the success of international contractors. Establishing partnerships is among the most effective vehicles of operating in international markets. The major objective of this paper is to analyze the partnership behavior of contractors in overseas projects. In this respect, social network analysis (SNA) was used to better understand the collaborative project networks in different markets and for projects of differing sizes. A database was developed based on the collaborative international construction projects where Turkish firms and their non-Turkish partners were involved. A total of 449 projects carried out in 46 countries were used for the analysis. The findings of the study suggest that contractors adopt different strategies depending on the market and project characteristics. The majority of the companies tend to remain in the same markets; they keep working with the same partners or choose local partners; and engage with multiple partners...


Linear programming (LP) relaxations are widely employed in exact solution methods for multilinear programs (MLP). One example is the family of Recursive McCormick Linearization (RML) strategies, where bilinear products are substituted for artificial variables, which deliver a relaxation of the original problem when introduced together with concave and convex envelopes. In this article, we introduce the first systematic approach for identifying RMLs, in which we focus on the identification of linear relaxation with a small number of artificial variables and with strong LP bounds. We present a novel mechanism for representing all the possible RMLs, which we use to design an exact mixed-integer programming (MIP) formulation for the identification of minimum-size RMLs; we show that this problem is NP-hard in general, whereas a special case is fixed-parameter tractable. Moreover, we explore structural properties of our formulation to derive an exact MIP model that identifies RMLs of a given size with the best possible relaxation bound is optimal. Our numerical results on a collection of benchmarks indicate that our algorithms outperform the RML strategy implemented in state-of-the-art global optimization solvers.


This paper describes the design of a normal stress electromagnetic linear actuator for fast tool servos during nonrotationally symmetric diamond turning. By using the permanent magnet as the biasing flux generator and the total armature pole surface for force generation, the actuator is designed to achieve both linear operation characteristics and high acceleration. A design methodology is presented, which is based on analytical and finite element method magnetic circuit analysis. For design optimization, a new criterion, high actuating force density, is introduced. Based on the optimized structural parameters and the strategy of design for manufacturing, a novel axisymmetric fast linear actuator is developed that has a stroke of 100 ¿m and 500 G acceleration. The linearity of the actuating force versus both the excitation current and the armature displacement is experimentally demonstrated. It is shown that the experimental and calculated results agree well with each other.


Alexander ('Alec') Walter Merrison was born in Wood Green, London, on 20 March 1924. He was the only child of Henry Walter Merrison, a fitter's mate, who rose to be a service manager in the local Gas Board and a respected Chairman of the Tottenham Group of Hospitals, and of Violet Henrietta Merrison (née Mortimer) the daughter of an Ipswich family. Alec attended Tottenham Grammar School, then the Grammar School, Enfield, where he took the Higher School Certificate in physics, chemistry and mathematics. He became Captain of the school and is remembered as a fine scholar with a pleasant manner. His qualities of leadership were already evident at a very young age. He was also a choirboy at All Hallows Church, Wood Green, where his lifelong love of music was first developed. ;In 1944 he graduated in physics at King's College, London, when he was just 20 years old, researching radio wave propagation, after which he was 'placed' on wartime radar at the Signals Research Development Establishment at Christchurch, the only Englishman and civilian in a group of 26 engineers of the Polish Army in exile. Two years later he requested a transfer to the Atomic Energy Research Establishment at Harwell to participate in research of a more interesting and challenging nature. There he came under the tutelage of O.R. Frisch (F.R.S. 1948) and J.D. (later Sir John) Cockcroft, F.R.S., who were the leading research scientists in nuclear physics. At that time Harwell was the breeding ground for a generation of British physicists; Alec clearly relished this new environment, helping to equip an electron accelerator to produce short pulses of neutrons. His first published papers described how the new technique could be used to study the interaction of neutrons with matter. This was his first experience of the use of particle accelerators as powerful probes to investigate nuclear matter. The technique of neutron scattering from bulk matter is now an important discipline in its own right, and the genesis of the current world-leading facility (ISIS) at the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory can be traced back to these pioneering experiments in which Alec played a major role.


Using a large student-level dataset from a medium-sized regional comprehensive university, we measure the impact of taking an online prerequisite course on follow-up course grades. To control for self-selection into online courses, we utilize student, instructor, course, and time fixed effects augmented with an instrumental variable approach. We find that students' grades in follow-up courses can be expected to be nearly one twelfth of a grade point lower if the prerequisite course was taken online. These results are robust to self-selection into online courses and into subsequent course enrollment.


Myiasis is the condition of infestation of the body by fly larvae (maggots). The deposited eggs develop into larvae, which penetrate deep structures causing adjacent tissue destruction. It is an uncommon clinical condition, being more frequent in tropical countries and hot climate regions, and associated with poor hygiene, suppurative oral lesions, alcoholism and senility. The diagnosis of Myiasis is basically made by the presence of larvae. The reported cases of oral Myiasis associated with oral cancer in the literature are few. This paper reports two cases of oral and maxillofacial Myiasis involving larvae in patients with squamous cell carcinoma in adult males. The condition was managed by manual removal of the larvae, one by one, with the help of forceps and subsequent management through proper health care.


Often, video game designers must choose between creating a linear experience, and designing an open world with many different story lines that fail to form a tightly crafted narrative arc. A drama manager (DM) can provide a solution to this dilemma. ADM monitors an interactive experience, such as a computer game, and intervenes to shape the global experience so that it satisfies the author's expressive goals without decreasing a player's interactive agency. In this demo we present the first integration of declarative optimization-based drama management (DODM) into an adventure-style dungeon game called EMPath.


The increasing availability of inexpensive off-the-shelf 802.11 hardware has made it possible to deploy access points (APs) densely to ensure the coverage of complex enterprise environments such as business and college campuses. However, dense AP deployment often leads to increased level of wireless contention, resulting in low system throughput. A promising approach to address this issue is to enable the transmission concurrency of exposed terminals in which two senders lie in the range of one another but do not interfere each other's receiver. However, existing solutions ignore the rate diversity of 802.11 and hence cannot fully exploit concurrent transmission opportunities in a WLAN. In this paper, we present TRACK - Transmission Rate Adaptation for Colliding linKs, a novel protocol for harnessing exposed terminals with a rate adaptation approach in enterprise WLANs. Using measurement-based channel models, TRACK can optimize the bit rates of concurrent links to improve system throughput while maintaining link fairness. Our extensive experiments on a testbed of 17 nodes show that TRACK improves system throughput by up to 67% and 35% over 802.11 CSMA and conventional approaches of harnessing exposed terminals.


The purpose of the study was to explore how the students' study approach preferences and levels of motivation in teacher training differed between traditional [pre-service teacher] and non-traditional [in-service teacher] student teachers and to investigate how these factors might influence their academic performance (dependent variable). Apart from the two factors above, the students' characteristics and entry skill qualifications were used as the independent variables in this study. There were two stages in this study. First, the development of culturally appropriates instrumentation and the pilot study to test the instruments for a final questionnaire. Second, the research used the ex-post factor design involving two strands of surveys: a student data survey using questionnaires, and interviews with students and educators. In the first strand, the study examined the students' characteristics, entry qualification skills, study approach preferences, levels of motivation, and the academic performance of 100 students entering the course with traditional and non-traditional modes of entrance. The second strand involved interviewing the selected students based on the results of data analysis and educators that teach the students to explore their perceptions of the variables above. Descriptive statistics, t-tests, correlation analysis, and regression analysis are used to analyse the data. The triangulation method was used to interpret the results of the interviewing analysis in support of the results of the data analysis. Generally, at the 0.05 significance level, the results show that there is a difference between the two groups of students (traditional and non-traditional) for all of the variables. The results of the exploratory correlation analysis at the 0.10 significance level, show that for traditional students, only mathematics has a strong relation with academic performance. However, through step-wise regression, it is identified that mathematics, Malay language, and surface approach were the possible influences on academic performance and this was represented by a diagrammatic picture. For non-traditional students, the results show that deep approach, surface approach, experienceltime away from study and intrinsic motivation have a significant correlation to academic performance. However, using stepwise regression, it is interesting to see that deep approach to study and experienceltime away from study were the better predictors of academic performance, and this is represented by a diagrammatic picture and a multiple regression plane. It was also interesting to discover that the independent variables for each group were significantly correlated. In conclusion, the results show that the two groups were different to each other in their study approaches, levels of motivation, characteristics, and entry skill qualifications and in the predictor that might be the influential factor on their academic performance, which was also supported by the interview findings. Some suggestions were proposed for the institutions, educators and the students themselves to help nurture the preparation for high quality, competent teachers. The outcomes of this study should lead to the enhancement of a teacher education programmes in higher education.


Aim To examine the influence of ultraviolet C (UVC) radiation on blood, saliva, semen, and naked DNA samples for preventing DNA cross-contamination on working surfaces in laboratories. Methods Blood, saliva, semen, and DNA isolated from buccal swab samples were obtained from a single male donor and applied to the laboratory working surfaces. UVC radiation was applied to these diluted and undiluted samples with or without previous decontamination of the working surfaces with 10% sodium hypochlorite and 20% ethanol. Genomic DNA was extracted using Chelex. After quantification, DNA was amplified using the AmpFlSTR® NGM™ PCR Amplification Kit. We tested and statistically analyzed DNA concentration, UVC dose, sample volume, radiation time, the number of correctly detected alleles on genetic loci, and the number of correctly detected alleles in four groups in which 16 loci were divided. Results When working surfaces were not decontaminated and were treated only with UVC radiation in the laboratory, the genetic profile for naked DNA could not be obtained after 2 minutes of UVC radiation and for saliva after 54 hours. For blood and semen, a partial genetic profile was obtained even after 250 hours of UVC radiation in the laminar. When working surfaces were decontaminated with 10% sodium hypochlorite and 20% ethanol, genetic profile could not be obtained for naked DNA after 2 minutes, for saliva after 4 hours, for blood after 16 hours, and for semen after 8 hours of UVC radiation in the laboratory. Conclusion It is recommended to carefully and thoroughly clean working surfaces with 10% sodium hypochlorite and 20% ethanol followed by minimal 16-hour UVC exposure (dose approximately 4380 mJ/cm2) for complete and successful decontamination.


Two‐dimensional gel‐electrophoresis in combination with mass spectrometry is a powerful approach to compare protein expression in brain tissues. Using this proteomic approach, and based on the hypothesis that schizophrenia involves hypoglutamergic brain function, alterations in protein levels in the thalamus of rats treated with the N‐methyl‐D‐aspartate (NMDA) receptor antagonist [+]‐5‐methyl‐10,11‐dihydro‐5H‐dibenzo‐[a,d]‐cycloheptene‐5,10‐iminehydrogenmaleate (MK‐801), as compared to saline‐treated animals, were assessed in an unbiased fashion. The rats were divided into two groups; group 1 (short‐term treated) and group 2 (long‐term treated). In group 1, the levels of seven proteins were increased and four proteins reduced. In group 2, the levels of six proteins were reduced. Several of the altered proteins (heat shock proteins 60 and 72, albumin, dihydropyrimidinase related protein‐2, aldolase c, and malate dehydrogenase) have previously been connected to schizophrenia. Alterations of other proteins (dihydrolipoamide acetyltransferase component of pyruvate dehydrogenase complex E2, guanine deaminase, α‐enolase, aconitase, ATP‐synthase and α‐internexin), have not, to the best of our knowledge, earlier been implicated in schizophrenia pathology. Our results show the high potential of using proteomic methods for the validation of animal models of schizophrenia and to identify new proteins involved in the pathophysiological mechanisms of schizophrenia.


The present study aimed to profile the developmental patterns of discourse in second language (L2) writings among different first language (L1) groups. Applying the list of metadiscourse markers proposed by Ken Hyland to learner language, this study investigates variation of metadiscourse across proficiency levels, as well as across L1 backgrounds. Using the International Corpus Network of Asian Learners of English, the present study compared the frequencies of metadiscourse markers used in the writings among different learner groups. The results suggest that the six learner groups that were compared have diverse frequency change patterns of metadiscourse features across proficiency levels. To be specific, Japanese learners' heavy reliance on self-mentions and boosters is remarkably antithetical to Thai learners' preference of engagement markers and hedges. Moreover, B2 and higher level learners in China and Taiwan exhibited greater numbers of evidential patterns (hereafter evidentials) than learners in other groups. These differences can be attributable to their L1 rhetorical strategy, not to their lexical and grammatical competence. Therefore, we should consider the idiosyncrasies in metadiscourse of each L1 group when assessing L2 learners based on their language performance.


Fast radio bursts (FRBs) are highly dispersed, sporadic radio pulses that are likely extragalactic in nature. Here we investigate the constraints on the source population from surveys carried out at frequencies $<1$~GHz. All but one FRB has so far been discovered in the 1--2~GHz band, but new and emerging instruments look set to become valuable probes of the FRB population at sub-GHz frequencies in the near future. In this paper, we consider the impacts of free-free absorption and multi-path scattering in our analysis via a number of different assumptions about the intervening medium. We consider previous low frequency surveys alongwith an ongoing survey with the University of Technology digital backend for the Molonglo Observatory Synthesis Telescope (UTMOST) as well as future observations with the Canadian Hydrogen Intensity Mapping Experiment (CHIME) and the Hydrogen Intensity and Real-Time Analysis Experiment (HIRAX). We predict that CHIME and HIRAX will be able to observe $\sim$ 30 or more FRBs per day, even in the most extreme scenarios where free-free absorption and scattering can significantly impact the fluxes below 1~GHz. We also show that UTMOST will detect 1--2 FRBs per month of observations. For CHIME and HIRAX, the detection rates also depend greatly on the assumed FRB distance scale. Some of the models we investigated predict an increase in the FRB flux as a function of redshift at low frequencies. If FRBs are truly cosmological sources, this effect may impact future surveys in this band, particularly if the FRB population traces the cosmic star formation rate.


Cardiovascular disease, and particularly heart failure, is still a serious health care issue for which novel treatments and biomarkers are needed. The RNA family comprises different subgroups, among which the small‐sized microRNAs and the larger long non‐coding RNAs have shown some potential to aid in moving personalized health care of heart failure patients a step forward. Here, members of the Cardiolinc network review the recent findings suggesting that the less well‐known circular RNAs may constitute a novel reservoir of therapeutic targets and biomarkers of heart failure. The knowledge of the mode of biogenesis of circular RNAs will first be reported, followed by a description of different features that make these RNA molecules of interest for the heart failure community. The functions of circular RNAs in the heart will be described, with some emphasis given to their regulation in the failing heart. Circulating in the bloodstream, circular RNAs have appeared as potential biomarkers and recent findings associated with the use of circular RNAs as heart failure biomarkers will be discussed. Finally, some directions for future research will be provided.


This thesis aims to portray the origin, growth and decline of the military in Kilkenny
during the tumultuous period 1800-70. This presence was cyclical with hugely
varying troop numbers stationed locally reflecting the exigencies of the moment and
British government policies. The various benefits and losses attached to this military
presence are analysed. Changes to Kilkenny's political, social, cultural, economic
and sporting life because of this influence are noted. The rich military architectural
legacy inherited from this period has been highlighted. The responses to this
presence contrasted from the wholehearted support of local loyalists to an open
hostility of the army shown by sections of Kilkenny's citizenry.
Primarily, this is the story of the rank and file soldier and the brutalised, disciplinary
regime under which he served. The cramped stuffy living conditions, the absence of
proper sanitary facilities, an inadequate and monotonous diet, and little provision to
occupy the soldier's off duty hours further compounded the soldier's lot. This
situation contrasted fundamentally with the privileged life-style enjoyed by the
officer class.
The social strata from which Kilkenny's typical recruit came from and the class from
which locally-based soldiers selected their marriage partners are analysed. The
nature of varying urban and rural recruitment patterns within county Kilkenny and
the near-collapse o f recruitment numbers after 1840 are also discussed. Improving
literacy skills following the introduction of a national schools system in the early
1830s was a contributory factor in this decline. Throughout this study the role of
Kilkenny's two newspapers, the nationalist Kilkenny Journal and the ascendancy
Kilkenny Moderator, in influencing and moulding the sentiments of their readership
is analysed. Kilkenny's military experience though broadly in conformity with
national trends was subtly different in the levels of toleration and accommodation
between Catholic and Protestant.


Autoantibodies to cellular Ag are found in the sera of patients with systemic rheumatic diseases. Identification and characterization of the reactive autoantigens has helped clinicians to define subsets of rheumatic diseases and has assisted biologists in defining the function within the cell of these molecules. We have studied autoantibodies from patients that react with the centrosome (centriole) region of the cell. We found by immunoblotting techniques that these antibodies react with a 48-kDa protein. Additional immunoblotting and affinity purification studies indicate that the Ag may be the glycolytic enzyme enolase.


Purpose: To develop an understanding of mechanisms underlying the performance of a control‐limit‐based monitoring technique for detecting errors in respiratory surrogate tumor displacement models.Methods: Five lungcancer patients underwent 13 dynamic magnetic resonance imaging sessions on a 1.5 T scanner using a TrueFISP sequence (200 images, 5 sagittal slices, 8mm slice thickness, interleaved acquisition, TE 1.29 msec, TR 2.57 ms, 60° flip angle, matrix 176×256 matrix, in‐plane spatial resolution 1.6–2.2 mm each direction, 1028 bandwidth). Tumors were localized in the images at 0.4 Hz for 500 sec. Five respiratory surrogates affixed to the abdomen were optically tracked during imaging. Surrogate‐based tumor motion models were created by applying partial‐least‐squares regression to the first 30 sec of data. Hotelling's statistic and the input variable squared‐prediction‐error for each subsequent sample were compared to training data‐based control limits to predict errors >3mm. The experiment was repeated in tumor motion and respiratory surrogate signal simulations that isolated measurement precision, period variations, amplitude variations, end‐exhale variations, tumor drift, and gross patient motion. Sampling rates of 0.1–30 Hz (0.1–0.4 Hz for patient data) were evaluated. Results: For patient data sampled at 0.4 Hz and 0.1 Hz and 95% sensitivity, specificities were 8% and 17%. In comprehensive simulations tuned to 95% sensitivity, specificity increased from 33% at 0.1 Hz to 69% at 30 Hz. With measurement noise or tumor drifts alone, specificities were 99–100% and sensitivities were 0–1%. Gross patient motion was detected with sensitivity of 100% and specificity of 97%. For end‐exhale variations, sensitivity was 97%, and specificity was 57%. Respiratory cycle amplitude and period variations had no effect on monitoring performance. Conclusions: Contributors to control‐limit‐based monitoring performance included sampling rate, end‐exhale variations, measurement noise, and tumor drifts but not patient motion, period variations, or amplitude variations. Simulation results were qualitatively in agreement with patient results. Supported in part by grant CA124766 from the NIH/NCI and the Achievement Rewards for College Scientists scholarship.


There are reasons why most humans love the mountains and why the great outdoors can do so much to soothe the urban jitters. Winifred Gallagher explains the inner workings of environmental psychology in The Power of Place. Traveling from northernmost Alaska, where the need to stay indoors for so much of the year takes a heavy mental and physical toll on the locals, to the artificial canyons of Manhattan, Gallagher strips off one civilizing layer after another to reveal the human animal within us, the creature that requires open spaces and clear air to function as it should. If you ever wondered why mountaineers take the risks they do or why Michael Jackson spent all that money on a hyperbaric chamber, Gallagher has the answer.


In this paper, we propose an eigen-based fuzzy C-means (FCM) method for color object segmentation. After sampling a few color samples, we can form the sampled covariance matrix and its related eigenvectors of the desired color space. Then, we transform the original color space into signal and noise planes of the desired color. Followed the transformation, the proposed eigen-based FCM algorithm is finally applied to the signal and noise subspaces individually. After few iterated classification processes, the desired color objects can be easily identified without using any threshold procedure. Inspecting the segmented results, the desired color objects without any pre- and post-processes can be extracted easily and robustly.


The purpose of this study was to identify and characterize different groups of homogeneous microregions concerning cattle breeding and agriculture modernization in Minas Gerais State. In order to achieve it, the factorial analysis techniques and the grouping analysis were used to obtain the factors reflecting the technological standard, factors whose relations enable to organize groups of similar microregions. Ten different groups of homogeneous microregions were identified, and each of them has its own combination of such factors, reflecting its technological level. The groups found in the study constitute preliminary information for localized application of support policies to the sector, as well as for decisions to be made by private initiative agents.


We studied the feeding behavior of the surface-deposit feeder Saccoglossus kowalevsbl under oscillatory flows in the laboratory. Low oscillatory flow (peak speed = 10 cm S') without assoclated sediment transport had no effect on egestion rates in comparison to no-flow conditions. Moderate flows (peak speed = 15 and 17.5 cm S-') with incipient sediment trdnsport caused an increase in egestion rates of 35 to 100% relative to low-flow rates. High flow (peak speed = 25 cm S') with bulk sediment transport caused a decrease in egestion rates to one-third the low-flow rates. When compared to a functional response curve previously determined for S. kou-dl~vskii, our data show that under high flow S. kowalevskii does not feed at rates predicted by the availdble food resources (as measured by chlorophyll a concentration). Under moderate flow, S. kowalevskii is stimulated to feed at higher rates than predicted by the available food resources. And under low flow. S. kowalevskii appears to be unaffected by flow and continues feeding at rates predicted by the available food resources. Flow and the associated sediment flux thus lead to an envelope of egestiun rates about the no-flow functional response, indicating that the feed~ng behavior of S. kowalevskll 1s a function both of available food resources and flow regime. Laboratory still-water functional responses and simple ttreding models are thus inadequate. Accurate extrapolation and prediction require that flow and sediment flux parameters be incorporated in feeding models.


This article draws on a small‐scale case study of English pre‐ and in‐service Further Education (FE) trainee teachers from a northern university. It explores their understanding of notions of well‐being and health. In particular, it examines trainees' orientation to care as well as their constructions of learners. It analyses two contradictory but overlapping discourses, one that constructs learners as in need of care and support whilst the other utilises a 'pathological' model. This is followed by an analysis of the labour process within Further Education and the emotional labour involved in supporting students as well as meeting the range of demands faced by those working in the sector. Whilst the trainees reflect models of the dual and learning professional characteristic of teachers in the sector, marked by an expanded professionalism, they have as yet not developed a fully politicised notion of teaching.


It has been established that ratibol, retabolil and solasodin in doses 5 and 10 mg/kg proved to have a slight anticoagulative effect. The same effect has been observed during 20 days of oral retabolil and solasodin intake. Ratibol was characterized by a two-step action. All three steroids activated factors II, VII, XIII and diminished factor I concentration. These changes were accomplished with the fall of antithrombin activity and decrease in resistance to streptokinase. The fibrinolysis level has been raised under the effect of the steroids studied.


The aim of this paper is to estimate moral hazard effects on health expenditures based on French data. Recent studies have underlined that selection on the market of insurance is partly due to unobservable characteristics and not only to observable ones (such as health condition). Methods using instrumental variables have therefore gained strong interest. At the same time, papers on evaluation have recently focused on conditions that are requested for a correct application of such methods. The estimation method that is proposed in this paper is based on the assumption that having a supplemental insurance scheme is exogenous when purchasing is mandatory, as it is sometimes the case in France. The idea of using this information in the French context is not new and has been used in several studies before. The contribution of this paper doesnt lie in this assumption but rather in the particular attention given to the scope of effects it allows to estimate. For example, we argue that assignment is not ignorable among the entire population, but only among employees. The second contribution of this paper is to set up the analysis in the Rubin Causal Model. The idea of potential outcomes is particularly well adapted to the problem of moral hazard on healthcare demand. This framework sets five assumptions under which identification is possible. We find substantial moral hazard effects even if the results, as always with instrumental methods, are not very precise.


The troublesome reign of Ishbosheth comes to a graphic
 conclusion when he is assassinated – audaciously, at midday while reclining on a
 couch in his own house – by two of his own captains, the brothers Rechab and
 Baanah. That Ishbosheth is assassinated (while sleeping in his house at high
 noon) there is no doubt: the guilty confess, are charged, and duly executed. But
 the puzzle is how exactly the murder takes place – and this is subject of my
 analysis – as there are significant discrepancies between the Hebrew and Greek
 texts. This article surveys a number of "solutions" posited by scholars and
 evaluate various attempts that have been made to resolve this text-critical
 mystery. I then move toward a conclusion by summarizing the key differences
 between the MT and LXX in this passage and discussing some of the literary
 implications that emerge when these textual trajectories are compared. As a
 witness to the murder, the LXX provides an exciting and compelling testimony,
 but the MT account features several important details that cannot be ignored in
 light of the larger storyline.


The occurrence of a peak in the true blood-sugar curve of the fasting fowl on the 3rd or 4th day, as found in previous work, was confirmed. No correlation was found to exist between this increase in blood sugar and the concentration of protein (uric acid and non-protein nitrogen) or fat (cholesterol and lecithin) metabolites in the blood, or between it and the muscle glycogen; in regard to liver glycogen and the R.Q. the results were inconclusive. After glucose ingestion the hyperglycaemic response and the rate of oxidation of sugar decreased as length of the previous fast was increased. These effects were probably due to a falling off in the rate of absorption and to utilisation of increasing proportions of absorbed sugar to restore the glycogen deposits. Adrenalin produced a greater degree of hyperglycaemia in fowls fasted for 96 hours than for shorter periods, and the corresponding liver glycogen values indicated that only about one-fourth of the extra sugar could have come from the original glycogen stores. The R.Q. during luxus absorption of carbohydrate was near or above unity, thus indicating conversion of sugar into fat. The R.Q. rapidly fell to below 0·700 and then remained steady during a fast of 7 days; the fasting quotient was not appreciably altered by protein meals or by maintenance on a protein diet, but was raised by ingestion of pure fat. Uric acid formed, during fasting, 50 per cent. or more, and after a protein meal 30 per cent. or more of the urinary nitrogen, and the low R.Q. is believed to be due to the loss of O 2 incurred in the synthesis of uric acid. The Zuntz-Schumburg tables are, therefore, inapplicable to the fowl. In fasting, ketosis did not occur, and the metabolic rate was higher in the morning than in the evening. One of us (K. M. H.) is indebted to the Medical Research Council for a personal grant.


65 patients with penetrating or blunt scrotal trauma underwent scrotal ultrasound. High-resolution real-time sonography was able to differentiate testicular from extratesticular lesions in all cases. Lesions of the epididymis were diagnosed in 14 cases. In epididymal haematoma sonography revealed an hyperechoic enlarged epididymis whereas posttraumatic epididymitis was demonstrable as hypoechoic swelling. 14 testicular ruptures and 6 testicular haematomas without disruption of the tunica albuginea were correctly diagnosed. Diagnosis could be confirmed at operation in 12 cases and by clinical and sonographic follow-up in 8 cases. A heterogeneous parenchymal pattern, contour abnormalities, poorly defined margins and obvious fragmentation of the testicle strongly suggest testicular rupture.


STUDY DESIGN
Experimental investigation to determine the effect of intervertebral disc degeneration on the kinetic behavior of fluid in human anulus fibrosus.

OBJECTIVES
To measure the hydraulic permeability coefficient of anulus fibrosus specimens in the axial, circumferential, and radial directions to determine the anisotropic permeability behavior of nondegenerate and degenerate human intervertebral discs over a range of ages.

SUMMARY OF BACKGROUND DATA
Fluid, a major component of normal intervertebral discs, plays a significant role in their load-supporting mechanisms. Transport of fluid through the intervertebral disc is important for cell nutrition and disc viscoelastic and swelling behaviors. The hydraulic permeability coefficient is the most important material property governing the rate of fluid transport. However, little is known about the anisotropic behavior of this kinetic property and how it is influenced by disc degeneration.

METHODS
Using a permeation testing apparatus developed recently, testing was performed on 306 axial, circumferential, and radial anulus fibrosus specimens from the posterolateral region of 30 human lumbar (L2-L3) discs. A new method, flow-controlled testing protocol, was developed to measure the hydraulic permeability coefficient.

RESULTS
The hydraulic permeability coefficient of anulus fibrosus depended significantly on the disc degenerative grade (P = 0.0001) and flow direction (P = 0.0001). For the nondegenerate group (Grade I), the hydraulic permeability was significantly anisotropic (P < 0.05), with the greatest value in the radial direction (1.924 x 10(-15) m4/Ns) and the lowest value in the circumferential direction (1.147 x 10(-15) m4/Ns). This anisotropic kinetic (flow) behavior of anulus fibrosus varied with disc degeneration. For the Grade III specimen group, there was no significant difference in hydraulic permeability coefficient among the three major directions (P = 0.37). With disc degeneration, the hydraulic permeability coefficient was decreased in the radial direction and increased in the axial and circumferential directions. The variations of hydraulic permeability coefficient from nondegenerate discs (Grade I) to mildly degenerate discs (Grade II) in each direction were significant (P < 0.05). However, the changes in permeability from Grade II to Grade III groups were not significant (P > 0.05) except in the circumferential direction (3.8% increase; P < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONS
The hydraulic permeability of human nondegenerate anulus fibrosus is direction-dependent (i.e., anisotropic), with the greatest permeability in the radial direction. With disc degeneration, the radial permeability of anulus fibrosus decreases, mainly because of decreased water content, and the axial and circumferential permeability coefficients increase, mainly because of structural change, leading to more isotropic permeability behavior for Grade III discs.


One hundred and one species (in 36 families) of weeds on cultivated land in Taiwan were investigated for the occurrence of Kranz leaf anatomy and activities of key enzymes of C4 photosynthesis to determine their photosynthetic mechanisms. Based on the anatomical and biochemical analyses, 75 species were found to possess the C3 and 26 species the C4 pathway of photosynthetic CO2 fixation. Among the 26 C4 species, 15 species are in Gramineae, 6 in Cyperaceae, 2 each in Euphorbiaceae and Amaranthaceae, and 1 in Portulacaceae. Two C4 species in the Gramineae, namely Digitaria radicosa (Presl) Miq. and Sporobolus fertilis (Steud.) Clayton, were recorded as C4 plants for the first time. The biochemical subdivisions of these C4 weeds were also determined. As in the natural C4 populations, the NADP-malic enzyme subtype of C4 photosynthesis dominates the list of C4 weeds on this island (62%), while the PEP carboxykinase subtype is relatively rare (12%). NAD-malic enzyme subtype has an intermediate representation (26%). The high proportion of weeds in Taiwan being C3 plants is noteworthy, and it may be accounted for by the high precipitation in this subtropical island.


Critically acclaimed for more than 25 years, the Methods in Cell Biology series provides an indispensable tool for the researcher. Each volume is carefully edited by experts to contain state-of-the-art reviews and step-by-step protocols. Techniques are described completely so that methods are made accessible to users. This volume, Methods of Cell-Matrix Adhesion, contains integrated coverage on cell-matrix adhesion methods. It brings the classical methodologies and the latest techniques together in one concise volume. This coverage includes experimental protocols and their conceptual background for all aspects of cell-matrix adhesion research: the extracellular matrix, adhesion receptors, and the growing number of functional applications of matrix-adhesion in molecular cell biology. Also covered is the purification of the extracellular matrix to functional analyses of cellular responses.


The objective of the present study was to assess the influence of the packaging material (cotton cloth bag, multifolium paper and glass container) and storage environment (laboratory and cold chamber conditions) on fennel seedling growth. Seeds were placed in different packaging materials and exposed to the two environments for twelve months. Assessments were made before storage and at every two months and the following were determined: total emergence, emergence speed index, seedling fresh and dry matter. A completely randomized experimental design was used, with four replications in a 2 x 3 x 6+1 factorial design in split split plots, where the plot was the storage environment (laboratory and cold chamber conditions); the split plot was the storage (cotton cloth bag, multifolium paper and glass container) and the split plot was the storage periods (2, 4, 6, 8, 10 and 12 months) and plus an additional treatment (before storage). The results showed that the fennel seedlings had superior growth when their seeds were placed in the glass packaging material, regardless of the storage environment.


In architecture, external factors are often seen as the cause of a work not being brought to completion. I believe that often the reasons for a scheme not being implemented are to be found not externally but rather in the fine detail of the job itself. I will consider the case of Ralf Schuler and Ursulina Schuler-Witte's 'Indapt System' (1970-72) and show how the contributors, the work produced, and the research project's structure may have contributed to BASF's decision not to build the plastics megastructure. This decision has been attributed to the Oil Crisis of 1973. Instead, I will outline a causal relationship between the protagonists - Schuler, Schuler-Witte, Robert Jungk, Norbert Adrian and Otto Walter Haseloff - and their plans for modular plastics housing, and their failure to instruct BASF on what type of polymer to use. With that, the group members proposed a view of plastic less as architectural material and more as social ideal, something also reflected in the contributors' various specialisms. The 'Indapt System''s model had greatest impact outside the architectural community. Interpreting this finding, the work will end by contending that, rather than producing architectural knowledge, the principle aim of architectural research should be to create public knowledge of architecture through communication or restoring publicness in architecture.