The advancement of wireless communications and integrated circuit technology has enabled the development of low-cost sensor networks. The sensor networks can be used for various application areas (disaster recovery, health, military, homeland security, environment, home, etc.). For each application area, there are different technical issues that researchers are currently resolving. However, many of them are trying to tackle the limitations of this field from a network perspective. Sometimes, the effectiveness of some proposed approaches must be complemented by the supports of hardware design. This article points out the possibilities of overcoming the same problem set from a device perspective by taking advantage of the merits of nanotechnologies. At the same time, open research issues and challenges are identified to spark new interests and developments in this field


Bracken ferns (genus Pteridium) represent an ancient species complex with a natural worldwide distribution. Pteridium has historically been treated as comprising a single species, but recent treatments have recognized several related species. Phenotypic plasticity, geographically structured morphological variation, and geographically biased sampling have all contributed to taxonomic confusion in the genus. We sampled bracken specimens worldwide and used variable regions of the chloroplast genome to investigate phylogeography and reticulate evolution within the genus. Our results distinguish two major clades within Pteridium, a primarily northern hemisphere Laurasian/African clade, which includes all taxa currently assigned to P. aquilinum, and a primarily southern hemisphere Austral/South American clade, which includes P. esculentum and P. arachnoideum. All European accessions of P. aquilinum subsp. aquilinum appear in a monophyletic group and are nested within a clade containing the African P. aquilinum taxa (P. aquilinum subsp. capense and P. aquilinum subsp. centrali-africanum). Our results allow us to hypothesize the maternal progenitors of two allotetraploid bracken species, P. caudatum and P. semihastatum. We also discuss the biogeography of bracken in the context of the chloroplast phylogeny. Our study is one of the first to take a worldwide perspective in addressing variation in a broadly distributed species complex.


The purpose of this study was to describe perceived psychosocial work environment and musculoskeletal complaints among baggage handlers, and to evaluate whether there is any linear relationship between them. The study is a questionnaire based cross-sectional study, and part of an ongoing larger project. Therefore, the number of forms has been limited to those that were collected in the project by 2010-11-25 (N=117). The questions analyzed in the study come from the Copenhagen Psychosocial Questionnaire and "Nordiska Ministerradets formular om besvar i rorelseorganen", respectively. In addition, ratings of pain intensity according to Borg CR-scale have been used. Linear correlations were assessed by Spearman's rank correlation. The results showed that the baggage handlers rated good sense of Community and low Emotional demands, but poor Influence and Feedback at the workplace. Their ratings of pain frequency and intensity were relatively low, but the regions where they had most complaints were shoulders and low back. The highest correlation was -0.36 between Meaning and pain frequency in the Shoulders. No particular psychosocial factor or body region appeared highly correlated with all or most of the other variables. For the psychosocial environment factors investigated in this study no extremely good or extremely bad values were discovered. Musculoskeletal complaints were low. No strong correlations between baggage handlers ratings of psychosocial work environment and musculoskeletal complaints were found in this study.


Recent destructive earthquakes have shown that, generally, in unconsolidated soils and sedimentary deposits soil movement can be amplified, in a frequency band increasing shaking duration, and also large differences at the level of damage for relatively short distances. In order to evaluate site response in Almeria city, there have been made microtremor measurements in many points of the city in a 200m x 200m grid, using a 3 components sismometer of high sensibility, with a natural period of 1 sec. For checking the periods and amplitude stability of microtremors, we have realized stationarity measurements in hard, middle-hard and soft soil in a range of 24 hours, measuring them at every hour for 3 minutes, observing that although periods present a good stationarity, amplitude varies significantly. The application of Nakamura's method has allowed us determine the predominant period at every point. The range period oscillates between 0.06s for very hard soil (pliocene rocks and Pleistocene materials) and 1.4s for very soft soil (Holocene matepal and coastal sand). A good correlation is observed between the map of predominant periods values distribution and surface geological conditions of the soil.


This article presents the process of creating the game Testament; an action role-playing game for PC which uses the Old Testament as its setting. The game is primarily designed for confirmation education in the Church of Sweden, with the purpose to create interest in the Old Testament. In this paper we describe our experiences with the process of creating a game where the work has been guided by three, in some cases, contradictory goals; the source authenticity, the educational value, and the gaming entertainment. A pilot study is also presented in which confirmands have been interviewed focusing on their experiences from playing the game, as part of their confirmation studies.Our conclusion is that clear requirements for the entertainment must be created as a counterweight to the practical aspects' requirements, e.g. education and authenticity. To create requirements for game expericene, it can be useful to identify a game genre and find a game that can serve as a template. One consequence of the fact that a specific goal for entertainment and a very clear requirement on content existed was that a number of fundamental contradictions could be identified (e.g. narrative, game mechanics, adaptation). When these inconsistencies were encountered, a suitable approach could be chosen in order to reach a compromise. If an existing game used as a reference wasn't available, it is likely that the entertainment would have suffered for the benefit of the educational aspects and biblical authenticity. The pilot evaluation shows that the confirmands appreciate Testament for its gaming qualities and that they express a positive and curious attitude towards the biblical content presented in the game.


It took me just one month in the Salaman archives of Cambridge University Library to accumulate hundreds of digital images relating to the life of a female Hebrew scholar born at the fin de siecle, Nina Salaman, a Sephardic Jew of rare beauty who died young. It has taken several years to revisit and analyse the resonance I experienced at that time. In reading the Salamans' lives I felt like I had fallen among interesting friends and I wanted to enter the rich diversity of their artistic and scholarly lives. The sheer volume of material in the archives attracts several historians, and that led me to question why I was working beyond my own scope and practice. The Salamans had deep roots in England. Their intellectual networks dipped into a dozen disciplines, touching many lives, questioning greater minds, gathering grass roots support for causes that were feminist, Zionist, and often far to the left. They shared my ancestors' ethnicity and even attended the same synagogue in London, but the similarity ends there. One branch of my family has no recorded legacy, as though all our creativity sprang up spontaneously. The Salamans' writing is often evocative auto ethnography, transparent and poignant, particularly the letters and unpublished memoir of patriarch Dr. Redcliffe N. Salaman and the books and memoirs of his daughter-in-law, Esther Polianowski. Nina Salaman's heart beat is in her translations of medieval poetry from the tragedy of the Arabic-Spanish period (S. Litman, 1957). What interested me was the way Nina's Jewish spirituality mapped out family life, education and expectations. At a time when my own family had lost one another through the death of my grandmother aged just 33, the Salamans were consolidating around the thing we denied: Jewishness. Yet both Redcliffe Salaman and Esther Polianowski were agnostic as were so many others in the family, and their passion for Zion was a cultural and political yearning. In returning to explore the personal lives of the Salamans I constructed a Foucault's genealogy of family and home itself, to explore its hegemonic power and the cost and beauty of its perpetuation. In this work I regard myself as a Foucauldian Detective discovering the family values of my own lost tribe.


In bilateral negotiations with multiple issues, it is difficult to reach Pareto optimal outcome when the agents' preferences and relative importance of the issues are not known to each other. Self-interested agents often end up in inefficient agreements. Existing negotiation frameworks suggest solutions using trusted mediator, where agents will reveal their true preferences to the mediator. But in real life situations, a mediated solution is not always preferable, e.g., agents may not trust a third party to reveal their preferences. Without preference revelation, agents cannot improve the efficiency of the outcome. This paper presents an extended protocol for bilateral multi-issue negotiation. We show that with this protocol self-interested agents are able to explore and reach win-win agreements without revealing its complete preference.


The challenges facing Europe today cannot be addressed without putting into practice one of the main objectives pursued by member states when concluding the Treaty of Lisbon, argues the author of this paper; that objective being that the Union should be capable of acting as a strong and united player on the international scene, rather than as a more or less effective coordination platform for 28 international policies. Brexit and the new administration in Washington only reinforce this finding. To ensure that the Union can play this role, member states must, however, accept that the Union effectively exercises the competences that have been attributed to it.

This EPIN working paper offers a systematic analysis of the consequences that should be drawn from recent case law. Mostly, it seeks to identify possible avenues to allow legal disputes to be overcome, with a view to achieving the objectives that were pursued through the Treaty of Lisbon; in effect allowing member states to embrace their own Treaty. The author seeks to show that the conclusion of agreements by the Union alone (without 'mixity') neither leads to 'uncontrolled power creep by Brussels', nor to the disappearance of member states from the international scene.


The role of the researches on the X-ray electron densities in the studies of chemical reactions in the crystalline state is discussed. And the application of the X-ray AO analysis to PtP2 and NiTiO3 crystals were described in conjunction with the future possible application of the method to the studies of chemical reactions in the crystalline state. In both measurements the effect of multiple diffraction on structure factors was significant. Structure factors were measured avoiding the effect with the Ψ-scan technique in PtP2, while in the case of NiTiO3, the structure factors measured in the past were examined and those apparently affected by the effect were discarded. 5d- and 3d-orbital functions of Pt and Ni were deter-mined by the X-ray AO analysis. However the residual density maps implies that better model which explains the electron density in the whole unit cell is necessary. Hence the basic problems inherent in the X-ray MO analysis, which analyze the molecular orbitals from the measured X-ray structure factors, is also discussed.


There is some evidence that there are abnormalities in catecholamine metabolism in patients with obesity and diabetes mellitus. In this study we determined the tissue levels of catecholamine-metabolizing enzymes (monoamine oxidase [MAO] and catechol-O-methyltransferase [COMT]) and norepinephrine (NE) in mice with the hereditary obese-hyperglycemic syndrome (ob/ob mice). The ob/ob mice have greater MAO activity in their kidneys (+ 43 per cent), testes (+ 51 per cent), and white adipose tissue (+ 87 per cent) than their normal-weight Httermates. There is no difference in MAO activity of pancreas, liver, brain, brown fat, heart, and islets of Langerhans in ob/ob and normal mice. The ob/ob mice have less COMT activity in their liver (−39 per cent) than normal mice. There is no difference in COMT activity in the kidney, testis, pancreas, and brain between ob/ob and normal mice. The Michaelis constant of kidney MAO for the tryptamine substrate is similar in normal and obese mice, suggesting that the increased MAO activity is due to a greater amount of tissue MAO rather than an altered affinity of MAO for the tryptamine substrate. The ob/ob mice have a persistent elevation in MAO activity despite eugiycemia (older mice) and a reduction in weight (caloric restriction), suggesting that the elevated MAO activity in ob/ob mice is a primary rather than a secondary disturbance. The total NE content of kidney, white fat, and brown fat is similar in ob/ob and normal mice. The islet NE content is less than 3 pg. per islet in ob/ob and normal mice.


This paper presents an Online Interactive Competition Model for E-learning System. The system allows a student to connect and interact with other students on the courses they offer in a semester using both synchronous and asynchronous computer-mediated communication mechanisms. Each course lecturer e-supervises and e-moderates the students' performances in his/her course. Following the semester course outlines, the system automatically and periodically selects topics for discussions. Each student's questions as well as his/her contributions to questions posed by other students or even the lecturers on the e-learning platform are rated by the course lecturers who equally make their contributions in difficult cases. On registration, a student is assigned the rank of a starter in all courses. Based on a course lecturer's ratings on a student and how long the student had used the course page, the student may rise to the following ranks in the course: Senior, Master, Expert or Professional. In this paper, the scalable algorithm for the students' ranking is presented. Moreover, a student's ranks in different courses are independent; that is, a student can be an expert in one course and a starter in another. This ranking strategy serves as an incentive to encourage the students to participate actively and make meaningful contributions to questions posted on the platform. A working prototype of the system was developed using MySQL Database Management System (DBMS), PHP as the scripting language and Apache as the web server. The system was tested and the results were presented graphically in this paper.


Objective: Our purpose was to determine, in a placebo-controlled manner, whether antenatal exposure to paroxetine affected long-term growth and physical maturation of mice offspring. Methods: Forty-one CD-I mice consumed paroxetine (n = 21) or a placebo (n = 20) for 2 weeks before conception and throughout gestation. The daily dose of paroxetine (Paxil; 30 mg/kg/d) was known to achieve concentrations in the serum equivalent to the upper therapeutic level in humans and in the fetal brain equivalent to that of the adult mouse. Growth and physical maturation of the offspring were compared by paired t-test, Welch's corrected test, and Fisher's exact test. Results: The maternal weight gain, litter sizes, number of fetal resorptions, and gestational age at delivery were not different between the paroxetine and the placebo-exposed offspring. Newborn pups exposed to paroxetine were more likely to have low birthweights (1.65 gm vs. 1.70 gm; P < 0.05) and narrower heads (7.7 mm vs. 8.1 mm; P < 0.05). Body weight, body length, and head circumference measurements increased in a manner that was indistinguishable between the two groups of offspring, regardless of gender. No differences in achievement of physical milestones (lower incisor eruption, eye opening, and development of external genitalia) were noted between the two groups. The reproductive capability and the perinatal outcomes of the second-generation offspring were unaffected by paroxetine exposure. Conclusion: A clinically relevant dose of paroxetine, when given throughout gestation, did not affect long-term growth and physical maturation of mice offspring.


Background: Depression is often associated with painful physical symptoms. Previous research has seldom assessed the relationship between the severity of physical symptoms and the severity of mental and emotional symptoms of depression or other health outcomes, and no such studies have been conducted previously among individuals with depression in Japan. The aim of this study was to assess the relationship between the severity of physical pain and depression and other outcomes among individuals in Japan diagnosed with depression. Methods: Data for individuals aged 18 and older in Japan who reported being diagnosed with depression and also reported physical pain were obtained from the Japan National Health and Wellness Survey. These respondents were characterized on sociodemographics and health characteristics, and the relationship between ratings of severity on pain in the last week and health outcomes were assessed using bivariate correlations and generalized linear models. Measures included the Patient Health Questionnaire for depression severity, Medical Outcomes Study 12-Item Short Form Survey Instrument for health-related quality of life, the Work Productivity and Activity Impairment for work and activity impairment, and 6-month report of health care use. Results: More severe physical pain in the past week was correlated with more severe depression, worse health-related quality of life, lower health utility, greater impairment at work, and more health care provider visits. These relationships remained significant after incorporating sociodemographics and health characteristics in the statistical models. Conclusion: Individuals whose depression is accompanied by more severe physical pain have a higher burden of illness than those whose depression includes less severe pain, suggesting that even partially ameliorating painful physical symptoms may significantly benefit patients with depression. Clinicians should take the presence and severity of physical pain into account and consider treating both the physical and emotional symptoms of these patients.


Recent events outlined the relevance of the interactions between industrial and natural hazards (NATECH) particularly for that concern seismic risk. EU regulation, namely Directive 2012/18/EU, among its new elements explicitly requires the analysis of NATECH hazards. The development of a risk analysis methodology for major hazard industrial plants allows the individuation of critical elements of the plants with regard to seismic actions. The following implementation of smart technologies (sensors, actuators, innovative systems for seismic protection) to the critical elements allows a relevant reduction of major hazards and related consequences.


While there have been multiple studies describing various ways in which administrators at higher education institutions can and should motivate faculty to increase their use of technology as an instructional tool (e.g., Surry & Land, 2000; Gautreau, 2011), very few have focused on cases in which faculty provided the initial and sustained impetus. This article attempts to fill that research gap by reporting on the results of a case study at a public university, where ePortfolios were implemented over a 15-year period using a bottom-up approach. The case study concluded that this approach has both limitations and benefits. The most notable limitation is that typically, faculty are not initially provided with the resources to implement ePortfolios, which results in a slow rate of adoption. Numerous recommendations were also identified that are especially relevant for institutions that utilize a shared governance model.


We hypothesized that RNA interference to silence Nogo-66 receptor gene expression in bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells before transplantation might further improve neurological function in rats with spinal cord transection injury. After 2 weeks, the number of neurons and BrdU-positive cells in the Nogo-66 receptor gene silencing group was higher than in the bone marrow mesenchymal stem cell group, and significantly greater compared with the model group. After 4 weeks, behavioral performance was significantly enhanced in the model group. After 8 weeks, the number of horseradish peroxidase-labeled nerve fibers was higher in the Nogo-66 receptor gene silencing group than in the bone marrow mesenchymal stem cell group, and significantly higher than in the model group. The newly formed nerve fibers and myelinated ner ve fibers were detectable in the central transverse plane section in the bone marrow mesenchymal stem cell group and in the Nogo-66 receptor gene silencing group.


Background
Obesity is a growing pandemic that is associated with multiple cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors such as hypertension, diabetes, dyslipidemia and obstructive sleep apnea. With the increase in obesity rates where nearly two thirds of Americans are either obese or overweight, there has been an increase in the use of pharmacological therapy weight loss. While these therapies have shown benefit in weight reduction, the clinical impact these pharmacological agents on overall CVD outcomes has yet to be determined.

Aim
We aimed to assess the effect of pharmacological agents used for weight reduction on CVD risk and all-cause mortality.

Methods
We conducted a meta-analysis of peer-reviewed literature that evaluated the impact of anti-obesity drugs on cardiovascular outcomes. Key words used included: "orlistat", "lorcaserin", "phentermine/topiramate" or "naltrexone/bupropion" and "cardiovascular outcomes" among others. We reviewed 791 articles, only 47 studies were randomized controlled trials and only 7 studies fulfilled all the inclusion criteria including, quantitative data on cardiovascular risk factors such as, Hemoglobin A1C (A1C), changes in body mass index (BMI), blood pressure and CVD morbidity and mortality. Data was retrieved from these studies and evaluated with comprehensive meta-analysis software® to assess pooled effects for medical management versus placebo.

Results
There were 7 studies included in the final analysis, with a total of 18,598 subjects, of which 8,685 were in the intervention (INT) group and 9,913 in the control (CTRL) group. For all cause mortality, there were 45 events in the INT and 55 in the CTRL groups, suggesting no significant difference between the two groups (OR: 0.843, 95%CI: 0.571-1.244, Z: -0.860, P: 0.390). For CVD mortality, there were 17 events in the INT and 36 events in the CTRL groups suggesting a significant mortality benefit in the INT group (OR:0.496, 95% CI: 0.282-0.873, Z: -2.433, P: 0.015). There was a significant absolute reduction in A1C in the INT group (Hg: -0.238, 95%CI: -0.291 to -0.186, Z: -8.937, P< 0.001). The percentage weight reduction was significantly higher for the INT group compared to the CTRL group (Hg: -0.431, 95%CI: -0.477 to -0.385, Z: -18.472, P< 0.001) and the blood pressure reduction was higher for the INT group compared to the CTRL group. (Hg: -0.052, 95%CI: -0.101- -0.003, Z: -2.086, P: 0.037). The heterogeneity observed for our meta analysis is Q: 1.884, df: 6, P: 0.930.

Conclusions
Our study demonstrated the favorable and significant effect of pharmacological weight reduction strategies on weight loss, blood pressure reduction, glycemic control (A1C reduction), and CVD mortality.While weight loss without pharmacological means has been shown to reduce CVD risk, the mechanism by which weight loss medications impact CVD risk reduction could be a direct effect of these agents or merely an effect of weight reduction itself. Weight loss has been noted to modify risk factors via improving insulin sensitivity, reducing inflammation, decreasing blood pressure and modifying the lipid profile, In addition, the mechanism of action of the medications are not directly anti-inflammatory, and do not directly modify insulin sensitivity, blood pressure or the lipid profile. Thus, it is most likely that the benefit on cardiovascular disease from these therapies is via weight reduction and not direct medication effect.Given the limited efficacy of the lifestyle modification on sustained weight loss and the surgical risk and limited availability of bariatric surgical options. Our data suggests pharmacological weight loss therapy may be a valuable treatment option to reduce CVD risk in obese patients. Further research is needed to clarify the effects these therapies on overall mortality and evaluate the mechanisms by which these medications reduce CVD risk factors and mortality.


Recent study has shown that the pulse wave signal of human includes much information of human's mental condition. To get such information, measuring finger pulse wave is a non-invasive and convenient method. Then we analyze the measured pulse wave in frequency domain to investigate low- and high-frequency components whose the ratio can be used to estimate mental condition. We design and implement an API to retrieve user's mental state easily and adaptively control a mobile phone's software based on mental condition. To validate the benefit of API, we develop a mail filtering app on an Android phone and perform an experiment.


— Advances in molecular oncology research culminated in the development of targeted therapies that act on defined molecular targets either on tumor cells directly (such as inhibitors of oncogenic kinases), or indirectly by targeting the tumor microenvironment (such as anti-angiogenesis drugs). These therapies can induce strong clinical responses, when properly matched to patients. Unfortunately, most targeted therapies ultimately fail as tumors evolve resistance. Tumors consist not only of neoplastic cells, but also of stroma, whereby "stroma" is the umbrella term for non-tumor cells and extracellular matrix (ECM) within the tumor microenvironment, possibly excluding immune cells1. We know that tumor stroma is an important player in the development of resistance. We also know that stromal architecture is spatially complex, differs from patient to patient and changes with therapy. However, to this date we do not understand the link between spatial and temporal changes in stromal architecture and response of tumors to therapy, in space and time. In this project we sought to address this gap of knowledge using a combination of mathematical and statistical modeling, experimental in vivo studies, and analysis of clinical samples in therapies that target tumor cells directly (in lung and breast cancers) and indirectly (in kidney cancer). This knowledge will inform therapy choices and offer new angles for therapeutic interventions. Our main question is: how does spatial architecture of stroma impact the emergence or evolution of resistance to targeted therapies, and how can we use this knowledge clinically?


Symbolic state space traversal techniques are one of the most notable achievements in the fields of formal verification and of automated synthesis. Transition functions and transition relations are two alternative approaches. In terms of efficiency, transition functions have proven to be superior, although the transition relation is much more expressive. The paper brings the transition relation back to a new life, profiting from recent advancements in the fields of Boolean function representation, simplification, and image computation represented by BDDs and by the generalized cofactor operator. A theoretical result allows us to considerably simplify both the process of building the transition relation and of traversing the state space. Experimental results show that performances similar to those of the transition function are obtained.<<ETX>>


: The increasingly frequent introduction of new infectious diseases poses the problem of their prophylaxis, prevention of secondary distribution and establishment. Current epidemiologic situation is characterized by the occurrence of rare infections including legionellosis. Data on the prevalence of this disease in Ulyanovsk region are presented for the period from 2008 to the first half of 2009. The patients were infected during their Hajj pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia. The clinical picture resembles that of Pontiak fever and manifestations are indistinguishable from those of acute respiratory infection.


Stem/progenitor cells participate in many pathological and regenerative processes, which can be studied in vivo with molecular imaging approaches. Labeling cells with contrast agents for non-invasive imaging and tracking typically requires long exposure times or adjunctive methods, such as electroporation or transfection agents that can compromise cell viability. We have previously utilized perfluorocarbon (PFC) nanoparticles (~200 nm) for cell tracking, but this process entailed 12 hours of incubation to achieve efficient cellular labeling. We sought to develop an approach that reduces the prolonged labeling time by enhancing PFC nanoparticle-to-cell interactions using clinical levels of ultrasound energy. Stem/progenitor (CD34+ CD133+ CD31+ ) cells were derived from human umbilical cord mononuclear cells grown in fibronectin- coated OptiCelltrade cassettes. Ultrasound (US) was applied using a medical imaging system (Acuson Sequoia) and broadband (2-3 MHz) phased array transducer, which was coupled to cells in a heated (37degC) waterbath. The transducer was advanced mechanically to expose the entire surface to calibrated levels of US energy (MI: 1.9, frequency: 2 MHz). Estimated exposure time for individual cells was ~5 min. Results: Flow cytometry revealed US application greatly improved labeling when compared with cells not exposed to US (55plusmn9% vs. 17plusmn12% respectively, p<0.001). This approaches the labeling efficiency achieved in the 12-hr incubation method (71plusmn4%). Under conditions of energy (ATP) depletion (20 mM sodium azide, 50 mM 2-deoxyglucose), augmentation of labeling with US application was prevented (3.6plusmn0.8% vs. 4.0plusmn1.6%, with and without US, respectively). US exposure did not compromise cell membrane integrity based on calcein dye exclusion. Cell viability was equivalent for the untreated and US-exposed cells (-90% viable each). We conclude that ultrasound-enhanced cell labeling with PFC nanoparticles is safe and rapid, achieving sufficient labeling with only 5 minutes of exposure at clinical frequencies and power levels. The labeling process depends on active cellular transport mechanisms (i.e., ATP) and is quite distinct from typical acoustic delivery methods, which must alter or disrupt the cell membrane to achieve delivery (e.g., sonoporation, cavitation). This unique approach should facilitate investigation of regenerative therapeutics by providing a safe adjunctive method to label cells for real-time tracking.


This paper presents an analysis of the transformer troubles for one year on a system having nearly 15,000 transformers installed. This analysis indicates that about 50 per cent of the troubles traceable to the transformer can be eliminated, with no great expense, by some slight changes in the construction details and some improvements in operating methods. Reference is made to the Standard Specifications for Line Transformers issued by the Bureau of Standards. An experiment on 1600 transformers with the connection board removed or submerged proved that the connection board above oil was responsible for about 60 per cent of the transformer troubles due to lightning. Curves showing the record of burnouts of four different makes of transformers are used as a basis for a discussion of the effect of the value placed on continuous service in the selection of transformers. The results of experiment with improved lightning protection are given, showing how the troubles were reduced by two-thirds. By taking advantage of the results of the two extended experiments, itshould be possible to reduce the troubles due to lightning to about 10 per cent or 20 per cent of the troubles heretofore experienced.


Transmission line pulsing (TLP) is well-established for the IV-characterization of electrostatic discharge (ESD)-protection elements. There still is a significant gap between the performance of present TLP-systems and the demands of the charged device model (CDM). A very fast, narrow-pulse (>3.5 ns), high-current TLP (VF-TLP) is designed to reduce this gap. It is feasible to study the pulsed breakdown of gate oxides and to determine at least the quasistatic IV-characteristics of input structures. Gate oxide breakdown is monitored within the first 6 ns of stress. Correlation with CDM (noncontact, nonsocketed) tests and socket discharge model [(SDM) formerly socketed CDM] is achieved in terms of the failure signature. However, the failure thresholds of VF-TLP and CDM/SDM do not correlate due to the different current paths. In the CDM, mobile charge is injected into or coming out of one pin until the full device is at same potential. In the SDM, the full test board is charged and discharged across the device. The VF-TLP current flows between the stress pin and a reference pin for the duration of the square pulse.


Abstract In this paper we focus on contact rock paintings from three sites in northwestern Arnhem Land, Australia. In doing so we highlight that such sites provide some of the only contemporary Indigenous accounts of cross-cultural encounters that took place across northern Australia through the last 500 years. Importantly, they have the potential to inform us about the ongoing relationships that existed between different parties. The lack of research on contact rock art is emphasised and the development of a large-scale project (of which this fieldwork is part) aimed at addressing this problem is outlined. Important new findings for contact rock art are presented, including evidence for 'traditional' protocols relating to rock art continuing long after first contact, evidence for particular contact period subject matter dominating in art of this region, and the oldest date yet recorded for contact art in Australia.


Previous research has investigated the endocrinological consequences of unemployment as a likely pathway behind chronic stress and negative health outcomes. Despite these early attempts at delineating the neuroendocrine consequences of the chronic stress experienced by the unemployed, identifying a consistent and stable effect has remained elusive. Here we sought to strengthen existing knowledge into the effect of the stress of employment status on cortisol by improving on the methodological weaknesses of earlier studies and extend this line of enquiry by measuring the steroid hormone Dehydroepiandrosterone-Sulfate (DHEAS). Saliva samples were collected from unemployed and employed participants at four time points across two days. As expected, unemployed people reported higher stress, lower social support and lower self-esteem. Unexpectedly, the unemployed showed lower overall cortisol output, a likely consequence of a higher cortisol awakening response (CAR) in the employed. However, they also had a higher DHEA output across the day, albeit the diurnal pattern across the day was more dysregulated compared to that seen in those employed with a blunted response evident in the evening; the cortisol;DHEAS ratio was also lower in the unemployed group. Further, these hormone differences were correlated with self-esteem and stress. Taken together these results suggest that the relationship between employment status and endocrine responses is far more complicated than previously thought. We have shown for the first time that unemployed people have a lower CAR, but also show a blunted DHEA response relative to those employed and we suggest that this may be a feature of chronic stress exposure or perhaps dependent on the prevailing socio-economic context.


Mechanical properties and the structure of materials are key elements in understanding how structural interventions in conservation treatments affect cultural heritage objects. In this context, engineering mechanics can help determine the strength and stability found in art objects as it can provide both explanation and prediction of failure in materials. It has therefore shown to be an effective method for developing useful solutions to conservation problems. Since materials science and mechanics can help conservators predict the long term consequences of their treatments and provide them with tools to avoid future problems, it should be present in all conservation-restoration training programs to help promote students' understanding of the degradation mechanisms in cultural materials (and their correlation with chemical and biological degradation) as well as the implications behind conservation treatments.


Disorders of olfaction and taste are infrequent, but a complete loss of smell or taste reduces the quality of life significantly. The sensitivity of human olfaction is remarkable, even for specific stimuli: Just a few molecules are enough to induce the correct identification of sterilised and ultraheated milk. Olfaction and taste are called 'chemical senses' because in both cases the adequate stimulus consists of molecules that bind to receptors of the sensory cells. The perceptions of smell and taste are often combined. Taste differentiates only four qualities: sweet, sour, salty, and bitter. The typical flavor of food or drink is detected by olfaction. Disturbances of olfaction can be due to respiratory disorders such as nasal polyps, a deviation of the nasal septum or chronic sinusitis. Such conditions can reduce airflow through the olfactory cleft at the roof of the nasal cavity. They can be corrected by modern endoscopic surgery of the nose. Epithelial disorders involving the sensory cells are most often caused by viral infections (influenza-anosmia) or toxic destruction of the sensory epithelium (solvents or gases). Epithelial disorders can be cured only rarely by any treatment. Corticosteroids, zinc, and vitamin A are tried frequently. Neural disorders occur after frontobasal trauma and during neurological diseases such as Parkinson's or Alzheimer's disease. Disorders of olfaction can be an early sign of such neurological diseases and sophisticated examination of this sense can contribute to their early diagnosis. However, no specific treatments have yet been identified. Disorders of taste can be due to toxic, chemical or inflammatory damage to the sensory cells of the tongue.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)


Synergistic effects between water and energy policies are still not fully considered in Shaanxi province of China. To address the challenges of water scarcity and growing energy demand, the water–energy nexus of Shaanxi is investigated in this paper by input–output analysis (IOA). The findings indicate that water and energy resources are interdependent on each other. It is observed that agricultural water use intensity is 0.28 m³ per USD and industrial water use intensity is at the lowest level of 0.013 m³. Therefore, there is a huge water saving potential in the agricultural sector. Owing to the high energy consumption in agricultural irrigation, reducing irrigation water is of benefit both for water saving and energy conservation in the agricultural sector. Meanwhile, the industrial sector accounts for 63.8% of total energy consumption in Shaanxi, and it is urgent to change the economic structure to service-based rather than agricultural or industrial activities. It is believed that integrated strategies and planning are more favored in the future in Shaanxi. Water use limitation, energy mix adjustment and pricing mechanisms should be involved in water and energy policy formulation. Remarkably, because of being low carbon and water saving, the natural gas industry will become increasingly promising in the following decades.


Abstract Background. Because patients with cystic fibrosis (CF) are living longer, chronic malabsorption of carotenoids associated with CF resulting in decreased macular pigment (MP) may affect macular long-term health in later-life pathology. This study compared the macular pigment optical density (MPOD) and corresponding central macular volume (MV) of adult CF subjects and age-matched normal controls subjects to determine whether chronic malabsorption associated with CF could adversely affect macular photoreceptor anatomy. Objective. Our aim was to compare MPOD with measurements of central MV in CF patients with age-matched controls. Design. In nine adult CF patients (ages: 29–46) without a history of carotenoid supplementation or known retinal or optic nerve disease MPOD and MV were measured by heterochromatic flicker photometry (HFP) and optical coherence tomography (OCT), respectively, and compared to results obtained from 14 age-matched controls. Results. MPOD was significantly reduced at 15' and 30' eccentricities in CF subjects compared to normal subjects (mean difference −0.21 at 15', −0.25 at 30', p < 0.005). No significant difference, in MV noted at any of the eccentricities tested between CF and normal subjects (CF: normal MV ratios ranged from 0.94 to 1.1 for all eccentricities with p > 0.1 at all eccentricities). Best corrected vision acuity and fundus examination were normal in all subjects. Conclusions. Unsupplemented CF patients have markedly lower levels of macular carotenoids (e.g., lutein and zeaxanthin), but well-maintained visual function and no significant reductions in central MV primarily composed of macular photoreceptors. Future studies are needed to determine whether the lifelong decrease in protective central retinal carotenoids predisposes CF patients to later-life retinal pathology.


Due to the dense and self-deployment of home eNodeBs (HeNBs) in femtocells, serious inter-cell interference may arise without good coordination. To deal with it, a distributed interference coordination scheme for femtocells networks with carrier aggregation (CA) is proposed in this paper. Firstly, each femtocell operates on all the component carriers (CCs) of the network and gathers the information needed via local measurements. Then, based on the measurements, decisions of maintaining or releasing the component carrier are individually made by each femtocell on each component carrier. Simulation results validate the effectiveness of our proposed scheme in term of the signal to interference and noise ratio (SINR) and throughput.


Sphingolipids are important structural components of cell membranes and act as critical regulators of cell function by modulating intracellular signaling pathways. Specific sphingolipids, such as ceramide, glucosylceramide, and ganglioside GM3, have been implicated in various aspects of insulin resistance, because they have been shown to modify several steps in the insulin signaling pathway, such as phosphorylation of either protein kinase B (Akt) or of the insulin receptor. We now explore the role of the ceramide acyl chain length in insulin signaling by using a ceramide synthase 2 (CerS2) null mouse, which is unable to synthesize very long acyl chain (C22‐C24) ceramides. CerS2 null mice exhibited glucose intolerance despite normal insulin secretion from the pancreas. Both insulin receptor and Akt phosphorylation were abrogated in liver, but not in adipose tissue or in skeletal muscle. The lack of insulin receptor phosphorylation in liver correlated with its inability to translocate into detergent‐resistant membranes (DRMs). Moreover, DRMs in CerS2 null mice displayed properties significantly different from those in wild‐type mice, suggesting that the altered sphingolipid acyl chain length directly affects insulin receptor translocation and subsequent signaling. Conclusion: We conclude that the sphingolipid acyl chain composition of liver regulates insulin signaling by modifying insulin receptor translocation into membrane microdomains. (HEPATOLOGY 2013)


ABSTRACT The opening–closing rhythms of the subelytral cavity and associated gas exchange patterns were monitored in diapausing Leptinotarsa decemlineata beetles. Measurements were made by means of a flow-through CO2 analyser and a coulometric respirometer. Under the elytra of these beetles there is a more or less tightly enclosed space, the subelytral cavity (SEC). When the cavity was tightly closed, air pressure inside was sub-atmospheric, as a result of oxygen uptake into the tracheae by the beetle. In about half of the beetles, regular opening–closing rhythms of the SEC were observed visually and also recorded; these beetles displayed a discontinuous gas exchange pattern. The SEC opened at the start of the CO2 burst and was immediately closed. On opening, a rapid passive suction inflow of atmospheric air into the SEC occurred, recorded coulometrically as a sharp upward peak. As the CO2 burst lasted beyond the closure of the SEC, we suggest that most of the CO2 was expelled through the mesothoracic spiracles. In the remaining beetles, the SEC was continually semi-open, and cyclic gas exchange was exhibited. The locking mechanisms and structures between the elytra and between the elytra and the body were examined under a stereomicroscope and by means of microphotography. We conclude that at least some of the L. decemlineata diapausing beetles were able to close their subelytral cavity tightly, and that the cavity then served as a water-saving device. Summary: Colorado potato beetles are able to close their subelytral cavity tightly and it then serves as a water-saving device.


Abstract. The application of modern series production automotive radar sensors to pedestrian recognition is an important topic in research on future driver assistance systems. The aim of this paper is to understand the potential and limits of such sensors in pedestrian recognition. This knowledge could be used to develop next generation radar sensors with improved pedestrian recognition capabilities. A new raw radar data signal processing algorithm is proposed that allows deep insights into the object classification process. The impact of raw radar data properties can be directly observed in every layer of the classification system by avoiding machine learning and tracking. This gives information on the limiting factors of raw radar data in terms of classification decision making. To accomplish the very challenging distinction between pedestrians and static objects, five significant and stable object features from the spatial distribution and Doppler information are found. Experimental results with data from a 77 GHz automotive radar sensor show that over 95% of pedestrians can be classified correctly under optimal conditions, which is compareable to modern machine learning systems. The impact of the pedestrian's direction of movement, occlusion, antenna beam elevation angle, linear vehicle movement, and other factors are investigated and discussed. The results show that under real life conditions, radar only based pedestrian recognition is limited due to insufficient Doppler frequency and spatial resolution as well as antenna side lobe effects.


Scrub typhus is a mite-borne infectious disease caused by Orientia tsutsugamushi (previously called Rickettsia tsutsugamushi). The severity of this disease varies from only mild symptoms to death, and its manifestations are nonspecific. Therefore, clinicians may not correctly diagnose scrub typhus early enough for successful treatment. Reports of infections in travelers returning from Asia to their home countries are increasingly common. Thus, it is important that even clinicians in nonepidemic regions be alert for this disease. Here we describe the epidemiological aspects and clinical manifestations of scrub typhus encountered at a teaching hospital in Penghu, Taiwan, over the past 5 years. A total of 126 patients were confirmed to be positive for scrub typhus at the hospital from 2006 to 2010. All cases were confirmed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention or its contract laboratory through pathogen isolation and an indirect immunofluorescence assay. Medical records of these patients were reviewed, and demographic and clinical characteristics, laboratory data, seasonal data, geographic distribution, complications, and outcome were analyzed. The incidence of scrub typhus peaked in individuals aged 0-10 and 51-60 years, with the highest incidence among those ≤10 years of age. No significant difference was noted between sexes. Fever was the most common symptom (93.6%), followed by chills (23.8%), cough (18.3%), and headache (14.3%). Eschars were observed in 78 (61.9%) patients, with the axilla being the most frequent site (n=17; 21.8%). Most patients were retirees (n=63; 50%), followed by students (n=16; 12.7%). Patients were more likely to live in rural areas than urban areas. Scrub typhus was epidemic in the spring (April to June) and fall (October to December) in a bimodal distribution similar to that observed in Japan. Leukocytosis was not common, but most patients had abnormal C-reactive protein levels, thrombocytopenia, and elevated liver function test results. Residents of Penghu, particularly Makung City and Husi Township, as well as travelers to the region during the spring and fall seasons should be educated about the signs and symptoms of scrub typhus. All physicians who come into contact with individuals residing in or traveling to or from epidemic regions should remain alert about the manifestations of this disease.


Summary This study was designed to determine: (i) the in vitro effects of different freezing rates on post-thaw semen quality of Mediterranean brown trout (Salmo trutta macrostigma) from the Biferno river; and (ii) the in vivo fertilization and hatching percentage of freezing rate giving rise to the best post-thaw semen quality. Pooled semen samples were diluted 1:3 (v:v) in a freezing extender composed of 300 mM glucose, 10% egg yolk and 10% dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO). The extended semen was packaged in 0.25 ml plastic straws and frozen at different heights above the liquid nitrogen surface (1, 5 or 10 cm) for 10 min to give three different freezing rates. Semen samples were thawed at 30°C for 10 s. The variables assessed after thawing were sperm motility, duration of motility and viability. Our results clearly indicate a significant effect of freezing rate on post-thaw semen quality. Semen frozen 5 cm above the liquid nitrogen surface showed the best quality after freezing/thawing. Based on these in vitro data, 2 groups of 200 eggs were fertilized with fresh semen or semen frozen 5 cm above the liquid nitrogen surface. Fertilization and hatching rates recorded for eggs fertilized with frozen semen were significantly lower (25.4% and 22.5%, respectively) than the ones obtained using fresh semen (87.8% and 75.5%, respectively). An effective freezing protocol will allow for the creation of a sperm cryobank to recover the original population of Mediterranean brown trout in the Biferno river.


Ambulatory antibiotic stewardship policies focus on prescribing decisions made when patients present to clinicians with possible infections. They do not capture antibiotics prescribed outside of clinician visits or without clear indications for use. Antibiotic prescribing for vulnerable patients in the US has not been comprehensively measured. We measured the frequency with which all filled antibiotic prescriptions were associated with infections and in-person visits for Medicaid patients in the period 2004-13. We found that among 298 million antibiotic fills (62 percent for children) for 53 million patients, 55 percent were for clinician visits with an infection-related diagnosis, 17 percent were for clinician visits without an infection-related diagnosis, and 28 percent were not associated with a visit. Non-visit-based antibiotic prescriptions were less common for children than for adults and more common in the West than in other US regions. Large fractions of antibiotic prescriptions are filled without evidence of infection-related diagnoses or accompanying clinician visits. Current ambulatory antibiotic stewardship policies miss about half of antibiotic prescribing.


In this era of science and technology human beings made a tremendous progress which we have never think of in the earlier days Now we can interact with anyone without much facing difficulty by thinking about our distances But in 2020 we human beings came into contact with a corona virus which creates sufferings in our life It made a huge impact in all areas of human life and education sector is one of such area Due to covid-19 outbreak we shifted our teaching-learning process from offline mode of teaching-learning to online mode of teaching-learning In this shift we have came across with different problems which we face in the online teaching-learning classroom So in this paper the researcher discussed in a detail manner about an empirical study which was conducted to study the problems which are faced in the online teaching- learning classroom


Type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) has an important impact on morbidity and mortality because it may start early in life. Therefore, the early detection of cardiovascular autonomic neuropathy (DCAN) in T1DM patients is important to intervene quickly and prevent further deterioration. Traditional autonomic function tests detect abnormalities in severely symptomatic patients but they are difficult to be standardized, require the patient's active participation and their sensitivity to the early disease is limited. In comparison, heart rate variability (HRV) is easier to be measured and standardized. Therefore, we aim to find the HRV indexes that better identify DCAN at an early stage in T1DM patients, and evaluate if HRV is a valid alternative to traditional tests. For this aim, we administered the SCOPA-AUT questionnaire on symptoms of autonomic dysfunction as well as deep breathing, Valsalva, handgrip, head-up tilt (HUT), and cold-pressor tests, to 52 T1DM patients and 27 controls. We calculated HRV indexes during supine rest (SUP) and HUT, assessing differences between groups and postures by a linear mixed-effect model for repeated measures. Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) analysis quantified how each HRV index and autonomic test distinguishes between patients and controls. We found that the SCOPA-AUT score was slightly but significantly (p < 0.05) greater in patients, indicating an early DCAN. T1DM patients preserved the HRV response to changing posture but in SUP they showed significantly lower standard deviation and vagal indexes of HRV than controls. The area under the ROC curve of these HRV indexes was not lower than 0.68. By contrast, traditional autonomic tests did not differ between groups. Therefore, early DCAN initially causes an impairment of the cardiac vagal control manifest in conditions of elevated vagal tone, as in SUP. Compensatory adjustments of the sympathetic control might explain the unaltered response to traditional autonomic tests. In conclusion, vagal HRV indexes in SUP help to identify early DCAN better than traditional tests, potentially allowing rapid interventions.


Trinpanchmool drugs consisting of Kush (Desmostachya bipinnata), Darbh (Imperata cylindrica), Kas (Saccharum spontaneum), Sar (Saccharum munja) and Ikshu (Saccharum officinarum) are used in Ayurveda for treatment of a number of diseases and some of the drugs are traditionally used against microbial infections. The present study deals with the evaluation of antibacterial and antifungal activities of the hydroalcoholic extract of the drugs both individually and in combination. The antimicrobial activity (minimum inhibitory concentration and zone of inhibition) of Trinpanchmool drugs was evaluated against different micro-organisms including Gram positive bacteria, Gram negative bacteria and fungi by agar-well diffusion assay. The drugs of Trinpanchmool showed promising antimicrobial activity against different microorganisms. Gram positive and Gram negative bacterias were more sensitive than the fungal strains. The drugs in combination are more active than the individual extracts against maximum micro-organisms tested. Kush was inactive against S. aureus and E. coli, and Ikshu against S. aureus upto 2 mg/ml concentration of the extracts. Trinpanchmool drugs exhibited amtimicrobial activity against Gram Positive bacteria, Gram Negative bacteria and fungal strains which is in support of the ethnomedical uses of the drug.


Ultrafast electron diffraction is a powerful technique to investigate out-of-equilibrium atomic dynamics in solids with high temporal resolution. When diffraction is performed in reflection geometry, the main limitation is the mismatch in group velocity between the overlapping pump light and the electron probe pulses, which affects the overall temporal resolution of the experiment. A solution already available in the literature involved pulse front tilt of the pump beam at the sample, providing a sub-picosecond time resolution. However, in the reported optical scheme, the tilted pulse is characterized by a temporal chirp of about 1 ps at 1 mm away from the centre of the beam, which limits the investigation of surface dynamics in large crystals. In this paper, we propose an optimal tilting scheme designed for a radio-frequency-compressed ultrafast electron diffraction setup working in reflection geometry with 30 keV electron pulses containing up to 105 electrons/pulse. To characterize our scheme, we performed optical cross-correlation measurements, obtaining an average temporal width of the tilted pulse lower than 250 fs. The calibration of the electron-laser temporal overlap was obtained by monitoring the spatial profile of the electron beam when interacting with the plasma optically induced at the apex of a copper needle (plasma lensing effect). Finally, we report the first time-resolved results obtained on graphite, where the electron-phonon coupling dynamics is observed, showing an overall temporal resolution in the sub-500 fs regime. The successful implementation of this configuration opens the way to directly probe structural dynamics of low-dimensional systems in the sub-picosecond regime, with pulsed electrons.


The etiology of patellofemoral pain (PFP) has been misunderstood for decades, leading to the broad acceptance of therapies that are not only ineffective, but often harmful. The solution to the problem of PFP eventually came from the discovery and development of a new musculoskeletal paradigm: tissue/joint homeostasis. This new conceptualization of the cause of anterior knee pain (AKP) looks beyond the mere structural, anatomic and biomechanical factors, deeper into the underlying perturbed biology. Loss and restoration of tissue homeostasis of innervated PF components such as synovium and bone, best accounts for the symptoms of PFP, independent of factors such as chondromalacia patella, or patellofemoral (PF) "malalignment".


This paper focuses on energy saving in 802.11-based WLANs. Typically, 802.11 wireless interfaces consume a significant amount of energy. Previous work has shown that the power saving function specified in the IEEE 802.11 standard is not enough to ensure energy efficiency; thus, other solutions to energy saving are highly needed. Here we consider the 802.11 distributed access scheme and explore the possibility to increase the time period that a wireless station spends in the low-power operational state, the so-called doze state. The key feature of the proposed mechanism is that it enables a station to enter the doze state during channel contention, by exploiting the virtual carrier sense mechanism and the backoff function. By using the network simulator ns-2, we compare the performance obtained through our scheme with the results attained when the standard DCF mechanism is employed.


In the marketplace the salesperson is the eyes and ears of the company, an essential element in the success or failure of the business and in the perception of many customers the salesperson is the business.

Primarily this thesis attempted to establish the criteria of Irish manufacturing sector buying centre members in selecting suppliers, the relative importance they attach to various sources of information in choosing between alternative products, their opinion of the essential qualities of a good salesperson and their rating of the Irish sales force on the basis of twenty two personal attributes and selling skills identified from the literature as being of particular importance.

Buying centre members were classified as Professional Purchasers, and Other Buying Centre Members, made up of managing directors, production executives and production/design/maintenance engineers. Two independent samples (80 Professional Purchasers and 164 Other Buying Centre Members) were selected in order to establish whether or not a statistically significant difference existed between the opinions of the two classifications. Use of chi-square tests, t-tests and f-tests proved that, except in the case of a minority of minor issues, no such difference existed. This finding is contrary to the findings of much research cited in the literature.

The research established that the essential qualities of a good salesperson from the perception of buying centre members are product knowledge, personal impression and customer understanding in that order. The most important criteria used in selecting a supplier are product quality, price and delivery and the most important source of information in selecting a new product is the salesperson. In addition the research further established that Irish salespeople are perceived by buyers as being in particular need of improvement in follow-up, sales call preparation, customer understanding, appreciation of buyers time and technical competence.


The microcapsules used for electrophoretic display were prepared by in-situ polymerization. The core material contained electrophoretic particles (phthalocyanine blue and TiO2) and tetrachloroethylene (TCE), and the wall material were made of melamine-formaldehyde resin. The effects of preparation conditions, such as the concentration of surfactant, the ratio of core material to wall material, the pH values were all experimentally investigated. Moreover, titanium dioxide (TiO2) particles were modified with 3-(trimethoxysilyl)propyl methacrylate (TPM) in order to obtain a lipophilic surface. Furthermore, the modified TiO2 was coated with polystyrene (PS) for improving the density mismatch between TiO2 particles and TCE. The core material of phthalocyanine blue was modified with octadecylamine to improve its dispersibility in TCE. The morphology of microcapsules was observed by optical microscope. The coated TiO2 particles were characterized by scanning electron microscope and thermogravimetry analysis. The modified TiO2 particles and phthalocyanine blue were determined by FTIR spectrometry.


CONTEXT
In health care, licensing is pervasive. Restrictions on applicants with criminal records may have a disparate impact on historically marginalized groups. There is bipartisan interest in evaluating whether occupational licensing requirements are too strict.

METHODS
We analyze how twelve representative states (California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Illinois, Missouri, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, and Texas) handle applicants with criminal records to five entry-level allied health professions (dental hygienist, occupational therapy assistant, physical therapy assistant, radiologic technologist, and respiratory therapist).

FINDINGS
With one exception for one AHP, all states require their licensing boards to consider past serious criminal convictions. A majority of states require the conviction to be substantially related to the scope of professional duties for it to provide a basis for disqualification. Most states make it difficult for applicants to determine whether they may obtain a license.

CONCLUSIONS
State licensing boards have considerable discretion in handling applicants with a criminal record. The trend is toward fewer restrictions, but more could be done to increase the transparency of state licensing board guidelines, practices, and procedures - particularly in the states that still rely on a "good moral character" test.


Anti-mullerian hormone (AMH) is a glycoprotein produced by granulosa cells of primary, pre-antral and small antral ovarian follicles and its clinical applicability has been recently demonstrated by several studies. Prediction of the response to ovarian stimulation for in vitro fertilization corresponds to the most frequent utilization of AMH in clinical practice, being routinely assessed in many services to identify subgroups of women susceptible to a poor response or to Ovarian Hyperstimulation Syndrome. There are great perspectives that AMH may be applicable to the individual determination of risk for iatrogenic gonadal injury in women with neoplasms who will be submitted to chemotherapy. It is also probable that AMH assessment will be included in protocols for the investigation of amenorrhea and oligomenorrhea, since AMH levels are increased in Polycystic Ovary Syndrome, reduced in premature ovarian failure and normal in other conditions such as hyperprolactinemia and hypogonadotropic hypogonadism. It is possible that AMH will be utilized in the future for the prediction of age at menopause and of reproductive prognosis, providing solid bases for pre-conceptive and contraceptive counseling.


Purpose: To identify the effect of infant hypermetropia on residual amblyopia in children remaining after treatment. Materials and Methods: 879 strabismic children had cycloplegic retinoscopy at the age of 6 months and later when strabismus was diagnosed. A total of 26 hypermetropes consistently wore glasses from the age of 6 months, and 305 other hypermetropes had their accommodation periodically assessed by dynamic retinoscopy before strabismus was diagnosed. The relation between the last known visual acuity after treatment and all other clinical findings was analysed using t-tests and regression analysis. Results: Vision less than 6/12 in nonfixing eyes was associated with infantile hypermetropia > +5.0D, and in rare instances in excess of -3.0D of myopia. In hypermetropes only, anisometropia was associated with worse amblyopia. Astigmatism was associated with myopia and low levels of hypermetropia but not with worse vision. The vision of fixing eyes that were hypermetropic was significantly worse than that of emmetropic or myopic eyes. Wearing spectacles from the age of 6 months was associated with better vision in the nonfixing eye. Vision in the nonfixing eye of 19 hypermetropic heterotropes who started wearing glasses between 6 and 18 months of age also was better than that of those who started wearing glasses after 18 months of age. Insufficiency of accommodation was related to the degree of infantile hypermetropia, to worse vision and to failure to emmetropise. Difference in amplitude of accommodation between the eyes was largest in hypermetropes with anisometropia > +1.50 D and was marginally associated with worse vision in microtropes who became anisometropic after infancy. Hypermetropia decreased more in fixing eyes than in nonfixing eyes, thereby causing anisohypermetropia to increase after infancy. This change was most pronounced in hypermetropic microtropes. Conversely, failure of fixing eyes to emmetropise was associated with an increase in their inability to accommodate and heterotropia. Conclusions: On the basis of these findings, severe residual amblyopia in children remaining after treatment could be explained by additional vision deprivation. It can be reduced by starting spectacle correction of hypermetropia before the age of 18 months. Anisometropia seemed the result of deficient emmetropisation.


OBJECTIVES
To compare and contrast 2 methods of quantitating papilledema, namely, optical coherence tomography (OCT) and Modified Frisén Scale (MFS).

METHODS
Digital optic disc photographs and OCT fast retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) thickness, fast RNFL map, total retinal thickness, and fast disc images were obtained in 36 patients with papilledema. Digital optic disc photographs were randomized and graded by 4 masked expert reviewers using the MFS. We performed Spearman rank correlations of OCT RNFL thickness, OCT total retinal thickness, and MFS grade from photographs.

RESULTS
OCT RNFL thickness and MFS grade from photographs correlated well (R = 0.85). OCT total retinal thickness and MFS grade from photographs had a similar correlation of 0.87. Comparing OCT RNFL thickness with OCT total retinal thickness, a slope of 1.64 suggests a greater degree of papilledema thickness change when using the latter.

CONCLUSIONS
For lower-grade abnormalities, OCT compares favorably with clinical staging of optic nerve photographs. With higher grades, OCT RNFL thickness processing algorithms often fail, with OCT total retinal thickness performing more favorably.


The study presents the outcomes of pioneer research on Buddhism in Czechoslovakia during normalization. The research draws on Misztal's intersubjectivist sociological approach towards memory and focuses on Buddhist narrative reconstructions of the normalization period. Although the reflection of the religious situation during normalization has not raised much interest, yet, undoubtedly, this period influenced the post-revolutionary relationship of Czech society towards religion, specifically its strongly atheistic character. Either for its historically short local presence or persistently quantitatively low membership, Buddhism is not a representative example of religion within Czech society. Nevertheless, its specifics imply that Buddhism can provide a promising study ground for processes related to the presence of religion within a strongly secularized society such as  Czechoslovakia during normalization. Based on the thematic analyses of autobiographic data the study reveals the importance of three major narrative themes: inclusive understanding of Buddhism and the exclusivity of Buddhists, the control-based interpretations of the state's relationship towards Buddhists that was traversed through the change of regime in ʽ89, and the ultimate importance of transnational ties.


The identification of the specific mutation causing an inherited disease in a patient is the framework for the development of a rationale for therapy and of DNA-based tests for screening relatives. We present here a review of the single-strand conformational polymorphism (SSCP) method, which allows DNA fragments that have been amplified with specific primers and PCR to be scanned rapidly for any sequence variation. The general principles of the method are described, as are the major factors that must be considered in developing an optimal SSCP strategy, namely length of the PCR fragment and the temperature of the gel run. Options for sample denaturing gel characteristics and detection of DNA fragments are discussed. In addition, several modifications are presented that have been developed for high-throughput mutational analysis. The application of these techniques to screen for mutations in the LDL receptor gene in patients with familial hypercholesterolemia are described.


Abstract : The most recent and complete taxonomic treatment of the Culex subgenus Lophoceraomyia in any area of South East Asia was that of Colless (1965). This study described 14 new species, revalidated five synonyms, and generally placed the taxonomy of this difficult group on a sound basis for future investigations. The present study describes six new species from Thailand, all of which belong to the mammilifer subgroup of the mammilifer group as defined by Colless (1965). The mammilifer group of the subgenus Lophoceraomyia is distinguished from the fraudatrix group mainly by the presence of a mammiliform protuberance on the inner surface of the male antennal torus. In the male terminalia, members of the mammilifer group exhibit both an internal process and a spinose or toothed dorsal process which compose the lateral plate of the phallosome; members of the fraudatrix group possess a toothless dorsal process only. In the larval stage members of the mammilifer group have head hairs 4-C distinctly longer than the distance between their bases, in contrast to the fraudatrix group in which these hairs are shorter than the distance between their bases. The mammilifer subgroup of the mammilifer group is recogized by the presence of one lower mesepimeral bristle in the adult, by the larval antenna with hairs 2 and 3 well separated from the apex of the shaft, and by the general container habitats of the larvae; the brevipalpus subgroup of the mammilifer group lacks a lower mesepimeral bristle in the adult, hairs 2 and 3 of the larval antenna are inserted at the apex of the shaft, and the larval habitat is generally restricted to pitcher plants (Nepenthes spp.).


In this paper we present a novel multiscale approach to recovery of nonrigid motion from sequences of registered intensity and range images. The main idea of our approach is that a finite element (FEM) model can naturally handle both registration and deformation modeling using a single model-driving strategy. The method includes a multiscale iterative algorithm based on analysis of the undirected Hausdorff distance to recover correspondences. The method is evaluated with respect to speed, accuracy, and noise sensitivity. Advantages of the proposed approach are demonstrated using man-made elastic materials and human skin motion. Experiments with regular grid features are used for performance comparison with a conventional approach (separate snakes and FEM models). It is shown that the new method does not require a grid and can adapt the model to available object features.


A brand is a complex construction. In addition to its tangible and intangible dimensions, it implies an intrinsic relational dimension associated to any brand building process. The relational dimension is even more visible in the case of the political brand. The political brand brings with it a symbolic construction in which the experience of a diffuse form of sacredness is central, by the presence of the inadequate report specific to the manifestations related to the sacred representations. On the one hand, we are experiencing a meeting that creates the context of identity, and on the other hand a cohabitation that highlights the role of alterity. The brand imposes itself as a symbolic construction based on this game of identity and alterity in a global communication market. Communication advisers must pay attention to this symbolic dimension. It is the expressive form in which interpersonal relationships manifest themselves as assuming the values and meanings that individuals place under the idea of having a better life. The orientation towards the development of political brands understood as personal brands corresponds to a phase of professionalization of politics and political communication in electoral campaigns, but also in the stages between campaigns. At the same time, political brands grow in importance in times of crisis, both because they offer exemplary models and because they synthesize the mythological elements of the imaginary of abundance, trust and authentic dialogue.


In recent years, the rapid growth of mobile data demands has introduced many stringent requirements on latency and convergence performance in wireless network optimization. To address these challenges, several momentum-based algorithms have been proposed to improve the classical queue-length-based algorithmic framework (QLA). By combining queue-length updates and one-slot weight changes (known as the first-order momentum), it has been shown that these algorithms dramatically improve delay and convergence compared to QLA, while maintaining the same throughput-optimality and low-complexity. These exciting attempts have sparked a lot of conjectures about whether it is useful to further exploit high-order momentum information to improve delay and convergence speed. In this paper, we show that the answer is yes. Specifically, we first propose a new weight updating scheme that enables the incorporation of high-order momentum. We then prove the throughput-optimality and queue-stability of the proposed high-order momentum-based approach and characterize its delay and convergence performances. Through these analytical results, we finally show that delay and convergence would continue to improve as more high-order momentum information is utilized.


GaAs power metal-semiconductor field-effect transistors (MESFETs) were fabricated using direct double silicon (Si) ion implantation technology for wireless communication applications. A 150-μm MESFET had a saturation drain current of 238 mA/mm after Si3N4 passivation. A 15-mm MESFET, when measured under a class-AB condition with a biased drain voltage of 3.4 V and a quiescent drain current of 600 mA, delivered a maximum output power (Pout) of 31.1 dBm and a maximum power-added efficiency (PAE) of 58.0% at a frequency of 1.88 GHz. The MESFET exhibited a Pout of 29.2 dBm with a PAE of 45.0% at the 1-dB gain compression point. The MESFET, when measured under a deep class-B condition with a biased drain voltage of 4.7 V and a quiescent drain current of 50 mA, achieved a maximum Pout of 33.1 dBm and a maximum PAE of 55.9% at 1.88 GHz. The MESFET operating at 4.7 V and 1.88 GHz exhibited a P1dB of 31.8 dBm and an associated PAE of 47.1% at the 1-dB gain compression point. When tested by IS-95 code-division multiple access (CDMA) standard signals and biased at 4.7 V under the deep class-B condition, the MESFET with a Pout of 28 dBm demonstrated an adjacent channel power rejection (ACPR) of –31.2 dBc at +1.25 MHz apart from the 1.88 GHz center frequency and –45.7 dBc at +2.25 MHz.


The study of hydrogen and hydrogenic (one-electron) ions is an area of rapid progress and one of great potential for future frequency standards. In 1997, the two-photon 1 S-2S transition in the hydrogen atom was included in the list of approved radiations for the practical realisation of the metre, and since then revolutions in optical frequency metrology have reduced the uncertainty in its frequency by more than an order ofmagnitude, to 1.8 parts in 10 to the power 14.
Hydrogenic systems are simple enough that the frequencies of their transitions can be calculated in terms of the Rydberg constant with an accuracy that can approach or exceed the measurement uncertainty. Transitions in such systems can be thought of as forming a natural frequency scale, and offer the prospect of a set of quantum frequency standards which are directly related to the fundamental constants.
The Rydberg constant is currently best detennined from optical frequency measurements in hydrogen. However, to take full advantage of the recent high accuracy 1S-2S frequency measurement requires
- Improved measurements of other transition frequencies in the hydrogen atom;
- Reduced uncertainty in the quantum electrodynamic (QED) contributions to the energy levels, in particular the two-loop binding corrections;
- An improved value for the proton charge radius.
In He+ and one-electron systems of higher atomic number Z, the two-loop binding corrections are a fractionally larger part of the Lamb shift due to their rapid scaling with Z. Measurements of the Lamb shift in medium-Z hydro genic ions can therefore provide tests of these corrections, and feed in to the theoretical understanding of hydrogen itself. Although both theory and experiment are less accurate at higher Z, there is the potential for a new range of X-ray standards, providing that the QED corrections are wellunderstood and new absolute measurement techniques can be developed.
A number of areas are suggested for future investigation:
- Improving the accuracy of hydrogen 2S-nS/D measurements, contributing to an improved Rydberg constant determination;
- Spectroscopy of cooled, trapped hydrogen atoms;
- Improved calculations of the two-loop binding corrections complete to all orders in Za.
- Lamb shift measurements in medium-Z hydrogenic ions by laser excitation, to check the two-loop binding corrections;
- Experiments to resolve discrepancies arising from the proton charge radius;
- Development of a small portable electron beam ion trap (EBIT) capable of producing high yields of hydro genic ions;
 - Development of techniques for absolute measurement of X-ray transitions observed in an EBIT.


This paper proposes an intuitive and collaborative human-robot approach to perception and navigation for sUAS operating in unknown indoor environments, such as disaster response scenarios. The complexity of indoor environments coupled with the urgency of first responder missions make most available obstacle avoidance solutions too complex, unpredictable, impractical or ineffective. This paper presents a human-robot collaborative obstacle avoidance approach with real-time performance. Multiple RGB-D cameras are combined with a front-facing stereo pair to achieve robust localization and 3D perception around the aircraft. Obstacle avoidance is accomplished by dynamically prioritizing mapping data along the desired navigational path, projecting 3D obstacles onto a virtual plane, representing complex obstacle data with filtered geometric clusters and performing geometrical extrusion analysis to generate a collision-free solution. Collaboration with the Pilot-In-Command (PIC) is opportunistic and bidirectional allowing the PIC to control the aggressiveness of the obstacle avoidance solution on-the-fly easily adapting to the complexity of unknown indoor environments.


In this paper, we develop scale to measure the need for restoration of office employees in field studies that is not based on introspection; in particular a behavior based non-evaluative self-report scale (see Haans, Kaiser, & de Kort (2007) for a comparable application). The need for restoration scale is based on what Kaiser, Byrka and Hartig (2008) call Campbell's paradigm. It measures people's propensity to engage in restorative activities. The scale consists of multiple behaviors, which office employees can engage in, as means to fulfill their need for restoration. The probability of engaging in a restorative activity will depend on the person's need for restoration and the efforts it costs to perform the behavior. Research has shown that office lighting can have an influence on the well-being and performance of employees (Knez, 1995; Boyce, 2003). In this research lighting effects on office employees are used as means to validate the need for restoration scale. In total 271 employees of eight offices with different lighting conditions filled out the questionnaire. A Rasch analyses was performed to calibrate the need for restoration scale. The convergent validity of the need for restoration scale was tested with existing established measures, like the fatigue assessment scale (FAS; Michielsen, de Vries, & van Heck, 2003) and Groningen sleep quality scale (GSKS; Meijman, de Vries- Griever, de Vries, & Kampman, 1985). The predictive validity of the need for restoration scale was tested by comparing the effect of the office lighting on the need for restoration, fatigue and sleep quality with multiple regression analyses. The results of the Rasch analyses showed that the items of the need for restoration scale could be described as a one-dimensional scale. The reliability of the scale was .77. The correlations between the need for restoration scale and the fatigue assessment scale (r = .68) and the Groningen sleep quality scale (r = .31) indicated that the need for restoration scale measures a comparable construct as the fatigue assessment scale and the sleep quality scale. Multiple regression analyses with personal characteristics, evaluation of the work situation and lighting quality as predictors showed that the lighting had an effect on the need for restoration, but not on the fatigue or sleep quality of office employees. Thus the need for restoration scale was more sensitive to lighting effects.


Objective: To test the extent to which initial walking speed influences dual-task performance after walking intervention, hypothesising that slow walking speed affects automatic gait control, limiting executive resource availability. Design: A secondary analysis of a trial of dual-task (DT) and single-task (ST) walking interventions comparing those with good (walking speed ⩾0.8 m s−1, n = 21) and limited (walking speed <0.79 m s−1, n = 24) capacity at baseline. Setting: Community. Subjects: Adults six-months post stroke with walking impairment. Interventions: Twenty sessions of 30 minutes treadmill walking over 10 weeks with (DT) or without (ST) cognitive distraction. Good and limited groups were formed regardless of intervention received. Main measures: A two-minute walk with (DT) and without (ST) a cognitive distraction assessed walking. fNIRS measured prefrontal cortex activation during treadmill walking with (DT) and without (ST) Stroop and planning tasks and an fMRI sub-study used ankle-dorsiflexion to simulate walking. Results: ST walking improved in both groups (∆baseline: Good = 8.9 ± 13.4 m, limited = 5.3±8.9 m, Group × time = P < 0.151) but only the good walkers improved DT walking (∆baseline: Good = 10.4 ± 13.9 m, limited = 1.3 ± 7.7 m, Group × time = P < 0.025). fNIRS indicated increased ispilesional prefrontal cortex activation during DT walking following intervention (P = 0.021). fMRI revealed greater DT cost activation for limited walkers, and increased resting state connectivity of contralesional M1 with cortical areas associated with conscious gait control at baseline. After the intervention, resting state connectivity between ipsilesional M1 and bilateral superior parietal lobe, involved in integrating sensory and motor signals, increased in the good walkers compared with limited walkers. Conclusion: In individual who walk slowly it may be difficult to improve dual-task walking ability. Registration: ISRCTN50586966


The dissolution of the Soviet Union opened a new phase in the anthropological study of Siberia, as researchers from Western Europe, North America, and Japan joined their colleagues of the former Soviet Bloc in the field. This occurred just as a number of new trends emerged in the field of anthropology, including those referred to as "the ontological turn" or "the anthropology of ontology." To what extent could the latter, originally developed on the basis of research in Amazonia, be applied to Siberia? In this article, we offer a critical re-reading of contributions by some of the authors who have attempted to apply ontological perspectives to Siberian materials. The works we review include both comparative studies of the ontologies of different people, including Siberians, and ethnographies of particular Siberian communities. In conclusion, we illustrate certain criticisms that have been made of ontological approaches by examining how two of the authors under review – Philippe Descola and Rane Willerslev – have drawn on classic ethnographies of northeastern Siberia, particularly the works of Waldemar Bogoras on the Chukchi.


This study forms part of the South African Personality Inventory project that aims to develop: (a) an indigenous theoretical model of personality; and (b) a unique personality measure that is in line with South African legislation and that can be used fairly to assess personality across different South African language and cultural groups. In line with this mandate, the objectives in this study were twofold: first, to validate the Relationship Harmony and Soft-Heartedness Scales of the South African Personality Inventory and to determine whether these constructs are unique and distinct from the Big Five personality factors, and second, to determine whether Relationship Harmony and Soft-Heartedness are predictive of an external criterion, prosocial behaviour. A quantitative, cross-sectional research design with convenience sampling was used. Data were gathered from students (N = 431) at two tertiary institutions in South Africa, using preliminary Relationship Harmony and Soft-Heartedness Scales, the Basic Traits Inventory (Short form: Research Version), and the Prosocialness Scale. Results indicated that the Relationship Harmony and Soft-Heartedness Scales yielded five and six reliable factors, respectively, and presented good content, convergent, discriminant, and predictive validity, adding substantial predictive value for prosocial behaviour over and above the Big Five Model.


Although SpaceWire [1] is fast approaching its 20th anniversary, the requirements for equipment to test and develop new SpaceWire devices and networks continues to evolve and push the capabilities of commercial technology. STAR-Dundee has developed a new PCI Express product, the SpaceWire PCIe Mk2, to take advantage of the higher data rates offered in newer generations of the PCIe standard. The device features three SpaceWire ports capable of operating at 400 Mbit/s link speeds, and a PCIe Gen-3 interface that enables transmitting and receiving from/to software at the maximum rate on all links concurrently. This high throughput is achieved through improvements to the STAR-System software suite [2], which also includes other new features to support the latest requirements for SpaceWire test and development. As well as new graphical applications providing functionality such as the ability to operate as a Remote Memory Access Protocol (RMAP) [3] initiator, support for ARM targets and the Python scripting language is also included. This paper describes the advancements present in the SpaceWire PCIe Mk2 board and the STAR-System software suite, which simplify test and development activities while also providing higher throughput and lower latency transmission and reception of data.


Solventogenic clostridia are important industrial microorganisms that produce various chemicals and fuels. Effective genetic tools would facilitate physiological studies aimed both at improving our understanding of metabolism and optimizing solvent productivity through metabolic engineering. Here we have developed an all-in-one, CRISPR-based genome editing plasmid, pNICKclos, that can be used to achieve successive rounds of gene editing in Clostridium acetobutylicum ATCC 824 and Clostridium beijerinckii NCIMB 8052 with efficiencies varying from 6.7% to 100% and 18.8% to 100%, respectively. The plasmid specifies the requisite target-specific guide RNA, the gene encoding the Streptococcus pyogenes Cas9 nickase and the genome editing template encompassing the gene-specific homology arms. It can be used to create single target mutants within three days, with a further two days required for the curing of the pNICKclos plasmid ready for a second round of mutagenesis. A S. pyogenes dCas9-mediated gene regulation control system, pdCASclos, was also developed and used in a CRISPRi strategy to successfully repress the expression of spo0A in C. acetobutylicum and C. beijerinckii. The combined application of the established high efficiency CRISPR-Cas9 based genome editing and regulation control systems will greatly accelerate future progress in the understanding and manipulation of metabolism in solventogenic clostridia.


Previous research suggests that the ability to make finegrained distinctions among emotions emerges gradually over development. However, such studies have looked primarily at children's first-person responses to emotional expressions or at whether children can match emotion labels to emotional expressions. Relatively little work has looked at children's ability to link emotional responses to their probable causes. Here we ask two, three, and four year-old children and adults to identify the causes of vocal expressions. Because we were interested in the ability to make nuanced distinctions, we looked within a single valence and asked whether children could distinguish expressions elicited by exciting, delicious, adorable, funny, and sympathetic events. Our results suggest both an early emerging ability to distinguish within-valence emotions and rapid development; by four, children's performance mirrored that of the adults. This suggests that very early in development, children have a rich representation of emotions that allows them to link distinct positively valenced emotional expressions to their probable causes.


Many programming models for massively parallel machines exist, and each has its advantages and disadvantages. In this article we present a programming model that combines features from other programming models that (1) can be efficiently imple mented on present and future (ray Research massively parallel processor (MPP) sys tems and (2) are useful in constructing highly parallel programs. The model supports several styles of programming: message-passing, data parallel, global address (shared data), and work-sharing. These styles may be combined within the same program. The model includes features that allow a user to define a program in terms of the behavior of the system as a whole, where the behavior of individual tasks is implicit from this systemic definition. (In general, features marked as shared are designed to support this perspective.) It also supports an opposite perspective, where a program may be defined in terms of the behaviors of individual tasks, and a program is implicitly the sum of the behaviors of all tasks. (Features marked as private are designed to support this per spective.) Users can exploit any combination of either set of features without ambiguity and thus are free to define a program from whatever perspective is most appropriate to the problem at hand. © 1994 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.


The present study examined the influence of pulse c urrent parameters on the characteristics of anodize d aluminum anodic film. The baths contained H 2 SO 4 (10% ww) and bath volume was 1 L. Anodizing was ca rried out for 30 min at a current density of 1.0 A/dm 2 and bath temperature of 10°C. The anodic film was affected by electrolyte power dissolution and the length of time the anodic film was in contact with the electrolyte without applied current. The results confirmed that the cell nano-structure of a nodic film is approximately hexagonal. The structur e was strongly affected by the frequency and duty cycle of the pul se current


Abstract. Declines in Greater Sage-Grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus, hereafter sage-grouse) populations could be attributed to low chick survival, which may be influenced by the availability of food and cover at sites used by females rearing broods. Habitat attributes important to broods may vary regionally; thus, it is necessary to understand factors affecting regional sage-grouse brood-rearing site selection, especially when estimating the impacts of development. We monitored brood-rearing female sage-grouse equipped with solar Argos Global Positioning System Platform Transmitter Terminals from 2011 to 2013 to assess microhabitat selection by broods in Carbon County, Wyoming. We measured vegetation and arthropod characteristics at diurnal sites used by broods (n = 42 in 2011, n = 31 in 2012, n = 32 in 2013) and at 3 paired-random sites associated with each used site (n = 315), located 50 m, 250 m, and 500 m from the used site. We fit conditional logistic models within an information-theoretic framework to identify vegetation and arthropod characteristics associated with microsite selection of brood-rearing sites. Sage-grouse selected brood-rearing sites with greater visual obstruction (0–45.7 cm in height), higher numbers of arthropods in the order Diptera, and lower numbers of arthropods in the order Coleoptera. There was an interaction effect between the number of arthropods in the order Hymenoptera and the canopy cover of broad-leaf forbs; the relative probability of selection increased with increasing number of Hymenoptera when there was low cover (<20%) of broad-leaf forbs, but decreased with increasing number of Hymenoptera when there was high broad-leaf forb cover (>20%). We also found a quadratic relationship between selection of brood-rearing sites and total vegetation canopy cover; the relative probability of selection increased until approximately 75% cover and then decreased with increasing cover. Sage-grouse rearing broods selected a diverse array of vegetation types, but greatest use occurred within mesic communities. Our results could be used to identify vegetation communities with high relative probabilities of use by sage-grouse rearing broods, which will help guide management decisions and provide reference conditions for future research that evaluates the effects of wind energy development on sage-grouse.


Background and Objective: The opportunistic pathogen Pseudomonas aeruginosa secrets a capsule-like polysaccharide called alginate which is important for evasion of host defenses, especially in patients with suppressed immunity. Method of alginate determination has an important role in the study of microbial alginate. In this study, a novel method for alginate determination by highperformance liquid chromatography (HPLC) was introduced. Materials and Methods: Standard alginate was used for construction of standard curve and standard mucoid and non-mucoid strains of Pseudomonas aeruginosa were used as positive and negative samples respectively. The method of Toyoda was modified for determination of microbial alginate. HPLC determination was performed using a Resolve C18 column (3.9 × 150 mm, Waters, Milford, MA) and acetonitrile-water-butyl acetate (55: 42: 3) as the mobile phase at a flow rate of 0.6 ml/min and detection at 565 nm. Results: The obtained data indicated that minimal detectable concentration of alginate by this method is 20 μg/ml. The method was linear over the range of 1-1000 μg/ml of alginate. The retention time was about 10 min. Conclusion: The proposed method was used for determination of alginate in standard mucoid and non-mucoid strains of Pseudomonas aeruginosa. The results of this study showed that the proposed method is a simple and valid method for bacterial alginate assay.