This paper proposes a systemic perspective for some aspects of both phylogenesis and ontogenesis by expressing biological organization in terms of "anti-entropy", a notion to be defined below and which conceptually differs from the common use of "negative entropy". To this purpose, we introduce two principles, in addition to the thermodynamic ones, which are (mathematically) compatible with traditional principles but which have no meaning with regard to inert matter. A traditional balance equation for the metabolism will then be extended to the new notion as specified by these principles. We examine far from equilibrium systems and we focus in particular on the production of global entropy associated to the irreversible character of the processes. A close analysis of anti-entropy will be performed from the perspective of a diffusion equation of biomass over "complexity" and, as a complementary approach and as a tool for specifying a source term, in connection to Schrodinger's method regarding his equation in the field of Quantum Mechanics. We borrow only the operatorial approach from this equation and do so using a classical framework, since we use real coefficients instead of complex ones, thus falling outside of the mathematical framework of quantum theories. The first application of our proposal is a simple mathematical reconstruction of Gould's complexity curve of biomass over complexity as it applies to evolution. We then present, based on the existence of different time scales, a partition of ontogenetic time, in reference to entropy and anti-entropy variation. On the grounds of this approach, we analyze the metabolism and scaling laws. This allows to compare various relevant coefficients appearing in these scaling laws, which fit empirical data. Finally, a tentative and quantitative evaluation of complexity is proposed, also in relation to some empirical data (Caenorhabditis elegans).


Since the enactment of the "Feed-in Tariff" scheme in 2012, the solar power generation capacity in Japan has been steadily growing. Therefore, in the near future, the demand for the mass processing of spent photovoltaic (PV) panels is expected to increase. Secondary batteries, especially lithium-ion batteries (LiBs), have become important products for vehicles and mobile devices. The production of LiBs is also expected to significantly increase in the near future. In this study, we address the design of recycling systems for such emerging technologies. From life cycle perspectives, the requirements for the assessment of these technology systems are carefully defined through a bibliometric analysis of technology assessments, critical reviews of current research and developments in the recycling of PV panels and LiBs, and analysis of the intensities of life cycle impacts (such as greenhouse gas emissions and resource use). The necessities for life cycle assessments, material flow analyses, and other assessment methods are clarified, along with the conditions to be examined using these assessment methods.


This classic book by one of America's preeminent legal theorists is concerned with the conflict between the goals of justice and economic efficiency in the allocation of risk, especially risk pertaining to safety. The author approaches his subject from the premise that the market is central to liberal political, moral, and legal theory. In the first part of the book, he rejects traditional rational choice liberalism in favor of the view that the market operates as a rational way of fostering stable relationships and institutions within communities of individuals with broadly divergent conceptions of the good. However, markets are needed most where they are most difficult to create and sustain, and one way to understand contract law in liberal legal theory, according to Professor Coleman, is as an institution designed to reduce uncertainty and thereby make markets possible.


We report on growth of 3C-SiC by sublimation process in vacuum with the aim to ultimately select conditions for single polytype growth of bulk crystals. The 3C polytype occurrence, growth mechanism and structure evolution have been in the focus of the study. To gain understanding of the initial formation of the cubic polytype, growth was performed on various substrates, such as 6H- and 4H-SiC (on-axis and vicinal), as well as freestanding 3C-SiC wafers. The growth configuration used allowed a high growth rate, e.g. up to 200 (m/h, respectively very thick layers. The grown material was studied by means of optical microscopy, AFM and HRTEM. 6H-SiC (0001) Si-face substrates may be a good choice if the 3C nucleation is well controlled, which can be achieved by selecting the initial temperature ramp up and substrate orientation. These growth conditions limit the number of nucleation centers and decrease the defective boundaries.


Can models of collaboration serve as foundations for development of collaborative technologies in much the same way that engineers use models when developing complex systems? We explore this issue by investigating how eight approaches to understanding or modeling collaboration could be used to improve technologies that support processes used in a large aerospace program. Some modeling approaches are ostensive, defining how collaboration should be achieved or how the technology should be used. These approaches provide ways of documenting, analyzing, simulating, and automating the process. Other approaches are performative, describing actual collaboration behavior and actual technology use. Performative approaches reveal the variability in collaboration and deviations from the intended process. Technologies can benefit from and facilitate both types of modeling approaches by recording collaborative events for later analysis. We conclude by considering ways that modeling collaboration could contribute to requirements analysis, new collaboration capabilities, adoption, and maximizing benefit from technologies.


Benthic ammonium (NH4) regeneration in coastal marine sediments has a fundamental role in nitrogen (N) cycling and N supply to primary producers. Nitrogen regeneration involves benthic microbial mineralization of organic-N, which, in turn, depends on protein hydrolysis. These processes were examined in Aransas Bay (Texas, USA) sediments by monitoring NH4 evolution as a function of enzyme activity in controlled sediment slurries. Casein and tannic acid were added to evaluate the direct role of aminopeptidase on NH4 production and the effects of a polyphenolic enzyme inhibitor, respectively. Casein additions increased the NH4 concentration from 19 ± 0.3 to 737 ± 150 μM in 120 h, a final concentration 4.3-fold higher than that of control samples and 2.9-fold higher than that of samples with casein and tannic added together. Lower NH4 concentration in samples with tannic acid indicated that inhibiting aminopeptidase activity reduced NH4 production rates. The concentration of the regenerated NH4 related directly to aminopeptidase activity in controls (r = 0.86, p < 0.01), casein-enriched (r = 0.89, p < 0.01), and casein plus polyphenol treatments (r = 0.71, p < 0.01) over the first 72 h. The results demonstrate the importance of aminopeptidase in regenerating NH4 in sediments and provide insights about mechanisms of enzyme hydrolysis and NH4 fluxes in estuarine sediments.


This study analyzes empirically whether the Sectoral Systems of Innovation or the Distanceto-the-Frontier perspective more accurately describe the patterns of innovation in medium technology sectors in Germany, Italy and Spain. While the Sectoral Systems of Innovation predicts the existence of technology-related similarities in innovative patterns in the same sectors across countries, the Distance-to-the Frontier suggests the existence of important differences related with the level of technological development of each national sector. Using Community Innovation Survey data and applying an econometric strategy specifically devised for innovations survey I am able to test a set of hypotheses directly related with each of the two theories. The results of the econometric analysis show that relevant differences across countries exist with respect to the intensity of R&D activities and the economic impact of different types of innovations, confirming the Distance-to-the-Frontier hypothesis, while great cross-country similarity emerges among the sources of knowledge used to develop new innovations, in line with the Sectoral Systems of Innovation framework. The results highlight the importance to take into account both frameworks for a useful analysis of innovation within sectors.


Cobalt oxide (Co3O4), a metal oxide semiconductor has attained intensive interest and widely investigated due to its extraordinary characteristics such as facile synthetic methodologies, excellent catalytic properties, diverse morphologies and multiple applications. In recent years, enhancing the properties of Co3O4 by incorporating it into a conducting platform such as (in our case) graphene for its viable commercial applications, has been the focus of research, to explore its abilities towards the electrochemical sensing of target molecules. For an effective and sensitive sensing of a target molecule, Co3O4 with different morphologies was synthesized by a facile single-step hydrothermal method. The higher electrocatalytic performance was observed by Co3O4 nanocubes with low limit of detection i.e. 0.93 M with the sensitivity value of 0.0485 ± 0.00063 μA.μM-1 for the detection of 4-nitrophenol. 4-NP is an important toxic phenol-based nitro-compound that can be found in the waste-water released by the chemical and pharmaceutical industries. The Co3O4 with cubical morphology was selected as a model nanostructure due to its higher catalytic performance and Co3O4 based nanocomposites were synthesized for further studies. Graphene, a two-dimensional allotrope of carbon with 2D honeycomb crystal lattice, having single atom thickness, large theoretical surface area with high conductivity at room temperature and wide electrochemical window, has attracted much attention by many researchers, was used as a conducting platform for Co3O4 nanocubes enrichment and to facilitate the electron transfer process. A Co3O4 based nanocomposite with different wt. % (2,4,8 and 12 wt.%) of graphene oxide (GO) was synthesized by the hydrothermal method and named as rGO-Co3O4 nanocomposite. The rGO-Co3O4 nanocomposite was used for the sensitive and selective detection of biological molecule serotonin (5-HT) a monoamine, present in enterochromaffin cells located in the colonic mucosal epithelium widely distributed in the central nervous system. The rGO-Co3O4-4 % nanocomposite has shown higher current value of 36 A with a lower potential value of 0.31 V. the limit of detection was found to be 1.128 M. It is known that transition metals have high catalytic activity, high conductivity and ability to sense the target molecules. Hence, the deposition of a minimal amount of metal nanoparticle was proven to be an electrochemical signal enhancer in sensor application. Therefore, a nanocomposite consists of reduced graphene oxide, cobalt oxide and gold nanoparticle (rGO-Co3O4@Au) was synthesized by the same single-step hydrothermal method and utilized for the detection of hydrazine, a toxic, colorless and flammable molecule. Higher electrocatalytic performance was observed with a low limit of detection i.e. 0.443 M for Hydrazine detection. Platinum (Pt) is considered a promising sensing element, due to its conducting nature and large surface area which boosts the electrochemical signal of the target analyte. Therefore, Co3O4 nanocubes deposited with Pt nanoparticle incorporated with graphene into a nanocomposite (rGO-Co3O4@Pt) was prepared by hydrothermal reaction and used as a sensor for the detection of nitric oxide (NO), a very important biological molecule responsible for vasodilation and blood pressure regulation in the nervous and cardiovascular systems of mammalian physiology. A limit of detection of 1.73 M was calculated with a sensitivity value of 0.58304 A.M-1. It will be worth mentioning that all the nanocomposites were synthesized for the first time by single step hydrothermal technique.


The calcitonin (CT)/calcitonin gene-related peptide I (CGRP-I) gene (CALC-I gene) is subject to alternative tissue-specific processing of its primary transcript. CT mRNA is the predominant mRNA produced in thyroid C cells, whereas CT gene-related peptide I mRNA is the main product in neurons of the central and peripheral nervous systems. The CT-specific exon 4 is surrounded by weak processing sites. In this study we have investigated whether exon 4 sequences are involved in the tissue-specific selection of the exon 4 splice acceptor site. The results indicate that two separate elements, termed A and B, in the 5' part of exon 4 are required for production of CT-specific RNA. These sequences are located between nucleotides 67 and 88 (A) and nucleotides 117 and 146 (B) relative to the 5' end of exon 4. Variation of the distance between these sequence elements and the 3' splice site of exon 4 does not change the processing choice. These sequence elements are functionally equivalent. CT-specific splicing requires the presence of both sequence A and B or duplicates of either sequence element in exon 4. The effect of these sequences on the RNA processing choice is overruled by mutation of the CT-specific uridine branch acceptor nucleotide into a commonly preferred adenosine residue.


Background Chagas disease is a neglected chronic condition caused by Trypanosoma cruzi, with high prevalence and burden in Latin America. Ventricular arrhythmias are common in patients with Chagas cardiomyopathy, and amiodarone has been widely used for this purpose. The aim of our study was to assess the effect of amiodarone in patients with Chagas cardiomyopathy. Methodology We searched MEDLINE, Embase and LILACS up to January 2018. Data from randomized and observational studies evaluating amiodarone use in Chagas cardiomyopathy were included. Two reviewers selected the studies, extracted data and assessed risk of bias. Overall quality of evidence was accessed using Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE). Principal findings We included 9 studies (3 before-after studies, 5 case series and 1 randomized controlled trial). Two studies with a total of 38 patients had the full dataset, allowing individual patient data (IPD) analysis. In 24-hour Holter, amiodarone reduced the number of ventricular tachycardia episodes in 99.9% (95%CI 99.8%-100%), ventricular premature beats in 93.1% (95%CI 82%-97.4%) and the incidence of ventricular couplets in 79% (RR 0.21, 95%CI 0.11–0.39). Studies not included in the IPD analysis showed a reduction of ventricular premature beats (5 studies), ventricular tachycardia (6 studies) and ventricular couplets (1 study). We pooled the incidence of adverse side effects with random effects meta-analysis; amiodarone was associated with corneal microdeposits (61.1%, 95%CI 19.0–91.3, 5 studies), gastrointestinal events (16.1%, 95%CI 6.61–34.2, 3 studies), sinus bradycardia (12.7%, 95%CI 3.71–35.5, 6 studies), dermatological events (10.6%, 95%CI 4.77–21.9, 3 studies) and drug discontinuation (7.68%, 95%CI 4.17–13.7, 5 studies). Quality of evidence ranged from moderate to very low. Conclusions Amiodarone is effective in reducing ventricular arrhythmias, but there is no evidence for hard endpoints (sudden death, hospitalization). Although our findings support the use of amiodarone, it is important to balance the potential benefits and harms at the individual level for decision-making.


We discuss the procedure for the exact solution of the Rieman n problem in special relativistic magnetohydrodynamics (MHD). We consider both initial stat es leading to a set of only three waves analogous to the ones in relativistic hydrodynamics, as well as generic initial states leading to the full set of seven MHD waves. Because of its generality, the solution presented here could serve as an important test for those numerical codes solving the MHD equations in relativistic regimes†.


Swelling elastomer seals and packers provide effective zonal isolation in difficult oil and gas fields, resulting in significant savings in rig time and development expenses. Companies involved in petroleum engineering applications provide no information about the longevity or endurance of swelling elastomer packers when exposed to different conditions in the well. This paper describes the design and construction of a test facility for long-term performance assessment of actual full-scale water and oil-swell packers, and the results of the 5-year study. The ten packers are made of three types of swelling elastomers, are kept in crude oil and saline solutions at room and high temperatures, and are exposed to varying high pressures. Regular logs of readings were maintained over the whole study period. Earlier sealing was observed in elastomers immersed in low-salinity water and subjected to high temperature. Rate of swelling was higher in water-based elastomers than in oil-based seals. One packer never sealed completely. Pressurized tubes either retained sealing the whole time or re-sealed after removing of pressure or reducing it to a lower value. Results for the fast-swell and medium-swell elastomer, low- and high-salinity water and crude oil, and low- and high-operating temperatures were mostly in line with short-term tests on laboratory samples published earlier. This unique longevity assessment study can be used by drilling engineers and developers in assessing the suitability of swelling elastomers for target fields and in improving the design of swell packers.


[1] The creation of networks of shell-based chronologies which can provide regionally extensive high-resolution proxies for the marine environment depends on the spatial extent of the common environmental signal preserved in the shell banding and on the reliability of the dating model. Here Arctica islandica chronologies from five neighboring sites in the North Sea are compared, and the strength of the common environmental signal across distances up to 80 km is analyzed using statistical techniques derived from dendrochronology. The signal is found to be coherent across these distances. In a linked study, chronologies based on one of the same sites but constructed by two different research teams are compared. Methodological differences in increment interpretation are found to lead to slippage in the dating models. Systematic inclusion or exclusion of intermittently occurring increments results in the two chronologies becoming misaligned by 4 years over a 70-year period. Comparisons with neighboring chronologies indicate that such increments can generally be regarded as genuine annual increments even if they are not visible in all shells.


Understanding the tectonic history of the supercontinent Rodinia is crucial for testing proposed links among Neoproterozoic tectonics, supercontinent cycles, climate, and biogeochemistry. The Neoproterozoic Mount Harper volcanics of the Ogilvie Mountains, Yukon, Canada, interfinger with Sturtian-age (ca. 717−660 Ma) glacial deposits that were deposited in narrow, fault-bounded basins related to the breakup of Rodinia. Here, we present new paleomagnetic data from the Mount Harper volcanics and isolate four paleomagnetic directions: a low-temperature direction recording the present geomagnetic field, a mid-temperature direction consistent with a Cretaceous overprint, and two high-temperature directions, one of which is carried by hematite and likely represents a chemical overprint, and the other of which is carried by magnetite and likely is a primary direction. This primary pole passes the fold and conglomerate tests and includes a reversal but is 50° away from the coeval 721−712 Ma Laurentian Franklin large igneous province pole. This difference can be reconciled using a 50° counterclockwise rotation of the Yukon block relative to Laurentia. The prerotation reconstruction of the Yukon block relative to Laurentia aligns Neoproterozoic fault orientations and facies belts between the Wernecke and Mackenzie Mountains, rectifies paleoflow measurements in Mesoproterozoic and Paleoproterozoic strata, and realigns the orientation of the ca. 1260 Ma Bear River dikes with the Mackenzie dike swarm of northern Canada. This reconstruction also facilitates future studies that relate Neoproterozoic sedimentary and structural patterns to the fragmentation of Rodinia. Finally, this low-latitude pole supports the snowball Earth interpretation of the ca. 717 Ma Sturtian glacial deposits.


In multistage parallel interference cancellation, the tentative decisions for different users at each stage are mutually correlated, and they are also correlated with Gaussian noise. By taking the correlations into consideration and employing Price's theorem, an analytical model is proposed to refine the variance evaluation of the final decision variable. It is shown that the refined variance is very close to that obtained by simulation and can improve the accuracy in bit error rate evaluation.


Bladder cancer is one of the most common types of malignant tumor worldwide. Current treatments, including chemo-/radiotherapy, only have limited efficacy on bladder cancer progression. Honokiol is an active component of Magnolia officinalis with multiple biological effects that may provide promising health benefits. In the present study, the anti-cancer properties of honokiol against bladder cancer cells were investigated by flow cytometric analysis. The results revealed that honokiol exhibited significant anti-proliferative effects on bladder cancer cell lines, particularly on BFTC-905 human transitional cell carcinoma cells. Furthermore, honokiol at low doses (≤25 µM) induced cell cycle arrest in G0/G1 phase, while it induced significant apoptotic cell death at high doses (≥50 µM; P<0.05). Furthermore, a significant accumulation of reactive oxygen species was identified in honokiol-treated cells. In addition, honokiol induced hyperpolarization of the mitochondrial membrane, which may lead to mitochondrial dysfunction. Finally, caspase-3/7 activation was identified in high-dose honokiol-treated bladder cancer cells. These results suggest that honokiol induces apoptosis via the mitochondrial pathway and honokiol-containing traditional herbal remedies may have a potential clinical application in the treatment of bladder cancer.


In South Africa, the management and monitoring of drinking water quality is governed by policies and regulations based on international standards. Water Service Authorities, which are either municipalities or district municipalities, are required to submit information regarding water quality and the management thereof regularly to the national Blue Drop System (BDS). Since 2009, a trend has emerged in which urban municipalities have been shown to consistently improve their water quality management whilst some of the rural and under-resourced municipalities are falling behind. A major concern has been that rural municipalities are failing to report the required information and are not complying with some of the regulator's requirements that speak to the overall management of water quality monitoring rather than the actual water quality itself. This paper reflects on a case study undertaken in four rural municipalities in South Africa where a cellphone-based information system was implemented to collect information relevant to the municipality. The study was conducted by the Information for Community Oriented Municipal Services (iCOMMS) research team based at the Department of Civil Engineering at the University of Cape Town. The hypothesis for the research was that improved information flow within rural municipalities – from water supplies in outlying areas to the municipal government office – can improve the efficiency of existing monitoring, if the design, development and implementation of such a system are based on collecting appropriate and locally relevant information. Water service authorities at the four field sites managed the process of monitoring in very different ways due to limited resources as well as structural challenges within each government department. The variety of stakeholders involved in water quality monitoring programmes, and the alternative methods and processes used, challenges the current understanding of information system design as well as the notion of developing a single national information system. The decentralisation of national water quality monitoring to municipal level was assessed in this research, which concluded that the BDS was of limited usefulness to water quality monitoring in the rural municipalities partaking in this research. Keywords: water quality monitoring, information management, Blue Drop System, decentralisation, rural municipalities


Background Australia has one of the highest rates of asthma worldwide. Indigenous children have a particularly high burden of risk determinants for asthma, yet little is known about the asthma risk profile in this population. Aim To identify and quantify potentially preventable risk factors for hospitalised asthma in Australian Aboriginal children (1–4 years of age). Methods Birth, hospital and emergency data for all Aboriginal children born 2003–2012 in Western Australia were linked (n=32 333). Asthma was identified from hospitalisation codes. ORs and population attributable fractions were calculated for maternal age at birth, remoteness, area-level disadvantage, prematurity, low birth weight, maternal smoking in pregnancy, mode of delivery, maternal trauma and hospitalisations for acute respiratory tract infection (ARTI) in the first year of life. Results There were 705 (2.7%) children hospitalised at least once for asthma. Risk factors associated with asthma included: being hospitalised for an ARTI (OR 4.06, 95% CI 3.44 to 4.78), area-level disadvantage (OR 1.58, 95% CI 1.28 to 1.94), being born at <33 weeks' gestation (OR 3.30, 95% CI 2.52 to 4.32) or birth weight <1500 g (OR 2.35, 95% CI 1.39 to 3.99). The proportion of asthma attributable to an ARTI was 31%, area-level disadvantage 18%, maternal smoking 5%, and low gestational age and birth weight were 3%–7%. We did not observe a higher risk of asthma in those children who were from remote areas. Conclusion Improving care for pregnant Aboriginal women as well as for Aboriginal infants with ARTI may help reduce the burden of asthma in the Indigenous population.


We introduce the discussion mechanism into the multiagent communicating encoder-decoder architecture for Natural Language Generation (NLG) tasks and prove that by applying the discussion mechanism, the communication between agents becomes more effective. Generally speaking, an encoder-decoder architecture predicts target-sequence word by word in several time steps. At each time step of prediction, agents with the discussion mechanism predict the target word after several discussion steps. In the first step of discussion, agents make their choice independently and express their decision to other agents. In the next discussion step, agents collect other agents' decision to update their own decisions, then express the updated decisions to others again. After several iterations, the agents make their final decision based on a well-communicated situation. The benefit of the discussion mechanism is that multiple encoders can be designed as different structures to fit the specified input or to fetch different representations of inputs.We train and evaluate the discussion mechanism on Table to Text Generation, Text Summarization and Image Caption tasks, respectively. Our empirical results demonstrate that the proposed multi-agent discussion mechanism is helpful for maximizing the utility of the communication between agents.


As part of a general movement to deregulate the transport sector, the taxi industry has been deregulated in many countries. The success of these policies has been mixed. In some countries regulatory measures are being re-introduced.. The positive expectations with respect to deregulation of the taxi industry were based on the belief that the industry is an atomistic industry with minor fixed costs which should therefore develop into a perfectly competitive industry, providing taxi services at minimum costs. Given the experience with the deregulation of the taxi industry these expectations seem to have been naive. The paper presents an analysis of the multiple, mutually interacting imperfections of an unregulated taxi industry in a unified analytical framework: -Perfect competition requires that consumers can choose between different producers of goods and services at low costs. Depending on the organisation of the taxi market (cruising market or dispatch system), market participants will face smaller or higher search costs. Most importantly in a cruising market to turn down an offer has substantial search cost consequences for the consumer. It will be shown that and how the numbers of consumers and taxi service providers distribute the surplus between the producer and the buyer. In any case, even in an atomistic market suppliers enjoy local monopoly power. As repeat producer-customer relationships are rare, taxi service consumers face uncertainty about the taxi quality. As the customers cannot ex ante check for example the safety of the vehicle or the driving abilities of the driver only ex post. In the absence of regulation and given the transaction costs in the market, the competitive pressures in the taxi industry will induce low quality services as a result of providers exploiting the ex ante imperfect information of the customers. -Deregulation of entry will increase the average costs of the service as more idle capacity in the form of cruising empty taxis or taxis waiting at the taxi stand will be available. -At the same time there are economies of density: Double the number of all lengths of taxi trips and simultaneously double the number of taxis. Doing this would double the density of vacant taxis and so decrease the average waiting time. That is, deregulation leading to more entry reduces the waiting time while at the same time increases average producer costs by increasing the idle capacity. The paper will provide a simultaneous analysis of these aspects of regulating the taxi industry in a search theoretic framework. It will take account of the fact that increasing the number of market participants will not necessarily lead to expected price reductions and quality improvements due to the protection of producers from competitive pressures by transaction costs in the form of search costs. At the same time increased market participation will lead to additional excess capacity with an upward pressure on prices. The higher prices will be partly offset by consumer benefits from reduced waiting times. The paper will provide an analytical solution for the regulation of these conflicting imperfections of the taxi industry. For the covering abstract see ITRD E137145.


Wiktionary is a unique, peculiar, valuable and original resource for natural language processing (NLP). The paper describes an open-source Wiktionary parser: its architecture and requirements followed by a description of Wiktionary features to be taken into account, some open problems of Wiktionary and the parser. The current implementation of the parser extracts the definitions, semantic relations, and translations from English and Russian Wiktionaries. The paper's goal is to interest researchers (1) in using the constructed machine-readable dictionary for different NLP tasks, (2) in extending the software to parse 170 still unused Wiktionaries. The comparison of a number and types of semantic relations, a number of definitions, and a number of translations in the English Wiktionary and the Russian Wiktionary has been carried out. It was found that the number of semantic relations in the English Wiktionary is larger by 1.57 times than in Russian (157 and 100 thousands). But the Russian Wiktionary has more "rich" entries (with a big number of semantic relations), e.g. the number of entries with three or more semantic relations is larger by 1.63 times than in the English Wiktionary. Upon comparison, it was found out the methodological shortcomings of the Wiktionary.


This study employed a print laboratory material based on 5E model of constructivist learning approach to teach reflection of light and Image on a Plane Mirror. The effect of the instruction which conducted with the designed print laboratory material on academic achievements of prospective science and technology teachers and their attitudes towards physics laboratory was questioned. The study was carried out with 98 prospective teachers who attended the course named General Physics Laboratory III and undergraduate students at the Department of Science Education at Karadeniz Technical University during 2011-2012 fall semesters. The study was conducted by adopting semi-experimental method. Experimental group instructed with the designed print laboratory material whereas control group instructed in through traditional laboratory practices. The Achievement Test, Physics Laboratory Attitude Scale, and Reflective Writings were used as data collection tools. It was proved that the instruction carried out with print laboratory materials based on 5E model contributed to academic achievements of prospective teachers and their attitudes towards physics laboratory more than the instruction based on traditional approach. Based on the research results, it was recommended that print materials prepared based on the constructivist learning theory could be generalized in the Physics Laboratory courses.


Objectives  Growth hormone deficiency (GHD) in adults is associated with a cluster of cardiovascular risk factors. Some abnormalities of cardiac structure and function have been reported in adult patients with GHD, but there are few data related to cardiac autonomic tone. Non‐invasive assessment of cardiac autonomic status can be achieved by heart rate variability (HRV), which can be measured by using time‐domain or frequency‐domain variables. To our knowledge, short‐term (6 months) effects of GH replacement therapy (GHRT) on HRV in a limited number of patients have been evaluated prospectively in only two previous studies. The present study was therefore designed to investigate the effects of GHD and 12 months of GHRT on cardiac autonomic tone in a larger number of adult patients with severe GHD.


Background: The objective of
this study was to analyze the essential oil, fatty acid, flavonoid, phenolic
compounds and in vitro antioxidant activity of oil from Feverfew (Tanacetum
parthenium L.) wild grown and collected from north of Iran.

Methods: The essential
oil of aerial parts was analyzed by spectroscopy method (GC/MS using HP-5MS
column) while the fatty acid content was analyzed by gas chromatography
(GC/FID). Phenolic contents of the oil were evaluated using high performance
liquid chromatography (HPLC/UV) technique while total phenols and flavonoids
were determined colorimetrically. The in vitro antioxidant activity of the
essential oil was evaluated by 1,1-diphenyl-2 picryl hydrazyl (DPPH) radical
scavenging technique.

Results: In the
essential oil thirteen compounds were characterized with camphor (43.97 %),
chrysanthenyl acetate (12.46 %) and farnesol (7.54%) as the major components.
Principal fatty acid components of the herb were palmitic acid (57.27%) and
myristic acid (14.7%). HPLC analysis revealed that the cinnamic acid
derivatives were the major compounds, with sinapic (3.86 ± 0.1 mg/g dw) and
ferulic (2.59 ± 0.1 mg/g dw) acids being the predominant ones. Also,
evaluation the bioactivity of the oil showed considerable antioxidant capacity (TPC = 152.8 ± 0.8 mg/g and DPPH = 73.8 ± 1.3 %).

Conclusion: This study
revealed that the essential oil was rich in camphor/chrysanthenyl acetate
chemotype and different polyphenols in the category of hydroxycinnamic acid
derivatives. In addition, this research demonstrated that
the aerial parts of this aromatic herb were various sources of oily components, especially essential
fatty acids.


Introduction: It is unknown whether resistance training intensity or total volume of work affects the acute testosterone response to a greater extent. Purpose: Therefore, the circulating testosterone response was investigated following four resistance training protocols where total volume of work was held constant: moderate intensity (70% 1RM) upper body (bench press, bent barbell row, and military press), moderate intensity lower body (squat and deadlift), high intensity (90% 1RM) upper body, high intensity lower body. Methods: Total volume of work performed by each participant between protocols was maintained by adjusting the number of sets and or repetitions performed. Ten healthy, resistance trained men volunteered, and performed exercise protocols on separate days in a counterbalanced order. Capillary blood was obtained via finger stick at baseline (pre), immediately following the exercise session (post), and 1h post for the determination of testosterone concentration. Data were analyzed using a factorial ANOVA and significance was accepted at p≤ 0.05. Results: Both moderate intensity resistance protocols (upper and lower body) significantly increased testosterone concentration (p=0.026, and p=0.024 respectively), whereas the high intensity protocols elevated testosterone but failed to achieve significance (upper p=0.272, lower p=0.658). No difference was noted in post session testosterone concentration between upper and lower body protocols for either moderate (p=0.248) or high intensity (p=0.990). Conclusion: This may be useful for novice resistance trained individuals because it provides evidence that moderate intensity is sufficient to increase testosterone compared to high intensity protocols that could be associated with a greater risk of injury. Keywords: hormone response, equal total work, high intensity protocol


Setting up a new business may be really tough. Let's assume you want to produce and market DVD-players. You can not ignore the fact that the DVD technology is protected with patents. More than 850 patents owned by some 10 patent holders around the world, such as Philips, Sony, Toshiba, Hitachi, etc. In order to be on 'the safe side', you will have to negotiate individual licenses with all those 10 patent holders in order to use these technologies. It goes without saying that doing so costs a lot of time and money. Or, imagine, you want to produce rice, which has added value, more in particular rice which is enriched with vitamin A, and hence, has a yellowish colour. You will soon figure out that this rice technology is covered with some 70 patents, held by a bunch of agricultural firms, such as Monsanto, Novartis and Bayer. In order to be on 'the safe side', you will have to negotiate individual licenses with all those patent holders in order to bring your rice to the market. These examples clearly illustrate a twofold trend in patent law. First: proliferation and explosion of patents. More and more patents are being applied for - and - granted. Second: expansion of patentable subject matter. More and more matter qualifies for patent protection: not only mechanical, inanimate items can enjoy patent protection, but now also living material, such as plants and animals. Thoughtful observers conclude that patent law is "in crisis", "in turmoil". Patents no longer act as instrument for fostering innovation by generating incentives. Rather, patents are tools hindering the coming about of a knowledge based economy and the 'open society'. The present paper offers a more fundamental analysis of these trends and reveals some limits of patent law. The present paper claims that these limits relate to the regulatory function and the symbolic function of current patent law.


This paper investigates the equity market reactions to the publication of the OECD BEPS Action Plan. We examine abnormal stock returns for firms incorporated and traded on the stock market in 36 OECD member states for various event dates during the developmental phase of the OECD BEPS Action Plan. Overall, we find a negative market reaction of multinational companies across the relevant events, which suggests that the additional tax costs from limiting tax avoiding behaviour outweigh the benefits such as more transparency, better international tax dispute resolution, etc related to the introduction of the OECD BEPS Action Plan. The conclusion of the Multilateral Instrument (MLI) results in the most negative cumulative reaction. US corporations show a significant negative mean return across all events, but we find less pronounced evidence for market reactions across the European Union (EU). We find that more tax avoiding firms have stronger negative reactions to the events than less tax avoiding firms. Additionally, we show that there are some spill over effects onto the equity markets for purely domestic firms. We provide first evidence as to how investors reacted to the introduction of the OECD BEPS Action Plan and contribute to the literature by further investigating the association between tax avoidance and stock return.<br>


Epidemiologic studies have shown strong correlations between Alzheimer's disease and diabetes mellitus. The exact mechanism through which this happens remains unclear. However, the dependence on glucose for brain function has been proposed as one possible mechanism. Hence, this study investigated the neuroprotective potential of Chrysophyllum albidum fruit pulp (CAPP) with hypoglycaemic properties in diabetic rats induced with high-fat diet/streptozotocin (STZ). The animals were grouped into seven units as follows: control, STZ-induced, STZ + metformin (positive control), STZ + 5% CAPP, STZ + 10% CAPP, control + 5% CAPP and control + 10% CAPP and each group was made up of six rats. The animals were first placed on normal diet (non-diabetic groups) and high fat diet (diabetic groups) for a fortnight, respectively before induction with STZ and were treated with diets containing 5 and 10% CAPP for 14 days. After the experiment, the rat brain cholinesterase and antioxidant activities were determined. The results revealed that acetylcholinesterase (AChE), butylcholinesterase (BuChE), arginase, adenosine deaminase (ADA) and antioxidant activities were altered in STZ-diabetic group in comparison to the control. However, a significant decrease at p < 0.05 was found in the activities of AChE, BuChE, arginase and ADA. In addition, there was a concomitant rise in the levels of antioxidant in all the groups administered supplemented diets and the group treated with metformin in comparison to the STZ-diabetic group. Conclusively, we can suggest that the fruit pulp prevents neurological damage in diabetic rats via anticholinesterase activity and improvement of brain antioxidant status.


The present study used the picture perception paradigm to examine the extent to which three well-documented psychophysiological measures demonstrate consistency across time in response to emotional stimuli. The three measures were the eye-blink startle response and the activation in two facial muscle regions (zygomatic and corrugator). Twenty-seven young women were assessed on two occasions, 2 weeks apart. Whereas activation in the corrugator and zygomatic muscle regions demonstrated the predicted patterns at both assessments (with some attenuation in the zygomatic muscle regions), the startle response had limited consistency across the two assessments. The startle response revealed the predicted linear pattern of valence modulation during the first assessment. During the second assessment, startle magnitude response was a quadratic function of valence ratings and a linear function of arousal ratings. The unexpected pattern of startle response during the second session appeared to be related to the content of the pleasant slides, with action slides generating quadratic valence modulation and erotic slides continuing to exhibit the expected linear valence modulation.


In The Empire of Disorder, Alain Joxe offers the first truly comprehensive analysis of the new world disorder of the twenty-first century. The contemporary world, claims Joxe, is dominated by the American empire but not ordered by it. This "leadership through chaos," based on maintaining a "creeping peace," is at the root of the present organization of violence and barbary on a global scale. At the same time, national governments--including that of the United States--are declining in influence as the imperial system fosters transnational mafias, corporations, and markets.


We present the design and implementation details of Garuda, a cloud based job scheduler using Google App Engine as the underlying cloud provider. The goal of the project is to demonstrate the concept of a centralized cloud based job scheduler that manages a pool of worker machines and schedules the jobs submitted by the users to these machines. We chose App Engine to implement the scheduler and investigated the pros and cons of choosing App Engine as a platform for this purpose. We also evaluated the performance of the central scheduler within the various limits imposed by the App Engine's free service and discuss our design choices in this setting.


Methods: Laser Doppler flowmetry was used to determine relative choroidal blood velocity (Chvel), volume (Chvol), and flow (Chflow) in the centre of the fovea. Measurements were obtained in 15 eyes of 15 subjects with systemic hyperten- sion. The mean average duration of hypertension was 11 (SD 6) years. Findings obtained in these patients were compared with those of 15 eyes of 15 age matched healthy controls. All subjects had normal eye examinations. Results: No significant differences in Chvel ,C h vol, and Chflow, were found between the subjects with and without systemic hypertension despite a 17% higher perfusion pressure (PP) in patients with hypertension. No significant correlation was found between mean arterial pressure or PP and the choroidal circulatory parameters. It was estimated that there is a 90% power to detect a 35% difference in Chflow between the two groups. Conclusion: Systemic hypertension does not seem to have a large effect on the choroidal circulation in hypertensive patients that are controlled by antihypertensive therapy. Further studies are needed to elucidate whether systemic hypertension has an effect on the choroidal circulation in patients with ocular diseases.


The biochemical, haematological and morphological variations in juvenile Clarias gariepinus exposed to Carbendazim® (methyl-2-benzimidazole carbamate; CBZ), a fungicide effective for the control of fungal pathogens in plants, were determined. The 96 h LC50 value of CBZ determined by probit analysis was 4.33 mg l−1. Fish exposed to 0.22 and 0.43 mg l−1 sublethal concentrations of the fungicide showed alterations in behaviour and morphological indices. There were dose- and time-dependent significant decreases in packed cell volume and mean cellular volume compared to the control. A mixed trend was observed in the number of white blood cells, red blood cell counts and haemoglobin, but the mean cellular haemoglobin volume, mean cellular haemoglobin concentration, and counts of monocytes, basophils and eosinophils, were comparable to those of the control. Exposure of the fish to CBZ significantly increased the number of lymphocytes and glucose, alanine aminotransferase and aspartate aminotransferase concentrations, but significantly reduced protein levels and neutrophil numbers. Consequently, the use and environmental concentrations of CBZ should be closely monitored to safeguard fish health condition in aquatic ecosystems.


Abstract. A direct current (DC) resistivity and time domain induced polarization (TDIP) survey was undertaken at a decommissioned landfill site situated in Horlokke, Denmark, for the purpose of mapping the waste deposits and to discriminate important geological units that control the hydrology of the surrounding area. It is known that both waste deposits and clay have clear signatures in TDIP data, making it possible to enhance the resolution of geological structures compared to DC surveys alone. Four DC/TDIP profiles were carried out crossing the landfill, and another seven profiles in the surroundings provide a sufficiently dense coverage of the entire area. The whole dataset was inverted using a 1-D laterally constrained inversion scheme, recently implemented for TDIP data, in order to use the entire decay curves for reconstructing the electrical parameters of the soil in terms of the Cole-Cole polarization model. Results show that it is possible to resolve both the geometry of the buried waste body and key geological structures. In particular, it was possible to find a silt/clay lens at depth that correlates with the flow direction of the pollution plume spreading out from the landfill and to map a shallow sandy layer rich in clay that likely has a strong influence on the hydrology of the site. This interpretation of the geophysical findings was constrained by borehole data, in terms of geology and gamma ray logging. The results of this study are important for the impact of the resolved geological units on the hydrology of the area, making it possible to construct more realistic scenarios of the variation of the pollution plume as a function of the climate change.


AIM
Somatostatin and its analogues may suppress the growth of various tumor cells. However, the effect of octreotide on growth of gastric adenocarcinoma is still largely unknown. This study was to explore if octreotide could inhibit the growth of gastric adenocarcinoma and its probable mechanisms.

METHODS
Proliferation of gastric cancer cell line affected by octreotide was determined by (3)H-thymidine incorporation. After xenografts of human gastric cancer were implanted orthotopically in stomach, nude mice were administrated octreotide for 8 weeks. The mRNA of somatostatin receptor in the SGC-7901 cells was detected by reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction technique. Extracellular signal-regulated protein kinase and c-Fos in gastric cancer tissues were measured by immunohistochemistry and Western blot. Activator protein-1 binding activity was examined by electrophoretic mobility sift assay.

RESULTS
(3)H-thymidine incorporation into SGC-7901 cells was significantly decreased by octreotide in a concentration dependent manner. Either size or weight of tumors treated with octreotide was significantly reduced in vivo. The inhibition rate for tumor was 62.3 % in octreotide group. The genes of somatostatin receptors 2 and 3 were expressed in SGC-7901 gastric cancer cell lines. Extracellular signal-regulated protein kinase and c-Fos protein level were decreased in gastric adenocarcinoma treated with octreotide. Moreover, fetal calf serum stimulated activator protein-1 binding activity could be suppressed by octreotide potentially.

CONCLUSION
Inhibition of sequential molecular events in MAPK pathway may interpret the mechanisms underlying the effect of octreotide on the growth of gastric adenocarcinoma.


Controlled synthesis of nanostructured materials using facile and easily scalable synthesis techniques is highly attractive for large-scale production of nanomaterials. In this regard, molten salt synthesis is a well-established technique for large-scale production of nanostructured materials. Few reports have demonstrated the applicability of the molten salt technique for high-aspect-ratio one-dimensional rutile TiO2 synthesis. However, the crystal growth mechanism of 1-D TiO2 in the molten salt is not well understood. Here, various sets of experiments have been delivered to investigate 1-D rutile TiO2 crystal growth starting from anatase TiO2 precursors in molten NaCl with the presence of various inorganic oxy-additives. It was found that the oxygen ion (O2−) activity of the molten salt matrix, which can be controlled by oxy-additives, is the decisive factor for the formation of the 1-D structure. The (NaPO3)6 additive, which reduces the O2− activity of the molten salt matrix, increased the solubility of anatase TiO2. The increased solubility facilitates the easy mobility of ions to the growth site where the crystallographic surface energy is high. The natural tendency to minimize the total surface energy causes the crystal to grow in a particular direction, which eventually leads to 1-D rutile TiO2 nanoparticles.


GFDRR's Resilient Recovery program is involved in every major disaster, helping affected countries assess damage as well as economic losses and needs, plan for recovery, and be better prepared to respond in the future. From hurricanes in the Caribbean to earthquakes in Nepal, the program has a record of supporting governments to rebuild lives and create a safer future through resilient recovery. And the program works with the disaster-prone countries before events to enhance their readiness for post-disaster recovery. This is achieved in close coordination with the United Nations, the European Union, and the World Bank, a partnership that has produced guides and tools for conducting post-disaster needs assessments (PDNAs) and developing disaster recovery frameworks (DRFs).


Traffic has become a major problem in metropolitan areas across the world. It is critical to understand the complex interplay of a road network and its traffic states so that researchers and planners can improve the city planning and traffic logistics. The authors propose a novel framework to estimate urban traffic states using GPS traces. Their approach begins with an initial estimation of network travel times by solving a convex optimisation programme based on Wardrop equilibria. Then, they iteratively refine the estimated network travel times and vehicle traversed paths. Lastly, using the refined results as input, they perform a nested optimisation process to derive traffic states in areas without data coverage to obtain full traffic estimations. The evaluation and comparison of their approach over two state-of-the-art methods show up to 96% relative improvements. In order to study urban traffic, the authors have further conducted field tests in Beijing and San Francisco using real-world GIS data, which involve 128,701 nodes, 148,899 road segments, and over 26 million GPS traces.


The objective of the study is to establish effect of budgetary control on financial performance of public institutions of higher learning. This study was conducted in institutions of higher learning in Vihiga, Kakamega, Bungoma, and Busia Counties. Finance Officers, Accountants, Bursars and principals were the respondents. Descriptive survey design was used in the study. The target population was 109. The questionnaire return rate was 91.7 %.Data was analyzed and presented using regression analysis. The study attained a Cronbach's Alpha of coefficient was 0.863 for all items, which was way above the recommended 0.7 in social sciences. the study established that budgetary control had a statistically significant effect on financial performance in public institutions of higher learning. This study will be significant to public institutions of higher learning in providing a basis for policy, and in showing direction for management of these institutions, management in providing explanation to the government for the current financial scenario, researchers and academicians. Public institutions of higher learning management may use the findings of the study in designing proper budgetary policies and examining the financial performance. Academicians will also find the study useful in adding to the existing literature on budgetary control and financial performance.


Over the years, researchers have been working on replacing sensitized dye for dye sensitized solar cells (DSSC), because of its low production cost, biodegradability, and non-toxicity. However, the overall performance of natural dye-based DSSCs is low compared to the DSSCs sensitized with Ruthenium based dyes. The combination of natural dyes with an optimized choice of the extracting solvents and the proper volume ratio of mixture of the dyes, enhances inherent properties, such as absorption and adsorption of the dyes. It also allows the device to utilize photon energy more efficiently over the entire visible wavelength. As a result, DSSC sensitized with the dye mixture shows higher absorbance, and cumulative absorption properties over the whole visible region than the DSSC fabricated with individual dyes and showed higher photocurrent. Another effective way to improve cell efficiency is by using a blocking layer. The blocking layer increases the photocurrent, is mainly due to the improvement of the electron recombination at the transparent conducting oxide/electrolyte interfaces. Also, the blocking layer's compact structure creates an effective pathway for electron transportation; thus, the device's photocurrent increases. Additionally, a slight improvement in the open-circuit voltage and fill factor was observed, thus cell efficiency enhances significantly. By both the proper ratio of dye mixture and the blocking layer improves cell performance of DSSC and opens a new pathway for future studies.


Fault-plane solutions of 78 earthquakes with magnitude larger than 3.2, which occurred in Friuli between May 1976 and August 1979, have been used to estimate the orientations of the principal stress axes by an inversion technique. The analysis of the confidence limits and the average angular misfit of the solution found when inverting the entire data set revealed that faulting was not produced by a uniform stress distribution. Subdivision of the study area into smaller volumes did not lead to significant improvements in terms of stress uniformity, whereas temporal subdivision of the sample reduced significantly misfit and confidence areas of the solution for some data sets. Therefore, we conclude that the stress directions changed as a function of time. A nearly uniform stress direction, compatible with tectonic models proposed for the study area (ca. N-S convergence of the Adriatic and South Alpine units), was found between the main event of 6 May 1976 (ML 6.4) and the strong aftershocks of mid-September 1976 (5.1 ≤ ML ≤ 6.1). The analysis of the individual misfit cumulative pattern reveals that some degree of stress heterogeneity appeared in July 1976, which is explained here in terms of heterogeneous local responses of the stress field to the seismic activity superimposed to the regional compressive factor. The degree of perturbation of the principal stress directions by local effects increased with time and showed, in particular, a clear variation after the strong earthquakes of mid-September 1976. The perturbations appear to be reflected by low-magnitude quakes, whereas the faulting in strong events is compatible with the regional stress field.


Abstract. Recent and future changes in temperature and precipitation climate extremes are estimated using the Hadley Centre PRECIS ("Providing REgional Climates for Impacts Studies") climate model for the eastern Mediterranean and Middle East region. The area of interest is considered vulnerable to extreme climate events as there is evidence for a temperature rise while precipitation tends to decline, suggesting likely effects on vital socioeconomic sectors in the region. Observations have been obtained for the recent period (1961–1990) and used to evaluate the model output. The spatial distribution of recent temporal trends in temperature indicates strong increasing in minimum temperature over the eastern Balkan Peninsula, Turkey and the Arabian Peninsula. The rate of warming reaches 0.4–0.5 °C decade−1 in a large part of the domain, while warming is expected to be strongest in summer (0.6–0.7 °C decade−1) in the eastern Balkans and western Turkey. The trends in annual and summer maximum temperature are estimated at approximately 0.5 and 0.6 °C decade−1 respectively. Recent estimates do not indicate statistically significant trends in precipitation except for individual sub-regions. Results indicate a future warming trend for the study area over the last 30 years of the 21st century. Trends are estimated to be positive and statistically significant in nearly the entire region. The annual trend patterns for both minimum and maximum temperature show warming rates of approximately 0.4–0.6 °C decade−1, with pronounced warming over the Middle Eastern countries. Summer temperatures reveal a gradual warming (0.5–0.9 °C decade−1) over much of the region. The model projects drying trends by 5–30% in annual precipitation towards the end of the 21st century, with the number of wet days decreasing at the rate of 10–30 days year−1, while heavy precipitation is likely to decrease in the high-elevation areas by 15 days year−1.


Regional isopach patterns and pinch-out data for nine stratigraphic units of Jurassic and Cretaceous age are either permissive or supportive of significant dextral slip of Laramide age along the eastern Colorado Plateau boundary in New Mexico. The best-constrained dextral offset estimates are for the Sand Hill–Nacimiento fault system (20–33 km) and the previously published 13 km estimate for the Defiance monocline, which together yield a cumulative offset of 33–46 km. Mesozoic stratigraphic constraints for other Laramide fault systems are less precise, and typically provide only maximum limits for possible dextral offsets because of widely spaced control points and broad areas of Tertiary erosion. These less precise constraints allow as much as 40–60 km of Laramide dextral slip along what is now the Rio Grande rift and as much as 110 km across the entire breadth of the Laramide deformed zone in central and northern New Mexico. Well-documented dextral offsets of Proterozoic lithologies and structures across the Tusas-Picuris fault system (15 km) and Picuris-Pecos fault (37 km) probably represent minimum Laramide displacements because of the need to account for sinistral components related to other deformations. These displacements, when combined with dextral offsets along Sand Hill–Nacimiento and Defiance structures, yield a minimum dextral offset of ∼85 km for Laramide structures in northern New Mexico. This minimum dextral offset is approximately equivalent to the amount of Laramide crustal shortening on and northward of the Colorado Plateau, a result that argues against nearby Euler pole locations for Laramide rotation of the Colorado Plateau relative to cratonic North America. Geological constraints allow ∼0° to 3° of Laramide clockwise rotation of the Colorado Plateau. Additional clockwise plateau rotation during late Cenozoic development of the Rio Grande rift was 1° to 1.5°. Geological constraints thus indicate that clockwise rotation of the Colorado Plateau from combined Laramide and Rio Grande rift deformations was between about 1° and 4.5°.


ABSTRACT Background: It is unknown whether early renal replacement therapy (RRT) initiation strategy in intensive care unit (ICU) patients with both acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) and sepsis with or without renal failure is clinically beneficial. Patients and methods: A total of 818 patients with both ARDS and sepsis admitted to the ICU of Tianjin Medical University General Hospital were included in the analysis. Early RRT was defined as initiating the RRT strategy within 24 h of admission. The relationship between early RRT and clinical outcomes, including primary (30-day mortality) and secondary (90-day mortality, serum creatinine, Pao2/Fio2, duration of invasive mechanical ventilation, cumulative fluid output, and cumulative fluid balance) outcomes, was compared using propensity score matching (PSM). Results: A total of 277 patients (33.9% of the total population) underwent an early RRT initiation strategy before PSM. After PSM, a cohort of 147 patients with early RRT and 147 patients without early RRT with matched baseline characteristics (including serum creatinine at admission) were constructed. Early RRT was not significantly associated with 30- (hazard ratio [HR], 1.25; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.85-1.85; P = 0.258) or 90-day mortality (HR, 1.30; 95% CI, 0.91–1.87, P = 0.150). At each time point within 72 h after admission, there was no significant difference in serum creatinine, Pao2/Fio2 and duration of mechanical ventilation between the early and the no early RRT groups. Early RRT significantly increased total output at all time points within 72 h of admission and reached a statistically significant negative fluid balance at 48 h. Conclusions: Early RRT initiation strategies had no statistically significant survival benefit in ICU patients with both ARDS and sepsis, with or without renal failure, nor did they significantly improve serum creatinine and oxygenation or shorten the duration of mechanical ventilation. The use and timing of RRT in such patients should be thoroughly investigated.


Planetary gear sets (PGSs) have been widely used in automatic transmissions (AT) and dedicated hybrid transmissions (DHTs). In this paper, a novel isomorphic detection method for planetary gear transmission structure is proposed based on matrix operation. The isomorphic detection process includes two main parts. In the first part, various components of the transmission structure are classified. In the second part, isomorphic structures of the numerous structures are detected. Through the application of the proposed detection approach, the structures obtained by different synthesis algorithms can be greatly reduced. Furthermore, by the analysis and transformation of the hybrid configuration to conventional transmission configuration, the scope of use of the algorithm can be expanded through the method. The proposed detection approach is capable of automatically detecting the isomorphic structure of the potential structures obtained by synthesis algorithm.


The paper looks at replacing the current top-down approach to modelling, predominantly used in dynamic simulation tools, with a nature inspired bottom-up approach based on principles of swarming. Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) is chosen for this research, as one of the most time-consuming processes under the traditional simulation approach. Generally based on Navier-Stokes simultaneous differential equations, CFD requires considerable user preparation time and considerable CPU execution time. The main reason is that the top-down equations represent the system as a whole and generate a large solution space, requiring a solver to find a solution. However, air and building materials do not have cognitive capabilities to solve systems of equations in order to 'know' how to transfer heat. Instead, heat transfer occurs through proximity interaction between molecules, leading to self-organised behaviour that is much faster than the behaviour modelled by the top-down systems of equations. The paper investigates how the bottom-up approach using the principles of swarming could improve the speed and interactivity of CFD simulation.


Background: Little is known about longitudinal trends in diabetes mellitus among Aboriginal people in Canada. We compared the incidence and prevalence of diabetes, and its impact on mortality, among status Aboriginal adults and adults in the general population between 1995 and 2007. Methods: We examined de-identified data from Alberta Health and Wellness administrative databases for status Aboriginal people (First Nations and Inuit people with treaty status) and members of the general public aged 20 years and older who received a diagnosis of diabetes mellitus from Apr. 1, 1995, to Mar. 31, 2007. We calculated the incidence and prevalence of diabetes and mortality rate ratios by sex and ethnicity in 2007. We examined the average relative changes per year for longitudinal trends. Results: The average relative change per year in the prevalence of diabetes showed a smaller increase over time in the Aboriginal population than in the general population (2.39 v. 4.09, p < 0.001). A similar finding was observed for the incidence of diabetes. In the Aboriginal population, we found that the increase in the average relative change per year was greater among men than among women (3.13 v. 1.88 for prevalence, p < 0.001; 2.60 v. 0.02 for incidence, p = 0.001). Mortality among people with diabetes decreased over time to a similar extent in both populations. Among people without diabetes, mortality decreased in the general population but was unchanged in the Aboriginal population (−1.92 v. 0.11, p = 0.04). Overall, mortality was higher in the Aboriginal population than in the general population regardless of diabetes status. Interpretation: The increases in the incidence and prevalence of diabetes over the study period appeared to be slower in the status Aboriginal population than in the general population in Alberta, although the overall rates were higher in the Aboriginal population. Mortality decreased among people with diabetes in both populations but was higher overall in the Aboriginal population regardless of diabetes status.


Most Americans believe that the ratification of the Constitution in 1788 marked the settlement of post-Revolutionary disputes over the meanings of rights, democracy, and sovereignty in the new nation. In The Citizenship Revolution, Douglas Bradburn undercuts this view by showing that the Union, not the Nation, was the most important product of independence. In 1774, everyone in British North America was a subject of King George and Parliament. In 1776 a number of newly independent "states," composed of "American citizens" began cobbling together a Union to fight their former fellow countrymen. But who was an American? What did it mean to be a "citizen" and not a "subject"? And why did it matter? Bradburn's stunning reinterpretation requires us to rethink the traditional chronologies and stories of the American Revolutionary experience. He places battles over the meaning of "citizenship" in law and in politics at the centre of the narrative. He shows that the new political community ultimately discovered that it was not really a "Nation," but a "Union of States"--and that it was the states that set the boundaries of belonging and the very character of rights, for citizens and everyone else. To those inclined to believe that the ratification of the Constitution assured the importance of national authority and law in the lives of American people, the emphasis on the significance and power of the states as the arbiter of American rights and the character of nationhood may seem strange. But, as Bradburn argues, state control of the ultimate meaning of American citizenship represented the first stable outcome of the crisis of authority, allegiance, and identity that had exploded in the American Revolution--a political settlement delicately reached in the first years of the nineteenth century. So ended the first great phase of the American citizenship revolution: a continuing struggle to reconcile the promise of revolutionary equality with the pressing and sometimes competing demands of law, order, and the pursuit of happiness.


A major challenge in soil science is to monitor and understand the state and change of soils at a national scale to inform decision making and policy. To address this, there is a need to identify key parameters for soil health and function and determine how they relate to other parameters, including traditional soil surveys. Here we present a national‐scale dataset of topsoil sampled as part of a wider agri‐environment monitoring scheme in Wales, UK. Over 1,350 topsoils (0–15 cm) were sampled across a very wide range of habitats and a range of physical, chemical and biological soil quality indicators were measured. We show consistent differences in soil physicochemical properties across habitat types, with carbon decreasing and pH increasing across the habitat productivity gradient from bogs through woodlands and grasslands to arable systems. The soils within our dataset are largely within the limits identified as important for supporting habitat function, with the exception of excessive phosphate levels in mesotrophic grassland. Cluster detection methods identified four soil functional classes based on measured topsoil properties, which were more related to habitat type than the genesis‐based soil classification from soil maps. These soil functional classes can be interpreted as phenoforms within the soil genoforms found by traditional soil classification. This shows the importance of land‐use management in determining the soil health and functional capacity of soils. Our work provides an account of the current state of soil health in Wales, its relationship to soil function and a baseline for future monitoring to track changes against agri‐environment and other policy targets.


SUMMARY Solitary myeloma of bone occurred in 10 Black patients during the 8-year period from 1967 to 1974. In 4 patients, the solitary myeloma involved the bones of the para nasal sinuses, in 3 patients the pelvis, and in 3 others the manubrium sterni. An IgG monoclonal gammopathy was present in the serum of 4 patients and Bence-Jones proteinuria was found in 1 patient. Radiation therapy was the treatment of choice and the recommended tumour dosage is 4000 - 5 000 rads.. Serial measurements of serum and urine protein electrophoresis and immuno-electro phoresis were most helpful in determining when patients had achieved a complete remission. In 3 patients, 1 of whom died, the myeloma disseminated in periods varying from 26 months to 7 years. Nine patients are alive, of whom 7 are in complete remission, and 5 have lived for more than 5 years since the initial diagnosis of solitary myeloma.


A remote fault diagnosis method for ultrahigh speeding grinding based on multi-agent is presented. The general faults of ultrahigh speed grinding are analyzed and diagnosis model based on multi-agent is established, the dialogue layer, problem decomposition layer, control layer and problem solving layer in the process of diagnosis are studied and the knowledge reasoning model of fault diagnosis is set up based case-based reasoning (CBR) combining rule-based reasoning (RBR). Based on theoretical research, a remote fault diagnosis system of ultrahigh speed grinding is developed. Results of the system running prove the theory is correctness and the technology is feasibility.


We develop a Q-switched degenerate laser, delivering a partially coherent light pulse of duration about 16 ns. The spatial coherence of the output laser pulse can be varied by tuning the spatial filter inside the laser resonator, and the oscillating transverse mode structure can be determined by measuring the degree of coherence of the output laser pulse. It is shown that the larger is the diameter of the spatial filter, the more are the oscillating transverse modes, and the lower is the degree of coherence. Based on coherent-mode representation for the partially coherent source, we can estimate the transverse mode contribution to the output partially coherent laser. The experimental results on suppressing speckle demonstrate that the generated partially coherent light possesses the characteristics of rapid reduction of spatial coherence, making it an ideal source for high-speed imaging and ranging applications.


Abstract After 56 years of Olympic competition for Australian women, the 1968 team still contained significantly more male officials than it did women competitors. But behind the scenes on the state Olympic councils, the sole woman, athletics administrator Doris Magee, had been lobbying hard for the removal of the outmoded title 'chaperone' of the women competitors. The Australian Olympic Federation created the new position of 'assistant managers, women' opening the way for the appointment of the first women professional managers in charge of the women's team – triple Olympian athlete Shirley Strickland and national hockey president Ruby Robinson. Never again would their role be defined as 'tucking a girl into bed and having a look to see she is there'. While the title changed in 1968, for good, an expanded Olympic role did not necessarily open up for either Shirley Strickland or Ruby Robinson. While the women of 1968 were trail blazers in their mission to professionalize the women's team administration at the Olympics, they were part of a continuum of women who slowly chipped away at male and societal attitudes and boundaries, of the place of women in sport.


Compacted clayey tropical soils have great potential to be used as barriers in waste disposal facilities, considering that some technical requirements are fulfilled (e.g. hydraulic conductivity; compatibility after disposal; shear strength; swelling/cracking, etc). In turn, the bentonite addition is relevant for the cases where the hydraulic conductivity must be lowered, and therefore investigations on the changes of the mechanical parameters of tropical soils induced by the bentonite addition are of great interest. This paper presents the results of a laboratory investigation on the shear strength of different samples of tropical soils and their mixtures with bentonite in the proportions of 0, 3, 6, 9 and 12% (dry weight basis). The tropical soil samples were collected considering the lateritic, transitional and non-lateritic behavior according to the MCT-M (Modified-Miniature-Compacted-Tropical) classification. The laboratory tests consisted of CU (ConsolidatedUndrained) triaxial tests under the confining stresses of 100, 200 and 400 kPa. The results have showed that the addition of bentonite produced a significant increase in the plasticity of the tropical soil samples (PI increases 4 to 6 times), considerably reduced their friction angle (by as much as 11o ) and stiffness at peak (modulus reductions of 2.5 to 4 MPa) and gave rise to a slight increase in their cohesion (up to 12 kPa). These facts must be considered in the barrier stability analyses when heavy loads are applied. The important role of the shear strength on barrier design is highlighted.


Aim: Food security is one of the most pressing issues of our century because of its implications for the future. To that extent, this article is a preliminary attempt to shed light on the opportunities stemming from the commercialization of quinoa. Description: We undertook this study to try and grasp why the Cosmovision of Andean populations consider quinoa as an alternative for development. We first go through some aspects of food security, sovereignty and justice, which will eventually lead us to take a closer look at quinoa's proper characteristics and production process. We will complement our study by an analysis of data on the commercialization of quinoa in order to evaluate its opportunities internationally. Conclusions: Quinoa presents very interesting nutritive characteristics, offers a variety of seeds, is relatively easy to grow virtually anywhere and can be used in a number of byproducts. To that extent, it should be seriously considered as palatable solution to the global food crisis.


An analog adaptive equalizer based on a feed-forward architecture is implemented in 0.18-mum digital CMOS process. The equalizer is implemented with only digital core devices and operates at 125 Mbps over unshielded-twisted-pair category-5 cable of up to 100 m. Novel low-power circuit and system techniques resulted in 3.7-mW total power consumption and supply voltage operation as low as 1.6 V. The maximum peak-to-peak jitter at the output of the equalizer (including the transmit path driver) under all cable length is 0.33 UI. The total area of the equalizer is 27738 mum2.


Ceramics has many advantages that cannot be substituted by metals, but its machining induced defects, such as crack and crater, are the obstacle of using ceramics in engineering. Thus, the further studies on the materials removal mechanism of ceramics should be done. As known, the cutting theory of metals is very successful and it is helpful to understand the material removal mechanism of ceramics. Through doing comparative experiments, the material removal mechanism of ceramics may be more deeply ascertained. Four types of material, such as ZrO2, SiC, STAVAX and SKD11, were ground by ELID (ELectrolytic In-process Dressing) method in this study. The grinding forces, roughness and topography of the ground surface were investigated. On the basis of this experiment, the difference of material removal mechanism between ceramics and steels was explained.


The female to male (F:M) incidence ratio in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is almost 3:1, being exaggerated in child-bearing ages (5:1), as opposed to 2:1 in juveniles and older (50+ years) adults1. Female preponderance also occurs in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE; 9:1), particularly in child-bearing years2, when its age-specific incidence is highest2,3. In RA, however, the incidence is notably higher in postmenopausal than in premenopausal women. The age-specific gender differential in RA is attributable to adult men having significantly delayed disease onset1. Such incidence data imply that gonadal hormones may be protective of RA in younger adult men (testosterone), but may predispose to SLE in women (estrogens)2,3.


BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE
During the past decade, the incidence of severe infections after transrectal ultrasonography-guided prostate biopsy has increased. Antibacterial sustained-release varnish has been shown to reduce bacterial infections. This varnish has yet to be tested in the field of urology. We undertook an in vitro study to assess the possibility of reducing infection rates after prostate biopsy by coating the needle with a novel sustained, yet rapid release chlorhexidine varnish (SRV-CHX) specifically modified for prostate biopsy.

MATERIALS AND METHODS
A model simulating the microbiologic environment of a prostate biopsy was developed. The model consisted of two layers of agar, of which the first represented the rectum and was preinfected with Escherichia coli. The second layer was sterile and represented tissue interposed between the rectum and prostate. SRV-CHX-coated biopsy needles were inserted 12 times through the two layers, into the third agar layer representing the prostate. Infection transmission was determined by assessing bacterial growth at inoculation sites within the agar plate representing the prostate. Bacterial growth inhibition was measured as an inhibition zone on the contaminated agar.

RESULTS
Testing the antibacterial effect of the SRV-CHX-coated needle, we found a substantial reduction of infection transmission as well as sustained inhibition of bacterial growth compared with control needles.

CONCLUSIONS
Needles coated with SRV-CHX offer a new strategy in infection control after prostate biopsy. A new strategy of SRV-coated prostate biopsy needles supplemented with various antibacterial agents, combined with prophylactic oral antibiotics should result in decreased infection rates after prostate biopsies. Further in vitro studies are needed to formulate the SRV with an optimal antibacterial agent.


BACKGROUND
In 2008, the Department of Hospital Medicine at Ochsner Clinic Foundation in New Orleans, LA, began training its own students for the first time as a result of the partnership between our institution and the University of Queensland (UQ) in Brisbane, Australia, that established a global medical school. The Department of Hospital Medicine is responsible for the Medicine clerkship for third-year medical students. We have 5 resident teams at the main hospital in the system, but the majority of our hospitalists work alone. Because of staffing issues, we have had to change our mentality from having teaching hospitalists and nonteaching hospitalists to viewing all hospitalists as potential educators.

METHODS
The department has slowly increased the number of students in the Medicine clerkship each year with the goal of training 120 third-year students in the New Orleans area in 2016. The students in the Medicine clerkship will be divided into five 8-week rotations, allowing for 25 students to be trained at one time.

RESULTS
The UQ curriculum is similar to that of most 4-year American schools, but some differences in methods, such as a heavy emphasis on bedside instruction and oral summative assessments, are novel to us. These differences have provided our department with new goals for professional and instructor development. For the actual instruction, we pair students one on one with hospitalists and also assign them to resident teams. Student placement has been a challenge, but we are making improvements as we gain experience and explore opportunities for placement at our community hospitals.

CONCLUSION
Our arrangement may be adapted to other institutions in the future as the number of students increases and the availability of resident teachers becomes more difficult nationwide.


Changes of retinal blood vessel calibers may reflect various retinal diseases and even several non-retinal diseases. We propose a new method to estimate retinal vessel calibers from 3D optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA) images based on 3D modeling using superellipsoids. Taking advantage of 3D visualization of the retinal tissue microstructures in vivo provided by OCTA, our method can detect retinal blood vessels precisely, estimate their calibers reliably, and show the relative flow speed visually.


Colorectal cancer (CRC) is one of the common forms of somatic malignancy, and the second most common cause of death (from cancer) in Australia with significant resources committed to the management of the disease. The projected number of new cases of CRC diagnosed in 2015 is estimated at 17,070 and the high mortality rate claims the lives of around 4000 individuals each year. The process by which CRCs arise involves the acquisition of a series of genetic changes that progress via distinct pathological stages such as epithelial hyperplasia, benign adenomatous polyp formation that leads to cancer formation and finally metastatic carcinoma. Accumulating evidence has shown that early diagnosis of CRC or the identification of pre cancerous polyps can notably improve the chances of survival. The aim of this thesis was to investigate the role of the dominant negative form of the p73 protein (DNp73) in regulating intestinal epithelial cell differentiation and tumourigenesis. p73 shares remarkable sequence homology and protein organisation with the p53 tumour suppressor gene and generates two major protein isoforms via the use of alternative promoters. Recently, several reports have provided evidence that the longer TAp73 protein has tumour suppressor capabilities, whereas the N-terminally truncated DNp73 protein can act as an oncogene. The studies in this thesis have shown that p73 is expressed in intestinal epithelial cells within crypts suggesting that p73 expression is associated with undifferentiated stem cells and their immediate progenitors. Previous studies as well as studies in this thesis have indicated that the overall level of p73 is commonly overexpressed in human CRC, with an increase in the DNp73/TAp73 ratio. Investigation of the functional consequences of disrupting the DNp73/TAp73 ratio in the murine intestine using a DNp73α transgenic mouse model that allows inducible conditional expression of DNp73 in the intestinal epithelium identified an intriguing phenotype with an alteration in the crypt-villus architecture that revealed an expansion of the progenitor pool, while differentiated cell types were diminished. This thesis also investigated the relative expression levels of TAp73 and DNp73 isoforms using CRC cell lines and demonstrated that several p73 isoforms that are not found in normal colonic epithelium are expressed in most CRC cell lines. DNp73 was the most common isoform found in the tumour cell lines. Clinical specimens of normal and adjacent tumour tissues from 74 surgical resections (Cabrini Hospital), investigated if either of the two major isoforms of p73 correlated with the expression of intestinal stem cell markers. Two different statistical tests revealed that TAp73 and DNp73 isoforms are upregulated together in tumours, and correlate with tumours that have the EPHB2 signature. A novel investigation to determine whether elevated levels of DNp73 could accelerate polyposis in the Apcmin/+ mouse model revealed an overall enhancement of polyp formation in the AhCre, DNp73, Apcmin/+ mouse. Implications of this work on the role of DNp73 in regulating intestinal epithelial stem cell differentiation and promoting tumourigenesis may assist in the identification of new prognostic biomarkers that have the potential to improve diagnosis or treatment and hence likely to have a significant benefit to the community.


BACKGROUND--Diaphragm strength can be assessed by the measurement of gastric (TW PGA), oesophageal (TW POES), and transdiaphragmatic (TW PDI) pressure in response to phrenic nerve stimulation. However, this requires the passage of two balloon catheters. A less invasive method of assessing diaphragm contractility during stimulation of the phrenic nerves would be of clinical value. A study was undertaken to determine whether pressure measured at the mouth (TW PM) during magnetic stimulation of the phrenic nerves accurately reflects TW POES, and to investigate the relations between TW PM and TW PDI; and also to see whether glottic closure and twitch potentiation can be avoided during these measurements. METHODS--Eight normal subjects and eight patients with suspected respiratory muscle weakness without lung disease were studied. To prevent glottic closure magnetic stimulation of the phrenic nerves was performed at functional residual capacity during a gentle expiratory effort against an occluded airway incorporating a small leak. TW PDI, TW POES, and TW PM were recorded. Care was taken to avoid potentiation of the diaphragm. RESULTS--In normal subjects mean TW PM was 13.7 cm H2O (range 11.3-16.1) and TW POES was 13.3 cm H2O (range 10.4-15.9) with a mean (SD) difference of 0.4 (0.81) cm H2O. In patients mean TW PM was 9.1 cm H2O (range 0.5-18.2) and TW POES was 9.3 (range 0.7-18.7) with a mean (SD) difference of -0.2 (0.84) cm H2O. The relation between TW PM and TW PDI was less close but was well described by a linear function. In patients with diaphragm weakness (low sniff PDI) TW PM was < 10 cm H2O. CONCLUSIONS--TW PM reliably reflects TW POES and can be used to predict TW PDI in normal subjects and patients without lung disease. TW PM may therefore be a promising non-invasive, non-volitional technique for the assessment of diaphragm strength.


Quick Response (QR) codes have been discussed in the literature as adding value to teaching and learning. Despite their potential in education, more research is needed to inform practice and advance knowledge in this field. This paper investigated the integration of the QR code in classroom activities and the perceptions of the integration by pre-service teachers. Forty-four pre-service teachers enrolled on an undergraduate degree at a higher education institution in the United Arab Emirates took part in the study. Data were collected from a questionnaire, student journals and focus group interviews to enable triangulation. The main results suggested that the pre-service teachers perceived the use of QR codes to be easy and useful in learning activities. They also demonstrated positive attitudes towards the QR codes and stated the intention to use this application in their future career. The study provided practical examples of how QR codes can be integrated in teaching. It also revealed certain challenges that could hinder effective integration of QR code applications in the classroom. Recommendations for practice and future research are discussed.


Plantain (Musa sp., genome AAB) is a major locally grown starchy staple food highly consumed by Ghanaians with a per capita consumption of 84.4 kg. However, the maturity index of the fruit has been dependent on various characteristics including angularity, fruit tip drying, etc. A physiological study was conducted on the fruit characteristics of Apantu at harvest to determine the appropriate maturity index to be used by smallholders. The results were subjected to correlative analysis and revealed a strong positive correlation between age at harvest and pulp to peel ratio. The number of leaves declined with age while pulp to peel ratio, bunch weight, peel weight and fruit weight showed positive correlation with age. The low correlations observed between the age at harvest and peel thickness, peel weight, density of fruit and pulp thickness makes them unreliable indices, possibly due to the difference in environmental conditions. Generally this is true since smallholders rely upon rainfed irrigation and physiological characteristics are greatly influenced by the watering component of the environmental. It is therefore recommended that farmers use bunch ages to determine harvest maturity. This could be done through tagging of plants at flower emergence due to the strong correlation it had with pulp:peel ratio. Further testing on each variety is needed to make tangible conclusions on some of the maturity indices to be adopted or must be backed with other variables.

 Key words: Musa, Apantu, physiology, postharvest, maturity indices.


The United Kingdom (UK) Department for Transport commissioned a consortium – led by Arup and including ITS Leeds and Accent – to undertake a comprehensive programme of research designed to determine consumer values of travel time savings and reliability. This was a very large and wide ranging study which in addition to car, rail, bus and other public transport modes also covered walk and cycle. A further area which has not typically been covered in VTTS studies before was to cover employers' business trips from both the employers' and employees' point of view. As much of the scope was exploratory in nature, the research included a significant phase of exploratory qualitative research and piloting. The main stage stated preference research with the general public comprised a mixed method with most recruitment through on street intercepts and the remainder through telephone recruitment. The intercept method involved face-to-face interviews using tablets in locations across the country. In scope participants were offered a choice of completing the survey online or by telephone. The online sample was sent automated customised invites directly from the tablet. The telephone interviews involved sending participants customised stated preference options by email during the interview (or by post). The employers business research comprised a two pronged approach with research conducted with both employers and employees. The research with employers comprised a representative sample of employers with the stated preference focused on a car or rail trip made by a typical employee with the employer being asked to say what the employee should have done for each scenario. For the employee research participants who were making employees business trips by car and rail were shown similar stated preference exercises and asked to say what they would have done. The paper will discuss the innovative quantitative market research methods that were employed for this research.


In Geometry Processing, a field which has developed during the last ten years, concepts from applied mathematics, computer science, and engineering are used to design efficient algorithms for the acquisition, manipulation, animation and transmission of complex 3D models. A number of methods have been proposed to smooth, denoise, edit, compress, transmit, re-parameterize, and animate very large polygon meshes, based on topological and combinatorial methods, signal processing techniques, constrained energy minimization, and the solution of partial differential equations. In particular, polygon models, which are used in most graphics applications, require considerable amounts of storage, even when they only approximate precise shapes with limited accuracy, and must be compressed by several orders of magnitude for fast network access. In this talk I will present some of our early contributions to the field, and some related ongoing research projects. I will also describe the state of our work towards the apparently unrelated goal of building Visual Sensor Networks with 1000s of cameras for real time capture and processing of 3D data.


This chapter looks at the evolving nature of enterprise resource planning
systems and how companies are using these systems to support the
implementation of a business-to-employee (B2E) solution. In recent times
there has been a plethora of research associated with the impact and
implications of e-commerce/e-business. Much of this research has focused
on the various business models such as business-to-business and business-
to-consumer with the importance of developing customer and partner
relationships being espoused. However, there has been little attention
paid to the potential of business-to-employee systems, and the role the
Internet can play in improving business-to-employee relationships. This
chapter looks at the emerging B2E model and uses Australian case studies
to look at the change management issues associated with employee self-
service applications.


This paper is concerned with three problems in the interpretation of the national treatment obligation in GATS. First, the precise domain of Article XVII on national treatment has not been clearly delineated, particularly in relation to Article XVI dealing with market access. Secondly, there is a conflict between the text of Article XVII and the structure of the schedules of commitments, which makes it difficult to interpret the scope of the national treatment obligation even for identical services supplied through different modes. The final, and most complex, problem arises in establishing the definition of like services and like service suppliers. Uncertainty about the precise meaning of the national treatment commitment may undermine the key GATS objective of creating a secure, predictable trading environment. Moreover, the extent of liberalization implied by the commitments under GATS depends on the precise choice of interpretation.