Dataveillance is the systematic creation and/or use of personal data for the investigation or monitoring of the actions or communications of one or more persons. It emerged in the 1980s, initially as a set of tools for exploiting data that had already been collected for some other purpose. Developments in information technologies, combined with a voracious appetite for social control among government agencies and corporations alike, has seen dataveillance practices diversify and proliferate.
The regulatory frameworks that enable and control dataveillance activities appear not to have attracted a great deal of attention in the literature. Data privacy measures, usually referred to as (personal) data protection, have been the subject of a great deal of activity in legislatures, resulting in many countries having data protection oversight agencies and a modest level of jurisprudence. On the other hand, provisions that enable rather than constrain dataveillance are voluminous, both pre-dating data protection laws, and passed subsequently and hence often qualifying or over-ruling them.
This paper presents an initial survey and structuring of the field of dataveillance regulation in a manner intended to facilitate the conduct of research in the area. Its scope extends well beyond legislation to encompass all forms of regulatory mechanism. It identifies ways in which the effectiveness or otherwise of regulatory schemes can be evaluated. It suggests a classification scheme that can be applied to dataveillance regulation through technology and by law. This lays, we believe, a foundation for the analysis of the regimes in particular jurisdictions whereby dataveillance practices are regulated, for comparisons among jurisdictions, and for comparative evaluation of degrees of freedom and of authoritarianism.


This thesis uses a gendered reading of twelfth-century narratives of the First Crusade (1096-99) to analyse their presentation of Godfrey of Bouillon (d.1100), one of the crusade leaders and first Latin ruler of Jerusalem. Godfrey's short reign has meant many modern historians consider his life a myth and that most of our knowledge of him was created after his death. This has caused these historian to place little value on researching him. However, using masculinity as an analysis of his deeds allows us to gain ideas about kingly masculinity in the twelfth-century, and how these ideas were disseminated through narratives.
This thesis encompasses many of the twelfth-century crusade narratives which are disregarded by crusade historians because they were not eye witness to the events they describe. However this large corpus of texts can be better utilised to give us more ideas and knowledge about twelfth-century Western European thinking on the ideas of crusading, kingship, war, politics and religion. This means all texts regarding the First Crusade in the twelfth century have value for the insight they offer in this regard.
Masculinity is not something gained through passing a certain age, it had to be learned, and therefore this work focuses on kingly masculinity which is the apex of masculinity and would have been used to inspire many of the warrior classes to go on crusade or how to act in general. These texts helped form the construction of their masculinity by their didactic nature, and they would have learned to be an 'ideal man' through the precedents set by their forbearers. As such these texts are deconstructed in this thesis to show exactly what constituted kingly masculinity in the twelfth-century.


A characteristic feature of a steady trailing line vortex from one side of a wing, and of other types of line vortex, is the existence of strong axial currents near the axis of symmetry. The purpose of this paper is to account in general terms for this axial flow in trailing line vortices. the link between the azimuthal and axial components of motion in a steady line vortex is provided by the pressure; the radial pressure gradient balances the centrifugal force, and any change in the azimuthal motion with distance x downstream produces an axial pressure gradient and consequently axial acceleration. It is suggested, in a discussion of the evolution of an axisymmetric line vortex out of the vortex sheet shed from one side of a wing, that the two processes of rolling-up of the sheet and of concentration of the vorticity into a smaller cross-section should be distinguished; the former always occurs, whereas the latter seems not to be inevitable. In § 4 there is given a similarity solution for the flow in a trailing vortex far downstream where the departure of the axial velocity from the free stream speed is small. The continual slowing-down of the azimuthal motion by viscosity leads to a positive axial pressure gradient and consequently to continual loss of axial momentum, the asymptotic variation of the axial velocity defect at the centre being as x−1 log x. The concept of the drag associated with the core of a trailing vortex is introduced, and the drag is expressed as an integral over a transverse plane which is independent of x. This drag is related to the arbitrary constant appearing in the above similarity solution.


An ionic liquid-linked dual magnetic microextraction procedure is reported for cadmium(II) with flame atomic absorption spectrometry. Cadmium was complexed with pyrolidine dithiocarbamate and the chelate was extracted into the fine droplets of 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium hexafluorophosphate by using a vortex mixer with Fe3O4 nanoparticles. Plackett–Burman design was used to optimize relevant parameters of the method, including the pH, the volume of ionic liquid, the amount of ammonium pyrolidine dithiocarbamate, the mass of magnetic nanoparticles, and the vortex time. The pH, volume of ionic liquid, and mass of ammonium pyrolidine dithiocarbamate significantly affected the recovery. The limit of detection, preconcentration factor, and relative standard deviation were 0.32 µg L−1, 80, and 3.4%, respectively. The procedure was validated by the analysis of spinach leaves standard reference material 1570a and recovery measurements. Practical application of the method involved the determination of cadmium in fruit and vegetables.


Module paths are often used to specify the delays of cells in a Verilog cell library description, which define the propagation delay for an event from an input to an output. Specifying such paths manually is an error prone task; a forgotten path is interpreted as a zero delay, which can cause further flaws in the subsequent design steps. Moreover, one can specify superfluous module paths, i.e., module paths that can never occur in any practical run of the model and hence, make excessive restrictions on the subsequent design decision. This paper presents a method to check whether the given module paths are reflected in the functional implementation. Complementing this check, we also present a method to derive module paths from a functional description of a cell.


The bow shock has been studied so far, mostly as a boundary that influences the particles that are incident from the upstream region (of solar origin). In this paper, we provide, for the first time, observational evidence from the energetic-particle-experiment and the charged-particle-measurement-experiment instruments onboard the IMP-8 spacecraft, showing that ions leaking from the magnetosphere, during storms or substorms, are affected by the quasi-perpendicular (Q-P) bow shock and can be temporally trapped just downstream from the shock in a magnetic configuration opposite to the magnetic mirror. The observations from three representative event periods examined in this paper suggest that magnetospheric energetic ( keV) ions show general flows along the field lines in the direction from the magnetosheath toward the interplanetary space, in both sides of the shock (up- and downstream), and characteristic cross-field anisotropic distributions just downstream from the shock, consistent with a ldquotrapped population.rdquo In a series of successive bow-shock crossings within several hours, the IMP-8 spacecraft observed intensity gradients toward the magnetosheath, which strongly suggest a spatial modulation of magnetospheric ion fluxes at the Q-P bow shock. Highest peaks of ion intensities and a very hard spectrum in the energy range between 100 and 400 keV were observed just at the shock front, which suggest acceleration of magnetospheric particles during their temporal trapping at the bow shock. The observations near the Earth's bow shock examined in this paper are well explained in terms of the shock drift acceleration (SDA) theory for magnetospheric particles reaching the bow shock. The phenomenon discussed here, an apparent temporal trapping-and acceleration-of escaped magnetospheric ions at the Earth's bow shock, appears to be an important mechanism that influences the particle distributions near the Earth's bow shock and may have important applications to other shocks in our solar system (planetary, heliospheric, interplanetary, and corotating shock waves) and the interstellar medium (supernova shocks).


This paper explores the ideological function of translation in negotiating power relations among languages in multilingual Singapore. Based on an analysis of the discursive roles of translation in multilingual literary anthologies published between 1985 and 2008, the paper argues that the power relation between English and the mother tongue languages has shifted over the past two decades. Central to this ideological shift is translation, the underlying discursive mechanism in all multilingual publications in Singapore. It has been found that the potential of a language to be translated into, as opposed to its being translated out of, is directly proportional to its symbolic capital in a multilingual society. It has also been predicted that the future trend in multilingual literary translation in Singapore will tend towards a multi-directional approach whereby the four official languages engage one another multilaterally in a complex dynamic of translation relations.


Disseminated necrotizing leukoencephalopathy (DNL) is characterized by multiple microscopic foci of white matter necrosis. DNL was initially thought to be exclusively associated with immunosuppression conditions but it has been recently described in immunocompetent patients in septic shock. A 90-year-old immunocompetent woman with no previous neurological impairment presented with septic shock and drowsiness that responded well to therapy with clinical improvement and a full neurological recovery. Unexpectedly deterioration with progression to coma occurred. Investigation excluded other causes and Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) was consistent with the diagnosis of DNL showing bilateral multifocal white matter lesions with a nonvascular pattern with restricted diffusion. Neurological impairment persisted with progression to death. DNL is an unexpected diagnosis in an immunocompetent patient. We compared the present case to those found in the literature of DNL complicating septic shock and discuss the antemortem diagnosis based on MRI findings.


Although healthy preterm infants frequently seem to be more attentive to visual stimuli and to fix on them longer than full-term infants, no difference in visual acuity has been reported compared to term infants. We evaluated the contrast sensitivity (CS) function of term (N = 5) and healthy preterm (N = 11) infants at 3 and 10 months of life using sweep-visual evoked potentials. Two spatial frequencies were studied: low (0.2 cycles per degrees, cpd) and medium (4.0 cpd). The mean contrast sensitivity (expressed in percentage of contrast) of the preterm infants at 3 months was 55.4 for the low spatial frequency (0.2 cpd) and 43.4 for the medium spatial frequency (4.0 cpd). At 10 months the low spatial CS was 52.7 and the medium spatial CS was 9.9. The results for the term infants at 3 months were 55.1 for the low spatial frequency and 34.5 for the medium spatial frequency. At 10 months the equivalent values were 54.3 and 14.4, respectively. No difference was found using the Mann-Whitney rank sum T-test between term and preterm infants for the low frequency at 3 or 10 months or for the medium spatial frequency at 3 or 10 months. The development of CS for the medium spatial frequency was equally fast for term and preterm infants. As also observed for visual acuity, CS was equivalent among term and preterm infants, suggesting that visual experience does not modify the development of the primary visual pathway. An earlier development of synapses in higher cortical visual areas of preterm infants could explain the better use of visual information observed behaviorally in these infants.


Hydroxyproline-rich glycoproteins (HRGP) have long been known to be associated with the cell wall of all higher plant tissues (Lamport, 1965). The low level of these proteins is strikingly increased in response to wounding (Chrispeels, 1969; Stuart and Warner, 1980), fungi infection (Hammerschmidt and Kuc', 1982; Touze and Esquerre-Tugaye, 1982) and nematode infestation (Giebel and Stobiecka, 1974; Zacheo et al., 1977). It is suggested that small glycoproteins may playa role in a general defense mechanism of plants against biological stress (Touze and Esquerre-Tugaye, 1982). This is of interest as such glycoproteins were associated with the resistant response of plant to pathogens. The role that HRGPs play in defence is not known although there are suggestions that they act as growth regulating materials. Some authors (Whitmore, 1978) have suggested that IIRGPs may act as matrices for lignification in a lignin protein complex catalyzed by peroxidase. Ridge and Osborne (1970) proposed that peroxidase could be one of the group of IIRGPs in cell walls, the level of which determine wall extensibility and cell growth. This study was carried out to determine whether the increase of hydroxyproline in plants infested by Meloidogyne incognita is associated with parallel changes in peroxydase activity.


Abstract The data model driven approach argues that computer aided engineering systems should be based on information data models in order to properly support the concurrent design of products. These models are the foundation for database representations of products and factories, and enable information sharing across unlinked software applications that address different stages of the product life cycle. This paper presents a product data model capable of capturing product life cycle information, and in particular its utilization for representing manufacturing information is described. A manufacturing data model that depicts the capabilities of manufacturing cells in terms of their processes and resources is also introduced. The potential benefits of using these data models to support design for manufacture are shown through a case study. The case study includes implementation of the models, their utilization representing a product and three manufacturing facilities, and demonstrates their value in the redesign of a component.


The aim was to compare the McNamara cephalometric triangle values in untreated normodivergent Class II and Class III malocclusion subjects of Latin American origin grouped by cervical vertebrae maturation stage to an untreated Class I malocclusion normodivergent control group. The study was conducted on a sample of 610 pretreatment lateral cephalograms (250 male, 360 female), examined and grouped according to their anteroposterior skeletal relationship (Class I, II or III), cervical vertebrae maturation stage (Pre Pubertal Peak P1 = CS1 and CS2, Pubertal Peak P2= CS3 and CS4, and Post Pubertal Peak P3 = CS5 and CS6) and sex. Co-A, Co-Gn and ENA-Me were measured in each lateral cephalogram. ANOVA and Tukey HSD post-hoc tests were performed to determine differences between the groups. The results showed that in males, the greatest maxillary and mandibular dimensional increases occurred during the P3 stage (CS5 to CS6), while in females, they occurred in the P2 stage (CS3 to CS4). The Co-A and Co-Gn showed significant differences between the malocclusion classes (p<0.05). The maxillary lengths in Class II subjects and the mandibular lengths in Class III subjects were already higher at the beginning of the period evaluated (P1). A worsening trend for the Class II and III malocclusions was identified during the period evaluated. Finally, changes in the McNamara cephalometric triangle values were markedly different in the three normodivergent skeletal malocclusion classes. In these Latin American subjects the pubertal growth spurt occurred at different times with respect to the Caucasian and Asian norms.


The s ignificance of the Economic Freedom Index (EFI) dimensions as influencing fac tors of the Ease of Doing Business Index (EDB) has been increasing in recent years. The main purpose of this study is to examine the nexus between the dimensions of EFI and EDB using 160 countries between 2017 and 2019. Considering that the impact of EFI dimensions on the different levels of EDB may differ, the Quantile Regression Mixture Model approach is applied in this study. Thus, the impact of the dimensions of EFI on EDB will be analyzed in different quantiles. The results show that there are five different clusters where the impact of the dimensions of EFI on EDB are differentiated. The major finding of this study is that Property Rights, Trade Freedom, and Business Freedom are the most important factor affecting EDB. As a result of the study, it is shown that different action plans should be created for each cluster to


Insomnia is the most common sleep complaint. Insomnia is not a disease itself but mostly a clinical sign of an underlying disease. Degenerative and vascular diseases involving the central nervous system (CNS) may impair sleep either as a result of the brain lesion or because of illness-related discomfort (motor immobility, social and familial impairment, depression, drugs). Some neurological conditions characterized by movement disorders that start or persist during sleep hinder sleep onset and/or sleep continuity, causing a poor sleep complaint. CNS lesions and/or dysfunction in three specific neurological conditions (fatal familial insomnia, Morvan's chorea, and delirium tremens) impair the basic mechanisms of sleep generation inducing a syndrome in which the inability to sleep is consistently associated with motor and sympathergic overactivation. Agrypnia excitata is the term that aptly defines this generalized overactivation syndrome.


The authors observed the described complication in 25 out of 350 children who had underwent and urgen resection of the small intestine (7.1%). 18 children died (72%). An analysis of the clinical picture of the anastomosis failure is set forth. The errors admitted at the repeated operation and treatment are discussed. Some practical recommendations are suggested.


In this paper we emphasize the contribution of technical change, broadly defined, towards productivity growth in explaining the relative East Germany-West Germany performance during the post-World War II era. We argue that previous work was excessively focused on physical capital investments determining productivity differentials, which consequently led to an overestimation of the East German performance during the Socialist era, and an overly pessimistic assessment of the East German prospects of catching up with West Germany during the post-reunification era. We show, first, that the rates of technical change in the manufacturing industries of East German states were significantly below those in Western states, helping to account for the fact that East Germany was not the socialist showcase for which it was frequently taken before German reunification. Second, we demonstrate that the rates of technical change in the East German states have been considerably higher than those in the West since German reunification. This suggests that the Mezzogiorno prediction for East Germany--that it will stay persistently behind West Germany as does Italy's South relative to its North--, based on an analysis of the need for physical capital accumulation alone, will prove too pessimistic.


We provide a novel achievability proof of the Slepian-Wolf theorem for i.i.d. sources over finite alphabets. We demonstrate that random codes that are linear over the real field achieve the classical Slepian-Wolf rate region. For finite alphabets we show that decoding is equivalent to solving an integer program. The techniques used may be of independent interest for code design for a wide class of information theory problems, and for the field of compressed sensing.


Totally implantable central venous accesses systems are presently widely used in cancer patients. Perioperative and long-term morbidity of 750 consecutive implants performed from 1985 to 1994 were retrospectively reviewed. Our Series consisted in 616 (82.1%). Ports and 134 (17.9%) external tunnelled catheters with subcutaneous Dacron cuff (Hickmann or similar catheters) implanted by percutaneous access route in local anesthesia. Subclavian vein was the elective access route in 700 (93.3%) patients while in the remaining 50 (6.7%) the access was performed in the femoral vein, due to peculiar clinical conditions. One-day surgery was only required for 19 (2.6%) patients while outpatient surgery was the routine in 731 (97.4%) patients. Perioperative morbidity was at all similar both for Port and external catheters Series (p > 0.07). Late morbidity requiring the removal of the device occurred in 27/134 patients (18.7%) and in 40/616 (6.5%) for external catheters and Port Series, respectively (p < 0.002). The rate of infection, 2.3% for ports (p < 0.002). Patient's compliance was higher for Ports compared to external catheters. Apart from peculiar clinical conditions such as hematologic cancers, bone marrow transplantation or short life expectancy, Ports seem to guarantee for a lower morbidity coupled with better long-term results.


Reluctance to change therapy has clinical and economic implications. Therapists are expected to deliver treatment in a oneto- one setting ending up with patient improvement. Such an achievement is difficult to overview. There is great uncertainty as to what works in psychotherapies despite research efforts. Prolonged treatment duration with little positive effect may be caused by factors inherent in therapist and patient and the external environment. Two cases are discussed illustrating the need for better surveillance of what happens in the therapy room. Responsibility for the progress in therapy rests on the shoulders of the therapist. When therapy becomes detrimental to patient and therapist, we do not have a comprehensive system to interfere or help. Delayed recovery emanates as an increase in costs to society and the family. This is the case when return to work after treatment is partly or completely retarded.


ABSTRACT Purpose In the current business context, deliberations concerning business-to-business relationships (business relationships) and their importance to business firms are increasing. The extensive research in this area over the past three decades had created a need to synthetize existing research. This paper explores the development of business relationships domain concerning (1) publication trend, (2) influential publications, (3) prolific contributors, (4) themes of research, and (5) future research directions. Methodology/Approach This study used the Web of Science core collection to identify influential articles, authors, journals, geographies, universities, and key research themes associated with business relationships. We developed a graphical analysis of the bibliographical material using VOSviewer. Network structures, including keywords co-occurrence and coauthorship analysis, further strengthened our understanding of this domain. Findings The findings showed a consistent increase in research on business relationships since its inception. The content analysis of the keywords revealed four dominant research themes: the role of information and technology in maintaining business relationships, value creation in business relationships, customer satisfaction and loyalty in business relationships, and inter-organizational trust and governance in business relationships. Research Implications This study provides a comprehensive view into research themes in business relationship area. The present study also helps researchers in identifying future directions of research in the business relationships area. Practical Implications The four key dominant themes identified in the study present key managerial insights. According to the research themes, business firms should embrace digital technological tools, collaborate with customers and other stakeholders, develop loyal customers, and implement relational governance mechanisms to develop long-term business relationships. Originality/Value/Contribution of the paper This study provides insight into the advancement of business relationships area by exploring the relevant body of knowledge, dominant research institutions, prominent topics, and future research possibilities. This includes articles published in top management journals from 1990–2020. This bibliometric study is a pioneering effort to map the domain of business-to-business relationships, wherein current insights and future research directions take center stage.


The bending stresses in the covers of box beams or wide-flange beams differ appreciably from the stresses predicted by the ordinary bending theory on account of shear deformation of the flanges. The problem of predicting these differences has become known as the shear-lag problem. The first part of this paper deals with methods of shear-lag analysis suitable for practical use. The second part of the paper describes strain-gage tests made by the NACA to verify the theory. Three tests published by other investigators are also analyzed by the proposed method. The third part of the paper gives numerical examples illustrating the methods of analysis. An appendix gives comparisons with other methods, particularly with the method of Ebner and Koller.


Altrive Tales was carefully prepared by Hogg in 1832 as the opening volume in a planned twelve-volume collected prose fiction series, intended as the culmination of his career as a storyteller. It opens with his own story of how a ragged servant-lad remade himself as a respected professional writer, the associate of Byron, Scott, Southey, Wordsworth and Galt. Hogg's frank and humorous 'Memoir of the Author's Life' is widely recognised as a classic of Romantic autobiography and an important record of early nineteenth-century Scottish culture. Hogg's sharp eye for the latest publishing phenomena and pawky self-mocking humour is evident in his awareness of Altrive Tales as a contribution to the monthly-volume classic fiction series of the early 1830s following Sir Walter Scott's magnum opus edition of the Waverley Novels. Frankly pleading guilty to the egotism of presenting his own output to the world as a literary classic Hogg engagingly confesses, 'I like to write about myself: in fact, there are few things which I like better [...]'. The themes of the 'Memoir' continue in the tales that follow.' The Adventures of Captain John Lochy' is a fast-paced historical fiction, the autobiography of a social outcast adrift in Scotland, Russia, the Netherlands, and Sweden. 'The Pongos' (an early version of the Tarzan story) takes a look at Scottish involvement in the British empire in a comic parody of Enlightenment notions about the nature of man and of society. 'Marion's Jock' is a virtuoso exercise in Scots and in Hogg's ability to communicate the peasant lifestyle of his native Scottish Borders. This new edition, thoughtfully introduced and extensively annotated, presents Altrive Tales as a major achievement by one of Scotland's finest storytellers.


In this paper, a new analysis technique in the study of dynamical systems with periodically varying parameters is presented. The method is based on the fact that all linear periodic systems can be replaced by similar linear time-invariant systems through a suitable periodic transformation known as the Liapunov-Floquet (L-F) transformation. A general technique for the computation of the L-F transformation matrices is suggested. In this procedure, the state vector and the periodic matrix of the linear system equations are expanded in terms of the shifted Chebyshev polynomials over the principal period. Such an expansion reduces the original differential problem to a set of linear algebraic equations from which the state transition matrix (STM) can be constructed over the period in closed form. Application of Floquet theory and eigenanalysis to the resulting STM yields the L-F transformation matrix in a form suitable for algebraic manipulations. The utility of the L-F transformation in obtaining solutions of both linear and nonlinear dynamical systems with periodic coefficients is demonstrated. It is shown that the application of L-F transformation to free and harmonically forced linear periodic systems directly provides the conditions for internal and combination resonances and external resonances, respectively. The application of L-F transformation to quasilinear periodic systems provides a dynamically similar quasilinear systems whose linear parts are time-invariant and the solutions of such systems can be obtained through an application of the time-dependent normal form theory. These solutions can be transformed back to the original coordinates using the inverse L-F transformation. Two dynamical systems, namely, a commutative system and a Mathieu type equation are considered to demonstrate the effectiveness of the method. It is shown that the present technique is virtually free from the small parameter restriction unlike averaging and perturbation procedures and can be used even for those systems for which the generating solutions do not exist in the classical sense. The results obtained from the proposed technique are compared with those obtained via the perturbation method and numerical solutions computed using a Runge-Kutta type algorithm.


The current research was performed in three provinces (Al-Najaf Al-Ashraf, Babylon and AL-Qadisiya) in Iraq to investigate the prevalence of Anaplasma phagocytophilum in cattle. Surveillance was carried out from February to October 2020. A total of 200 of blood samples were randomly collected from cattle from three governorates. The samples were tested for finding of Anaplasma phagocytophilum infection using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) technique using a specific primer(EE1f, and EE2r and nested primers: EE3f, EE4r) and subsequent sequencing of positive samples. The results showed the infection rates of Anaplasma phagocytophilum 15/200 (7.5%).The higher infection rate were 11.4% (80/70) in AL-Qadisiyah and 6.15 %( 4/65) in Al-Najaf Al-Ashraf .Whereas the lower infection rate was 4.61% (3/65) in Babylon samples. The highest infection rate months (May, June and July): 3/29 (10.34%), 4/37 (10.18 %), and 4/34 (11.76%), respectively of infection with Anaplasma phagocytophilum. while the lower infection rate months was 0% in February, March, and October. The higher infection rate was recorded in animals aged more than to three years 9.72% (7/72), from two to three year was 7.40% (6/81) and while lower infection rate 4.68% (3/64) was recorded in animals aged less than 2 year. The rate of infection in females was 8.82% (12/136) more than in males 4.68% (3/64).


Bacteriophages (phages) are viruses that infect bacteria, and they have been evolving for billions of years to combat the hosts they infect as well as other phages in the environment. Many phages are temperate, and after infection they may remain in the host as a prophage, forming a lysogen instead of initiating lytic growth. Lysogeny presents unique challenges and benefits, and as a result temperate phages impact their environment differently than obligately lytic phages. Although temperate phages are diverse, many paradigms about their lifestyle and evolution have been derived from small collections of phages representing limited and ill-defined genetic diversity. Therefore, I have investigated a large collection of phages infecting hosts in the phylum Actinobacteria to expand our understanding of temperate phage diversity and evolution. First, I show that in contrast to obligately lytic phages, temperate phages evolve within two evolutionary modes that are characterized by different degrees of gene content flux and that vary by the type of temperate phage and its bacterial host. Second, I characterize extrachromosomal Mycobacterium prophages that utilize partitioning systems to maintain lysogeny, which are not commonly reported. I show that these prophages exhibit partition-mediated incompatibility and that components of this system evolve under different selective pressures possibly to avoid this instability. Third, I characterize Bifidobacterium prophages and explore how they interact with their hosts. Some of these prophages utilize a unique integration site and encode a shufflon system. This shufflon may control host range and is the first to be reported in actinobacteriophages. Last, I examine the evolution of a Mycobacterium prophage immunity system. This regulatory circuit enables prophages to control expression of lytic genes, maintaining lysogeny and defending against superinfection. I show that closely-related phages with diverging immunity systems generate a complex immunity network and gaining virulence to escape this network is difficult. Overall, this research has broadened our understanding of temperate phage diversity and evolution, and it has identified genetic systems that can be used to develop new genetic tools.


This paper investigates collisions of gliders generated by one-dimensional Rule 110 cellular automaton. A specific value associated with each glider and an algebraic equation that describes the collision between two gliders were found. Because the products of the collision between two gliders may result in no gliders or one, two or more gliders, this equation states that the total sum of the associated values corresponding to colliding gliders equals the sum of the values of the gliders which are products of the collision. Moreover, an analogy is proposed between the glider collisions and the collisions of physical particles with the equation corresponding to colliding gliders being similar to the equation of energy conservation in physics. In this scheme, even without carrying out the temporal evolution for a collision, it can be determined if a possible combination of resulting gliders accomplishes the equation corresponding to that collision.


As the demand for radiation grafted Proton Exchange Membranes (PEMs) is intensifying, interest in new materials for preparing PEM is rapidly increasing. This study aims to develop sustainable low-cost highly conductive PEM. In our work we have prepared linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE) based PEM and investigated the membrane characteristics. Simultaneous radiation grafting technique has been applied to introduce the styrene monomer onto the LLDPE films by UV radiation under atmospheric circumstances. It has been observed that grafting yield gradually changes depending on the irradiation time and monomer molar ratio. We have performed experiments to assess certain membrane properties, such as water uptake, ion exchange capacity with respect to their applicability in fuel cells. Our experimental results demonstrate the effectiveness of LLDPE based PEM as a cation exchange membrane.


In this paper the spline subdomain approach is applied to the 2D simulations of the temperature distributions for composites containing a single rectangular particle with an interfacial thermal resistance at the interface between the particle and matrix. The bicubic B-splines are used to construct the trial functions for the approximations of the potential fields of composites. Applying the weighted residual point collocation method inside each subdomain and also on the boundaries between different subdomains, a system of linear algebraic equations is set up to determine the unknowns of the trial functions. The temperature distributions both inside the rectangular particle and along the interfaces under different interfacial contact conditions can be simulated approximately. Numerical results which are compared with the available solutions obtained by FEM method illustrate the accuracy and suitability of the present approach for steady-state conduction. Even in the adjacent areas of corners in the rectangular particle, the simulation results are also satisfactory.


Multi-agent robotic competitions such as RoboCup provide the motivation for a developmental research agenda – one that focuses on the evolution of complete working systems and their cognitive architectures. In this paper, we describe the components and integration of one such system – the 2010 RoboCup Standard Platform League entry rUNSWift. The realtime control architecture employed consists of a hierarchy of modules that implement functions of perception, world-modelling and behaviour generation. The system was successfully deployed in both soccer and challenge competitions.


Young children are remarkably prosocial, yet the mechanisms driving their prosociality are poorly understood. In two studies, we looked at whether a need for reciprocity drives children's prosocial behavior. In Experiment 1, children were given a puzzle task to complete in which they were either missing 2 pieces (experimental group) or not (control group). All children then received 2 puzzle pieces from a confederate, resulting in either necessary instrumental help (experimental group) or unnecessary help (control group). Children were more prosocial (shared a greater proportion of their resources) with the confederate after receiving instrumental help than after receiving unnecessary help. In Experiment 2, we investigated the types of principles children use when paying back help. We found that children employed a mix of exact reciprocation and "needsbased" help when paying back individuals. Our results suggest an important role of gratitude and reciprocity in the development of early prosociality.


Chinese asset-backed securitization (ABS) started from the release of the Pilot Administrative Measures for Pilot Securitization of Credit Assets in 2005 by the China Banking Regulatory Commission (CBRC). Since then, ABS has gradually become a regular financing channel for hundreds of Chinese corporations. However, despite the dramatic increase in both issuance volume and the number of market participants, the Chinese ABS market is still in its infancy in some respects, such as transaction structures and secondary market liquidity. All issuance to date has used a stand-alone trust format. We have found that there is an impetus for innovation by Chinese originators so that the market can attain the full range of benefits that ABS offers (e.g., reducing funding costs, lowering transaction expenses, expediting the funding process, improving capital efficiency, etc.). In this article, we discuss the details of the master trust structure, a potential innovation that can benefit originators by lowering transaction costs and improving the efficiency of capital utilization in China.


To evaluate the condition of the nitrogen oxide system and adaptation reserves in children with pulmonary hypertension syndrome and congenital heart disease, we examined 64 patients aged 3 to 17 years. The examination included standard cardiological tests, measurements of nitrogen oxide metabolites in blood, the activity of oxidant and antioxidant systems. Blood pressure in the right ventricle and pulmonary artery was controlled by invasive (catheterization of heart cavities, monitoring with Swan-Ganz catheter) and noninvasive (ultrasound) methods. We came to the conclusion that the level of nitrogen oxide is associated with the severity of pulmonary hypertension and characterizes the condition of the oxidant and antioxidant systems.


There is an interesting exception to businesses', employers', and service providers' seemingly universal embrace of arbitration processes, particularly mandatory pre-dispute arbitration. Although it may be difficult to believe given arbitration's current popularity, not everyone requires his or her clients to sign mandatory pre-dispute arbitration agreements. In fact, some service providers prefer to avoid arbitration regardless of whether it is arranged pre- or post-dispute. So which merchants or service providers are choosing to forgo arbitration and, more importantly, why do they dislike arbitration? And do politics have anything to with their choices? Physicians are not, shall we say, the world's greatest fans of arbitration. It turns out that regulatory policies and practices, in other words politics, provide one important reason why physicians prefer to avoid arbitration. And there are additional reasons that explain why this particular group of service providers has not followed the "mad rush" to arbitration. This article will explain why at least one group of service providers, physicians, do not regard arbitration as the answer to all of their prayers.


Background: Major depressive disorder has been associated with abnormal resting-state functional connectivity (FC), especially in cognitive processing and emotional regulation networks. Although studies have found abnormal FC in regions of the default mode network (DMN), no study has investigated the FC of specific regions within the anterior DMN based on cytoarchitectonic subdivisions of the antero-medial pre-frontal cortex (PFC). Studies from different areas in the field have shown regions within the anterior DMN to be involved in emotional intelligence. Although abnormalities in this region have been observed in depression, the relationship between the ventromedial PFC (vmPFC) function and emotional intelligence has yet to be investigated in depressed individuals. Methods: Twenty-one medication-free, non–treatment resistant, depressed patients and 21 healthy controls underwent a resting state functional magnetic resonance imaging session. The participants also completed an ability-based measure of emotional intelligence: the Mayer-Salovey-Caruso Emotional Intelligence Test. FC maps of Brodmann areas (BA) 25, 10m, 10r, and 10p were created and compared between the two groups. Results: Mixed-effects analyses showed that the more anterior seeds encompassed larger areas of the DMN. Compared to healthy controls, depressed patients had significantly lower connectivity between BA10p and the right insula and between BA25 and the perigenual anterior cingulate cortex. Exploratory analyses showed an association between vmPFC connectivity and emotional intelligence. Conclusions: These results suggest that individuals with depression have reduced FC between antero-medial PFC regions and regions involved in emotional regulation compared to control subjects. Moreover, vmPFC functional connectivity appears linked to emotional intelligence.


SUMMARY
The Pearl River Delta (PRD) is one of the most important economic regions with the highest population densities in China. With its dramatic increasing population and economy, hazards associated with land subsidence frequently occur here that amplify the negative effect of sea level rise. However, land subsidence has not been regularly measured in this region. Here, we use interferometric synthetic aperture radar (InSAR) to investigate the rate and extent of land subsidence in the PRD region. Assuming purely vertical displacements, multi-track interferograms from different viewing geometries are combined to estimate the linear rate map and time series at a higher resolution in time than is possible with a single track. The results show apparent subsidence along the coastal region of Shenzhen associated with rapid urban development in recent years. The average subsidence rate within 500 m of the coast is about 2.5 mm yr−1, and the maximum is up to about 6 mm yr−1 with respect to the central part of the city. Much of the land surface in the PRD is less than 2 m above mean sea level; high-precision geodetic measurements throughout the PRD region are therefore critical for conducting risk assessments, considering the rate of about 2–3 mm yr−1 of current global sea level rise.


Copper is one of the most important industrial metals and in total
annual production in the world is in third place, behind iron and
aluminum. Despite everything positive which comes from production
and usage of copper, its production follows air pollution with negative
effects to the environment, and above all, to human health, and then
infrastructure, farmland and crops, waterways and ecosystems. As a
result of such contamination, there are negative effects of
environmental pollution which is the main subject of research in this
dissertation. The subject of this doctoral dissertation is an analysis of
the non-market solutions of environmental externalities of the copper
production in the Republic Serbia, with a clear focus on the existence
and the very harmful influence of negative external effects on the
environment and the human health in this area.
The main objective is to internalize environmental externalities
through the use of non-market solutions, which will help in achieving
not only social, economic, but also very important environmental
goals. The complementarity of those goals is a necessity towards
achieving sustainable development not only in the copper production,
but also in the survival of the population in this area.
The application of scientifically based methodology of quantification
external costs will help in analyzing results based on the existing (old)
manufacturing technology and the principles of functioning of the
new technology, which means less pollution. Comparative analysis of
the obtained results clearly confirms the necessity of overview of the
total social costs of copper production. Even though the procedure of
estimating external effects is a very complex and complicated due to
multiple effects on all environmental factors, the dissertation proposes
solutions, or rather the suitable methodology, whose application will
help in achieving the economic and environmental objectives.


Purpose of review Obesity represents the primary challenge to improving cardiovascular health, and suppression of resting metabolic rate (RMR) is implicated in the maintenance of obesity. Increasing evidence supports a major role for the renin–angiotensin system (RAS) within the brain in the control of RMR. Recent findings The angiotensin II (ANG) Agtr1a receptor colocalizes with the leptin receptor (Lepr) primarily within cells of the arcuate nucleus (ARC) of the hypothalamus that also express Agouti-related peptide (Agrp). This sub-population of Agtr1a receptors is required for stimulation of thermogenic sympathetic nervous activity and RMR, but not the suppression of food intake or increasing blood pressure, in response to various stimuli including high-fat diet, deoxycorticosterone acetate and salt, and leptin. Agtr1a is localized to a specific subset (SST3) of Agrp neurons within the ARC. Summary The RAS within the ARC is implicated specifically in RMR control, primarily through Agtr1a localized to the SST3 subset of Agrp neurons. Ongoing research is focused on understanding the unique anatomical projections, neurotransmitter utilization, and signal transduction pathways of Agtr1a within this subset of neurons. Understanding these projections and molecular mechanisms may identify therapeutic targets for RMR and thus obesity, independent of blood pressure and appetite.


Observing that many biomedical databases have been developed and maintained independently, their records referring to the same entities may have different sets of synonyms. Integration of names pertaining to the same entity would provide a more comprehensive list of synonyms than each individual database. We have assembled BioThesaurus, a thesaurus of proteins and their corresponding genes compiled from multiple databases for all UniProtKB records. In this study, the coverage of BioThesaurus, and the contribution of each individual database were assessed for several organisms. The result indicates that the coverage of BioThesaurus is over 80% for most of the organisms with an average of 85.4%. When restricted to individual databases or resources, the percentages dropped ranging from 3 to 30%. The study demonstrated that each individual database or resource has some synonyms not covered by other databases or resources, and a list of names compiled from multiple databases would be desired for systems requiring high recall.


Transcription regulation is a complex process that can be considered and investigated from different perspectives. Traditionally and due to technical reasons (including the evolution of our understanding of the underlying processes) the main focus of the research was made on the regulation of expression through transcription factors (TFs), the proteins directly binding to DNA. On the other hand, intensive research is going on in the field of chromatin structure, remodeling and its involvement in the regulation. Whatever direction we select, we can speak about several levels of regulation. For instance, concentrating on TFs, we should consider multiple regulatory layers, starting with signaling pathways and ending up with the TF binding sites in the promoters and other regulatory regions. However, it is obvious that the TF regulation, also including the upstream processes, represents a modest portion of all processes leading to gene expression. For more comprehensive description of the gene regulation, we need a systematic and holistic view, which brings us to the importance of systems biology approaches.Advances in methodology, especially in high-throughput methods, result in an ever-growing mass of data, which in many cases is still waiting for appropriate consideration. Moreover, the accumulation of data is going faster than the development of algorithms for their systematic evaluation. Data and methods integration is indispensable for the acquiring a systematic as well as a systemic view. In addition to the huge amount of molecular or genetic components of a biological system, the even larger number of their interactions constitutes the enormous complexity of processes occurring in a living cell (organ, organism). In systems biology, these interactions are represented by networks. Transcriptional or, more generally, gene regulatory networks are being generated from experimental ChIPseq data, by reverse engineering from transcriptomics data, or from computational predictions of transcription factor (TF) – target gene relations. While transcriptional networks are now available for many biological systems, mathematical models to simulate their dynamic behavior have been successfully developed for metabolic and, to some extent, for signaling networks, but relatively rarely for gene regulatory networks. Systems biology approaches provide new perspectives that raise new questions. Some of them address methodological problems, others arise from the newly obtained understanding of the data. These open questions and problems are also a subject of this Research Topic.


An accurate estimate of nutrient release pattern from controlled release fertilizer (CRF) is required both for manufactures as well for farmers because it helps them in understanding fertilizer potency and nutrient planning for the crops. Understanding the release pattern of different types of CRF under laboratory conditions as well as in the crop-field is essential in order to determine the fertilizer utilization efficiency on plant growth. The present work explains a simple experimental approach to understand the nutrient release from Neem coated urea (NCU). The coating of Urea with Neem oil (derived from seeds and leaves) inhibit the process of nitrification and reduce formation of nitrates which in-turn will reduce N2O emissions. It prevents the loss of urea in the soil. It also controls a large number of pests such as caterpillars, beetles, leafhoppers, borer, mites etc. Also Neem coating is biodegradable and so it is environment friendly as compared to many non biodegradable polymers used as coating materials in CRF.UV-Vis spectrometer is employed to determine the amount of nitrogen released. The approach reduced analytical error by preventing sample dilution before measuring. According to laboratory results obtained UV-Vis spectrometer proved to be a handy and efficient equipment for studying the nutrient release behavior from CRF. The release profile presents a sigmoidal shape which is in good agreement from the other works in the area reported in the literature. The experimental results obtained are also in tune with the criteria specified by European Committee for Standardization for CRF.


– The use of capability maturity model integration (CMMI) on its own can be problematic for the organisation because it does not provide a roadmap to implementation or identification of key process improvement areas, but instead only provides the goals for each level of implementation. Addition of another framework such as control objectives for information and related technology (CoBIT) can add the required operational data, but poses some unique challenges for implementation. However, the integration of Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL), CoBIT, and ISO/IEC 22007 provides a roadmap to the integration of CMMI and CoBIT. The purpose of this paper is to discuss this co‐implementation and integration of the two frameworks, as well as the underlying framework of a new proposed integration model., – A literature review approach is used to address issues that have evolved from the empirical literature regarding the integration of CMMI and ITIL with other standards and determining whether this approach can be applied to the integration of CMMI and CoBIT as well. This literature review also provides insight into roadblocks to the implementation and structural improvements for CMMI., – The literature review demonstrated that the integration of CMMI and CoBIT could potentially be performed using the same techniques used in integrating ITIL and CoBIT, which provides a valuable guideline for further research into this area. However, further work will be required in order to determine the specifics of integration., – The paper adds to the existing literature by discussing the integration of CMMI and CoBIT and examining how these two frameworks can work together in order to create the basis for a new integration model.


This paper presents a comprehensive survey on filtering-based defense mechanisms against distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks. Several filtering techniques are analyzed and their advantages and disadvantages are presented. In order to help network security analysts choose the most appropriate mechanism according to their security requirements, a comparative classification of these methods is provided. The relevant research efforts are identified and discussed for rendering the current state of the art in the literature. This classification will also serve researchers to address weaknesses of these filtering methods, and thus mitigate DDoS attacks using more effective defense mechanisms.


Adsorption using solid sorbents is recognized to be attractive to complement or replace the current absorption technology for CO2 capture due to its low energy requirement. However, the development of new highly specific CO2 adsorbent is necessary: a solution is represented by fine materials, whose properties can be tuned at a molecular level by means of functionalization processes to tailor their CO2 capture performance. Another point to be addressed is the adoption of an adequate reactor configuration, which can, on one hand, fully exploit the potential and properties of these new-concept adsorbent materials by maximizing the contact between the CO2 molecules and the adsorbent particles, and, on the other hand, improve the heat transfer. In this respect, a fluidized bed could be a good solution, due to larger gas-solid contact efficiency, higher rate of mass and heat transfer and lower pressure drops. In particular, a more suitable reactor configuration is a sound assisted fluidized bed, namely provided with a system for the generation of acoustic vibrations to overcome the high interparticles forces characterizing fine powders. On these bases, the present PhD thesis focuses on the CO2 capture process by temperature swing adsorption on fine porous materials in a sound assisted fluidized bed.
In order to perform adsorption/desorption tests, a laboratory scale sound assisted fluidized bed experimental rig has been set up. It is equipped with a system for the sound generation and with a continuous analyzer for the CO2 concentration measurement in the effluent gas stream. For the regeneration tests the reactor is externally heated by an ad-hoc designed heating jacket, provided with a window to allow the fluidization quality to be visually assessed. Both common adsorbent materials, two activated carbons, zeolite HZSM-5 and zeolite 13X, and a highly specific adsorbent material, a metal organic framework HKUST-1, were used.
The experimental results show that the application of the sound can improve the fluidization quality as well as the adsorption efficiency (by maximizing the gas-solid contact) of all the selected adsorbent materials in terms of remarkably higher breakthrough time, adsorption capacity, fraction of bed utilized until breakthrough and adsorption rate. The experimental campaign has been also carried out, at ambient temperature and atmospheric pressure, in order to highlight the effect of some operating variables on the adsorption performances, i.e. sound intensity (120-140dB) and frequency (20-300Hz), CO2 partial pressure (0.05-0.15atm) and fluidization velocity (0.1-4.5cm/s). In particular, increasing sound intensities yield better adsorption performances, whereas, sound frequency has a not monotone effect on the fluidization quality and adsorption efficiency. The CO2 capture capacity increases with CO2 partial pressure, coherently with the partial pressure being the thermodynamic driving force of the adsorption process. Finally, the dependence of the breakthrough time on the contact time is linear for the tests performed in ordinary conditions, whereas, it is not monotone for the sound assisted tests. At the end of the experimental campaign, all the investigated adsorbent materials have been compared and their different adsorption behaviours explained on the basis of their textural properties. In particular, it has been found that there is a specific pore size range, 8-12 A, which is the key factor affecting the adsorption capacity of the studied materials under the investigated operating conditions.
Desorption tests have been performed on the materials characterized by the best adsorption performances, the HKUST-1 and one activated carbon at atmospheric pressure. In particular, an extra-situ regeneration strategy (150°C under a vacuum of 50mbar) has been developed to study the stability of HKUST-1 to cyclic adsorption/desorption operations, since HKUST-1 presents problems of thermal stability, limiting the desorption temperature to be used in a temperature swing adsorption process. The results show that HKUST-1 is very stable, keeping its adsorption performances over 10 adsorption/desorption cycles. As regards the activated carbon, two strategy of temperature swing adsorption have been tested in the sound assisted fluidized bed. The first regeneration strategy is an isothermal purge consisting in combining the effect of increasing temperature and decreasing CO2 partial pressure. The second regeneration strategy, heating and purge, consists in separating the thermal effect from the purging one. The application of the sound makes it possible, from one hand, to remarkably increase the desorption rate and, on the other, to significantly enrich the recovered CO2 stream. CO2 recovery and purity have opposing trends: higher desorption times yield a higher CO2 recovery, but lead to a lower CO2 purity of the desorbing stream. The desorption rate is positively affected by both desorption temperature (25-150°C) and N2 purge flow rate (45.2-90.4Nl h-1). The purity of the recovered CO2 stream is increased by increasing desorption temperatures, whereas, it is not affected by change of the N2 purge flow rate since dilution does not depend on the purge flow rate but only on the purge volume.
The results obtained show that heating is very effective since 80% of the captured CO2 can be can be recovered with a 100% purity at a bland desorption temperature of 130°C. It is worth noting that for each desorption temperature the heating and purge strategy always makes it possible to enrich the stream of CO2 recovered with respect to the standard purge strategy, the CO2 recovery level being the same. The possibility to use the activated carbon in a cyclic operation has been also assessed: it is very stable, keeping its adsorption performances over 16 adsorption/desorption cycle.
Finally, considerations about the energy cost and scale-up of the proposed technology for CO2 capture by temperature swing adsorption have also been reported.


China's rapid growth over the past decade has been one of the main drivers of the rise in mineral commodity demand and prices. At a time when concerns about the sustainability of China's growth model are rising, this paper assesses to what extent a hard landing in China would impact other countries, with a focus on trade and commodity price channels. After reviewing the main arguments pointing to a hard landing scenario – historical rebalancing precedents, overinvestment, unsustainable debt trends, and a growing real estate bubble – we focus on a sample of 36 countries, and use a global VAR methodology adapted to conditional forecasting to simulate the impact of a Chinese hard landing. We model metal and oil markets separately to account for their different end-use patterns and consumption intensity in China, and we identify three specific transmission channels to net commodity exporters: through real exports, through income effects (related to commodity prices), and through investment (a fall in commodity prices reducing incentives to invest in the mining and energy sectors); we also look at the role played by the exchange rate as a shock absorber. According to our estimates, emerging economies (ex. China) would be hardest hit – with a 7.5 percent cumulated growth loss after five years –, in particular in South-East Asia but also in commodity-exporting regions such as Latin America; advanced economies would be less affected. The "growth gap" between emerging and advanced economies would be considerably reduced, leading to partial recoupling.


An analytical model has been developed for calculating the open-circuit time-varying magnetic field distribution in the airgap/magnet/retaining sleeve region of a brushless permanent magnet motor equipped with diametrically magnetised magnets. It accounts for the stator slotting and curvature, as well as for parasitic eddy currents induced in the retaining sleeve and magnets. The analytically predicted time-varying field distribution in the different regions is compared with corresponding finite element predictions.


System-in-Package (SiP) technology provides a valuable opportunity to make products with smaller form factor, enrich functionality, and better reliability performance for consumer electronics. One key reason for SiP's success is the encapsulated structure using molding compound, which can provide protection to all the components inside and allows reduced component-to-component spacing. However, if the design or the manufacturing process have flaws, failures can also occur inside of SiP, and engineers have to spend more effort and time to conduct fault isolation, understand the root cause, and make related corrective actions. In this regard, failure risks not only occur at SiP module level. It can also happen in the final product level when assembled the SiP into it. Therefore, a comprehensive risk analysis, design and manufacturing assessment plan and an effective validation method at an early stage of the SiP development is extremely critical. This paper discusses two typical types of SiP failures. By using these two failure modes as an example, the methodology to identify and mitigate such risks early in the product development process will be demonstrated.


Summary The effect of combined α- and β-adrenergic blockade with phenoxybenzamine and propranolol, respectively, on changes in left ventricular myocardial oxygen consumption and blood flow during nicotine administration (36 μg/kg/min, i.v.) was evaluated in anesthetized, open-chest dogs. Myocardial blood flow was estimated by injection of 8 to 10 μm diameter radioactive microspheres into the left atrium, and myocardial oxygen consumption was computed from the Fick principle. Before adrenergic blockade, nicotine caused a marked (+151%) elevation in myocardial oxygen consumption and a parallel increase in myocardial blood flow. The increase in myocardial blood flow was uniform transmurally. These cardiac changes were accompanied by elevations in systemic arterial and left atrial pressures, peripheral vascular resistance, and heart rate, but by no change in aortic flow or in myocardial contractility. After adrenergic blockade, nicotine caused somewhat lesser, though still marked, elevations in myocardial oxygen consumption (+60%) and blood flow (+43%). Again, myocardial blood flow increases were uniform transmurally. Also, nicotine-induced increases in systemic arterial and left atrial pressure and in peripheral vascular resistance persisted after adrenergic blockade, whereas heart rate remained constant and aortic flow and myocardial contractility declined. The results indicate that nonadrenergic mechanisms contribute significantly to the increase in myocardial oxygen demand during nicotine infusion.


We report the synthesis and characterization of a bis-dibenzothiophene cyclic dimer containing bis-ethylene linkages (DBT-CM) and of the corresponding mono-ethylene-linked 'linear' cis- and trans-isomers (ciscisciscis- and transtranstrans-DBT-LM, respectively). The varied molecular architectures lead to notable differences both in terms of the solid-state packing and the molecular electronic and optical properties. X-ray crystallography reveals that the cyclic architecture of DBT-CM leads to a more densely packed stacking configuration that imparts stronger intermolecular electronic coupling for both hole and electron transport amongst adjacent molecules, while characterization of the thin-film morphology and crystallinity uncovers important temperature-dependent properties of the films as a function of the molecular architecture. Moreover, the redox, electronic structure, and optical properties of DBT-CM vary distinctly from those of its linear counterparts. The intramolecular reorganization energies for hole and electron transport for DBT-CM are markedly smaller than the linear counterparts, while the dispersion for the highest valence band (and the intermolecular electronic coupling for hole transport) is the largest for the series. The more favorable molecular packing/morphology characteristics and charge-transport properties (within the Marcus framework) of DBT-CM manifest themselves in thin-film field-effect transistor studies, where a field-effect hole-carrier mobility 0.026 cm2 V−1 s−1 is measured, a value one-order-of-magnitude larger than either linear analog.


Droplet-based liquid-liquid extraction in a microchannel was studied, both theoretically and experimentally. A full 3D mathematical model, incorporating convection and diffusion in all spatial directions along with the velocity profile, was developed to depict the governing transport characteristics of droplet-based microfluidics. The finite elements method, as the most common macroscale simulation technique, was used to solve the set of differential equations regarding conservation of moment, mass and solute concentration in a two-domain system coupled by interfacial surface of droplet-based flow pattern. The model was numerically verified and validated online by following the concentrations of a solute in two phases within the microchannel. The relative azobenzene concentration profiles in a methanol/n-octane two-phase system at different positions along the channel length were retrieved by means of a thermal lens microscopic (TLM) technique coupled to a microfluidic system, which gave results of high spatial and temporal resolution. Very good agreement between model calculations and online experimental data was achieved without applying any fitting procedure to the model parameters.


Using a unique firm level data set from the Chinese manufacturing sector, this paper analyses the impact of production subsidies on firms' export performance. It documents robust evidence that production subsidies stimulate export activity, although this effect is conditional on firm characteristics. In particular, the beneficial impact of subsidies is found to be more pronounced amongst profit-making firms, firms in capital intensive industries and those with previous exporting experience. Compared to firm characteristics, the extent of heterogeneity across ownership structure (SOEs, collectives and privately-owned firms) proves to be relatively less important. JEL classification: F1, O2, P3


Integrating enzymatic treatment and acid hydrolysis potentially improves the economics of cellulose nanocrystal (CNC) production and demonstrates a sustainable cellulosic ethanol co-generation strategy. In this study, the effect of enzymatic treatment on filter paper and wood pulp fibers, and CNCs generated via subsequent acid hydrolysis were assessed. Characterization was performed using a pulp quality monitoring system, scanning and transmission electron microscopies, dynamic light scattering, X-ray diffraction, and thermogravimetric analysis. Enzymatic treatment partially reduced fiber length, but caused swelling, indicating simultaneous fragmentation and layer erosion. Preferential hydrolysis of less ordered cellulose by cellulases slightly improved the crystallinity index of filter paper fiber from 86% to 88%, though no change was observed for wood pulp fibre. All CNC colloids were stable with zeta potential values below −39 mV and hydrodynamic diameters ranging from 205 to 294 nm. Furthermore, the temperature for the peak rate of CNC thermal degradation was generally not affected by enzymatic treatment. These findings demonstrate that CNCs of comparable quality can be produced from an enzymatically-mediated acid hydrolysis biorefining strategy that co-generates fermentable sugars for biofuel production.


The increase in one-person household (OPHs) in the developed world is often seen as the result of a trend where family solidarity is replaced by individualistic values and behaviours where the Nordic countries have been identified as forerunners in this development. In Asia, countries such as Japan have reached equal levels of economic development but retain elements of a strong family system and exhibit a much more asymmetric gender regime.This study compares the changes in the demographic and socioeconomic composition of OPH women in Sweden and Japan between 1990 and 2016. The probability to be an OPH-household is analysed by means of logistic regression models using microdata covering the entire population in Sweden and the Comprehensive Survey of Living Conditions in Japan.In Sweden, the growth of the female OPH-population has halted and shifted to a decline compared to Japan where it has increased rapidly since the 1990s. The analysis finds increasing similarities between the countries in the age patterns and urban-rural differences while persistent contrast in the impact of women's socioeconomic status and family history remain salient. The findings provide evidence that the transformation of women's economic role does not result in an ever-increasing shift towards "less" family. Rather, living arrangements depend on the extent to which gender regime adapts to increased economic self-sufficiency among women. These findings highlight the need for preparedness for continued increases of the OPH population among policy makers in economically developed strong family societies such as Japan.


The aim of this study was to compare soil animal communities in planted birch (Betula pendula) stands of different origin with each other and with natural forests. Six 30-year-old birch stands were investigated, three planted after clear-cutting of spruce stands, and three planted on cultivated soil. The faunal communities were markedly different in plantations established on spruce forest soil and on arable soil. "Birch after Spruce" communities were relatively similar to those of coniferous forests, though the population densities were generally lower. "Birch after Field" communities were sparse and could be characterised as "impoverished forest communities", except in Lumbricidae and Enchytraeidae that have affinities with deciduous forests and cultural landscapes. Soil conditions are not sufficient to explain the differences between the forests. Colonisation and transport by man may determine the presence of certain species, especially earthworms. These in turn affect soil properties, and compete with or otherwise have negative effects on other soil fauna. Thus the community differences between different forests are an outcome of several factors: soil characteristics, site history, colonisation ability and interspecific interactions.


Renewable generation and energy storage systems are technologies which evoke the future energy paradigm. While these technologies have reached their technological maturity, the way they are integrated and operated in the future smart grids still presents several challenges. Microgrids appear as a key technology to pave the path towards the integration and optimized operation in smart grids. However, the optimization of microgrids considered as a set of subsystems introduces a high degree of complexity in the associated control problem. Model Predictive Control (MPC) is a control methodology which has been satisfactorily applied to solve complex control problems in the industry and also currently it is widely researched and adopted in the research community. This paper reviews the application of MPC to microgrids from the point of view of their main functionalities, describing the design methodology and the main current advances. Finally, challenges and future perspectives of MPC and its applications in microgrids are described and summarized.


Abstract The Juniata Formation comprises Upper Ordovician sandstone and mudstone that crops out in the Appalachian region of the eastern United States from Pennsylvania to Tennessee. An outcrop at Potters Mills, central Pennsylvania, has previously been attributed to a terrestrial environment. Because this outcrop contains numerous sub-vertical burrows and evidence for pedogenesis, it has regularly been cited as the oldest evidence for several aspects of continental ecosystem development, including the first evidence for terrestrial infauna and animal-plant interactions. We present evidence from both original fieldwork and published literature that collectively sheds considerable doubt on previous interpretations. The evidence suggests that the Juniata Formation at Potters Mills was deposited in a marginal marine setting and, as such, no evidence for early life on land can be inferred from its strata. This has significant implications for the numerous studies that have cited the Juniata Formation as providing a key record of early terrestrial evolution. Removing it from the dataset of studies that deal with the history of life on land, we conclude that currently the majority of fossil evidence from localities worldwide supports the appearance of terrestrial infauna and animal-plant interactions in the Silurian–Devonian.


: Under study was the SDG activity in human heart neurons in postnatal ontogensis. Succinic dehydrogenase was revealed with nitrablue tetrazole after Nachlas, quantitative measurements in preparations were made in a cytospectrophotometer. A regular developmental increase in the SDG activity in human heart neurons was established to have certain fluctuations in different age periods. The most intensive growth of the enzyme activity was found in early childhood, youth and senile age which is related to physiological state of the organism and the cardio-vascular activity.


Chemically controlling crystal structures in nanoscale is challenging, yet provides an effective way to improve catalytic performances. Pt-based nanoframes are a new class of nanomaterials that have great potential as high-performance catalysts. To date, these nanoframes are formed through acid etching in aqueous solutions, which demands long reaction time and often yields ill-defined surface structures. Herein we demonstrate a robust and unprecedented protocol for facile development of high-performance nanoframe catalysts using size and crystallographic facet-controlled PtNi4 tetrahexahedral nanocrystals prepared through a colloidal synthesis approach as precursors. This new protocol employs the Mond process to preferentially dealloy nickel component in the ⟨100⟩ direction through carbon monoxide etching of carbon-supported PtNi4 tetrahexahedral nanocrystals at an elevated temperature. The resultant Pt3Ni alloy tetrahexahedral nanoframes possess an open, stable, and high-indexed microstructure, containing a segregated Pt thin layer strained to the Pt-Ni alloy surfaces and featuring a down-shift d-band center as revealed by the density functional theory calculations. These nanoframes exhibit much improved catalytic performance, such as high stability under prolonged electrochemical potential cycles, promoting direct electro-oxidation of formic acid to carbon dioxide and enhancing oxygen reduction reaction activities. Because carbon monoxide can be generated from the carbon support through thermal annealing in air, a common process for pretreating supported catalysts, the developed approach can be easily adopted for preparing industrial scale catalysts that are made of Pt-Ni and other alloy nanoframes.


Plant extracts and phytochemicals may prevent chronic diseases via activation of adaptive cellular stress response pathways including induction of antioxidant and phase II detoxifying enzymes. The regulatory regions of these inducible genes encode the electrophile-response element (EpRE). This study tested the EpRE induction ability of Maerua subcordata (fruit, leaf, root, seed) methanol extracts and selected candidate constituents thereof, identified by liquid chromatography coupled with multistage mass spectroscopy, employing an EpRE luciferase reporter gene assay using hepa-1c1c7 mouse hepatoma cells. A parallel Cytotox CALUX assay using human osteosarcoma U2OS cells was used to monitor any non-specific changes in luciferase activity or cytotoxicity. Results showed that fruit, root, and seed extracts were non-cytotoxic up to a concentration of 30 gram dry weight per litre but the leaf extract exhibited some cytotoxicity and that the leaf (despite some cytotoxicity), fruit, and seed extracts showed strong induction of EpRE mediated gene expression while induction by the root extract was minimal. Selected candidates included glucosinolates, isothiocyanates, and some biogenic amines. Subsequent studies showed that methyl-, ethyl-, isopropyl-, isobutyl- isothiocyanates, and sec-butyl thiocyanate as well as glucobrassicin induced concentration (1–100 μM) dependent EpRE-mediated gene expression while the biogenic amines stachydrine and trigonelline acted as inhibitors of EpRE-mediated gene expression at 100 μM. The identification of glucolepidiin, glucobrassicin, glucocapparin, stachydrine, and trigonelline in all extracts was confirmed using standards and based on multiple reaction monitoring; yet, glucobrassicin level in the root extract was negligible. In conclusion, this study provided a first report on EpRE mediated gene expression effects of M. subcordata; and despite detection of different glucosinolates in all extracts, those containing glucobrassicin particularly displayed high EpRE induction. Because EpRE inducers are cytoprotective and potential chemopreventive agents while inhibitors are suggested adjuvants of chemotherapy, results of this study imply that process manipulation of this plant may result in herbal preparations that may be used as chemopreventive agents or adjuvants of chemotherapies.


Abstract GPS satellite observations at the Faculty of Mining Surveying and Environmental Engineering AGH-UST are conducted since the early 90s of the last century. In 2001, efforts have been made on getting permanently functioning GPS station. At present, observatory is EPN operational center for two GNSS stations KRAW and KRA1. Moreover, KRA1 station is one of fundamental control points in polish horizontal network. The article gives the history and scope of the research carried out in the satellite observatory AGH-UST during the period 2001 - 2015.


During pregnancy, the liver undergoes metabolic adjustments directed to fulfil the needs of the mother and the growing fetus. This study was designed to verify whether relaxin, a hormone related to pregnancy, may induce histochemical and ultrastructural modifications of hepatocytes which can be related to metabolic changes. Estrogen-primed female rats were treated with relaxin (10 microg in repository vehicle) for 18 h. Additional male rats were treated with relaxin (10 microg/day in PBS) for 4 days. Appropriate vehicle-treated rats were used as controls. After fasting, the rats were killed and liver fragments were processed for light and electron microscopy and for computer-assisted morphometry of PAS-positive glycogen deposits and acid phosphatase-reactive organelles. In both sexes, the relaxin-treated rats underwent a significant decrease in the amount of glycogen in the hepatocytes as compared with the controls. These changes were accompanied by an increase in smooth endoplasmic reticulum, endocytosis vesicles and lysosomes. These findings show that relaxin promotes glycogen depletion and induces morphological changes of hepatocytes which are consistent with functional activation. It is suggested that relaxin might play an important role in hepatic metabolic adjustments occurring during pregnancy.


Mid-Infrared optofluidics based silicon sensor platforms are demonstrated. Silicon is a great candidate for mid-infrared optofluidics for the following reasons: (1) Silicon has a broad transmission window up to 7 um (2) Silicon offers CMOS compatible and monolithic fabrication (3) Silicon has high chemical resistance that can withstand high temperature, acid/base solution and organic solvents. (4) Silicon is a non-toxic environmentally friendly material. The fabricated mid-infrared optofluidic sensor can replace bulky instruments, such as FTIR, with a lab-on-a-chip system, while achieving much higher sensitivity.


Pancreatic duct obliteration is a procedure to abolish exocrine secretion in order to prevent complications such as leakage, abscess and fistula occurring formation after diversion techniques like pancreatico-enterostomy. Pancreatic duct obliteration is applicable after all sorts of partial pancreatic resections, pancreas transplantation included. Although the method is safe, experiments have shown that not only complete exocrine atrophy is induced, but that also the endocrine architecture is destroyed. In dogs, the destruction of islet architecture leads to about 70% reduction of the insulin secreting capacity. It is not known whether such a severe reduction of endocrine function also occurs after pancreatic duct obliteration in man. This would discard duct obliteration as a procedure suitable for pancreas transplantation, since optimal endocrine pancreas function is the aim of pancreas transplantation in patients suffering from type-I diabetes mellitus.


In this present study, we prepared selenium-enriched food sprouts, where the antioxidant capacity was analyzed, and we also determined their microbiological status. When we were about to decide which micronutrients to use during treatments, we took into account the fact that we can take in only a small amount of selenium by consuming food. During our research we wanted the following question to be answered: If sprouts are treated with increasing concentration of selenium, does it have any effect on the original antioxidant capacity of the sprouts, which is mainly due to high vitamin content of sprouts. Furthermore, we think it is important to make microbiological analysis, because germination conditions, for example temperature, pH, all this will create an ideal environment for the growth of microorganisms. So our goal was to determine how the selenium concentration that affects the total plate count, coliform bacteria count and Staphylococcus aureus count of sprouts. We determined the aboriginal antioxidant capacity of sprout with the PHOTOCHEM chemiluminometer and we applied pour plate technique for the mapping of the mycrobiological state of sprouts. Experimental results are evaluated, that increasing concentrations of selenite or selenate treatment had an effect primarily on water-soluble antioxidant capacity of sprouts. The water-soluble antioxidant capacity of wheat sprout was much higher than the measured values in pea sprout, this may be linked to what we measured. That is much higher ascorbic acid content in the case of wheat sprout, which is well known as one of the most important compounds with antioxidant properties of wheat sprout. As a result of microbiological research we come to the conclusion, that the highest concentrations of selenite or selenate treatment have a relative significant anti-microbial effect in the case of wheat sprouts. Coliform and total plate count showed no clear decreasing tendency, although the values of treatments in both cases were below the control values.


"The potential utilization of cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs) as reinforcing materials has lately attracted significant research attention. This is mainly due to their versatility and suitability for various applications in fields such as food packaging, cosmetics, biomaterials and pharmaceuticals. Several methods have been reported in the literature for isolating CNCs from plant sources, including acid hydrolysis, mechanical treatment and enzymatic hydrolysis, resulting in CNCs with different dimensions, crystallinities and thermal stabilities. However, acid hydrolysis using sulphuric acid (H2SO4) remains the favourite, as it requires shorter time and produces a stable suspension, with high crystallinity, compared to other methods. Sulphuric acid hydrolysis is generally performed with 64% acid concentration, with varying acid to fibre ratios, at temperatures around 45-50 °C, for 30-75 min duration under vigorous stirring. It typically produces needle-like structures, with the diameter and length in the range of 4–25 nm and 100–300 nm, respectively. This review analyses the results reported in the literature regarding the influence of hydrolysis parameters on the extraction of CNCs from various cellulosic materials. The study examines various hydrolysis parameters, specifically extraction time, temperature and acid concentration, to isolate CNCs with controlled morphology, crystallinity and thermal stability."


: This article is based upon a research project on behalf of the Dutch ministry of Welfare, Health and Cultural Affairs. It will give the reader an overview of the main effects of intensive-care neonatology mainly on the basis of a literature research. In this article medical, psycho-social, economic, legal and ethical effects have successively been investigated. The major findings from existing published work in the neonatal field are discussed, highlighting some of the unresolved issues. Finally, some conclusions are drawn and some suggestions for further research are made.


BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: It is important to try to clarify the methodology of vertebroplasty such as amount of cement needed, how many needles to use and the significance of cement extravasation. This prospective study evaluated the potential of vertebroplasty to increase the likelihood of an adjacent vertebral compression fracture (VCF) 1 year or less after vertebroplasty, the correlation between the cement volumes injected and pain relief, and the consequences of cement extravasation. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Pain relief and the incidence of a subsequent fracture of adjacent vertebrae 1 year or less after vertebroplasty were evaluated in 357 patients (660 vertebrae) of mean age 77.5 years with osteoporotic VCFs. The correlation between cement volume and pain relief was assessed with a Pearson correlation coefficient; factors potentially predictive of subsequent adjacent VCFs were explored by multiple logistic regression analysis. RESULTS: Refracture of any vertebrae (adjacent or nonadjacent to the primary fracture) occurred in 18% of the patients 1 year or less after vertebroplasty. Refracture of adjacent vertebrae occurred 1 year or less after vertebroplasty in 12% of the patients. Neither cement volume nor extravasation of cement into the intravertebral disk was a significant predictor of adjacent VCFs. No correlation was found between cement volume and pain relief (r = −0.029). Extravasation of cement into the veins, soft tissue, or disk was observed in 33% of all of the treated VCFs and resulted in no complications. CONCLUSIONS: The incidence of an adjacent VCF 1 year or less after vertebroplasty was comparable with that expected for untreated osteoporotic VCFs. Neither the volume of cement injected nor extravasation of cement into the intravertebral disk affected the likelihood of subsequent adjacent VCFs. Cement volume did not correlate with pain relief.


This study intended to provide insights on the determinant attributes of The Farm at San Benito Hippocrates Health Resort of Asia. The main objective was to determine the comparison and the gap between the management and guests' perceptions. To understand the existing conditions, descriptive and qualitative research designs were adopted focusing on the perceptions of the management and guests. Data were collected through interview. Findings showed that the determinant attributes as perceived by the management and guests of the farm were the amenities that include services and facilities and the ambiance that includes landscape and tropical climate. The study came up with several recommendations to the management for the improvement of the farm. First, they should consider the reconstruction of the room Sulu Terrace for the guests; second, they should provide reflectorized warning signs along the way to the farm, they should also inform the guests how long will it take them to reach the location; third, they should hire lifeguards; fourth, they should inform the local government officials to provide streetlights in the place for the safety of everybody; and last, they should expand and improve more the positions of their light posts.


The paradox of hyperosmolarity of the extracellular fluid and reduced urinary excretion of sodium and chloride is frequently encountered in persons who have suffered head trauma. We have recently successfully treated this complication with posterior pituitary extract in a patient who had sustained a severe head injury. Evidence is presented to suggest that the electrolyte disturbance was the result of the development of diabetes insipidus. Diabetes insipidus resulting in hypernatremia in a patient with brain damage was first discussed by Peters.1 Report of Case A 39-year-old comatose male painter was transferred to the Beth Israel Hospital from the Hale Hospital, Haverhill, Mass., on Jan. 28, 1956. Eight days previously he had fallen 14 ft. from a scaffolding and struck the right frontal portion of his skull on a concrete surface. He had been unconscious from the time of the fall. Examination at the Hale Hospital had revealed bleeding from


Structures for Lossless Ion Manipulation (SLIM) represent a novel class of ion optical devices based upon electrodes patterned on planar surfaces, and relying on a combined action of radiofrequency and DC electric fields and specific buffer gas density conditions. Initial experimental studies have demonstrated the feasibility of the SLIM concept. This report offers an in-depth consideration of key ion dynamics properties in such devices based upon ion optics theory and computational modeling. The SLIM devices investigated are formed by two surfaces, each having an array of radiofrequency (RF) "rung" electrodes, bordered by DC "guard" electrodes. Ion motion is confined by the RF effective potential in the direction orthogonal to the boards and limited or controlled in the transversal direction by the guard DC potentials. Ions can be efficiently trapped and stored in SLIM devices where the confinement of ions can be "soft" in regard to the extent of collisional activation, similarly to RF-only multipole ion guides and traps. The segmentation of the RF rung electrodes and guards along the axis makes it possible to apply static or transient electric field profiles to stimulate ion transfer within a SLIM. In the case of a linear DC gradient applied to RF rungs and guards, a virtually uniform electric field can be created along the axis of the device, enabling high quality ion mobility separations.


Performance, protein synthesis and mucosal DNA in small intestine of Leghorn hens may be affected by low quality feedstuff. An experiment was conducted in completely randomized design (CRD) in 2 × 2 factorial arrangement. Main factors included diets containing 20 and 40 % barley and black and blue strains of leghorn. Layer performance was recorded weekly up to eight weeks. Egg production (%), egg mass and egg number were significantly higher in black strain leghorn on 20% barley diet than blue strain with 40% barley diet (P<0.05). Treatments blue × 40% barley and black × 20% barley showed lowest and highest egg production percentage, egg mass and egg number, respectively (P<0.05). The lowest protein synthesis in small intestine was shown in blue × 40% barley treatment group. Small intestine mucosal DNA quantity in blue strain was significantly higher than that in black strain (P<0.05). In contrast, protein synthesis in blue strain was lower than that in black strain (P<0.05). It was concluded that lower performance in blue × 40% treatment group could be related to lower protein synthesis in small intestine in blue strain, and this may be due to the high barley (40%) contained in diet.


Background: Significant functional impairment of the hands is nearly universal in systemic sclerosis (SSc, scleroderma). Hand exercises may improve hand function, but developing, testing and disseminating rehabilitation interventions in SSc is challenging. The Scleroderma Patient-centered Intervention Network (SPIN) was established to address this issue and has developed an online hand exercise program to improve hand function for SSc patients (SPIN-HAND). The aim of the proposed feasibility trial is to evaluate the feasibility of conducting a full-scale randomized controlled trial (RCT) of the SPIN-HAND intervention. Design and methods: The SPIN-HAND feasibility trial will be conducted via the SPIN Cohort. The SPIN Cohort was developed as a framework for embedded pragmatic trials using the cohort multiple RCT design. In total, 40 English-speaking SPIN Cohort participants with at least mild hand function limitations (Cochin Hand Function Scale ≥3) and an indicated interest in using an online hand-exercise intervention will be randomized with a 1:1 ratio to be offered to use the SPIN-HAND program or usual care for 3 months. The primary aim is to evaluate the trial implementation processes, required resources and management, scientific aspects, and participant acceptability and usage of the SPIN-HAND program. Discussion: The SPIN-HAND exercise program is a self-help tool that may improve hand function in patients with SSc. The SPIN-HAND feasibility trial will ensure that trial methodology is robust, feasible, and consistent with trial participant expectations. The results will guide adjustments that need to be implemented before undertaking a full-scale RCT of the SPIN-HAND program. Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT03092024.


Tissue-engineering scaffold-based strategies have suffered from limited cell depth viability when cultured in vitro, with viable cells existing within the outer 250-500μm from the fluid-scaffold interface. This is primarily believed to be due to the lack of nutrient delivery into and waste removal from the inner regions of the scaffold construct. Other issues associated with porous scaffolds involve poor seeding efficiencies and limited cell penetration resulting in heterogeneous cellular distributions. This work focuses on the development a novel hydroxyapatite multi-domain porous scaffold architecture (i.e. a scaffold providing a discrete domain for cell occupancy and a separate domain for nutrient delivery) with the specific objectives of embodying in one scaffold the structures required to optimise cell seeding, cell proliferation and migration and potentially to facilitate vascularisation once implanted in vivo. This paper presents the development of the multidomain architecture and preliminary results on cell viability which show a significant improvement in cell viability in the scaffold interiors.


A quantum dot is a quantum system in classical space with unique characteristics, as a result of a large quantum limitation. The experimental results of this chapter substantiate the ability of quantum dots to play a key role in purely quantum processes, for example, teleportation of quantum objects, and the generation of macroscopic quantum gravity force and, of course, are a qubit in quantum computing. A quantum dot has the ability to capture (capture) a photo-induced charge carrier by a surface defect of its crystal structure and, thereby, create a second stable long-lived quantum state, which is a necessary requirement for a qubit. This ability puts a quantum dot out of competition with respect to many other quantum objects, like qubits, in terms of the simplicity and cheapness of their continuous generation in standard laboratory conditions. Quantum dots have received wide recognition because of their unique exciton luminescence characteristics; this chapter substantiates a fundamentally new area to use quantum dots in the development and study of both fundamental and applied physics.