In this paper, we study the wind accretion on to a rotating black hole in a close binary system that harbours a young massive star. It is shown that the angular momentum of the accreted stellar wind material is not sufficient for the formation of an accretion disc. However, in the conditions considered, the Blanford–Znajek mechanism can be activated, and thus powerful jets can be launched in the direction of the rotation axis of the black hole. Importantly, no observational signatures of accretion, as are typically seen from the thermal X-ray emission of accretion discs, are expected in the suggested scenario. Here, the properties of the generated jet are studied numerically in the framework of a two-dimensional general relativity magnetohydrodynamical approach. Because of the accumulation of the magnetic flux at the black hole horizon, the jet power is expected to be modulated on a subsecond time-scale. Although the intervals between the jet active phases depend on the magnetic flux that escapes from the black hole horizon (which can be modelled self-consistently only using a three-dimensional code), a general estimate of the averaged jet power is obtained. It is shown that for the black hole rotation, expected in a stellar binary system (the dimensionless rotation parameter a= 0.5), approximately 5 per cent of the accreted rest energy can be channelled into the jets. In the case of the faster rotation of the black hole, the efficiency is expected to be significantly higher (e.g. for the dimensionless rotation parameter a= 0.95, the jet carries approximately 20 per cent of the accreted rest energy). In the specific case of the gamma-ray binary system LS 5039, the obtained jet luminosity can be responsible for the observed GeV radiation if Doppler boosting is invoked, which can enhance the apparent flux from the system.


Vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) respond to changes in extracellular glucose concentration, and exposure to high glucose promotes VSMC responsiveness to angiotensin II (AngII), which may contribute to the vascular complications associated with diabetes. Konishi and Berk show that only in the presence of high glucose do cultured VSMCs exhibit phosphorylation of the kinases Akt and extracellular signal-regulated kinases (ERK1 and ERK2) in response to AngII. AngII, which binds a heterotrimeric GTP-binding protein (G protein)-coupled receptor, may transactivate epidermal growth factor receptors (EGFRs) to mediate stimulation of the Akt and mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) cascades. The authors found that the glycosylation state of EGFR was altered in response to changes in extracellular glucose concentration or in response to the presence of other metabolizable sugars, but not those that were not metabolizable. A time-dependent increase in the presence of a lower-molecular-weight form of EGFR (145 kD rather than 170 kD) appeared when the cells were cultured in low-glucose medium, consistent with glucose consumption. Furthermore, the 145-kD EGFR was not phosphorylated in response to AngII, which is consistent with finding the cells refractory to AngII when cultured in low-glucose medium. Although the 145-kD EGFR was phosphorylated in response to direct ligand binding by either heparin-binding EGF-like growth factor (HB-EGF) or by transforming growth factor-α (TGF-α), this form of the EGFR was not transactivated by G protein-coupled receptor ligands thrombin or sphingosine 1-phosphate. Thus, low glucose appears to promote a change in the glycosylation of the EGFR that alters the receptor's responsiveness to transactivation. The mechanism for this altered transactivation sensitivity may result from a redistribution of the 145-kD form from membrane microdomains, because cells grown in low-glucose medium showed a loss of EGFR from more dense fractions on sucrose density gradients. Thus, altered glycosylation of the EGFR leading to redistribution of the receptors within the plasma membrane may be a mechanism by which metabolic activity of VSMCs controls EGFR transactivation by physiological ligands, such as AngII. A. Konishi, B. C. Berk, Epidermal growth factor receptor transactivation is regulated by glucose in vascular smooth muscle cells. J. Biol. Chem. 278, 35049-35056 (2003). [Abstract] [Full Text]


We present a detailed study of all-optical signal amplification that exploits the extreme sensitivity of supercontinuum generation to input power fluctuations. As useful signal amplification relies on determinism and correlation between input and output signals, the question naturally arises whether such conditions can be maintained in the presence of modulation instability, which is known to strongly affect the coherence of supercontinuum pulse trains. In order to address this question, the effect of supercontinuum coherence on the amplification of a modulation is investigated when injecting weakly modulated 200-fs input pulses into a photonic crystal fiber. Our study, which is performed for multiple spectral channels across the full bandwidth of the supercontinuum, clearly shows that even in the case of partial coherence, the amplification mechanism based on soliton-dispersive wave coupling can be maintained, allowing for the amplification of weakly modulated signals by factors in excess of 40 dB in the normal dispersion regime.


Promising discoveries about the lifesaving attributes of umbilical cord blood (UCB) stem cells have led to the emergence of public and private cord blood banks throughout Canada. UCB cells are currently used in the treatment of a variety of malignant and non-malignant diseases and for research purposes. (1) There is also much talk of their potential use for the treatment of a broad range of degenerative, hereditary, post-traumatic and central nervous system related conditions. (2) The primary purpose of public UCB banks is to create an inventory of UCB units for unrelated allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplants. The UCB is donated to the bank and the units are made available to suitably matched recipients regionally, nationally or internationally. In contrast, private banks allow parents to store their newborn's cord blood for autologous (use by donor) or familial use. Thus, for a fee, the UCB is stored as a form of 'insurance' in case the child or a matched family member should have a need for it in the future. In Canada, two public banks and at least nine private banks have been established to date. (3) At present, the role that Canada should play in UCB banking remains unclear. Because Canada has a universally accessible healthcare system, public policy makers will soon be confronted with the difficult task of deliberating the merits and economics of establishing a national network of public cord blood banks, as well as deciding on the place of private banking of UCB for autologous use. A policy framework is necessary to guide this decision making. On a regulatory level, the Canadian Standards Association has published standards which are applicable to UCB banking for transplantation: Cells, Tissues, and Organs for Transplantation and Assisted Reproduction: General Requirements, and Lymphohematopoietic Cells for Transplantation. (4) These national standards will be incorporated into Health Canada's new regulations regarding the safety of cells, tissues, and organs for transplantation which are currently being elaborated. (5) In the meantime, Health Canada has released a Directive and a Guidance Document to encourage adherence to basic safety standards. (6) The standards set by accreditation bodies also help to promote the safety of UCB banking practices, although the accreditation process remains voluntary and therefore cannot be relied upon to protect the public] UCB banking in Canada is still in its early stages, and there are many regulatory and policy issues that have yet to be addressed. It is during this period of development that it is crucial to prospectively address the socio-ethical and legal issues surrounding cord blood banking. In this manner, an ethical framework can be elaborated to provide guidance to policy makers seeking to effectively regulate cord blood banking in Canada. This paper aims to provide a selective overview of some of the key socio-ethical and legal issues involved. Four main topics will be broached: 1) public awareness and perceptions relating to UCB banking, 2) the process of informed consent for the collection, donation, processing, storage, and future use of UCB, 3) issues related to ethnic diversity, and 4) the possibility of a national UCB program in Canada. The discussion would be incomplete however, without a brief review of the ethics of private cord blood banking for autologous use. Policymakers cannot chart the future of UCB banking in Canada without taking into account the existence of private banks and their potential role in meeting future clinical needs, as well as their actual and potential contribution to research in this domain. A number of organizations have taken the position that UCB banking for autologous use should be discouraged. (8) The Society of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists of Canada Clinical Practice Guidelines, for example, state that "[c]ollection and long-term storage of umbilical cord blood for autologous donation is not recommended because of the limited indications and lack of scientific evidence to support the practice. …


Two phosphine-stabilised gold clusters, Au101(PPh3)21Cl5 and Au9(PPh3)8(NO3)3, were deposited and activated on anatase TiO2 and fumed SiO2. These catalysts showed an almost complete oxidation of benzyl alcohol (>90%) within 3 hours at 80 °C and 3 bar O2 in methanol with a high substrate-to-metal molar ratio of 5800 and turn-over frequency of 0.65 s−1. Factors influencing catalytic activity were investigated, including metal–support interaction, effects of heat treatments, chemical composition of gold clusters, the size of gold nanoparticles and catalytic conditions. It was found that the anions present in gold clusters play a role in determining the catalytic activity in this reaction, with NO3− diminishing the catalytic activity. High catalytic activity was attributed to the formation of large gold nanoparticles (>2 nm) that coincides with partial removal of ligands which occurs during heat treatment and catalysis. Selectivity towards the formation of methyl benzoate can be tuned by selection of the reaction temperature. The catalysts were characterised using transmission electron microscopy, UV-vis diffuse reflectance spectroscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy.


Curtisia dentata (CD) is a vulnerable medicinal plant used for the treatment of stomach ailments in South Africa. However, there is a lack of sufficient data on its phytochemical components and medicinal properties. The phytochemical analysis of the extract was estimated using standard assay methods while its antibacterial activity was determined by the agar dilution method against selected bacteria. The antioxidant activity of the extract was done using ferric reducing power, 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH), 2,2′-azino-bis-3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic-acid (ABTS), nitric oxide (NO), hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) and lipid peroxidation (LPO). The cytotoxicity assay of the extract was assessed using the brine shrimp lethality test with LC50 value of 0.302 mg/mL. The antibacterial activity of the extract demonstrated an appreciable broad spectrum activity against the tested bacteria with minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) ranges between 5000 and 0.5 mg/L. Both phenol and flavonoid concentrations were 14.86 mg tannic acid equivalent/g and 13.64 mg quercetin equivalent/g, respectively. The percentage composition of saponins (13.26) was highest, followed by steroids (1.42), while alkaloids and tannins had the same value of 0.51. Similarly, IC50 values of the extract against DPPH, ABTS, H2O2, LPO and NO were 0.017, 0.018, 0.159, 0.06 and 0.052 mg/mL, respectively. The reducing power of the extract was found to be concentration dependent. Our data suggest that the 70% ethanol extract from the CD extract has antibacterial and antioxidant properties due to the presence of bio-active compounds and thus support its folkloric use in the treatment of diseases.


The effects of centrally administered tripeptide fragment CRF(4-6) of corticotropin-releasing factor on convulsive activity in outbred albino rats were investigated. The peptide CRF(4-6) (icv; 6, 30, 150 nmol/head) causes dose-dependent increase in total EEG power in 1-40 Hz frequency range as a reflection of tripeptide-induced various epileptiform EEG signs such as single peaks and spike trains without external convulsion. Higher doses of CRF(4-6) (icv; 150, 225, 300 nmol per animal) induce tonicoclonic seizures. Switching to convulsive activity occurs at CRF(4-6) dose of 150 nmol per animal: injection of this dose leads only to EEG paroxysmal activity under habitual conditions and induces pathological locomotor activation under stressing conditions. Thus, CRF(4-6) similarly to full-length corticotropin-releasing factor induces epileptiform activity in rats.


Inflammation or injury of the central nervous system generally results in the activation of brain endothelial cells and a change in the composition and expression of the extracellular matrix (ECM) network of the basal lamina of the brain vasculature. The main contributors to brain damage are interleukin (IL)-1-mediated inflammatory processes. The main aim of this project is to investigate whether the ECM associated with brain endothelial cells is modified in response to ischaemic injury in vitro, and to test the hypothesis that alteration of ECM composition following injury is a critical regulator of IL-1-induced endothelial cell activation. The in vitro blood-brain barrier model used in this thesis was composed of brain endothelial cells and astrocytes and this model displayed classic BBB characteristics. Oxygen-glucose deprivation (OGD) for 2.5 hours followed by 4 hours of reperfusion � 10 ng/ml IL-1? induced changes in rat brain endothelial cell (rBEC) morphology, occludin and ZO-1 distribution and cytokine-induced neutrophil chemoattractant (CINC)-1 release. Immunohistochemistry on brain sections from animals subjected to middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) demonstrated upregulation of laminin ?4 protein following 48 hours and 6 days of reperfusion. Fibronectin expression was also increased in the brain vessels of animals subjected to MCAO following 48 hours of reperfusion. Similarly, 2.5 hours OGD and 2 hours reperfusion �IL-1? induced changes in laminin ?4, ?1 and ?1, type IV collagen ?1 chain and fibronectin mRNA expression in vitro. ECM molecules also influenced rBEC morphology, adhesion, proliferation, organisation and TEER. Integrin ?1 mediated rBEC adhesion to type I collagen, type IV collagen and cellular fibronectin but not laminin-511 and the combination of laminin-411 and -511. Laminin-511 and the combination of laminin-411 and -511 significantly increased CINC-1 release compared to type I collagen. Laminin-411 and -511 also upregulated occludin protein expression and maintained occludin distribution following IL-1? treatment in rBECs. To conclude, ECM associated with brain endothelial cells was modified in response to ischaemic injury �IL-1? in vitro, and vascular ECM proteins altered rBEC activation in response to IL-1?. Therefore, a change in ECM composition following injury is a critical regulator of IL-1-induced endothelial cell activation.


Predictive maintenance of ocean turbines requires ongoing machine condition monitoring (MCM). As part of a reactive system, each piece and type of equipment exhibits both cyclic and transient behaviors, some of which may indicate faults that presage failures. This paper identifies a number of factors that impact reliability and safety of oceanbourne turbines. Fouling, salinity, and inaccessibility of equipment are but a few such factors that set this MCM problem apart from those encountered by wind turbines, hydroelectric plants, or ship hulls and propellers.


Although previous studies have documented a positive link between traditional media and brand performance, how social media is related to brand value has not yet been comprehensively explored. We propose a conceptual model to address this research gap, collecting a unique data set that captures information on user and brand actions on three social media platforms Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube, word-of-mouth, and brand value for 87 brands in 17 industries. We empirically test our model with partial least squares path modeling PLS-PM. First, we test the direct effects and find that user actions on YouTube and brand actions on Facebook have a positive influence on brand value. Second, we enrich our model by including word-of-mouth as a mediator, finding that the effect of social media goes above and beyond pure word-of-mouth spread. We test for alternative models, by first accounting for sample heterogeneity and second by including brand strength as a control variable, finding that the main model results' are indeed robust. Our study demonstrates that making use of social media positively relates to brand value, as well as validates a set of objective metrics to measure social media actions, thus advancing knowledge on social media marketing for both academics and practitioners.


Compared with our ancestors, Western societies today lead a lifestyle that is much more sedentary, probably as a result of cultural changes stemming from modern socio-economic morays. Taking into account differences in body size, our energy expenditure per kilogram of body weight has been estimated to be <40% of that of our prehistoric ancestors.1 Current estimates suggest that 7 out of 10 adults are inactive or lack adequate conditioning,2 and this lack of adequate exercise, combined with dietary indiscretion, has contributed to the worldwide epidemic of obesity and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). Within the USA, data suggest that 64.5% of the adult population is now overweight or obese, with a worldwide prevalence of 40–60%.3–5 Obesity, combined with host factors such as diet, sedentary lifestyle and genetic predisposition, has been directly associated with increases in the prevalence of insulin resistance, diabetes mellitus and the metabolic syndrome. The hepatic manifestation of the metabolic syndrome, NAFLD, has also increased in prevalence, now considered to be around 20–30% in Western countries. Among morbidly obese patients undergoing bariatric surgery, approximately 90% have NAFLD and 36–37% have the more aggressive form of fatty liver, non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH).6 7 In patients with NAFLD, advancing age, increasing weight, the number of features of the metabolic syndrome and the degree of insulin resistance have all been independently associated with NASH severity.8 Evidence-based treatment options for NAFLD are currently lacking. Recent data suggest that the thiazolidinedione class of insulin sensitisers may be efficacious, but widespread utilisation of these agents awaits further investigation.9 Evidence also supports a role for weight loss, achieved through diet and exercise.

The purpose of this review is to describe the currently accepted pathophysiology of NAFLD, to highlight the known dietary and exercise habits of patients with NAFLD, …


New sophisticated haptic-rendering algorithms let users experience virtual objects through touch. We systematically investigate the unrealistic behavior of virtual haptic textures. The emerging science of haptic rendering consists of delivering properties of physical objects through the sense of touch. Owing to the recent development of sophisticated haptic-rendering algorithms, users can now experience virtual objects through touch in many exciting applications, including surgical simulations, virtual prototyping, and data perceptualization. Haptics holds great promise to enrich the sensory attributes of virtual objects that these systems can produce. One area that has received increasing attention in the haptics community is haptic texture rendering, the goal of which is to introduce micro-geometry-scale features on object surfaces. Haptic objects rendered without textures usually feel smooth, and sometimes slippery. Appropriate haptic textures superimposed on haptic objects enhance an object's realism.


This study investigates the P and NO3− adsorption capacities of different biochars made from plant waste including rice straw (RSB), Phragmites communis (PCB), sawdust (SDB), and egg shell (ESB) exposed to a range of pyrolysis temperatures (300, 500 and 700 °C). Results indicate that the effect of pyrolysis temperature on the physiochemical properties of biochar varied with feedstock material. Biochars derived from plant waste had limited adsorption or even released P and NO3−, but adsorption of P capacity could be improved by adjusting pyrolysis temperature. The maximum adsorption of P on RSB700, PCB300, and SDB300, produced at pyrolysis temperature of 700, 300 and 300 °C, was 5.41, 7.75 and 3.86 mg g−1, respectively. ESB can absorb both P and NO3−, and its adsorption capacity increased with an increase in pyrolysis temperature. The maximum NO3− and P adsorption for ESB700 was 1.43 and 6.08 mg g−1, respectively. The less negative charge and higher surface area of ESB enabled higher NO3− and P adsorption capacity. The P adsorption process on RSB, PCB, SDB and ESB, and the NO3− adsorption process on ESB were endothermic reactions. However, the NO3− adsorption process on RSB, PCB and SDB was exothermic. The study demonstrates that the use of egg shell biochar may be an effective way to remove, through adsorption, P and NO3− from wastewater.


PURPOSE
To assess the feasibility of administering a combination of suramin and hydrocortisone in addition to androgen deprivation in a cooperative group setting; to assess the feasibility of treatment with multiple courses of suramin; and to assess progression-free and overall survival in patients with newly diagnosed metastatic prostate cancer who underwent such treatment.

PATIENTS AND METHODS
Patients with newly diagnosed metastatic prostate cancer who had adequate hematologic, hepatic, renal, neurologic, and coagulation parameters were treated by combined androgen deprivation and suramin plus hydrocortisone. Suramin was administered on a 78-day fixed dosing schedule (one cycle), and suramin treatment cycles were repeated every 6 months for a total of four cycles. The statistical design was developed on the basis of the feasibility of administering suramin, as judged by the number of patients who developed neurotoxicity of grade 3 or higher or by treatment interruption of 4 weeks or longer due to any persistent suramin-related toxicity.

RESULTS
Of the 62 patients enrolled onto the study between August 1994 and January 1997, 59 were eligible and assessable for toxicity on the first cycle. Thirty-two (54%) of 59 patients received a second cycle, 13 (22%) of 59 patients received a third cycle, and only five patients (8%) received a fourth cycle. During the first cycle, 27 patients were removed from the study: 17 because of toxicity, five because of disease progression, two who had died, and three because of other reasons. There was one therapy-related death. Grade 4 toxicities were noted in 11 and three patients during first and second courses, respectively. Neurotoxicity of grade 3 or higher was observed in nine and seven patients during the first and second cycles, respectively. Fifteen patients had treatment interruptions of 4 weeks or longer. Overall, only 54% (95% confidence interval, 41% to 67%) of the patients demonstrated acceptable limits of toxicity.

CONCLUSION
Suramin plus hydrocortisone and androgen deprivation has limited applicability in the treatment of patients with newly diagnosed metastatic prostate cancer.


EKSTOJA is beginning to take its place as a rite to be visited and a site whose architecture and history deserve the close attention of scholars. The city has been sporadically excavated by American and Greek archaeologists, but since 1962 a Swiss team under Professor Schefold has taken the site in hand, restudied the old excavations, and opened up important new areas. This booklet, well supplied with new plans by Auberson, gives a detailed survey of the present state of knowledge and includes information hard or impossible to obtain elsewhere. Schefold dwells on the early history of the site. He identifies Strabo's Old Eretria with Lefkandi, along the coast towards Chalcis in the Lelantine Plain, a site recently excavated by the British School, the later Eretria being founded only in the eighth century B.C, once Euboeans had already begun their seafaring in the eastern Mediterranean and were preparing to do the same in the west. The excavations at the West Gate, with an important small cemetery and accompanying heroon, must have something to do with the city's early troubles with Chalcis and the Lelantine War. The heroon is not forgotten but becomes absorbed in a Classical 'Palace' at a strategic point on the walls by the main gate. This, with Palace II near by, makes an important contribution to our scant knowledge of upper-class domestic architecture. Closer study of the Temple of Apollo Daphnephoros, destroyed by the Persians, has revealed interesting earlier structures, including a Daphnephorion of eighth-century date which seems to imitate the legendary temples of Delphi, with laurel branch walls (Pans. x. 5), with another, polygonal, recalling the reported honeycomb architecture (see Rumpf in Jb. der Berliner Musetn, vi [1964], 5 ff.). They are succeeded by the earliest apsidal hekatompedon and the earliest peripteral temple in homeland Greece. Other monuments of later date include a Thesmophorion, a Gymnasion, the famous Theatre, Baths, an Iseion, and the Acropolis walls. Finally, the exhibits in die new museum are described (not illustrated), many of them unpublished but all discussed in some detail. The Swiss have done well by Eretria both in offering so soon something more than a simple Guide to the site, and in their rapid publication of work in progress.


The article systematically explores the compatibility of Hume's political philosophy and contractarianism by reconstructing Hume's criticism of the idea of a social contract. In a nutshell, the dispute concerns the theoretical reconstruction of the establishment and maintenance of normative institutions by individual behavior. At the center of the dispute are questions concerning the philosophical analysis of the normative force of obligatory norms, and the theoretical reconstruction of individual persons' reasons—or motives—for following them. The main part of the article is dedicated to the reconstruction of the philosophical motivations behind the different positions. I will contrast contractarian idealism as a theoretical approach for the study of normative phenomena with Hume's empiricist approach. I will also spell out the metaethical differences between the idea of a hypothetical contract and Hume's rule-consequentialist reconstruction of the source of social and political obligations. Returning to the question of whether one can be both a contractarian and a Humean, the different implications of the two approaches for the theoretical understanding of normative rule-following will be presented. The conclusion is that one cannot be both a contractarian and a Humean. The article ends with a defense of the foregoing analysis against two objections.


Dentists commonly prescribe antibiotics for controlling and treating dental infections. But there is a widespread abuse of antibiotics in medical and dental field. The inappropriate use of antibiotics results in increased treatment costs, increased risk of adverse events related to the antibiotic used and most importantly development and propagation of antimicrobial resistance. The definitive indications for use of antibiotics in dentistry are limited and specific. This review discusses the various principles and rationale behind antibiotic therapy in different fields of dentistry with stress on rational antibiotic use in dentistry


Background The South Asian population is at increased risk of cardiovascular disease. South Asians residing in western countries also have increased risk of obesity and associated comborbidities compared to white European counterparts. We compared the prevalence and severity of obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) along with comorbidities in South Asians and white Europeans with severe obesity. Methods Data from consecutive patients attending a specialist weight management service were analysed. Self-reported age, gender and ethnicity were gathered. Medical history was obtained by a trained physician to determine the quantity of comorbidities. Objective measurements of blood pressure, body mass index (BMI), and apnea-hypopnea index (AHI) were also acquired for study purposes. Results A total of 308 patients (72.7% women; 13% South Asian) were included with a mean age and BMI of 46 ± 12y and 49 ± 8Kg/m2 , respectively. South Asians had significantly increased prevalence of OSA compared to white Europeans (p = 0.017) and were more likely to have severe OSA (p = 0.015). South Asians had significantly higher median AHI (24/hr: interquartile range [IQR] 9.3–57.6 vs. 9/hr: IQR 3.4–26.6; p < 0.01), significantly lower minimum oxygen saturation (76%: IQR 64-84% vs. 83%: IQR 77-87%; p < 0.01) and spent a significantly greater amount of time <90% oxygen saturation (8.4%: IQR 1.0–24.3% vs. 2.4%: IQR 0.2–16.0%; p = 0.03). South Asians also had a significantly greater number of comorbidities (p = 0.02) and poorer glycemic control (HbA1c 7.4 vs. 6.3, p < 0.01) compared to white Europeans. South Asian ethnicity, independent of demographics, BMI, and cardiovascular comorbidities was an independent predictor of OSA β = 0.61 (SE = 0.19), p < 0.01. Furthermore, we confirmed other independent OSA risk factors, consistent with previous studies, including increasing age and BMI and male gender (all p < 0.001). Conclusion Severely obese South Asians had significantly greater prevalence and severity of OSA versus white Europeans. OSA may contribute to increased cardiovascular risk in South Asians compared to white Europeans with severe obesity. Mechanisms mediating the observed associations between these ethnicities require further investigation.


Introduction. Parenteral nutrition is a method of nutrition which involves the introduction of nutrients in their simplest form into the bloodstream without the digestive system. In the case of children in Poland, it has been used successfully for over 30 years.Aim of the study. To assess the quality of life of families of children fed parenterally.Materials and methods. The group of the examined persons consisted of 56 people, who were parents/guardians of a child fed parenterally. The mean age was 35.13 (±7.79) in mothers/guardians and 38.41 (±7.57) in fathers/guardians. The research was carried out by means of a diagnostic survey, using the author's questionnaire.Results. The parenteral nutrition of 3/4 of the group was conducted at home for several years. It was found that parenteral nutrition of a child significantly affects the functioning of the whole family (94.64%). The health situation in many cases forced one parent to resign from professional work (69.64%), reduced social contacts (48.21%), reduced holiday and holiday trips (80.36%). The leading cause of these changes was the need to adapt to the nutritional cycle of the child (85.71%). In the opinion of 35.71%, parenteral nutrition of a child burdened the family budget to a large extent, while in half of the respondents only slightly (55.36%).Conclusions. The parental nutrition of a child is a difficult task for parents, requiring from them strength and commitment to daily care activities. The need to adapt to the nutritional cycle disrupts the daily life of the family and often leads to the need for one parent to give up his or her professional career. The situation related to the parenteral nutrition of the child involves a financial burden on the family. Parental nutrition is a challenge for parents of children of all ages, with full and incomplete families, living in the countryside and in the city.


As a class of high-ductility concrete, engineered cementitious composites (ECC) have wide application prospects in engineering fields. However, the occurrence of cracks and the limited self-healing ability hinder the development of ECC. Rapid self-healing has important significance for ECC in reducing maintenance costs and prolonging service life, which are conducive to sustainable development of ECC. Therefore, the aim of this paper is to enhance the self-healing property of ECC by adding light-burned magnesium oxide (MgO) and superabsorbent polymer (SAP) on the premise of maintaining the high ductility. First, the effect of MgO and SAP on the ductility property of ECC which is the most important feature was explored with the uniaxial tensile test. The results indicated that MgO is helpful to the strength but not conducive to the ductility of ECC, while SAP has an opposite effect. The effects of MgO and SAP on the ductility of ECC can be balanced. Later, the permeability test, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and X-ray diffraction (XRD) were used to evaluate the effects of MgO and SAP on the self-healing property of ECC. The results showed that the combined addition of MgO and SAP shows much better effect than the individual addition and can cut the healing time by half. Overall, it is concluded that ECC with MgO and SAP have the potential for self-healing, and the ductility can also be reconciled.


Fluctuations of sound intensity in the presence of moving nonlinear internal waves (NIWs) are studied. Prior works revealed the existence of peaks in the spectrum of these fluctuations due to mode coupling. In the given paper, the results of experiment ASIAEX 2001 are considered. Episodes are analyzed when soliton-like NIW move for ~6 h approximately along an acoustic track of length ~30 km. The depth of the ocean changes from ~350 m (position of the source) up to ~120 m near the receiver (Vertical Line Array). The source, placed near the bottom, transmitted pulses (M-sequences) with a frequency of 224 Hz. Theoretical analysis and numerical modeling show that peak frequencies in the spectrum of intensity fluctuations correspond to the most strongly interacting pairs of modes: in the given case pairs 2–3 and 3–4 and values of dominating frequencies are determined by the spatial scale of interference beating Λ of coupling modes and by the speed v of NIW. Due to the fact that in the narrowing channel velocity v decreases as well as the value of Λ, the predominant frequency as a function of time remains approximately the same. Results of modeling are in a good agreement with experimental data.


A method is described for the direct quantitative gas chromatographic separation of C(2)-C(6) lower fatty acid homologues, methanol, and ethyl alcohol in aqueous microbial fermentation media. A hydrogen flame detector and a single-phase solid column packing, comprising beads of a polyaromatic resin (polystyrene cross-linked with divinyl benzene), were employed. Direct injections of 1 to 10 muliters of aqueous culture supernatant fluids were made. Quantitative recoveries of C(2)-C(6) acids added to culture supernatant fluids were obtained.


Miniaturized bioanalytical systems are increasingly being used in the field of biochemical research. Immobilized enzyme microbioreactors in capillary electrophoresis (CE) have been constructed and used to fulfill the increasing demands for miniaturized bioanalytical systems. This manipulation permits low sample consumption, reduced costs, short analysis times and efficient analyses. This review provides an overview of the distinct characteristics of immobilized microbioreactors in CE. After an introduction on miniaturized microreactors, the various methods of enzyme immobilization will be discussed. The emphasis will be on two common constructions of microreactors in CE, i.e. CE-coupled microreactors, and microreactors directly integrated into the CE capillary. Such microbioreactors offer straightforward automation of reaction steps followed by separation in the same capillary.


A navigation pile, which can be used as a priority queue, is an extension of a selection tree. In a compact form the whole data structure requires only a linear number of bits in addition to the elements stored. In this paper, we study the practical efficiency of three different implementations of navigation piles and compare their efficiency against two implementations of binary heaps. The results of our experiments show that navigation piles are a good alternative to heaps when element moves are expensive—even if heaps store pointers to elements instead of elements. Based on the experimental comparison of the three navigationpile implementations it is clear that care should be taken when applying space saving strategies that increase the number of instructions performed. In addition to our experimental findings, we give a new and simple way of dynamizing a static navigation pile. Furthermore, we introduce a pointer-based navigation pile which is inherently dynamic in its nature and can be made to support deletions as well.


Adaptation is a critical aspect of applied agricultural research but is one that should be better understood. Accordingly, its dimensions are explored here through analogies with the adaptive behaviour of a person seeking a change in employment. A similar process is then used to illustrate the sequential phases of the adoption of a new technique by farmer-in this case through analogy with the purchase of an automobile. Although adaptation and adoption are quite different phases of the implementation of new technology, their economics are closely interrelated, since an ex ante investigation of the economics of adoption is a necessary consideration in the ex ante appraisal of a process of adaptive research.


The question I want to address in this talk has to do with the relation between traditional ideas of retrieval system evaluation and the present concern with highly interactive systems, maybe involving other media as well as or instead of text. For reasons that I hope to make clear, my major concern is with interaction rather than with the media themselves. Particularly, I want to consider the questions: Why has the notion of relevance been such a powerful device in the traditional model of evaluation? And: Why is it not so useful in the evaluation of interactive systems?


This work proposes and illustrates an efficient path planning algorithm for non-holonomic multiple-trailer platforms. The goal is to find optimal paths according to different criteria using dense properties of a map and considering the robot's dynamic constraints. The proposed algorithm combines a low dimensional Dijkstra cost-to-go function with PSO minimisation, performed in the higher dimensional configuration space, in order to find optimal paths according to diverse constraints. The methodology includes adaptations to both algorithms to achieve higher efficiency of the computational cost and optimality of the planned path. Experimental results show the performance of the algorithm under several circumstances.


The record of marine reptile fossils from Saudi Arabia is sparsely documented compared to elsewhere in the Middle East. However, recent systematic surveys have uncovered tantalizing evidence of diverse assemblages from both Mesozoic (Triassic, Cretaceous) and Cenozoic (Palaeogene) strata. The stratigraphically oldest specimens come from the Middle-Upper Triassic (Anisian-Carnian) Jilh Formation, a paralic-shallow marine (tidal flat) deposit that outcrops along the eastern margin of the cratonic Arabian Shield. The Jilh Formation is rich in fragmentary vertebrate remains including ichthyosaurs (mixosaurids), a tanystropheid prolacertiform, and sauropterygians: cyamodontoid placodonts (Psephosauriscus) and nothosaurs (Nothosaurus, Simosaurus). Compositionally, this fauna closely resembles others previously reported from the Middle East and North Africa and is consistent with derivation from the 'Sephardic Realm' – a widespread Muschelkalk facies that characterised the northern Gondwanan shelf throughout the Middle–Late Triassic. Late Cretaceous (Campanian–Maastrichtian) marine reptile fossils from northern Saudi Arabia also show close palaeobiogeographical affinities with Middle Eastern and North African taxa. Mosasaurs (Prognathodon, indeterminate plioplatecarpines), small aquatic varanoids (Pachyvaranus), bothremydid turtles, elasmosaurid plesiosaurs and dyrosaurid crocodyliforms have all been recovered from paralic (supratidal) sediments of the Adaffa Formation in the Midyan region on the Gulf of Aqaba, and from marine shelf carbonates of the Jalamid Formation close to the Jordanian border. These units reflect a low-latitude, warm water belt that dominated the Mediterranean Tethys during the Late Cretaceous-Palaeogene. Well-preserved dyrosaurid (Rhabdognathus, Hyposaurus, Phosphatosaurus) and indeterminate bothremydid material found in the Upper Paleocene Umm Himar Formation near Makkah also demonstrate the persistence of distinctive Mediterranean Tethyan elements in the Arabian region well into the earliest Cenozoic.


Background: The persistent gaps between a largely white profession and ethnically diverse school populations have brought renewed calls to support teachers' critical engagement with race. Programmes examining the effects of racism have had limited impact on practice, with student teachers responding with either denial, guilt or fear; they also contribute to a deficit view of racialised students in relation to an accepted white 'norm', and position white teachers 'outside' of race. Recent calls argue for a shift in focus towards an examination of the workings of the dominant culture through a critical engagement with whiteness, positioning white teachers within the processes of racialisation. Teacher educators' roles are central, and yet, while we routinely expect student teachers to reflect critically on issues of social justice, we have been less willing to engage in such work ourselves. This is particularly the case within physical education teacher education (PETE), an overwhelmingly white, embodied space, and where race and racism as professional issues are largely invisible. Purpose: This paper examines the operation of whiteness within PETE through a critical reflection on the three co-authors' careers and experiences working for social justice. The research questions were twofold: How are race, (anti) racism and whiteness constructed through everyday experiences of families, schooling and teacher education? How can collective biography be used to excavate discourses of race, racism and whiteness as the first step towards challenging them? In beginning the process of reflecting on what it means for us 'to do own work' in relation to (anti) racism, we examine some of the tensions and challenges for teacher educators in PE attempting to work to dismantle whiteness. Methodology: As co-authors, we engaged in collective biography work – a process in which we reflected upon, wrote about and shared our embodied experiences and memories about race, racism and whiteness as educators working for social justice. Using a critical whiteness lens, these narratives were examined for what they reveal about the collective practices and discourses about whiteness and (anti)racism within PETE. Results: The narratives reveal the ways in which whiteness operates within PETE through processes of naturalisation, ex-denomination and universalisation. We have been educated, and now work within, teacher education contexts where professional discourse about race at best focuses on understanding the racialised 'other', and at worse is invisible. By drawing on a 'racialised other', deficit discourse in our pedagogy, and by ignoring race in own research on inequalities in PETE, we have failed to disrupt universalised discourses of 'white-as-norm', or addressed our own privileged racialised positioning. Reflecting critically on our biographies and careers has been the first step in recognising how whiteness works in order that we can begin to work to disrupt it. Conclusion: The study highlights some of the challenges of addressing (anti)racism within PETE and argues that a focus on whiteness might offer a productive starting point. White teacher educators must critically examine their own role within these processes if they are to expect student teachers to engage seriously in doing the same.


Do news organizations purposefully lead the public to support a particular ideological agenda? When debating this question, many analysts draw conclusions from weak empirical evidence. We introduce a model that clarifies how a news organization's internal structure combines with market forces to affect when it can lead public opinion. We identify conditions under which liberal reporters or politically-driven media magnates can achieve ideological goals. We also illuminate important barriers that prevent many would-be public opinion leaders from ever satisfying these conditions. We show that internal structure and market forces are critical determinants of any news organization's power over public opinion.


Purpose of reviewAn enigmatic group of children with normal development and intact neurologic function display clinical, radiographic, and endoscopic evidence of persistent laryngeal penetration and/or aspiration during feeds, known as oropharyngeal dysphagia (OPD). Identifying the etiology of OPD in this patient population and designing the appropriate management has been difficult. As a result, many healthy children with OPD remain on thickened diets late into childhood. Recent findingsReports of OPD in neurologically intact children have emerged but are limited in providing clinical guidelines. Oropharyngeal dysphagia is best detected by instrumental evaluations of swallowing function but a correlation with clinical signs and symptoms is critical for therapy. The novel, but controversial, 3-oz. water swallow challenge in children can be a useful tool in clinic for persistent OPD. Physiologic conditions linked to pharyngolaryngeal sensory blunting may explain OPD in many neurologically intact children. Unexplained OPD in these children often improves with time and reflux therapy. Proving subtle anatomic anomalies as the source of OPD, such as type I laryngeal clefts, cricopharyngeal achalasia, and tonsillar hypertrophy, remains difficult. Surgical management for these entities may be the final step in the therapeutic tree. Despite the etiology and treatment, the return to a normal diet in children with OPD requires a graduated approach. This allows systematic neuromuscular training of the pharyngeal phase of swallowing. SummaryOPD in the neurologically intact child is underrepresented in the literature. This review examines pediatric dysphagia and recent reports of OPD in developmentally normal children to extrapolate basic clinical guidelines for managing OPD in this population.


Smoking has emerged as a significant public health issue and evidence showed that in people who use or used drugs and alcohol smoking rates are at an all-time high. Smoking has been identified as a contributing factor in a myriad of chronic illness including Asthma, COPD and Cancer. For people to break a smoking habit, of many years, requires a dynamic comprehensive approach like those currently utilized in drug and alcohol treatment programs. The literature suggests that intensive smoking cessation interventions involving behavioral support through counseling and pharmacotherapy are needed to effectively treat this population. An evidence-based project was conducted to assess the quit rates among patients receiving Nicotine Replacement Therapy (NRT) and intensive counseling compared to patients receiving standard care: NRT and brief information on smoking cessation. A significant decrease in tobacco use and a willingness of staff to incorporate the intervention into clinical practice was observed. This change in practice has resulted in more sustain quit rates over time. The findings of this project revealed significantly better results in the intervention group's quit rates over-time. This intervention can be used in all healthcare settings.


Endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD) is now the most common endoscopic treatment in Japan for intramucosal gastrointestinal neoplasms (non-metastatic). ESD is an invasive endoscopic surgical procedure, requiring extensive knowledge, skill, and specialized equipment. ESD starts with evaluation of the lesion, as accurate assessment of the depth and margin of the lesion is essential. The devices and strategies used in ESD vary, depending on the nature of the lesion. Prior to the procedure, the operator must be knowledgeable about the treatment strategy(ies), the device(s) to use, the electrocautery machine settings, the substances to inject, and other aspects. In addition, the operator must be able to manage complications, should they arise, including immediate recognition of the complication(s) and its treatment. Finally, in case the ESD treatment is not successful, the operator should be prepared to apply alternative treatments. Thus, adequate knowledge and training are essential to successfully perform ESD.


Abstract The aim of this article is to explore the dynamic of language choice and language use as well as to examine the effect of language policy on language attitudes in the Department of Correctional Services (DCS) with special reference to Pretoria Central Prison, now called Kgoši Mampuru Correctional facility where there is some resistance to the use of English as the only official language of business. A case study was conducted at this facility to find out the language attitudes of the participants towards English as the only official language of business. A questionnaire was used to evoke the participants' attitudes and beliefs regarding the importance of the use of other official languages (indigenous languages which, like English, also have official status) in their daily lives. A total of 60 correctional services staff and 280 offenders took part in this research study. Interviews and observations were mainly carried out at the research site to triangulate the data. Only the findings from the 280 offenders will be reported in this article. The findings of this research study show that the participants were keen to use their languages of choice and favoured the language functions of their indigenous languages. The findings suggest that the prevailing language attitudes were in contrast with the aims of language policy at DCS thus making the effect of language planning not to be realized.


— A series of tests has been performed at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) and Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (FNAL) with the goal of assessing the influence of coil axial pre-load on Nb 3 Sn magnet training. The tests involved two subscale Nb 3 Sn magnets: SQ02, a quadrupole magnet fabricated as part of the US LHC Accelerator Research Program (LARP), and SD01, a dipole magnet developed in collaboration between CEA/Saclay and LBNL. Both magnets used similar Nb 3 Sn flat racetrack coils from LBNL Subscale Magnet Program, and implemented an axial support system composed of stainless steel end-plates and aluminum rods. The system was designed to withstand full longitudinal electro-magnetic forces and provide controllable preloads. Quench performances, training, and quench locations have been recorded in various axial loading conditions. Test results are reported.


Our experiences in the world support memories not only of specific episodes but also of the generalities (the 'gist') across related experiences. It remains unclear how these two types of memories evolve and influence one another over time. 173 human participants encoded spatial locations from a distribution and reported both item memory (specific locations) and gist memory (center for the locations) across one to two months. After one month, gist memory was preserved relative to item memory, despite a persistent positive correlation between them. Critically, item memories were biased towards the gist over time; however, with a spatial outlier item, the local center excluding the outlier became the source of bias, instead of the reported center overweighting the outlier. Our results suggest that the extraction of gist is sensitive to the regularities of items, and that the gist starts to guide item memories over longer durations as their relative strengths change.


BACKGROUND
Providing treatment side effect information can increase the occurrence of side effects through nocebo effects. Nocebo effects from side effect information raise a dilemma for health care, as there is an ethical obligation to disclose potential unpleasant treatment information to patients.

PURPOSE
To test the hypothesis that a positive mood induction can block the development of nocebo effects that result from treatment side effect information.

METHODS
In a laboratory setting, healthy participants were assigned to one of four conditions in a between-subjects randomized factorial trial. First, participants took part in a mood induction procedure, with half receiving a positive mood induction and the other half a neutral mood induction. Next, participants were told they would experience transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS). Prior to a sham tDCS task, half of the participants were informed that headache pain is a side effect of tDCS, whereas the other half were not given this information.

RESULTS
In the neutral mood condition, the provision of headache side effect information lead to a greater occurrence of headaches, more frequent headaches, and a higher maximum level of headache pain as compared to those given no side effect information. In the positive mood condition, a similar increase in headache pain did not manifest from the provision of side effect information.

CONCLUSIONS
This is the first experiment to find that a positive mood induction can block the formation of nocebo effects that arise from side effect information. Inducing positive moods may be an effective strategy for reducing nocebo effects in a variety of clinical settings.


The immunohistochemical investigation used 55 primary hepatic tumors (hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC)--32, cholangiocellular carcinoma (CCC)--23). Wide panels of such antibodies as hepatocytic marker (Hep Par--1) CK-8, CK-19, polyclonal CEA, CD10, alpha-fetoprotein, TTF-1 as well as proliferative features of HCC (Ki-67) including regulators of stage-to-stage transition through mitoses of tumor cells (cyclin-D1 and A, genes p53 and RB), unrestricted tumor cell mitosis (telomerases), and intercellular adhesion marker (beta-catenin) were employed for differential diagnosis of neoplasia. The most efficient marker HCC was Hep Par--l (sensitivity--100%, specificity--92%) while the sensitivity of CCC (CK-19) was 83% and specificity--78%. Of particular importance for differentiation between HCC and CCC were the nature of microcirculatory flow identifiable with the aid of CD31 and presence of pseudocapsule in HCC detected by means of calponin. CEA and CD10 played a part too while the remaining markers were either expressed very seldom (alpha-fetoprotein) or absent (TTF-1). Most nuclear antigens (Ki-67, cyclin-A, p53 and RB) were intensely expressed in poorly-differentiated HCC cells. Cyclin-D1 and mutated suppressor-gene p53 expression involved lowered overall and relapse-free survival.


Through nanomanipulation inside scanning electron microscope, a carbon nanotube scanning probe microscope tip was made by connecting a carbon nanotube with a silicon atomic force microscope tip. The carbon nanotube scanning probe microscope tip was then tailored to the desired length and end structure by a "nanoknife" which is a carbon nanotube adhered to a metal tip. Through mapping the same carbon nanotube on SiO2 substrate, it was found that the lateral resolution of the carbon nanotube tips can be improved significantly through sharpening the tip ends, and the sharpened carbon nanotube tips had better performance than commercial silicon tips.


In a claim for compensation for breach of contract, various principles take account of the injured party's own involvement in its loss. This article considers the interaction of three of them: intervening causation, mitigation as avoidable loss, and reliance upon the contract. Judges and academics alike have suggested that there is a connection between causation and the avoidable loss rule. This article builds on those suggestions, to present a model which integrates the avoidable loss rule with other causal norms typically applied to contract.

The first part of the article shows that the avoidable loss rule can be implemented in way that is compatible with a causal framework. The second part reveals a deeper, normative connection between avoidable loss and causation, which concerns reliance upon the contract. The avoidable loss rule, in particular, is underpinned by the idea of a transfer in reliance: from promisor-reliance to promisee (self)-reliance.


In the 1970s, concerns about the erosion of genetic diversity of crops led to the establishment of genebanks, repositories for the conservation of plant genetic material, which raise interesting questions about the ways in which biobanking constructs and shapes bioeconomies. Past theorizations have shown that biobanks are part of new bioeconomies that complicate distinctions between social and economic values, and play essential role by managing the different values and priorities In this thesis, I extend this approach to the conservation and use of crop germplasm. Plant genetic resources for food and agriculture circulate internationally in what I term the 'germplasm economy': a complex arrangement that is notable for including a novel multilateral system of mutual facilitated access and benefit sharing. Thus, here I analyse the practices and organisation of genebanks, as a means to explore their role in that economy. Based on an interpretive, discourse analysis of documents and 22 semi-structured, qualitative interviews (with actors involved in gene banking policy and practice in Europe), I argue that genebanks construct the shared pool of plant germplasm by constructing 'genetic resources' from germplasm, therefore creating a gene pool that is technically and politically available for sharing in accordance with national and international germplasm policy. In so doing, they manage the different value(s) associated with germplasm in ways that enable and justify the international germplasm economy. Hence, this work corroborates the perspective that biobanks of biological material manage and create the economies that they are part of. Yet, in addition, it suggests that genebanks themselves can be considered resources, and that this understanding is important in constructing the germplasm economy as one predicated on sharing Therefore, it suggests that analyses of biomaterial economies should take into consideration both studies of the bioeconomy and of the political economy of technoscience.


Photonic crystal fiber (PCF) permits much wider adjustment of key characteristics such as modal phase index, dispersion, nonlinearity and birefringence than is possible in conventional fiber, opening the door to new applications in telecommunications and beyond. PCF can be used to maintain light in a tight focus over kilometer distances inside a hollow core, for example, to laser-guide small particles, molecules or atoms along a curved path, and to fashion a whole range of in-fiber devices and low-loss transitions.


How to accurately and fast classification obstacle is the key of real-time obstacle avoidance and avoidance decision for autonomous underwater vehicle. According to the characteristics of the multi-resolution imaging sonar, we extracted the obstacle information and characteristics from sonar image , and the AUV can quickly make decision with underwater obstacles classification. Finally, the data of lake test verified that the method of real-time image processing and underwater target classification is feasible and effective.


Women, of all ages, with epilepsy have their own considerations which must be taken into account if their care is to be optimised. Although the issues are usually considered when a female becomes of childbearing age, antiepileptic drug (AED) therapy during childhood may influence choices in adult life. Hormonal alterations, including changes in prolactin, follicle-stimulating hormone and luteinising hormone have been observed following generalised and focal seizures. They are thought to arise as a result of connections between the hypothalamic-pituitary axis and areas of the brain involved in seizures, although the precise mechanisms are unclear. These hormonal problems can result in reproductive dysfunction, with the most common disorders being polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) and hypothalamic amenorrhoea .This case study reported Ovarianmature cystic teratoma as a possible reproductive dysfunction that may be a result of epilepsy.


Closed, self-paced tasks are typically performed in a stable environment, but some features of the environment may vary (e.g., quiet/noisy conditions) or may negatively influence the outcome ofperformance. Optimal gaze behavior, and specifically long quiet eye (QE) durations, has been found to be associated with improved performance of closed, self-paced tasks. The purpose of the current study was to examine the relationship between QE and accuracy of a golf-putting task under both quiet and distracted conditions in 24 male physical education students. Accuracy of performance and gaze behavior were measured in both conditions. Data analyses revealed that the presence of noise led to reduced quiet eye duration and accuracy, and that golf-putting performances improved in a transfer task compared to both acquisition and retention tasks. Future studies should examine whether maintaining QE durations, or training for longer QE durations, can prevent deterioration in performance under distracted conditions.


Abstmct- We present a new design of a portable nitrogen cryostat for operation of moving SQUIDs. A mixture of liquid and gaseous nitrogen fills a reservoir in direct contact with a copper part for the SQUID integration. The temperature at the SQUID position is 77.8 K or 78.8 K depending on orientation, and varies within k10 mK during lateral movement. The cryostat can operate as a portable system for 7 hours without refilling. Washer rf SQUIDs and dc gradiometers were integrated with the cryostat. We proved the operation of the system as a moving magnetometer in unshielded laboratory environment. Noise spectra in shielding and outside were independent of orientation. The system was equipped with a differential eddy current excitation. We show the first non-destructive material evaluation results for fatigue crack detection on stationary samples with moving SQUID sensors.


In recent years, we have witnessed the evolutionary development of a new breed of distributed systems. Systems of this type share a number of characteristics highly decentralized, of Internet-grade scalability, and autonomous within their administrative domains. Most importantly, they are expected to operate collaboratively across both known and unknown domains. Prime examples include peer-to-peer applications and open web services. Typically, authorization in distributed systems is identity-based, e.g. access control lists. However, approaches based on predefined identities are unsuitable for the new breed of distributed systems because of the need to deal with unknown users, i.e. strangers, and the need to manage a potentially large number of users and/or resources. Furthermore, effective administration and management of authorization in such systems requires: (1) natural mapping of organizational policies into security policies; (2) managing collaboration of independently administered domains/organizations; (3) decentralization of security policies and policy enforcement. This thesis describes Fidelis, a trust management framework designed to address the authorization needs for the next-generation distributed systems. A trust management system is a term coined to refer to a unified framework for the specification of security policies, the representation of credentials, and the evaluation and enforcement of policy compliances. Based on the concept of trust conveyance and a generic abstraction for trusted information as trust statements, Fidelis provides a generic platform for building secure, trust-aware distributed applications. At the heart of the Fidelis framework is a language for the specification of security policies, the Fidelis Policy Language (FPL), and the inference model for evaluating policies expressed in FPL. With the policy language and its inference model, Fidelis is able to model recommendation-style policies and policies with arbitrarily complex chains of trust propagation. Web services have rapidly been gaining significance both in industry and research as a ubiquitous, next-generation middleware platform. The second half of the thesis describes the design and implementation of the Fidelis framework for the standard web service platform. The goal of this work is twofold: first, to demonstrate the practical feasibility of Fidelis, and second, to investigate the use of a policy-driven trust management framework for Internet-scale open systems. An important requirement in such systems is trust negotiation that allows unfamiliar principals to establish mutual trust and interact with confidence. Addressing this requirement, a trust negotiation framework built on top of Fidelis is developed. This thesis examines the application of Fidelis in three distinctive domains: implementing generic role-based access control, trust management in the World Wide Web, and an electronic marketplace comprising unfamiliar and untrusted but collaborative organizations.


The diversion of people towards public transportation has become the main focus of the Central Government and this involves rearranging the areas traversed by mass transportation corridors through the concept of transit-based integration known as the Transit-Oriented Development (TOD) in order to overcome congestion problems in Greater Jakarta, especially the Jakarta area. However, these plans have raised concerns on the ability of the transit-oriented area to fully accommodate the TOD concepts and principles or just to serve as only a part of the property business owned by several parties. The implementation of the concept is also not optimal due to the lack of an appropriate tool to identify the readiness of an area to be developed into a transit-oriented area by the government and the actions required to unlock the potentials of the development. This research, therefore, used 22 indicators to determine whether an area fulfills the transit-oriented elements and the factors required for its preparation. This involved using literature studies to produce research variables after which a survey was conducted and tested for validity and reliability by the drafter, academics, experts, and practitioners. The indicators were developed into an assessment instrument consisting of 5 parts to represent the research variables and other 23 questions.


The Chinese giant salamander Andrias davidianus is endemic to China and is Critically Endangered, largely because of overexploitation for food. This species is an expensive delicacy in China, and a rapidly growing industry to farm the species has developed throughout much of the country, centred on the Qinling Mountain region of Shaanxi Province. During a  workshop on Chinese giant salamander conservation, which involved a range of stakeholders from across China, it became clear that the conservation community knew little about the salamander farming industry and whether it posed actual or potential threats or opportunities for conservation of the Chinese giant salamander. We therefore conducted a series of investigations to understand the industry better. Our results indicate that although farming of Chinese giant salamanders has the potential to be a positive development for conservation by supplying market demand with farmed animals, it is currently more likely to threaten than support conservation of the species, with continued overexploitation and the potential added impacts of infectious disease and genetic pollution arising from farming practices such as movement of animals across the country and the release of untreated farm wastewater and farmed salamanders to the wild.


The authors propose an adaptive frequency hopping (AFH) algorithm, entitled robust adaptive frequency hopping (RAFH), for providing increased reliability of a wireless medical telemetry system (WMTS) under coexistence environment with non-medical devices. The conventional AFH scheme classifies channels into `good` or `bad` according to the threshold-based on`off decision by packet error rate (PER) measurement, and only uses good channels with a uniform hop probability. Unlike the conventional AFH scheme, RAFH is a novel technique, which solves a constrained entropy maximisation problem and assigns every channel a different hop probability as a decreasing function of the measured PER. The key novelty of RAFH over existing AFH schemes is that it reflects the relative channel condition by assigning non-uniform hop probabilities. By adopting constrained entropy maximisation, RAFH not only improves the average PER, but also reduces the PER fluctuation over time under a dynamic interference environment, both of which increase the reliability of WMTS. Through extensive simulation, we show that RAFH outperforms basic frequency hopping (FH) and the conventional AFH with respect to the PER under various scenarios of dynamic interference.


ABSTRACT Over the past 2 decades, China's local governments have tended to increase revenue through a large number of land sales when experiencing fiscal stress, i.e., generation of land finance revenue. However, this revenue source is inherently unsustainable. This paper examines the impacts of a major tax cut reform in China, namely, the Business Tax to Value-Added Tax Reform (B2V), on local governments' land finance revenue and whether local government reliance on land finance revenue is constrained by planning restrictions. We use data from 232 prefecture-level cities in China and conduct an econometric analysis to examine these impacts. The major findings are as follows. First, B2V has led to a significant increase in local government land finance revenue. Second, local governments did not respond to B2V to increase land finance revenue before B2V implementation. Third, the impact of B2V on land finance revenue is constrained by the binding target of construction land; the constraining effect of the binding target became evident after 2013. Policy implications are discussed based on the research findings.


Abstract 3259 Integrin αIIbβ3 undergoes allosteric conformational changes in its extracellular domains, resulting in integrin activation that allows high affinity binding with soluble ligands. The crystal structure of the integrin β subunit revealed an interaction of the β-tail domain (βTD) with the βI domain containing ligand-binding sites, suggesting that βTD may be involved in allosteric mechanism for integrin activation. However, previous studies have shown conflicting results on the functional role of βTD in integrin activation. In this study, we conducted site-directed mutagenesis in the βTD domain and tested ligand binding to αIIbβ3 mutants. We produced αIIbβ3 mutants in which the β3TD loop residues (DSSG) were substituted with the corresponding β1 (NGNN) or β2TD residues (DGMD). The αIIbβ3 mutants were expressed on the surface of CHO cells by cotransfection of mutant β3 and wild-type αIIb cDNAs, and were tested for binding of PAC1, a ligand-mimetic anti-αIIbβ3 antibody. The NGNN, but not DGMD mutant bound significant PAC1 binding without any stimulation, indicating a constitutively active state. To identify the residue(s) responsible for αIIbβ3 activation in the βTD, we produced αIIbβ3 mutants in which the individual residues in the β3TD loop were substituted with the corresponding β1TD residues. Among them, only G675N bound significant PAC1 binding without any stimulation. Since G675N mutation creates a sequence known to be a consensus sequence for glycosylation (Asn-X-Ser/Thr), it is possible that the insertion of glycans into the βTD loop induces conformational changes in αIIbβ3 which allow ligand binding. To test this hypothesis, we added substitution of S677 with Thr, Ala or Asp to the G675N mutation. The resultant G675N/S677T double mutant, in which the N-glycosylation site was preserved, was constitutively active. In contrast, G675N/S677A and G675N/S677D, in which the N-glycosylation site was disrupted, were in an inactive state. These results suggest that an artificial glycan wedge between βTD and βI domains activates αIIbβ3. However, our study does not provide evidence that the βTD domain constrains wild type αIIbβ3 inactive although the separation of βTD and βI domains may be able to activate integrins. Disclosures: No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.


Perceptual responses to infant distress signals were studied in 16 cocaine-using and 15 comparison mothers. All mothers rated tape recordings of 48 replications of a newborn infant's hunger cry digitally altered to increase in fundamental frequency in 100-Hz increments. Cries were rated on 4 perceptual (arousing, aversive, urgent, and sick) and 6 caregiving rating scale items (clean, cuddle, feed, give pacifier, pick up, and wait and see) used in previous studies. Analyses of variance showed that, as cry pitch increased, cries were rated as more arousing, aversive, and urgent sounding. The highest pitched cries received the highest ratings for caregiving interventions. Main effects for cocaine use showed cocaine-using mothers (a) rated cries as less arousing, aversive, urgent, and sick; (b) indicated they were less likely to pick up or feed the infant; and (c) indicated they more likely to give the crying infant a pacifier or just "wait and see." A Group x Cry Pitch interaction effect showed that mothers in the cocaine group gave higher ratings to wait and see as the pitch of the cries increased, whereas mothers in the comparison group gave lower ratings to wait and see as the pitch of the cries increased. These ratings indicate that cocaine-using mothers found cries to be less perceptually salient and less likely to elicit nurturant caregiving responses. These results suggest that maternal cocaine use is associated with altered perceptions of infant distress signals that may provide the basis for differential social responsivity in the caregiving context.


The use of Value Engineering (VE) methodology in construction industry has grown significantly, mainly in view of its extensive benefits. The main task in evaluation phase of VE workshop is to assess alternative ideas, proposed for each function. This phase of VE, hence, could be deemed as a Multi Criteria Decision Making (MCDM) problem. This paper presents a fuzzy Decision Support System (DSS) to be employed in evaluation phase of VE. The proposed multi alternative decision model may be recommended where alternatives' preferences ratios are different, and scores assigned to each alternative idea are uncertain. As use of VE has greater payoffs at the earlier stages of the construction projects, in which most of the criteria are still vague and not precisely defined, exploiting this DSS may result in more tangible model of decision making process and satisfactory outlook of VE studies in construction projects. A ranking methodology in a spreadsheet template is also provided to facilitate the ranking process. Performance of the proposed methodology is tested using a case example in the tunneling industry.


A Feynman-Kac-type formula for a L\'evy and an infinite dimensional Gaussian random process associated with a quantized radiation field is derived. In particular, a functional integral representation of $e^{-t\PF}$ generated by the Pauli-Fierz Hamiltonian with spin $\han$ in non-relativistic quantum electrodynamics is constructed. When no external potential is applied $\PF$ turns translation invariant and it is decomposed as a direct integral $\PF = \int_\BR^\oplus \PF(P) dP$. The functional integral representation of $e^{-t\PF(P)}$ is also given. Although all these Hamiltonians include spin, nevertheless the kernels obtained for the path measures are scalar rather than matrix expressions. As an application of the functional integral representations energy comparison inequalities are derived.


The dramatic increase in interorganizational partnering in the last two decades raises questions for scholars and managers regarding the value impact of inter-firm collaborations. Using event study methodology, this paper tests whether stock market reactions differ when a collaboration formation or termination is announced. In addition, the study provides an in-depth analysis of potential determinants of stock market reactions to collaboration formation announcements. The sample consists of 1037 announcements in German stock markets from 1997 to 2002. The results show that an unexpected termination announcement decreases firm valuation, and a formation announcement increases firm valuation. Further, certain collaborations are more favorable than others, depending on firm industry, age, size, collaboration constellations, and equity versus non-equity investment in partner firm. The results open avenues for further research on partnering strategies.


Erythropoiesis is a dynamic process regulated by oxygen in vertebrates. Recent evidence has indicated that erythropoietin (Epo) expression is regulated by hypoxia-inducible transcription factors (HIFs), HIF-2alpha in particular. In this study, we report that knockdown mutation of HIF-2alpha in mice (kd/kd) results in normocytic anemia, despite Epo induction in response to hypoxia not being severely affected. Transplantation analyses clearly demonstrated that the hematopoietic microenvironment, but not the hematopoietic cells, was altered in kd/kd. Furthermore, cell-type specific recovery of HIF-2alpha expression in endothelial cells (ECs) abrogated the anemic condition of the kd/kd mice, indicating that HIF-2alpha in EC plays an essential role in supporting erythropoiesis. In the absence of HIF-2alpha, the expression of vascular adhesion molecule-1 (VCAM-1) was reduced significantly and restoration of VCAM-1 expression in kd/kd ECs enhanced the development of erythroid progenitors. Finally, a chromatin immunoprecipitation assay and a reporter assay indicated that VCAM-1 gene transcription is directly regulated by HIF-2alpha. These data suggest that the hematopoietic microenvironment required for erythropoiesis is dynamically regulated by oxygen through the functions of HIF-2alpha in ECs.


Two difficult problems pertain to selection of an evacuation route according to each individual¿s situation. One is constant supervision of the situation of a living space and detection of dangerous situa-tions; the other is detection of residents' respective positions. In this paper, we describe devices and systems for an indoor emergency evacuation using a mobile terminal such as a cell phone or PDA for indoor navigation. The navigation system functions autonomously: the user¿s device receives wireless beacon signals from the surrounding environment and can thereby detect a user¿s position by a mobile terminal independently. In fact, no server-side computation is necessary. Moreover, the system is applicable to an indoor emergency evacuation system using various sensors. The emergency system navigates people to safety in the wake of a disaster. A system must detect all residents' positions and then inform them individu-ally of routes to safety to evacuate all residents to a safe space urgently. We have developed a feasible indoor navigation system that can solve various problems arising in the application layer.


Abstract. Large-eddy simulation (LES) and Lagrangian stochastic modeling of passive particle dispersion were applied to the scalar flux footprint determination in the stable atmospheric boundary layer. The sensitivity of the LES results to the spatial resolution and to the parameterizations of small-scale turbulence was investigated. It was shown that the resolved and partially resolved ("subfilter-scale") eddies are mainly responsible for particle dispersion in LES, implying that substantial improvement may be achieved by using recovering of small-scale velocity fluctuations. In LES with the explicit filtering, this recovering consists of the application of the known inverse filter operator. The footprint functions obtained in LES were compared with the functions calculated with the use of first-order single-particle Lagrangian stochastic models (LSMs) and zeroth-order Lagrangian stochastic models – the random displacement models (RDMs). According to the presented LES, the source area and footprints in the stable boundary layer can be substantially more extended than those predicted by the modern LSMs.


Plant length, main stem diameter, root crown diameter, dry weight of root per plant and forage yield per plant of 30 forage plants were examined as morphological characters. A wide range of variation within the same species was observed among morphological characters. Crude protein and crude ash ratios, K, Ca, Mg, P, S, Fe, Zn, Mn contents, K/(Ca+Mg), Ca/P and N/S ratios of the plants were examined. The crude protein and crude ash ratios of the plants ranged between 5.81 to 16.32%, 7.05 to 14.68%, respectively. K, P, Mg and Ca contents of plants ranged between 0.96 to 3.67, 0.17 to 0.49, 0.01 to 1.19 and 0.45 to 2.79%, respectively. The values for Fe, Zn and Mn contents of plants ranged between 132.4 - 815.2, 12.37 - 68.0 and 21.7 - 138.4 ppm, respectively. Ca/P, N/S and K/(Ca+Mg) ratios of plant samples were 1.17 - 10.38, 1.35 - 7.75 and 0.36 - 4.73, respectively.


Undertaking regular physical activity is one of the major determinants of health. Indeed, Physical Activity (PA), when adapted and in the right dosage, can be considered a protection and even a therapy for some chronic diseases, including Osteoporosis (OP). Clinical and social OP implications are mainly due to osteoporotic fractures that reach 1/3 of menopausal women. Among OP fractures, vertebral ones are associated with a significant decline in Quality of Life (QoL) and disability. Therefore, OP and associated fractures constitute a major public health concern. In literature, no definitive conclusions are available regarding benefits of PA for individuals with OP and vertebral fractures. Furthermore, it is unclear which exercise is optimal for these patients. Lastly, there is no specific indication on the best setting in which to exercise in. For these reasons, this present thesis aims to increase the knowledge on the type of exercise and training adapted for people with OP and its relative effects on QoL, physical fitness and fear of falling. Moreover, effects of exercise on bone biomarkers are investigated to deepen the topic. Findings from these studies can admittedly contribute in providing information on the beneficial effects of Adapted Physical Activity (APA) programs and also identifying the type of safe exercise to prescribe for the osteoporotic population. Moreover, the role of these studies lies in defining possible future strategies to be applied by the involvement of health policy-makers, in order to primarily improve QoL in women with OP. Therefore, these indications are also intended to encourage the healthcare world to refer osteoporotic people to follow a healthy lifestyle, including APA programs regularly administered by trainers able to deal with these conditions, especially for the prevention of fractures which represent the first cause of decline in terms of QoL, physical fitness and fear of falling.


Despite a growing literature on transnational couples, little is known about the challenges they face. The aim of this paper is to study these challenges and to identify coping strategies. In order to understand these issues, qualitative, semi-structured interviews were conducted with seven couples. Responders consisted of partners from different cultural backgrounds and were either married or in a romantic relationship. The paper looked at the cultural changes that lead up to the acceptance and growth in transnational relationships. Furthermore, the study examined how these changes have affected and are still affecting the individual couples. Through the interviews, the research looked at the interpersonal dynamics to identify the role of culture within the relationships. Culture, it was found, still plays a great role in the day-to-day life of the transnational couples, in spite of the shift from traditional to more liberal values identified in the study. The challenges faced by the couples were very different from each other as the study represented couples from different backgrounds together with their partner, a native Swede. However, a common issue among the couples was communication breakdowns and a lack of understanding of the partner's background.


Landscape practices and business engagement have great potentials to uplift city status to either that of developed, under-developed or developing. Among the accruing benefits, are the value added to style of living, improved health status by way of alleviation of stress and development of a buoyant economy through financial in flow from provision of job opportunities and payment to garden owners for relaxation services rendered. A study was conducted to assess the landscape practices potentials and status of selected cities across different geo-political axis of Nigeria. The cities assessed included Abuja, Benin City, Ibadan, Lagos, and Calabar. Assessment was done with the aid of a structured questionnaire that cut across demography, purpose of landscaping, types of landscape materials, and type of maintenance routines. Data collected were analysed using Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS). Results showed that most people engaged in landscape business had tertiary education, were males and young in age. The specific purposes for the establishment of landscapes for the city ranged from purely aesthetics only, recreation, relaxation centres and business and recreation centres only. Landscape properties which included private/public properties, recreation centres, social parks/gardens, and schools ranged in sizes from small to large hectares. Selected cities at different pedestals in their landscape practices potentials needed awareness campaign for improved development of city potential. In conclusion, thriving landscape business improved the livelihood of the city dwellers through employment opportunities, promotion of private owned businesses and increased the knowledge of landscape practices skills.


Transcriptional regulation mediated by the zinc finger protein Snail1 controls early embryogenesis. By binding to the epithelial tumor suppressor CDH1 gene, Snail1 initiates the epithelial–mesenchymal transition (EMT). The EMT generates stem‐like cells and promotes invasiveness during cancer progression. Accordingly, Snail1 mRNA and protein is abundantly expressed in triple‐negative breast cancers with enhanced metastatic potential and phenotypic signs of the EMT. Such high endogenous Snail1 protein levels permit quantitative chromatin immunoprecipitation‐sequencing (ChIP‐seq) analysis. Snail1 associated with 185 genes at cis regulatory regions in the Hs578T triple‐negative breast cancer cell model. These genes include morphogenetic regulators and signaling components that control polarized differentiation. Using the CRISPR/Cas9 system in Hs578T cells, a double deletion of 10 bp each was engineered into the first exon and into the second exon–intron junction of Snail1, suppressing Snail1 expression and causing misregulation of several hundred genes. Specific attention to regulators of chromatin organization provides a possible link to new phenotypes uncovered by the Snail1 loss‐of‐function mutation. On the other hand, genetic inactivation of Snail1 was not sufficient to establish a full epithelial transition to these tumor cells. Thus, Snail1 contributes to the malignant phenotype of breast cancer cells via diverse new mechanisms.


The importance of sound and accurate early estimates of economic activity is of utmost importance to national economic authorities at the time of the decision-making process, and to the various agents involved in the economic analysis and follow up of the short-term economic prospects. In this context, the availability of short-term forecasts for quarterly GDP growth rates becomes highly relevant. In Latin America and the Caribbean an increasing amount of countries is producing high frequency economic data, and there has been an increasing interest by national authorities to use this data to improve economic analyses and short-term economic forecasts. This article discusses the use of the now casting methodology applied to Latin American and Caribbean countries with the objective of generating more accurate quarterly GDP growth forecasts. The results show that, for the short-term, this methodology produces accurate and reliable estimates although results at the country level depend very much on the amount and quality of the data available, as well as on its timeliness.


The international expansion of businesses today invites the analysis of organizational mechanisms that allow these businesses to thrive in spite of the known challenges of doing business in a foreign culture or market. Specifically, the extent to which firms replicate their existing business models relative to the perceived need for local adaptation is topical. This article is a commentary on the brilliant work of Anna Jonsson and Nicolai Foss, who outline a model of flexible replication, drawing from a longitudinal study of IKEA, the famous Swedish home furnishing company. Their study concludes with four propositions for further investigation. For the purpose of developing robust managerial applications, they recommend comparative case studies based on the four propositions. We provide a basis for questioning one of the key propositions, and offer an alternative proposition in an attempt to build a stronger foundation for further inquiry into the mechanisms of flexible replication.


The purpose of this study was to assess if sub-populations of adolescents in Canada (i.e., race/ethnicity, sex/gender, and socioeconomic status [SES]) experienced a larger change in physical activity and screen time between 2019 and 2020 (pre-pandemic) and the 2020-2021 (mid-pandemic) school years. Longitudinally linked data from 2019 to 2020 (pre-pandemic) and 2020-2021 (mid-pandemic) of a prospective cohort study of secondary school students in Canada (n = 8209) were used for these analyses. Multivariable regression modelling tested the main effects of race/ethnicity, sex/gender, and SES on changes in moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) and screen time duration as well as adherence to Canada's 24-h Movement Guidelines. Overall between groups difference were assessed using type II analysis of deviance tests. Interactions between variables of interest were subsequently tested with a series of regression models compared to the main effects model using likelihood-ratio test. Post-hoc comparisons found Male participants' MVPA time decreased less compared to their female counterparts (M [95% CI] = -16.3 [-13.5, -19.2] min/day), but also reported greater increases in screen time compared to females (23.7 [14.7, 32.8] min/day) during the same period. MVPA in White participants decreased less than Asian participants (-10.7 [-19.5, -1.9] min/day) with a similar non-significant pattern observed in Black and Latin participants. Adolescents in higher SES categories fared better on adherence to MVPA (highest vs. lowest OR = 1.41 [0.97, 2.06]) and screen time recommendations(highest vs. lowest AOR = 3.13 [0.91, 11.11]). Results support the hypothesis that existing inequitable sociodemographic differences in MVPA participation and screen time have worsened throughout the pandemic.


In spite of major advances in the past 10 years in the development of standardized instruments for reliable psychiatric case detection, many selection factors can influence prevalence rates, impairing the compilation of comparable epidemiological data from different settings. This is especially so in the aged. Such factors include relatively small variations in the wording of questionnaires, the sophistication and training of interviewers, availability of an informant history, duration of symptoms and diagnostic hierarchies. Many different measuring instruments and diagnostic criteria are currently used to diagnose depressive illness in the elderly. It is not clear how these compare in estimating prevalence rates. There are no agreed reliable criteria for dementia, especially mild dementia: different criteria systems give widely differing prevalence rates. Gender, education and social class can influence the scores on some tests of cognition. More uniform generally accepted measures and criteria of major psychiatric syndromes in the elderly, must be developed if epidemiological approaches are to contribute to further major advances in our understanding of psychiatric syndromes in the aged.


Abstract. The Convective Cloud Field Model (CCFM) attempts to address some of the shortcomings of both the commonly used bulk mass-flux parameterisations and those using a prescribed spectrum of clouds. By considering the cloud spectrum as a competitive system in which cloud types interact through their environment in competition for convective available potential energy (CAPE), the spectrum is able to respond dynamically to changes in the environment. An explicit Lagrangian entraining plume model for each cloud type allows for the representation of convective-cloud microphysics, paving the way for the study of aerosol–convection interactions at the global scale where their impact remains highly uncertain. In this paper, we introduce a new treatment of convective triggering, extending the entraining plume model below cloud base to explicitly represent the unsaturated thermals which initiate convection. This allows for a realistic vertical velocity to develop at cloud base, so that the cloud microphysics can begin with physically based activation of cloud condensation nuclei (CCN). We evaluate this new version of CCFM in the context of the global model ECHAM6–HAM, comparing its performance to the standard Tiedtke–Nordeng parameterisation used in that model. We find that the spatio-temporal distribution of precipitation is improved, both against a climatology from the Global Precipitation Climatology Project (GPCP) and also against diurnal cycles from the Tropical Rainfall Measurement Mission (TRMM) with a reduced tendency for precipitation to peak too early in the afternoon. Cloud cover is quite sensitive to the vertical level from which the dry convection is initiated, but when this is chosen appropriately the cloud cover compares well with that from Tiedtke–Nordeng. CCFM can thus perform as well as, or better than, the standard scheme while providing additional capabilities to represent convective-cloud microphysics and dynamic cloud morphology at the global scale.


Vehicle Ad hoc Networks (VANET) emerged as a subset of the Mobile Ad hoc Network (MANET) application; it is considered to be a substantial approach to the Intelligent Transportation System (ITS). VANETs were introduced to support drivers and improve safety issues and driving comfort, as a step towards constructing a safer, cleaner and more intelligent environment. VANET has some unique characteristics compared to MANET; specifically it includes high mobility and constrained patterns restricted by roads. Many challenges have emerged in VANET, encouraging researchers to investigate their research in an attempt to meet these challenges. Routing protocol issues are considered to be a critical dilemma that needs to be tackled in VANET, particularly in a sparse environment. This book introduces an efficient routing mechanism that impacts on enhancing network performance in terms of disseminating messages to a desired destination, balancing the overhead on the network and increasing the ratio of packet delivery with a reduced time delay. Moreover this book presents an On Board Unit (OBU) architecture for sending HELLO beacon messages adaptively in VANET based on the context aware system.


In a recent issue of JAMA Psychiatry , Bergfeld et al. , report the results of an investigator-initiated trial of bilateral deep brain stimulation (DBS) of the ventral anterior limb of the internal capsule (vALIC) for treatment of treatment-resistant depression (TRD) (1). The results of this trial indicate that DBS of vALIC produces an antidepressant response that slowly accumulates over the course of a year and rapidly dissipates when stimulation is discontinued. This is encouraging and brings hope to patients with a debilitating depression who have exhausted most currently available treatment options. Indeed, the patients selected for this trial were particularly refractory, having failed electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) as well as numerous pharmacotherapeutic approaches, including two selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, tricyclic antidepressants, monoamine oxidase inhibitors, and lithium augmentation. Despite reports of recently failed industry-sponsored trials of DBS for treatment of TRD (2,3), the medical field has an obligation to continue to investigate potential treatments for this group of severely afflicted patients. Although the results of this trial inspire some hope for an effective treatment for TRD, this hope comes with a caveat of caution driven by two recently failed trials (2,3) as well as several unique aspects of this trial that raise questions of how to move the field of invasive neuromodulation for TRD forward.