Spatiotemporal databases have been extensively used to represent the evolution of geographic phenomena. However, in a large spectrum of geographical applications, users need more than a mere representation of data evolution. For instance, in urban management applications e.g., cadastral evolution users often need to know why, how and by whom certain changes have been performed or their impact on the environment. Answers to these queries are not possible unless supplementary information concerning real world events is associated with the corresponding changes in the database. This paper proposes a solution to this problem, which is based on extending a spatiotemporal database with a mechanism for managing documentation on the evolution of geographic information.


Alfalfa leaves rich in crude protein were used as a nitrogen-containing carbon precursor to prepare N-rich ordered mesoporous carbon (OMC) by a ball-milling assisted SBA-15 template method. The obtained alfalfa leaf-derived nitrogen-rich ordered mesoporous carbon (ALNOMC) with a surface area of 727.8 m2 g−1, a pore size distribution centering mainly at around 3.8 nm and a N-content of 7.19 wt% offers superb dual functionality as an anode for lithium ion batteries (LIBs) and sodium ion batteries (NIBs). For LIB applications, ALNOMC delivers a superior reversible capacity of 1635 mA h g−1 after 10 cycles at 0.1 A g−1, excellent rate capability of 492 mA h g−1 at 5 A g−1 and cycling stability of 924 mA h g−1 after 400 cycles at 1 A g−1. Tested against Na, ALNOMC offers a high initial reversible capacity of 433 mA h g−1 and stable reversible capacity of 407 mA h g−1 at 0.1 A g−1. The rate and cycling performances are also impressive, being as high as 218 mA h g−1 even after 200 cycles at 1 A g−1.


For some years now it has been our policy to give gratis subscriptions to our journals to applicants from countries in the developing world. However, in practice this has had its difficulties. Many developing countries have either poor or non-existent postal services and granting a print subscription can often be problematic and expensive—the marginal cost of sending JECH to Africa is around £25 each year.

An editorial in BMJ sets out the arguments very clearly.1 We know that the gap between the rich and poor countries is widening. While those of us in the developed world have information overload, the developing countries have bare library shelves. The internet gives us the opportunity to narrow the gap.

The marginal cost of giving access to the electronic …


Traffic congestion has been an inevitable problem in urban areas. The traffic congestion not only causes economic loss and environment pollution, but also hurts peoples' health. Intelligent Transportation System (ITS) is developed to improve traffic management and among others. To amend existing traffic congestion control mechanism, in this research, we proposed a virtual data sink based information dissemination mechanism in vehicular ad hoc networks. A concept of virtual TTI (Traffic and Travel Information) sink is introduced to collect information of traffic volume and disseminated via cooperative inter-vehicle communications. With the help of our mechanism, the traffic congestion situation is predicted and travelling time is estimated. We took into account factors including traffic and travel information, road scale and topology in our mechanism. Our proposal is examined by extensive simulation. The simulation results show that average travelling time is significantly reduced with little network bandwidth consumption. The problem of overwhelming broadcast message is also effectively controlled.


To scaffold the development of problem-solving skills in chemistry, chemistry educators are exploring a variety of instructional techniques. In this study, we have designed, implemented, and evaluated a problem-solving workflow – "Goldilocks Help". This workflow builds on work done in the field of problem solving in chemistry and provides specific scaffolding for students who experience procedural difficulties during problem solving, such as dead ends (not being able to troubleshoot) and false starts (not knowing how to initiate the problem-solving process). The Goldilocks Help workflow has been designed to scaffold a systematic problem-solving process with a designation of explicit phases of problem solving, to introduce students to the types of questions/prompts that should guide them through the process, to encourage explicit reasoning necessary for successful conceptual problem solving, and to promote the development of metacognitive self-regulation skills. The tool has been implemented and evaluated over a two-year period and modified based on student and instructor feedback. The evaluation demonstrated a shift in students' beliefs in their capacities to use the strategies required to achieve successful problem solving and showed their capacity to employ such strategies.


Ocular involvement in the xeroderma pigmentosum (XP) can be located on the eyelids, conjunctiva or cornea. Malignant melanoma of the conjunctiva is a rare tumor, and even more so in children. Only five cases associated with XP have been published since 1960. We report a sixth case occurring in a girl aged 14. Surgical treatment consisted of an orbital exenteration extended to the eyelids and the evolution is marked by a good healing of the orbital cavity without local recurrence after four months.


Human papilloma virus (HPV) is the most common sexually transmitted infection in the world. HPV is associated with various oral, genital and cutaneous conditions, both benign and malignant. HPV infection can be asymptomatic, but it may persist and cause lesions such as warts, dysplasia and cancers depending on low or high risk type of HPV infection. Anogenital warts are the most common clinical presentation of HPV infection. Despite the high incidence of HPV infections, vaccines, precaution methods and treatments are still matters of debate.


The human pyruvate dehydrogenase complex (PDC) comprises three principal catalytic components for its mission: E1, E2, and E3. The core of the complex is a strong subcomplex between E2 and an E3-binding protein (E3BP). The PDC is subject to regulation at E1 by serine phosphorylation by four kinases (PDK1–4), an inactivation reversed by the action of two phosphatases (PDP1 and -2). We report H/D exchange mass spectrometric (HDX-MS) and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) studies in the first attempt to define the interaction loci between PDK1 and PDK2 with the intact E2·E3BP core and their C-terminally truncated proteins. While the three lipoyl domains (L1 and L2 on E2 and L3 on E3BP) lend themselves to NMR studies and determination of interaction maps with PDK1 and PDK2 at the individual residue level, HDX-MS allowed studies of interaction loci on both partners in the complexes, PDKs, and other regions of the E2·E3BP core, as well, at the peptide level. HDX-MS suggested that the intact E2·E3BP core enhances the binding specificity of L2 for PDK2 over PDK1, while NMR studies detected lipoyl domain residues unique to interaction with PDK1 and PDK2. The E2·E3BP core induced more changes on PDKs than any C-terminally truncated protein, with clear evidence of greater plasticity of PDK1 than of PDK2. The effect of L1L2S paralleled HDX-MS results obtained with the intact E2·E3BP core; hence, L1L2S is an excellent candidate with which to define interaction loci with these two PDKs. Surprisingly, L3S′ induced moderate interaction with both PDKs according to both methods.


A virtual circuit network with arbitrary topology is considered. The traffic streams follow prespecified routes, different in general for each stream, to reach their destination. A fluid traffic model is adopted and a processor sharing service discipline is considered. A policy is proposed for setting adaptively the fractions of the transmission capacity, which is allocated to the different traffic streams in the processor sharing discipline at each link. The amount of traffic arrived at the originating node of each link is measured for each stream. The fraction of the link capacity allocated to each stream is set to be proportional to the measured traffic. The traffic is measured continuously and the fractions are updated regularly based on the most recent traffic measurements. It is shown that eventually, the transmission capacity allocated to each stream converges to a quantity proportional to the average rate of the stream. Hence, if the capacity condition is satisfied, sufficient fractions of the capacity are allocated at each link for each stream. End-to-end performance guarantees are provided, if the traffic is regulated, The policy is distributed since each link adjusts the service fractions based on observations of the traffic arriving at its originating node only. Furthermore, it is adaptive since no information on the traffic characteristics is needed for the application of the policy.


A neural network system, utilizing the multi-layer perceptron approach has been applied to distinguish between power cable insulation partial discharge pulse shapes that are characteristic of cavities and electrical trees. The neural network was found to be capable of recognizing the differences in PD pulses produced by single cavity and electrical tree discharge sources. It also could differentiate between the discharge pulse forms emanating from electrical trees of different lengths; likewise, it was able to recognize changes in the shape of the discharge pulses with time due to aging effects. However, as these recognition capabilities relate only to comparisons of single discharge sources on a one-to-one basis, the application of neural networks to PD pulse shape recognition on actual power cables, where a number of different discharge sources may be discharging simultaneously, is quite premature at this time without more detailed exploratory work on complex discharge patterns. >


Abstract The penguin skeleton studied here constitutes the fourth partial skeleton found in Patagonia, and the third one with an associated humerus and tarsometatarsus. The finding of this partial skeleton identified with certainty as Palaeospheniscus patagonicus Moreno and Mercerat, 1891 (Aves, Sphenisciformes) allows the first description of elements other than the tarsometatarsus. The material comes from the basal sector of the Gaiman Formation (Early Miocene), located along the Atlantic coast of Chubut Province, south of Rawson city. This unit comprises a succession of shales, fine tuffs, sandstones, tuffaceous sandstones, and coquinas deposited in a shallow marine environment. These beds contain abundant marine vertebrates (sharks, dolphins, rays, birds), mollusk casts, and oyster beds. The skeleton includes: rostrum, two thoracic vertebrae, right coracoid without the distal end, left humerus, right femur, right tarsometatarsus, left fragmentary scapula, left coracoid, left radius without the distal end, proximal portion of left ulna, proximal end of left femur, and preacetabular part of the synsacrum. P. patagonicus would have been a medium-sized penguin weighing about 5 kg that inhabited the breeding colonies established in the nearby Bryn Gwyn area during the early Miocene. Despite the abundance of penguin remains known for Argentina, and the fact that they are among the birds with a better fossil record, this skeleton is an exceptional case. This finding allows a readjustment of the taxonomic criteria applicable to fossil and living species.


We report observations on spawning and early development in bone-eating worms of the genus Osedax. Individual females of Osedax rubiplumus were observed at 1820 m depth freely spawning hundreds of oocytes, and females of an undescribed species, Osedax "orange collar", were observed spawning in laboratory aquaria. Cytological and molecular analysis of the spawned oocytes of two Osedax species revealed no evidence for the bacterial endosymbionts that the female worms require for their nutrition, suggesting that the bacteria must be acquired later from the environment, as they are in other siboglinids. Individual O. "orange collar" females released an average of 335 (§130) eggs per day, but the number of oocytes spawned per day varied greatly, suggesting that not all the females spawned daily. Fertilization rates of the spawned oocytes varied from 0 to 100%, though most females showed nearly 100% fertilization rates. Oocytes spawned in the laboratory at 4–6°C were negatively buoyant. If fertilized, these oocytes extruded polar bodies and then after at least four hours cleaved unequally. Subsequent cleavages occurred in a spiral pattern at roughly 2-h intervals, resulting in free-swimming trochophore larvae after 24 h. These lecithotrophic trochophores swam for 9–16 days before settling with several hooked chaetae, similar to those of dwarf Osedax males. The larval life span of the Osedax species studied in the laboratory appears to be shorter than in closely related Vestimentifera. Osedax rubiplumus, on the other hand, has much larger oocytes and so may have greater dispersal potential than these other Osedax species. The high fecundity and apparently continuous reproduction of Osedax boneworms permits the opportunistic exploitation of sunken vertebrate bones.


Large-scale epidemiological studies firmly established the association between low plasma levels of high-density lipoprotein-cholesterol (HDL-C) and elevated risk of cardiovascular disease. This relationship is thought to reflect the key biological function of HDL, which involves reverse cholesterol transport from the arterial wall to the liver for further excretion from the body. Other aspects of the cardioprotective HDL functionality include antioxidative, anti-inflammatory, anti-apoptotic, anti-thrombotic, vasodilatory, anti-infectious and antidiabetic activities. Over the last decades, wide interest in HDL as an athero- and cardioprotective particle has resulted in the development of HDL-C raising as a therapeutic approach to reduce cardiovascular risk. Several strategies to increase circulating HDL-C concentrations were developed that primarily included use of niacin and fibrates as potent HDL-C raising agents. In the statin era, inhibition of cholesteryl ester transfer protein, infusion of artificially reconstituted HDL and administration of apolipoprotein A-I mimetics were established as novel approaches to raise HDL-C. More recently, other strategies targeting HDL metabolism, such as upregulation of apolipoprotein A-I production by the liver, were added to the list of HDL therapeutics. This review summarises current knowledge of novel HDL-targeting therapies and discusses perspectives of their use.


1. All lysine residues in native troponin I from rabbit fast-twitch skeletal muscle reacted with methyl acetimidate and ethyl acetimidate. 2. The reactivity of lysine-18 of troponin I to acetimidate was much diminished when the troponin I was complexed in the presence of Ca2+ with troponin C alone or in the whole troponin complex. 3. In the presence of EGTA, lysine-18 of troponin I in the troponin I-troponin C complex was more reactive to acetimidate than it was in the presence of Ca2+. 4. No masking of lysine residues could be detected when troponin I interacted with calmodulin or actin. 5. Sedimentation-equilibrium studies indicated that the complex of troponin I with calmodulin was more readily dissociated in the absence of Ca2+ than was its complex with troponin C under otherwise identical conditions. 6. These studies suggest that the nature of the involvement of the N-terminal region of troponin I is a major difference between its modes of interaction with calmodulin and with troponin C.


Over a 2.8-year period, I did 112 vaginal hysterectomies using five different techniques of cuff closure to examine the preservation of vaginal length associated with each closure. I conclude that all five methods are acceptable as long as there is proper vault support. Morbidity was minimal, vaginal depth was retained, and there were no deaths.


The paper presented damage localization of plate-like structures using stationary wavelet transform (SWT) of displacement mode shapes. SWT is a redundant transform which doubles the number of input samples at each iteration. It provides a more accurate estimation of the variances and facilitates the identification of salient features in a signal, especially for recognizing noise or signal rupture. The displacement mode shapes of a cracked plate that contains a crack of small depth are essentially smooth surfaces. In reality, the mode shapes contain very small local peaks or discontinuities in the region of damage. However, it is difficult to identify and locate a crack directly from the graphical plot of the displacement mode shapes. Using SWT, mode shape curves can be decomposed into smooth, low order curves, called approximation coefficients, and wavy, high order curves called the detail coefficients, which include defect information that is useful for damage localization. The modal responses of the damaged fixed plates with a small crack ratio of 5% were computed using the finite element method (FEM). The results show that the SWT-based method has great potential in damage localization of plate-like structures as it does not require the modal parameter of an intact plate as a baseline for damage localization. Therefore, it can be recommended for real applications.Copyright © 2012 by ASME


This paper gives an overview of the different processes of metal dusting (MD) that operate on low and high alloyed iron and nickel base alloys exposed in CO+H2–containing environments with or without water vapour. MD of pure metals like iron and nickel occur with a solely carbon-induced corrosion mechanism. However, in high alloyed materials with strong oxide formers such as Cr and Al, a more complex MD-process takes place which involves both carbon and oxygen in close collaboration. The "alloyed" carbides, i.e normally Cr-containing carbides, formed in such materials are thermodynamically stable with respect to the carbon activity. However, in the reaction front of a MD-pit with non-protective spinel oxide, they destabilise and dissolve due to the influence of the low oxygen activity determined by CO-dissociation. Based on recent results in the field of MD a chart with tentative MD mechanisms is presented as a function of alloy composition and temperature.


Experiments were carried out to determine the effect of storage at 37°C on the allergenic potency for humans of dried BCG vaccine. From four lots of liquid vaccine, eight kinds of dried vaccine were prepared, four with I% sodium glutamate and four with 1 % sucrose as adjuvant. The eight vaccines were stored at 5'C and at 370C for periods ranging from 1 month to 9 months, and were then used for the inoculation of primary-school children in Tokyo. These children were tuberculin-tested 1, 3 or 4 and, in a few cases, 12 months after vaccination, and the reactions were read approximately 48 hours after the tuberculin injection had been given. The tuberculin reactions induced by inoculation of the glutamate vaccines stored at 37°C were, in all cases, appreciably stronger than those induced by the sucrose vaccines after storage at the same temperature for the same period. A slight decrease in the potency of the glutamate vaccines was observed after storage for 3 months at 37°C, but storage for 1 month at this temperature did not appear to have any adverse effect on the potency.


We review case studies of diffusion in nanocrystalline ceramics, i.e. polycrystalline non-metallic materials with average grain sizes typically in the range from 5 to 50 nm. The experimental methods applied are, on the one hand, tracer diffusion or conductivity methods which are sensitive to macroscopic transport, and, on the other hand, NMR techniques which, complementarily to the previous ones, give access to microscopic diffusion parameters like atomic hopping rates and jump barrier heights. In all cases the diffusion properties of the samples, whether single-phase systems or composites, are dominated by their grain boundaries and interfacial regions, respectively. In principle, all experimental techniques allow one to discriminate between contributions to the diffusion from the crystalline grains and those from the interfacial regions. Corresponding examples are presented for SIMS and impedance measurements on oxygen conductors. NMR studies for various nanocrystalline lithium ion conductors reveal that two lithium species with different diffusivities are present. Comparison with the coarse grained counterparts shows that the slower ions are located inside the crystallites and the faster ones in the structurally disordered interfacial regions. Investigations on composite materials exhibit phenomena which can be explained by the percolation of fast diffusion pathways being formed by the interfaces between the two components.


The influence of the Fed's actions on equity prices has been a source of significant speculation in recent years. This article uses a well-regarded measure for the "fair" value of interest rates to measure the degree to which the Fed is influencing interest rate and then relates that level of interference to equity returns. We find that Fed's actions are correlated with a modest negative impact on US equity prices—that is Fed interference has a slight negative relationship with broader equity returns. In contrast, outside the US, Central Bank interference generally has a stronger positive relationship to equity returns.


The present study experimentally investigates shock-induced collapse of bubbles near boundaries of
different plasticity and the resulting destructive erosion. Air bubbles held in gelatin are placed close to
either a solid wall or a soft clay layer. High pressure impulse generated by a shock tube is employed to
trigger bubble collapse. The bubble deformation is visualized by a focused shadowgraph system, and
the damage caused to the boundary surface is closely examined as well. The collapse of bubbles near
the soft clay layer shows differences from that near the solid wall in both qualitative description of
bubble deformation and quantitative measurement of bubble dynamics. The surface of the clay is
marked by the bubble collapse with a volcano-shaped imprint and some material floats into the gelatin
in a mushroom shape. In this ongoing investigation, refined results under well-defined and uniform
initial conditions will be provided and well suited for validation of numerical models and approaches.


Day to day the technology is advancing and it's becoming a part of our life. In this situation this project will provides an innovative and a complete solution for home automation based on multiple objectives. These objectives involve the switching ON/ OFF of home appliances automatically using different sensors, GSM modules, Smart phones with Bluetooth control, Smart phones with voice control, House security through GSM, Camera modules to send SMS, MMS when an unknown person entered into our locked house, Water tank level monitoring, Gas level, leakage monitoring systems, RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) locks and Number locks in the place of manual locks. These all objectives are innovatively incorporated into our proposed prototype home model using Arduino and Raspberry Pi microcontrollers, GSM, Blue tooth, camera modules, RFID, Number lock and different sensors. Among all these objectives gas level monitoring, water tank level monitoring are our own proposed methods implemented successfully. We proposed and developed a multiple objective based a complete solution for home automation which will make or initiate the Omani people towards Modern home to lead their life more comfortably, securely and providing their contribution  in saving the energy for the Oman and as well as to reduce Global warming.


The metallicity is a critical parameter that affects the correct determination fundamental characteristics stellar cluster and has important implications in Galactic and Stellar evolution research. Fewer than 10 % of the 2174 currently catalog open clusters have their metallicity determined in the literature. In this work we present a method for estimating the metallicity of open clusters via non-subjective isochrone fitting using the cross-entropy global optimization algorithm applied to UBV photometric data. The free parameters distance, reddening, age, and metallicity simultaneously determined by the fitting method. The fitting procedure uses weights for the observational data based on the estimation of membership likelihood for each star, which considers the observational magnitude limit, the density profile of stars as a function of radius from the center of the cluster, and the density of stars in multi-dimensional magnitude space. We present results of [Fe/H] for nine well-studied open clusters based on 15 distinct UBV data sets. The [Fe/H] values obtained in the ten cases for which spectroscopic determinations were available in the literature agree, indicating that our method provides a good alternative to determining [Fe/H] by using an objective isochrone fitting. Our results show that the typical precision is about 0.1 dex.


Antibody-labeled gold nanoparticles represent a promising novel tool regarding cancer imaging and therapy. Nevertheless, the characterization of biodistribution of such immunonanocarriers has been poorly documented. In this study, the biodistribution of (89)Zr-labeled cetuximab before and after the coupling reaction to gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) was compared and the quantitative imaging performance of (89)Zr immuno-PET was evaluated. Cetuximab was functionalized with the desferal moiety and labeled with (89)Zr ((89)Zr-Df-Bz-NCS-cetuximab). AuNPs with a mean diameter of 5 nm were synthesized according a new method developed in the laboratory, and conjugated to (89)Zr-Df-Bz-NCS-cetuximab using carbodiimide chemistry (AuNPs-PPAA-cetuximab-(89)Zr). The two tracers were injected in A431 xenograft-bearing mice. Tumor and liver uptakes were assessed at different times after injection using quantitative PET imaging. The in vivo specificity of the binding was investigated using a saturating dose of unlabeled cetuximab. Radiolabeled cetuximab was conjugated to AuNPs with a coupling reaction yield >75%. All conjugates were stable in vitro and to a lesser extent in plasma. In vivo distribution studies revealed no significant difference in tumor uptake for cetuximab conjugated to nanoparticles up to 72 h after injection, compared with unconjugated cetuximab. Immuno-PET studies showed that AuNPs-PPAA-cetuximab-(89)Zr provided high tumor-to-background ratio. The liver uptake of AuNPs-PPAA-cetuximab-(89)Zr was higher, compared with (89)Zr-Df-Bz-NCS-cetuximab. In vivo blocking experiments demonstrated selective tumor targeting after coupling reaction. This study showed that the conjugation of AuNPs to cetuximab did not affect its tumor accumulation and that the efficacy of EGFR-targeted nanoparticles was unaltered. The (89)Zr-labeled cetuximab-targeted gold nanoparticles could be a valuable tool for theranostic purposes.


The purpose of this paper is to study the packet loss effect on MPEG video transmission quality in wireless networks. First, we consider the distribution of packet losses in wireless network, including distributed and burst packet losses. Besides, we also discuss the additional packet drops by the play-out buffer at the received end, and the effect of the transmission packet size on the video delivered quality. From the results, we find that the effect of burst packet losses on the video delivered quality is less than distributed packet losses in the same packet loss rate. Moreover, the smaller size of the play-out buffer leads to more packet drops and worse video quality. Finally, if there is no video recovery for video transmission, the video delivered quality of the larger packet size will be better than smaller packet size


This brief concept paper proposes a far-reaching institutional reform of the European Union. All EU regions in NUTS1 classification should have local presidential and parliamentary elections. All elected presidents will form the new EU Council with 97 members. This will be the new EU parliament. Then Council members will elect among themselves the EU Executive Board, which will be the EU government. The existing EU bodies: the Commission, Council, Presidency and Parliament will cease to exist. The new EU Council and the EU Executive Board will have a wide range of competences to design and implement EU-wide policies.


4H-SiC has been irradiated with 10 keV protons and a laterally resolved DLTS study performed to study the diffusion of irradiation induced intrinsic point defects. It is found that the defects migrate on the order of hundreds of μm laterally and carbon interstitials (CI) are believed to be involved in the defect formation. However, the vertical diffusion lengths are revealed to be several orders of magnitude shorter, on the order of hundreds of nm. Specifically, the Z1,2, S1,2 and EH6,7 levels are found to be generated significant distances from the irradiated area, suggesting that CI or another highly mobile species are involved in the formation of these defects.


Abstract In the present study, ZrO2co-doped with Gd3+/Sm3+and Gd3+/Er3+ions have been synthesized using Pechini method. Phase composition, morphology and photoluminescence properties of the synthesized phosphors were investigated by using X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), differential thermal analysis/thermal gravimetry (DTA/TG), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and photoluminescence spectrofluorometer (PL). After heating at 1200 °C, XRD revealed that the phosphors were crystallized as monoclinic and tetragonal multiphases. SEM images indicated that the phosphors consist of fine and spherical grains with a size around 200 nm to 250 nm. Luminescence studies of these phosphors have been carried out on the emission and excitation, along with lifetime measurements


A novel multi-phase PWM DC-DC converter is designed, in order to solve the problem of meeting the power supply requirements of the new generation microprocessor which requires 40-100 A currents, lower voltage and better current transient response. In multi-phase converter, how to balance the currents in each phase is most important, and the averaged current sharing is an effective way. The multi-phase converter, by distributing the power and load current results in smaller and lower cost transistor with fewer input and output capacitors. It meets the specifications of Intel's VRM9.0 design guideline for the power supply of high-performance Pentium IV central processing units.


This document defines new RTP payload formats for the Forward Error
Correction (FEC) packets that are generated by the non-interleaved and
interleaved parity codes from source media encapsulated in RTP. These
parity codes are systematic codes (Flexible FEC, or "FLEX FEC"), where
a number of FEC repair packets are generated from a set of source
packets from one or more source RTP streams. These FEC repair packets
are sent in a redundancy RTP stream separate from the source RTP
stream(s) that carries the source packets. RTP source packets that
were lost in transmission can be reconstructed using the source and
repair packets that were received. The non-interleaved and interleaved
parity codes which are defined in this specification offer a good
protection against random and bursty packet losses, respectively, at a
cost of complexity. The RTP payload formats that are defined in this
document address scalability issues experienced with the earlier
specifications, and offer several improvements. Due to these changes,
the new payload formats are not backward compatible with earlier
specifications, but endpoints that do not implement this specification
can still work by simply ignoring the FEC repair packets.


Telomere function is tightly regulated in order to maintain chromosomal stability. When telomeres become dysfunctional, the replicative capacity of cells diminishes and cellular senescence ensues. This can lead to impaired tissue replenishment and eventually degenerative disorders, referred to as telomere syndromes. Cancer can also develop as a result of the genomic instability associated with telomere dysfunction. TERRA (TElomeric Repeat containing RNA) is a long non-coding transcript that stems from sub-telomeric regions and continues into the telomeric tract and is therefore a hybrid of both sub-telomeric and telomeric sequence. In general, increased TERRA transcription is associated with telomere shortening and compromised telomere function. Here we will briefly outline the general principles behind telomere dysfunction-associated diseases. Furthermore, we will discuss the few known links that exist between telomere transcription (TERRA) and disease. Finally, we will speculate on how the understanding, and eventual manipulation, of TERRA transcription could potentially be used in terms of therapeutic strategies.


The revision of the Swiss health insurance law (article 64A) excludes an increasing portion of the Swiss population from access to health care, and specifically to medications. From May to August 2006, 84 patients were referred to the University Hospital's primary care outpatient clinic to receive medications. These patients had a low socio-economic position, suffered from chronic diseases (88%) and had a high prevalence of psychiatric diseases (59%). This change in the Swiss insurance law mainly has an impact on the more fragile members of society and threatens the concept of equal access of the whole population to the national health care system.


Thiol compounds, such as glutathione, 2,3-dimercaptopropanol (BAL), propane-1,3-dithiol, and N-phenylaminopropanedithiol, were readily oxidized by x-rays, beta rays, and gamma rays. The ionic yield for this oxidation was about the same, 3 at pH 7, on irradiation with x-rays and with beta rays; it was 23 per cent less on irradiation with gamma rays. The ionic yield varied with the hydrogen ion concentration, increasing as the pH value increased. There was no reduction of oxidized glutathione on irradiation with dosages of x-rays and gamma rays which produced oxidation of the reduced compound. In the absence of oxygen, the oxidation of thiols by ionizing radiations was only 33 per cent of that obtained in the presence of dissolved oxygen. When the thiol solutions were irradiated in the presence of dissolved oxygen, catalase protected them from oxidation by 17 to 27 per cent.


Background and Objective: Cholangiocarcinoma (CCA), a malignancy of bile duct epithelia, is a rare cancer worldwide but has high incidence in Khon Kaen province, Thailand.  Most of CCA patients are diagnosed at late stage with distant metastasis and poor survival.  Aberrant glycosylation has been demonstrated in many cancers including CCA.  The aberrant glycans and glycoconjugates were reported to be the markers for diagnosis and prognostic prediction of the cancer. Method: We determined the expression of N -acetylgalactosamine (GalNAc) in CCA patient tissues using Sophora japonica agglutinin (SJA), a GalNAc binding lectin by lectin histochemistry. Result: The SJA histochemistry showed that SJA-binding glycoconjugates (SBG) were highly detected in hyperplastic/dysplastic bile ducts (81.3%, 26/32) and neoplastic bile ducts (77.3%, 34/44) but was not detected in normal bile ducts, hepatocytes and the infiltrating cells.  The SJA histochemistry of Opisthorchis viverrini (OV) associated CCA hamsters revealed that the abnormal bile ducts of the OV-infected, NDMA-treated, and OV-NDMA groups expressed SBG as early as one month post-treatment.  No SBG was detected in normal bile duct epithelia of non-treated group.  This information suggested that SBG may associate with carcinogenesis of CCA.  SJA histochemistry of hepatocellular carcinoma tissues (HCC) was performed to validate the specificity of SBG.  In contrast with CCA, most of HCC tissues (92.3%, 12/13) showed negative staining for SBG.  This evidence suggested the potential of using SBG to differentiate CCA from HCC. Conclusion: SBG was defined in abnormal bile ducts and may be used as biomarker for early detection of CCA and differentiating CCA from HCC. Key word: Lectin, Biomarker, SJA, Carbohydrate antigen, Glycoconjugate, Glycosylation


Abstract A survey of heterocyclic hemithioindigo photoswitches is presented identifying a number of structural motives with outstanding property profiles. The highly sought‐after combination of pronounced color change, quantitative switching in both directions, exceptional high quantum yields, and tunable high thermal stability of metastable states can be realized with 4‐imidazole, 2‐pyrrole, and 3‐indole‐based derivatives. In the former, an unusual preorganization using isomer selective chalcogen‐ and hydrogen bonding allows to precisely control geometry changes and tautomerism upon switching. Heterocyclic hemithioindigos thus represent highly promising photoswitches with advanced capabilities that will be of great value to anyone interested in establishing defined and reversible control at the molecular level.


Background: Reports from different parts of the world have revealed wide variation in the prevalence of various skin disorders. Variations exist with respect to age, sex, dwelling and socio-economic status. Prevalence studies of skin disorders in children and adolescents are meager. Aim: The aim of the present study was to determine the prevalence of various skin disorders in school going children of Kashmir valley of North India. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study was designed to find the prevalence of skin disorders in the age group of 6-19 years. Kashmir valley of North India was stratified into North, Central and South Kashmir and among them one district was selected. Educational institutions were stratified as per levels of education, i.e. primary, middle, secondary, higher secondary and college. Each strata was sub-grouped sex-wise. From each educational institution, 10% of students were selected through the systematic random sampling. A specially designed questionnaire was framed and information regarding any of dermatological ailments was noted. A total of 5000 students were examined and prevalence of all types of skin disorders was noted. Results: Eczemas formed the largest group followed by acne vulgaris. In the eczema group, pityriasis alba was most frequent type followed by hand eczema, irritant and allergic contact dermatitis taken together. Individually, acne vulgaris was the most prevalent skin disorder in the study group. Conclusion: The study found that skin disorders were more common in males than females, in urban than in rural dwellers, in students from government schools than private schools and in students belonging to the low socioeconomic group.


This thesis is about learning the globally optimal Bayesian network structure from fully observed dataset, by using score-based method. This structure learning problem is NP- hard, and has attracted the attention of many researchers. We first introduce the necessary background of the problem, then review various score-based methods and algorithms proposed in solving the problem. Parallelization has come under the spotlight during recent years, as it can utilize shared memory and computing power of multi-core supercomputers or computer clusters. We implemented a parallel algorithm Para-OS, which is based on dynamic programming. Experiments were performed in order to evaluate the algorithm. We also propose an improved version of Para-OS, which separates the scoring phase totally from the learning phase, performs score pruning by using Sparse Parent Graph, in addition largely reduces the communication between processors. Empirical results shows the new version saves memory comparing to Para-OS, and provides good runtime with multi-treading.


Compulsive checking is known to influence memory, yet there is little consideration of checking as a cognitive style within the typical population. We employed a working memory task where letters had to be remembered in their locations. The key experimental manipulation was to induce repeated checking after encoding by asking about a stimulus that had not been presented. We recorded the effect that such misleading probes had on a subsequent memory test. Participants drawn from the typical population but who scored highly on a checking-scale had poorer memory and less confidence than low scoring individuals. While thoroughness is regarded as a quality, our results indicate that a cognitive style that favours repeated checking does not always lead to the best performance as it can undermine the authenticity of memory traces. This may affect various aspects of everyday life including the work environment and we discuss its implications and possible counter-measures. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


Italy plays a peripheral role in the global market of ready-made shows, for historical reasons that pertain both to the marginality of the Italian language and to the scarcity of cultural and economic investments in the globalization of the products. This essay focuses on the analysis of Master of Photography, a docu-talent show produced since 2015 by the Italian indie B/Arts for the pan-European production hub that Sky Limited conceived to produce suitable content for the group's national art channels (UK, Ireland, Germany, Austria and Italy). Going beyond the analyses concerning the global TV market, this research brings together the perspective of critical political economy and the studies on television's production routines, with the aim of unveiling both the elaborate adjustments and the necessary compromises required by a cross-cultural creative process that has to meet the expectations and satisfy the tastes of different national audiences. Although the format offers the Italian prodco the opportunity to develop a new production model, with positive effects on the company's international reputation, its potential influence on the globalization of Italian products and on the growth of ready-made show is still to be demonstrated.


Alloys of a specific microstructure exhibit a shear-rate history-dependent flow behaviour in the semi-solid state. Rheological studies have been carried out using various experimental techniques such as concentric cylinder rheometers of Couette or Searle type as well as capillary rheometers and parallel plate compression tests. With the Searle type rheometer and the capillary rheometer two different approaches of rheological measurement techniques are discussed and compared regarding advantages, potentials and its distinct characteristics. Experiments using the Searle type rheometer have been conducted under steady-state or oscillating conditions and have been used to verify time-dependency of step responses due to discontinuous or linear variances of the shear rate. These experiments provide all types of flow curve parameters as implemented in the numerical simulation. However the variances of the commonly used Couette and Searle type rheometers are limited to shear-rates which are significantly lower than that appearing in the technical thixo- or rheocasting processes. For that reason an additional experimental set-up with a horizontal slot capillary integrated in a shot-controlled high-pressure die-casting machine is used in order to examine flow properties at shear rate conditions similar to those in real thixocasting processes. After an initial examination of low temperature model alloys, such as PbSn15, the experimental set-up is then adjusted in order to obtain rheological data for light metal alloys such as Aluminium AlSi7Mg0.3. The Aluminium alloy is processed within each rheometer either as partially solidified or partially remelted in order to represent conditions of both, the conventional thixocasting and the lately introduced rheocasting process. Finally the appearance of physical phenomena which affects the accuracy of rheological experiments such as wall slip is considered for both types of rheometers.


Block I/O serves as a classic interface for accessing storage devices with portability. But it can also cause extra overhead by enforcing transferring data in the unit of blocks. In this paper, we present CoinPurse, a device-assisted file system with dual interfaces. By leveraging non-volatile memory (NVM) in SSD, CoinPurse manages to adaptively persist writes through both the block I/O and a byte-addressable partial update interface. In addition, we also develop a set of techniques to overcome hardware limitations and resolve possible consistency conflicts. Evaluation shows that CoinPurse outperforms F2FS, a popular flash-optimized file system, by up to 33.2%.


We attempted a randomized, double blind trial of placebo vs cyclobenzaprine (Flexeril) in 40 female patients with fibromyalgia from a private rheumatology practice in Maine. Patient reports and physician global assessments indicated that cyclobenzaprine was more effective than placebo in alleviating symptoms of fibromyalgia in a subgroup of patients. However, most patients in the study had more accurate perceptions of drug effects than had been predicted and were able to identify the test drug. How much this awareness contributed to the perceived effectiveness of cyclobenzaprine is unknown.


Experimental evidence suggests that cellular changes and tissue turnover occurs in the periapical tissue during tooth movement. The possible role of apoptosis in tooth movement has never been investigated. The purpose of this study was to show whether apoptosis plays any role in orthodontic tooth movement. A sample of 21 adult male Sprague-Dawley rats was divided into 4 groups. Orthodontic appliances were attached to the rats for various times-to group I (n = 6) for 3 days, to group II (n = 6) for 1 week, and to group III (n = 6) for 2 weeks. Rats in group IV (n = 3) had appliances but no force and served as the control group. At the end of the observation period, the animals were killed and tissue blocks of involved teeth were processed and prepared for TUNEL (terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated dUTP nick end labeling) reaction. TUNEL-positive cells from selected areas on each slide were counted and compared by means of an analysis of variance. Group I demonstrated a significantly higher (P <.05) number of positive cells. This suggests that the maximum apoptosis occurs approximately 3 days after the application of the appliance.


Abstract Did Franklin Delano Roosevelt escalate confliict with Japan and Germany before Pearl Harbor, or did he attempt to avoid war? To what extent did U.S. public opinion influence these decisions? And, crucially, how do we know? Scholars offer diametrically opposed analyses of this historical case, bearing directly on international relations theories regarding the effects of democracy on war and foreign policy. In this debate and the broader security studies field, scholars increasingly employ published and archival primary sources. Because researchers lack a clear template for descriptive and causal inference with documentary evidence, though, such work is indeterminate and ultimately unpersuasive. How can political scientists approach archives and primary documents more effectively and efficiently? Above all, case studies need stronger research designs and clearer source selection strategies, not just more authoritative documents. A critical review of the sources cited in recent scholarship in the debate leading to the United States' entry into World War II, and a replication analysis of a key portion of the documentary record, underscores this need for improved research design and buttresses eight guidelines for the selection and analysis of textual evidence in case study research.


The M-44 ejector ('ejector') has proven to be a highly target-specific means of delivering toxicants to the exotic European red fox (Vulpes vulpes) in south-eastern Australia. Para-aminopropiophenone (PAPP) is a potent methaemoglobin (MetHb) forming compound in canids. A formulation of PAPP, dimethylsulphoxide (DMS0) and condensed milk was investigated as a new toxicant formulation for delivery by the ejector. Dosage of eight foxes in the laboratory with a sequential dose demonstrated that the formulation caused a dose-dependent and rapid elevation of MetHb. A strong inverse correlation between MetHb and oxyhaemoglobin concentrations was detected in each case. The symptoms of the toxicosis in the laboratory included progressive cyanosis, lethargy and then collapse when MetHb levels reached 56-76%. A polynomial model was a good fit for describing the relationship between sub-lethal doses of PAPP and the resulting peak MetHb levels. In a pen trial, an ejector was fitted with a bait and loaded with a standard dose of 226 mg PAPP in the same formulation and set at one end of a pen. After voluntarily triggering the ejector, all five foxes in this trial became progressively more lethargic and either lay prostrate or collapsed after 14-25 min, and death was confirmed after a mean of 43 min. We compared some clinical features of PAPP toxicosis with 15 cases of lethal sodium fluoroacetate (1080) poisoning using 0.5 mg kg-1 1080. PAPP produced a mean time to death that was 7.7 times faster than 1080, with the onset of first symptoms being 15 times faster. It was associated with much less activity prior to death and convulsions, spasms and paddling commonly associated with 1080 poisoning after collapse were not detected during PAPP toxicosis. We conclude that the PAPP formulation appears to be a rapidly acting and apparently humane lethal agent for fox control when used in conjunction with the ejector.


: The influence of fetal genotype upon gonadotrophin (PMSG) and progestagen production in mares and donkeys during the first half of pregnancy was examined. The production of PMSG was greatly reduced in mares carrying mule conceptuses and greatly increased in donkeys carrying hinny conceptuses. Fetal genotype had no obvious influence upon progestagen production in mares, but donkeys carrying hinny conceptuses showed extremely high peripheral plasma progestagen concentrations when serum PMSG levels were elevated. Fetal genotype profoundly influences the intensity and rate of success of the maternal leucocyte response directed against the endometrial cups. The suggestion is advanced that PMSG may constitute an immuno-protective barrier around endometrial cup cells which partly protects the cells from attack by sensitized maternal lymphocytes.


Summary: Aconitase and NAD- and NADP-linked isocitric dehydrogenases were examined in two strains of Aspergillus niger. The mutant strain 72-44 produced higher yields of citric acid on the culture medium used than did the parent strain 72-4. After growth for 22 hr on a medium in which citric acid did not accumulate, the amounts of each enzyme in the parent strain were approximately the same as those in the mutant strain. The enzymes were also found, though in lower amounts, throughout the incubation period of 8 days in both strains grown on a medium in which citric acid accumulated. A 20-fold increase in the concentration of iron in this medium doubled the activity of aconitase in extracts from the mutant strain, though citric acid accumulation was only decreased by 25%. The addition of monofluoro-acetate to the culture medium was toxic to the mould and did not stimulate citric acid yields. It is suggested that during the incubation, some recycling of citric acid may take place. The difference in citric acid yields from the parent and mutant strains was not accounted for on the basis of the degrees of aconitase or isocitric dehydrogenase activity.


A need was identified by the Department of Population Health (DPH) for an academic medical center to facilitate research using large, externally funded datasets. Barriers identified included difficulty in accessing and working with the datasets, and a lack of knowledge about institutional licenses. A need to facilitate sharing and reuse of datasets generated by researchers at the institution (internal datasets) was also recognized. The library partnered with a researcher in the DPH to create a catalog of external datasets, which provided detailed metadata and access instructions. The catalog listed researchers at the medical center and the main campus with expertise in using these external datasets in order to facilitate research and cross-campus collaboration. Data description standards were reviewed to create a set of metadata to facilitate access to both externally generated datasets, as well as the internally generated datasets that would constitute the next phase of development of the catalog. Interviews with a range of investigators at the institution identified DPH researchers as most interested in data sharing, therefore targeted outreach to this group was undertaken. Initial outreach resulted in additional external datasets being described, new local experts volunteering, proposals for additional functionality, and interest from researchers in inclusion of their internal datasets in the catalog. Despite limited outreach, the catalog has had ~250 unique page views in the three months since it went live. The establishment of the catalog also led to partnerships with the medical center's data management core and the main university library. The Data Catalog in its present state serves a direct user need from the Department of Population Health to describe large, externally funded datasets. The library will use this initial strong community of users to expand the catalog and include internally generated research datasets. Future expansion plans will include working with DataCore and the main university library.


We present a comparison between optical properties of two samples grown by hydride vapor phase epitaxy, one directly on Sapphire substrate (non-ELO) and one epitaxial lateral overgrown (ELO) on SiO 2 patterned Sapphire substrate. The ELO material shows an improvement of the UV emission and slight decrease of the yellow emission. The band edge emission is red shifted due to the relaxation of the compressive strain. In spite of the increase in the UV emission, the lifetime of the excitons in the ELO material is more than twice lower than non-ELO material. We attribute this to screening effects of the background electron concentration.


This dissertation addresses the mechanism of σ54 activation by the AAA+ ATPase transcriptional activators. The first chapter provides a general introduction to σ54‑mediated bacterial transcription initiation by outlining the existing structural and biochemical data on σ54 and its activators. The majority of our structural information comes from high resolution structures of individual σ54 and transcriptional activator domains, with the rest coming from low resolution structures that determine relative positions of the domains. The structural and biochemical properties of these domains, viewed in the context of the mechanisms of related motor proteins, led to our hypothesis of σ54 activation. In this dissertation, I propose that the transcriptional activator's hexameric ATPase domain uses conserved loops, known to contact σ54, to pull on and thread the σ54 N‑terminal activator interacting domain through its central pore. In this model, through processive rounds of ATP hydrolysis, the transcriptional activator applies enough force to generate a conformational change in the σ54‑RNA polymerase holoenzyme that allows it to melt DNA thus initiating transcription. The primary goal of my work has been the study of the activation mechanism using a variety of techniques, including traditional NMR‑based structure determination, in vivo and in vitro biochemistry, and single molecule optical tweezers experiments.The second chapter outlines the central work of this dissertation, the structural characterization of the region of σ54 responsible for contacting the activator and necessary for initiating transcription. We show that the activator interacting domain (AID) is intrinsically disordered, but becomes ordered when bound to the transcriptional activator, NtrC1, in its ATP state. In particular, we show that two predicted helices in the sequence are sufficient for activator binding with native‑like affinity, and that the first helix in particular represents the primary region of contact. We applied TROSY‑based NMR techniques to the structure determination of this high molecular weight complex, but most signals were broad due to dynamics or disorder, preventing a high resolution structure determination of the AID bound to the activator. This indicates that the AID does not bind the activator in a single conformation, but rather in multiple conformations each experiencing a different chemical environment. This may reflect an activation mechanism involving dynamic changes to the σ54‑activator interaction site.The third chapter takes an in vivo biochemical approach to study the σ54 activation mechanism by characterizing the functionality of σ54 with insertions and deletions near the activator interacting domain. These insertions distinguish between two competing mechanisms: whether the σ54 AID only binds the surface of the activator or, as we propose, is threaded through its central pore. We find that a flexible linker region between the sites of activator and RNA polymerase binding is essential for fully functional σ54. While the length of the linker does not matter, the insertion of a small, stably folded domain between these two interaction sites is detrimental to σ54 activity in vivo. This is consistent with the threading of the AID and linker by the transcriptional activator, which would not be inhibited by the addition of extra unstructured residues but would be stalled by the addition of a folded domain in the linker.The fourth chapter outlines single molecule optical tweezers experiments to characterize the effect of force on a domain of σ54. In particular, we examine the possibility that the σ54 core binding domain (CBD), responsible for contacting core RNA polymerase, acts as a conformational fracture point that undergoes rearrangements when force is applied. The NMR structure of the CBD revealed two folded subdomains with a hydrophobic interface that could plausibly be disrupted by the force of the activator threading the N‑terminus. By applying force with optical tweezers to either end of the CBD alone, we observed a separate unfolding event likely corresponding to unfolding of its seventh helix, but there was no evidence that the less stable of the two CBD subdomains unfolds before the other. Future experiments to conclusively test the force‑dependent activation of σ54 may require reconstituting and pulling on the full RNA polymerase holoenzyme complex, including core RNAP, promoter DNA, and full length σ54.The fifth chapter steps back from the study of the σ54 activation by the transcriptional activators to examine the regulation of the transcriptional activators themselves. Existing evidence shows that phosphorylation of the regulatory receiver domain of the transcriptional activator NtrC changes the population of its active and inactive states, with most states resembling the active conformation after phosphorylation. The activated receiver domain promotes the oligomerization of the ATPase domain, which in turn can activate σ54. In this chapter, I studied an NtrC receiver domain from the piezophilic bacteria, Shewanella violacea, which turns on σ54‑dependent gene expression in response to high pressure. We hypothesized that pressure alone might drive the conformational change normally associated with phosphorylation, thereby activating S.v. NtrC independent of its normal, two‑component signaling pathway. Using high pressure NMR spectroscopy, we showed that increased pressure alone does not increase the population of the S.v. NtrC receiver domain's active state. Future work must consider the pressure sensing behavior of the other components in the NtrC signaling pathway


The formation of the National Association of Credit Men (NACM) in 1896 signaled the professionalization of credit granting among U.S. merchants and manufacturers. This paper explores the association's twin objectives: pushing for greater financial transparency in all American businesses (not just the trusts); and encouraging the sharing of debtors' payment records among credit men working for competing firms. The NACM helped to legitimize the highly controversial methods that credit reporting firms pioneered beginning in the 1830s. In addition, the NACM facilitated the spread of credit interchanges (bureaus), an information-sharing arrangement that had taken root in Britain and Germany, but was slower to develop in the U.S. (The paper is based on the last chapter of a book manuscript. That larger work traces the evolution of the idea of transparency in American mercantile credit during the period 1830-1920.)


The postcranial stem tetrapod remains from Scat Craig include a neural arch, humerus, tibia, femur, and incomplete pectoral girdles and ilia. These elements are all large or very large compared with the corresponding bones of other stem tetrapods. They correlate well in size with the proportions of Ebnerpeton, the known stem tetrapod from Scat Craig, and probably belong to this genus. The neural arch has weak zygapophyses, and the ilia and shoulder girdles resemble those of Zchthyostega. The femur is strongly twisted, with the intercondylar fossa facing anteroventrally, so the hind limb probably functioned as a paddle. The tibia is broad, as in Acanthostegu and Zchthyostega. The humerus is approximately intermediate in shape between those of osteolepiforms and later stem tetrapods, but seems to have a ventral radial facet like Zchthyostega. Overall, the postcranial bones combine apparent synapomorphies with Zchthyostega and characters which are uniquely primitive among stemgroup tetrapods. This character combination is incongruent. A recently discovered postorbital bone from the site is, strictly speaking, indeterminable but may belong to Ebmpeton; it broadly resembles the postorbitals of Ichthyostegu and Acanthostega, and demonstrates that the typical stem tetrapod facial morphology had evolved before the end of the Frasnian.


We report a new synthesis approach for the precise control of wall morphologies of colloidal polypyrrole microparticles (PPyMPs) based on a time-dependent template-assisted polymerization technique. The resulting PPyMPs are water processable, allowing the simple and direct fabrication of multilevel hierarchical PPyMPs films for energy storage via a self-assembly process, whereas convention methods creating hierarchical conducting films based on electrochemical polymerization are complicated and tedious. This approach allows the rational design and fabrication of PPyMPs with well-defined size and tunable wall morphology, while the chemical composition, zeta potential, and microdiameter of the PPyMPs are well characterized. By precisely controlling the wall morphology of the PPyMPs, we observed a pure nanoscale morphological effect of the materials on the energy storage performance. We demonstrated by controlling purely the wall morphology of PPyMPs to around 100 nm (i.e., thin-walled PPyMPs) that the thin-walled PPyMPs exhibit typical supercapacitor characteristics with a significant enhancement of charge storage performance of up to 290% compared to that of thick-walled PPyMPs confirmed by cyclic voltametry, galvanostatic charge-discharge, and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy. We envision that the present design concept could be extended to different conducting polymers as well as other functional organic and inorganic dopants, which provides an innovative model for future study and understanding of the complex physicochemical phenomena of energy-related materials.


We report on the observation of vortex instabilities in the wake of a tidal turbine undergoing harmonic unsteady axial inflow (e.g. due to surface waves). The work was carried out using unsteady RANS (URANS) modelling using the open-source CFD software OpenFOAM, using the `pimpleDyMFoam' solver. The PIMPLE algorithm used in the URANS solver is a combination of the PISO (Pressure Implicit with Splitting of Operator) and SIMPLE (Semi-Implicit Method for Pressure-Linked Equations) algorithms. URANS simulations usually have a limitation on the time step set by the Courant number (C = u (delta t)/(delta x), where delta x is the minimum cell length and u the local velocity. In the PISO algorithm, C<1 is usually required. However, the PIMPLE algorithm allows stable transient simulations at C>>1 by applying under-relaxation to each time-step until a convergence criterion is met, before allowing the time-step to complete with no applied relaxation factors. The turbulence model used was komega-SST, which has been used extensively in tidal turbine modelling.
As with a wind turbine, the response of a tidal turbine to unsteady flow is heavily influenced by the behaviour of the helical wake that returns in close proximity to the turbine blades  times per revolution ( – number of blades). Unsteady inflow causes the blades to shed vorticity into the wake, which in turn leads to a spatial variation in wake vortex strength, such that the vorticity of adjacent returning wake segments can differ, and thus there is a spatially varying velocity deficit in the wake. This spatial variation in velocity deficit triggers instability in the blade tip vortices, the emergence of which we demonstrate is governed by the non-dimensional group  relating the blade passing frequency to the gust frequency. If the ratio between these two frequencies is an integer, the wake is stable. If not, the tip vortices exhibit various forms of instability. If the wake is unstable, adjacent wake segments will eventually coalesce as they move downstream, such that the wake consists of larger regions of vorticity with lower spatial frequency, compared to the wake immediately behind the turbine. There is also some indication that these unstable, coalesced wakes persist further downstream, compared with stable wakes. This has implications for wind and tidal farm design, where interaction of a row of turbines with the wakes of upstream turbines is an important consideration.


The cellular origin of placental hCG is not yet completely established. Depending on the method used, the syncytium, cytotrophoblast or both types of tissue have been claimed to synthesize hCG. In the present study in situ hybridization was used on sections of chorionic villi in order to detect expression of the gene for the beta-subunit of hCG (beta-hCG). Placental tissue was obtained from the 8th to the 11th weeks of pregnancy, when the concentration of hCG is high. A cDNA clone, encoding the entire amino acid sequence of beta-hCG, was used as a probe. Hybrids of beta-hCG cDNA/mRNA were found only over the syncytiotrophoblast. Background noise was extremely low and no signals above that were detected in the cytotrophoblast cells. It is concluded that at this stage of pregnancy the gene for beta-hCG is activated in the syncytial parts of chorionic villi and not in the cytotrophoblast.


This paper presents occupation-specific data on south-north migration around the year 2000 using employment data for developing sending and OECD receiving countries from ILO and OECD. These data reveal that the incidence of south-north migration was highest among professionals, one of the two occupational categories generally requiring tertiary education, and among clerks and legislators, senior officials and managers. At a more disaggregated level, I find that the probability that a professional in the OECD worked as a physical, mathematical and engineering science professional or as a life science and health professional was significantly larger for south-north migrants compared to OECD natives. It is exactly these occupational categories, characterized by internationally transferable skills, that exhibited significantly larger brain drain rates than teaching professionals, whose skills are rather country-specific. The employment shares of most types of professionals and technicians and associate professionals, as well as of clerks and corporate managers were significantly smaller in the migrant-sending countries compared to the receiving countries. The data further suggest a non-negligible "brain waste" due to imperfect transferability of skills acquired through formal education, since south-north migrants with a university degree more often worked in occupational categories requiring less than tertiary education compared to OECD natives.


Education on sustainable education (ESD) is gaining momentum to ensure that SDGs are met by 2030. The educational institutions have significant role in fostering ESD. However, there is lack of educational resources to be used for ESD. Particularly, teaching the concept of SDGs needs an attention grabbing and engaging approach and Design Based Learning (DBL) holds much potential. The main objective of this investigation was to describe the development of SDGs education resources i.e., SDGs educational games using DBL approach. Besides, the generic skills of the students during DBL were assessed during game development phase. The outputs of DBL were Bingo Mat game, Carrom board game and Sugoroku game. These games were validated for their effectiveness as resource for teaching and learning SDGs. The results revealed the positive impact on the generic skills of students through DBL during game development phase. Moreover, the response results of the players highlighted that carrom board game offered them the gaming experience while Bingo and Sugoroku offered them learning experience. Another important finding of this study is the need to teach SDGs from the younger age as the level of education had significantly impacted on their knowledge about SDGs. The results of this study will contribute to the domain of ESD by articulating an alternative pedagogy of integrating DBL with SDGs as invigorating educational resources and faculty development method.


A field experiment conducted in 1981 and 1982 at the Corozal Substation to determine the effects of solid cattle manure on the green forage, dry forage, and crude protein yields of stargrass ( Cynodon nlemfuensis var. nlemfuensis ) and on soil composition, showed that after 720 days the maximum manure application, without supplemental nitrogen fertilization, increased dry forage and crude protein yields significantly over the unfertilized control. Solid manure 65% dry matter and 1.6% nitrogen, .10% phosphorus, and .34% potassium; was applied at six rates (2,800, 5,600, 11,200, 16,800, 22,400 and 31,360 kg/ha/year) Stargrass harvested every 45 days. Manure treatments were supplemented with commercial fertilizer to provide 504, 73, and 336 kg/ha/year of N, P and K, respectively. Two check treatments were included: one received 3,360 kg/ha/year of 15-5-10 fertilizer as a standard fertilization and the other received neither fertilizer nor manure. Surface-applied manure at rates of 2,800, 5,600, 11,200, 16,800 and 22,400 kg/ha/year, supplemented with N, P and K, and the fertilized control gave similar dry forage yields. Stargrass P content tended to increase with manure applications, but K, Ca and Mg contents were similar to the standard fertilization. Soil available P and exchangeable K tended to increase with manure applications.


Agglutination and gel diffusion tests from 12 nomenspecies of the Xanthomonas campestris group, Xanthomonas albilineans, and individual strains of Pseudomonas syringae, Pseudomonas solanacearum, Agrobacterium tumefaciens, Erwinia amylovora, Erwinia stewartii, and Corynebacterium sepedonicum indicated serological distinctiveness of Xanthomonas oryzae, a member of the X. campestris group. Heat-stable, species-specific antigens were demonstrated in X. oryzae. The serological tests also revealed that most of the Xanthomonas spp. and a few Pseudomonas and Erwinia spp. shared some of the common antigens with X. oryzae. X. albilineans, A. tumefaciens, and C. sepedonicum did not share any antigen with X. oryzae.


In her latest novel, Sibh al-ǧazīra al-ʻarabiyya (2012), Salwā al-Naʻīmī narrates the experience of exile of a Syrian woman who lives in France. Through the protagonist's first-person account, the author questions the meaning of nation, membership to a collective and identity for an Arab woman settled in France. The main character embodies the exiled subject – or the ʻnomadic subject' (Braidotti, 2002) – who severs her ties with family, nation, Baʻṯ's party and religion. This painful process of liberation leads her to a global re-signification of the notion of Arab identity. The protagonist succeeds in releasing the meaning of Arab identity from the idea of normative membership to a collective. al-Naʻīmī's choice to narrate the experience of exile in Arabic helps to restore a link between the individual and the community, here identified with the community of speakers.


A series of centrifuge tests was performed to examine the failure mechanisms of landslide dams due to the increase of water level in the barrier lake. A model was designed to enable the control of flux to the barrier lake. In this model, soil samples taken from different landslide areas with different lithological backgrounds were used to construct the dam, which was sized 10 cm in height and 3 cm in crest width and had slopes in both the upper and down streams being 30 degrees. After consolidated under 50g, water was infilled to the upper stream of the dam to trigger failure within the dam. The test results showed that the dam could suffer from seepage-induced retrogressive sliding or overtopping-induced quick breaching. Detailed examination on the variation of pore-water pressure within the dam and the flux to the barrier lake revealed that the failure processes of the dam were mainly controlled by the permeability of the dam materials and also by the flux of inflow. Based on the monitored data, the critical hydraulic gradients for the occurrence of internal erosion and seepage-induced failure of landslide dams were also analyzed.


Abstract Elevated blood pressure (BP) is a growing burden worldwide, leading to over 10 million deaths each year. May Measurement Month (MMM) is a global initiative aimed at raising awareness of high BP and to act as a temporary solution to the lack of screening programmes worldwide. Our aim was to screen for hypertension (HTN) and cardiovascular risk factors in people aged ≥18 years in the community, thereby define the proportion of subjects with elevated BP and assess the awareness and the effectiveness of its treatment. An opportunistic cross-sectional survey of volunteers aged ≥18 years was carried out in May 2017. Blood pressure measurement, the definition of HTN and statistical analysis followed the standard MMM protocol. From May 2017 to June 2017, through 10 cities/provinces in Vietnam, 10 993 individuals with mean age 49.1 ± 16.2 years were screened during MMM17. After multiple imputation, 3154 (28.7%) had HTN. Of individuals not receiving antihypertensive medication, 1509 (16.1%) were hypertensive. Of individuals receiving antihypertensive medication, 620 (37.7%) had uncontrolled BP. Raised BP was also associated with additional risk factors including smoking, alcohol, overweight-obesity, and diabetes. May Measurement Month 17 was the largest BP screening campaign ever undertaken in Vietnam. Undiagnosed and uncontrolled HTN in Vietnam remains a substantial health problem. Local campaigns applying standardized methods such as MMM17, will be highly useful to screen for the significant number of individuals with raised BP and increase the awareness of HTN.


The "Parcel do Carpinteiro" outcrop is a Pleistocene relict nearshore shoal located at the modern shoreface of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. The present work describes the results of the integration of high resolution bathymetry, 3.5 kHz ecosounding, side scan sonar, autonomous diving and sedimentological sampling in the study of this submarine feature. Characterized by the occurrence of coquina and sandstone facies, strongly cemented by calcium carbonate, the structure is densely colonized by fauna (corals, bryozoans, sponges and poliquetae) and flora (coralline algae). Similar sandstones in other parts of Brazil (Southeast and Northeast coast) date from the Holocene, and are composed by 70 to 80% of siliciclastic sands and 20 to 30% of carbonate cement. In the study area, as well as in the rest of the coast of Rio Grande do Sul, the sandstones are mainly Pleistocene and composed by 20 to 40% of siliciclastic sands and 60 to 80% of carbonate cement. The analysis of the sedimentary structures, textures and composition of the facies suggests a depositional environment of high energy, probably near the surf zone. Recrystallization of the coquinas indicates sub aerial exposition after the deposition. The presence of ridge-and-furrows structures along the outcrop suggests that the shoal was reworked by waves during sea level stabilization before its subsequent drowning. It was observed that the associated gravel banks do not present cementation or recrystallization indicating at least two distinct genetic processes, one during the Pleistocene and another during the last Post-Glacial Transgression.


The mixture of tenants in a large-scale retail property is not simply putting tenants together because each retailer and service provider has its own characteristics and demands in operation. The type, size, number and placement of tenants are the four key elements of tenant mix. In previous research (Yuo, T. S., Crosby, N., Lizieri, C. and McCann, P. 2003, 2004, 2005), we focused on solving the type problem of tenant mix. However, the placement issue is far more complex because it is the location and allocation of space for each tenant. In Taiwan, large-scale retail properties (over 360,000 sq ft) tend to built more vertically then those in the UK and US. The floor levels normally over 6-10 levels comparing to the UKis maximum 4 floor levels (2002). Furthermore, the competition between large department stores and shopping centres also make the distribution of floor space more flexible but increasing the difficulty in management. With the help of Geography Information System (GIS), this paper digitized four different forms of large-scale retail properties in Taiwan, 1) standard full-line department store, 2) department store enlarge to the scale of regional shopping centre (over 1 million sq ft.), 3) standard regional shopping centre, and 4) regional shopping centre but use the operation system of department stores. In this paper, several aspects of the efficiency usage for total floor space of large-scale retail properties are discussed and some spatial definition standards were also suggested.


Background Cardiovascular risk factors vary between ethnicities but little is known about their differential effects on white matter hyperintensities (WMH), an indicator of brain aging and burden of cerebrovascular disease. Methods and Results Brain magnetic resonance imaging scans from 213 people of South Asian and 256 of European ethnicity (total=469) were analyzed for global and regional WMH load. Associations with cardiovascular risk factors and a composite cardiovascular risk score (National Cholesterol Education Programme Adult Treatment Panel III) were compared by ethnicity, diabetes mellitus, smoking, and hypertension status. Distributional patterns of WMH were similar by ethnicity but the vulnerability to specific risk factors differed. Associations between WMH and age or National Cholesterol Education Programme Adult Treatment Panel III scores were stronger in South Asians compared with Europeans. For instance, a year of age led to an excess of 3.8% (confidence interval=[0.2, 7.6]; P=0.04) of WMH load in frontal regions in South Asians compared with Europeans. In the diabetic subgroup, South Asians had more WMH than Europeans (+63.3%, confidence interval=[14.1, 133.9]; P=0.007), particularly in the deeper regions (+102% confidence interval=[24, 329]; P=0.004). In the population as a whole, diabetes mellitus was not, or only weakly, related to an increase in WMH volume (12.4%, confidence interval=[−10.7, 41.3]; P=0.32), and diabetes mellitus duration was a positive predictor of frontal periventricular WMH load in Europeans but not in South Asians. In turn, diastolic blood pressure was positively associated with WMH volumes in South Asians but not in Europeans. Hypertension was not associated with WMH load (P=0.9). Conclusions Distribution patterns of WMH are similar in South Asians and Europeans but older age and higher cardiovascular risk are associated with more WMH in South Asians.


Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser giving an informal press conference in front of a lake in Beijing, during his 1982 visit to China.
Comments: This was the Prime Minister's second visit to China (his first was in 1976). During the visit, the Australian Prime Minister and Chinese Premier discussed North/South economic issues, as well as relations between the USA and China.
Inscription: In an album labelled "Overseas Visit by The Right Honourable Malcolm Fraser, CH, MP, Prime Minister of Australia 1-10 August 1982". Mr Fraser also visited Malaysia, the Philippines and New Zealand during this 11 day trip.
Previous Control Number: UMA/I/6341
Previous Control Number: PA/180


In this article, the researcher discusses first the Black Church in relation to God, one another, and the world and, secondly, the blackness of the URCSA reflected in terms of her membership's pigmentation and her identity of the Black church. Thirdly, the author illustrates why a Black theology of liberation is needed in the post-apartheid era in terms of the poverty level in South Africa. On average, 4.35% of Whites are poor in comparison to 61.4% of poor Black African people. Finally, the author focuses on how the Black church should be a caring community for the poor, destitute, oppressed and wronged in both church and society.


We use the unique banking industry setting to demonstrate the impact of unrecorded intangible assets on abnormal earnings and equity valuation in the context of the residual income valuation model. We show that the persistence of bank abnormal earnings and, consequently, the pricing multiples on bank abnormal earnings, vary with the level of unrecorded intangible assets. Our evidence suggests that unrecorded intangible assets are important in understanding the persistence and valuation of abnormal earnings in the banking industry. The analysis framework introduced in this paper could also be used to examine the valuation impacts of intangible assets in other industries.


Despite the huge progress made in the both understanding the mechanisms and the management of atrial fibrillation (AF) this arrhythmia still represents an important health and social burden. Atrial fibrillation is increasing in frequency and is a major cause of death, stroke, heart failure, cognitive decline, and hospitalizations. New data have emerged emphasizing the multidisciplinary approach to better management of this common arrhythmia. Despite the availability of AF management guidelines, practice among European centres may differ from the current guideline recommendations. The scope of the current European Heart Rhythm Association (EHRA) survey is to evaluate the extent of the disparities between clinical practice and the 2016 AF European Society of Cardiology (ESC) guidelines. Our survey examined important topics such as screening for AF, initial therapy, rhythm strategy, and stroke and bleeding risk assessment. In general, there was a high adherence to the new ESC AF guidelines among European cardiologists.


OBJECTIVE
A significant gap exists between those who need and those who receive care for eating disorders (EDs). Novel solutions are needed to encourage service use and address treatment barriers. This study developed and evaluated the usability of a chatbot designed for pairing with online ED screening. The tool aimed to promote mental health service utilization by improving motivation for treatment and self-efficacy among individuals with EDs.

METHODS
A chatbot prototype, Alex, was designed using decision trees and theoretically-informed components: psychoeducation, motivational interviewing, personalized recommendations, and repeated administration. Usability testing was conducted over four iterative cycles, with user feedback informing refinements to the next iteration. Post-testing, participants (N= 21) completed the System Usability Scale (SUS), the Usefulness, Satisfaction, and Ease of Use Questionnaire (USE), and a semi-structured interview.

RESULTS
Interview feedback detailed chatbot aspects participants enjoyed and aspects necessitating improvement. Feedback converged on four themes: user experience, chatbot qualities, chatbot content, and ease of use. Following refinements, users described Alex as humanlike, supportive, and encouraging. Content was perceived as novel and personally relevant. USE scores across domains were generally above average (~5 out of 7), and SUS scores indicated "good" to "excellent" usability across cycles, with the final iteration receiving the highest average score.

DISCUSSION
Overall, participants generally reflected positively on interactions with Alex, including the initial version. Refinements between cycles further improved user experiences. This study provides preliminary evidence of the feasibility and acceptance of a chatbot designed to promote motivation for and use of services among individuals with EDs.

PUBLIC SIGNIFICANCE
Low rates of service utilization and treatment have been observed among individuals following online eating disorder screening. Tools are needed, including scalable, digital options, that can be easily paired with screening, to improve motivation for addressing eating disorders and promote service utilization.


The supramolecular interaction of curcumin and RM-β-CD-m was studied by spectrophotometry, and the apparent formation constant for curcumin-RM-β-CD-m complex was determined. The results showed that a 1:1 complex between curcumin and RM-β-CD-m was formed, and the apparent formation constants increase with the increase of reaction temperature. The thermodynamic parameters, standard free energy (ΔG°), enthalpy (ΔH°) and entropy (ΔS°) for complex formation of curcumin with RM-β-CD-m were calculated. ΔG° value indicates that the complex formation is a spontaneous, endothermic process, and the main driving force for complex formation is entropy. The inclusion complex was confirmed by infrared spectrum (IR).


Carol Leigh (also known as Scarlot Harlot) is an artist, author, filmmaker, and sex workers' rights activist. She famously coined the term sex work, a fundamental part of the lexicon regarding all workers' rights, owed in large part to Leigh's artistic and activist career. Working primarily through the medium of performance and video, her work attempts to educate and broaden audiences' understanding of sex work and the fundamental rights sex workers deserve. Carol's Curated Spaces feature takes the form of a visual essay comprising images from her archive, along with an introductory statement from Carol, giving an overview of her trajectory as an artist and activist.


In response to stress, the heart undergoes cardiac remodelling to compensate for the increase in workload, and if left untreated can progress to heart failure and death. One of the key processes associated with pathological remodelling is the excessive extracellular matrix production by cardiac fibroblasts (i.e., cardiac fibrosis). Cardiac fibrosis reduces cardiac compliance, making the heart stiff, and this contributes to cardiac dysfunction and ultimately heart failure (1). At present, there is no therapy for cardiac fibrosis. Since the discovery of microRNAs (miRNAs) about 20 years ago, they have attracted much attention from numerous fields of biology and medicine, and are considered potential therapeutic targets. MicroRNAs are small (22 nucleotides), highly conserved non-coding RNA molecules (initially considered "junk") that can regulate gene expression by binding to the 3' untranslated region of its target mRNA (2). Numerous miRNAs are aberrantly expressed in settings of cardiovascular disease, and small molecule drugs that can modulate the expression of miRNAs have shown success in preclinical studies in cardiac stress settings (3).


About twenty young people travelled from a small German former mining settlement named Dinslaken-Lohberg to become fighters with al-Nusra and ISIS. They drew particular attention, with media reports about "members" of what they termed the "Lohberg Brigade" killed in the fighting, or in air strikes by the anti-ISIS coalition, or in spectacular suicide attacks claiming many victims. Drawing on that case, the article explores how neighborhood can effect the emergence and persistence of radicalisation to jihadi neo-Salafism. The author presents a series of local elements that interfere with one another to strengthen each other's persistence and effects and thus promote the emergence and persistence of the radicalisation phenomenon at hand. The interference of elements is not an automatic but a social process, enacted by neighbors telling stories of conspiracy, of discrimination and recounting experiences of spirituality, heroism, masculinity, and femaleness. It is performed by neighbors setting, crossing and avoiding symbolic boundaries. And finally it is played by neighbors simply following their routines. The author shows how explaining space-related radicalisation processes means more than adding up spatial factors. His approach rejects the idea of isolating a single social fact – such as local structures, events, processes or social actors that existed, occurred or acted prior to the emergence of radicals in their neighbourhood – as definite cause for radicalisation.


This is a resource for RTE4604A Determine seasonal irrigation scheduling tasks. The fact sheet explains the reason why irrigators need to understand soils, i.e. successfully manipulating the water content in the soil pores for the benefit of plant growth. It covers the four fundamentals - soil composition, soil profiles, soil properties and crop values. .


Human-curated knowledge graphs provide critical supportive information to various natural language processing tasks, but these graphs are usually incomplete, urging auto-completion of them (a.k.a. knowledge graph completion). Prevalent graph embedding approaches, e.g., TransE, learn structured knowledge via representing graph elements (i.e., entities/relations) into dense embeddings and capturing their triple-level relationship with spatial distance. However, they are hardly generalizable to the elements never visited in training and are intrinsically vulnerable to graph incompleteness. In contrast, textual encoding approaches, e.g., KG-BERT, resort to graph triple's text and triple-level contextualized representations. They are generalizable enough and robust to the incompleteness, especially when coupled with pre-trained encoders. But two major drawbacks limit the performance: (1) high overheads due to the costly scoring of all possible triples in inference, and (2) a lack of structured knowledge in the textual encoder. In this paper, we follow the textual encoding paradigm and aim to alleviate its drawbacks by augmenting it with graph embedding techniques – a complementary hybrid of both paradigms. Specifically, we partition each triple into two asymmetric parts as in translation-based graph embedding approach, and encode both parts into contextualized representations by a Siamese-style textual encoder. Built upon the representations, our model employs both deterministic classifier and spatial measurement for representation and structure learning respectively. It thus reduces the overheads by reusing graph elements' embeddings to avoid combinatorial explosion, and enhances structured knowledge by exploring the spatial characteristics. Moreover, we develop a self-adaptive ensemble scheme to further improve the performance by incorporating triple scores from an existing graph embedding model. In experiments, we achieve state-of-the-art performance on three benchmarks and a zero-shot dataset for link prediction, with highlights of inference costs reduced by 1-2 orders of magnitude compared to a sophisticated textual encoding method.


A guide to searching BIOSIS Previews, a combined index of biology journal articles from Biological Abstracts and supplemental, non-journal content


Stability of polymer-based bulk-heterojunction solar cells (PSCs) is an even more crucial factor than power conversion efficiency for commercialization. Here, the thermal stability of PSCs is studied using a thiophene–thiazolothiazole semiconducting polymer system. Interestingly, it was found that the cells that used polymers with a less regular side chain placement (iPTzBT) showed higher thermal stability than the cells that used polymers with a more regular placement (PTzBT). The difference can be correlated with the change in the polymer structural order upon thermally annealing the polymer/fullerene blend films. Whereas the structural order of iPTzBT is unchanged after annealing, that of PTzBT is decreased, although the crystallinity is lower in iPTzBT than in PTzBT. These results clearly demonstrate that careful design of the side chain placement in the semiconducting polymers is an important factor for improving the thermal stability of PSCs.


The selective serotonin reuptake blocker fluoxetine was administered to 49 patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder in a 12-week open clinical trial. A minimum adequate trial of at least 8 weeks of treatment was completed by 39 patients. Response rates were 62% (24/39) of adequately treated patients and 49% (24/49) of the whole sample. These uncontrolled findings suggest that fluoxetine is of significant benefit for a substantial proportion of obsessive-compulsive disorder patients. However, controlled trials comparing fluoxetine with placebo and other active agents are needed to confirm this, as are studies aimed to delineate fluoxetine's full dose range, optimal length of treatment and relapse rate following discontinuation.


Sequelae of forefoot surgery range between 30 and 40%; the most frequent ones are transfer metatarsalgia and deformity relapse. Forefoot surgery complications disrupt biomechanics. Anterointernal weight bearing alteration is most frequent, due to involvement of the metatarsal, the phalanx or both. Metatarsophalangeal arthrodesis normalizes the length of the first ray and pressure transmission. The use of this technique has made it possible to confirm pain relief, as well as improved function and a better cosmetic result, which allows the patient to wear ormal footwear.


Magnetic impurities deposited on topological superconductor candidate PbTaSe2 can introduce a non-splitting zero-energy state inside the superconducting gap, which has been proposed as a field-free platform for topological zero modes. However, it is still unclear how robust the topological state in PbTaSe2 is against magnetic impurities, which is related to the topological nature of the zero-energy state as well as its potential for quantum computation. In this work, we use scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) to study the topological surface state in the normal state of PbTaSe2 under the perturbation of magnetic impurities. We visualize the quasi-particle interference (QPI) arising from the topological surface state. We then deposit Fe impurities on the surface to form atomic Fe adatoms. We find that each Fe adatom sits at a unique interstitial position on the surface and features a local state at high energies, both of which are consistent with our first-principles calculation that further reveals its large magnetic moment. Our systematic Fe deposition and subsequent measurements show that the arc-like QPI pattern at the Fermi energy is robust with up to 3% Fe coverage where the atomic nature of Fe adatoms still holds. Our results provide evidence that the topological surface state at the Fermi energy in PbTaSe2 is robust against dilute magnetic impurities.


Italian law recently imposed compulsory mediation before reaching a judge. That change produces important consequences at social and cultural level. A new professional profile arises, as a civil mediator, who address conflict by developing communicative process between parties in conflict. His/her aim is to create conditions for a paradigm shift from the traditional contraposition of conflict-ing parties through communication and comprehension of opposing views and understanding. Media-tion involves the adaptation of a number of approaches to conflict including the Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) methodology or the Ghandian approach. The Interdisciplinary Centre "Sciences for Peace" (CISP) at Pisa University experienced in this regard through its research in the area of service provision for the homeless. The CISP research suggests that a holistic and systematic approach to conflict resolution is required. Such an approach requires that the social, cultural and political contexts of conflicting parties must be examined if social relationships are to be constructed or developed. To evolve from stereotypical fear and social prejudices, intervention through social mediation will develop cultural empowerment within communities of focus and thus reduce or resolve conflict situations.


Directors of thirty companies listed on the Russian Trading System Stock Exchange were surveyed in order to better appreciate the role and function of boards of directors in corporate governance, placing particular emphasis on their independence and ability to adapt to international standards. The board of directors is widely regarded as a key element for sound corporate governance and 84 per cent of respondents stated that outside directors improve the accountability of management. However, having said that, forty per cent of respondents did not have a clear appreciation of how outside directors function. Reassuringly, 88 per cent of directors believed that Russian corporate governance should be harmonised with international standards.