Currently, the United States oral health care delivery system does not reach the populations with the highest need for oral health services, resulting in continued oral health disparities in underserved populations. Incorporating oral health education in the formal education of primary care providers is a strategy to achieve the overall goals of primary health care by improving care for individuals and populations and lowering overall health care costs. The role of nurse practitioners in improving oral health outcomes and expanding access to care is dependent upon the improvement of oral health education in graduate nursing curricula. The purpose of this DNP professional project was to incorporate oral health content into one course in the DNP curriculum and to explore the potential opportunities for expanding oral health education throughout the DNP curriculum. The PDSA Model of Improvement (Institute for Healthcare Improvement, 2017) was utilized to pilot the integration of oral health content into a graduate health assessment course and to review ten DNP courses for oral health content. Graduate students enrolled in the class were surveyed regarding oral health perceptions and experiences. The majority of participants indicated that patients in their agencies had unmet dental needs. Participants reported knowledge of the oral-systemic health connection. Participants indicated that oral health should be included in the overall health assessment of patients and that oral health education should be included in non-dental curricula such as nursing. Student responses were consistent with the literature indicating the most common barriers to implementing oral health in practice were time, lack of oral health education, and lack of referral mechanisms. Although oral health content was noted in nine of the ten DNP courses reviewed, the content was highly variable throughout the courses. Oral health was not a thread throughout the curriculum. There is a need for integration of oral health content in graduate nursing curricula. The first step for developing a nursing workforce with core competencies in oral health promotion is to prepare nurse practitioner students with oral health knowledge, skills, and abilities.


Interventions in extreme situations, such as natural or technological disasters, terrorist attacks or emergencies in general, take place in settings of great uncertainty and are always accompanied by extraordinary circumstances. For this reason, there are various processes related to implementing intervention protocols that must be carefully examined, including an evaluation of work scenarios, personnel selection, within-group relationships in work teams, decision-making processes, or certain peculiarities of burnout among emergency personnel. In the view of this author, an ad hoc review of the role of the organisational psychologist can highlight interesting analysis and performance possibilities that could make work in emergency and disasters contexts more effective. The aim of this paper is to provide an overview of the role of the organisational psychologist pre-and post-disaster. Furthermore, it supports the idea that professional profiles must be designed that take into account specific knowledge and skills, as well as certain aptitudes and values.


Web application traffic has been shown to exhibit burstiness. The traditional model based on Poisson process is unable to capture the burstiness in traffic. On the other hand, the Markov-modulated Poisson process (MMPP) has been successfully used to model bursty traffic in a variety of computing environments. In this paper, we conduct experiments to investigate the effectiveness of MMPP as a traffic model in the context of resource provisioning in web applications. We first extend an available workload generator to produce a synthetic trace of job arrivals with controlled burstiness. We next consider an existing algorithm, as well as a variant of this algorithm, to fit an MMPP to the synthetic trace; each of them is used to obtain values for the MMPP parameters. The effectiveness of MMPP is then evaluated by comparing the performance results through simulation, using as input the synthetic trace and job arrivals generated by the estimated MMPP.


Due to amazing development of network technology and increasing prevalence of network application, network is bound to penetrate into various arenas of social life. Naturally, as a significant infrastructure in colleges and universities, CAN is supposed to develop with high speed for the purpose of innovating education, elevating system of administration and teaching quality. However, security of application and administration of CAN has to face extreme challenge. Thus it has become an intractable problem for administrator of CAN how to establish sophisticated secure system of CAN. Having taken analysis on current security problems prevalent over CAN, the paper takes tentative research on dynamic, all-round and active secure system of network, which is circled by secure strategy, guaranteed by secure technology, controlled by secure administration as well as brings forward specific solving proposal.


This paper presents the development of a new design method of capacitive power transfer (CPT) which is based on hybrid concept for Biomedical Implants. This method is able to improve various issues found in the widely used CPT system that is bipolar CPT method. Based on the ability of this purposed, the simulation of the CPT system has been designed to prove an amount of power transferred through a layer of tissue. The design used to validate the suggested model which to powering implanted device, and it was performed with 3cm square plates, which have a layer of beef with the 5mm thickness in between 2 coupling plate. Power signal was generated by Class E zero voltage switching. The Class E zero voltage switching has been designed to generating alternate current with the 1MHz frequency appropriate to the hybrid CPT system specification.


Abstract : The purpose of this handbook is to identify techniques, methodologies, tools, and procedures in a systems context that may be applicable to aspects of the validation and certification of digital systems at specific times in the development and certification portion of the system life cycle. The application of these techniques in the development of discrete units and/or systems will result in a completion of a product or system which is verifiable and can be validated in the context of the existing regulations/orders for the government regulatory agencies. The handbook uses a systems engineering approach to the integration and testing of software and hardware during the design, development, and implementation phases. The handbook also recognizes and provides for the evaluation of the pilot's workload and utilization of the new control/display technologies, especially when crew recognition and intervention may be necessary to cope with/recover from the effects of faults or failures in the digital systems. In summary, the handbook: (1) Identifies and presents the issues related to design, development, and implementation of software based digital systems; (2) identifies specific approaches applicable to all aspects of the verification and validation procedures, at specific times in the development and certification portion of the system life cycle, (3) provides the government regulatory agencies (especially the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) as well as the industry with a set of tools/procedures, in a systems engineering context which may be of value in the validation/certification process.


Abstract Liposomal amphotericin B (AmBisome®) is a lipid-based nanotherapeutic that is used successfully worldwide to treat a broad range of life-threatening invasive fungal infections. In subtropical regions, AmBisome is emerging as the treatment of choice for human parasitic protozoan pathogens such as those from the genus Leishmania. The key to the remarkable efficacy of AmBisome is attributed to its liposome based formulation to deliver a potent drug at high dosage with significantly reduced toxicity in patients with immunocompromised systems. In spite of the rising frequency of AmBisome usage globally, the mechanisms underlying its ability to target to the sites of infection remain largely unknown. This review provides an overview of the current mechanistic understanding of AmBisome, discusses potential challenges and opportunities for the development of clinically effective, refractory resistant antifungal agents.


Manufacturing cost is the major factor that affects the profit of any industry or any product. Manufacturing Cost involves material, labor, equipment & tooling, quality, maintenance etc. Sheet metal forming is one of the major manufacturing processes and used for most of the products. The Die is the tooling used in the sheet metal forming. The proper design of die is important in sheet metal forming processes. This article discusses how the Combination Die can reduce the manufacturing cost, particularly the labor cost and material handling cost. For this study, a product U Clamp is considered. The Product requires piercing, bending and parting off operations. The Combination Die is designed and fabricated for the product and tested. Data on operation time, material handling time, die fabrication cost are collected, analyzed and discussed.


Take Changguang high-sulfur coal as experimental coal type; carry out the experiment of mineral formation rule of co-generation cement clicker on two-section multiphase reaction test stand and conduct XRD, SEM and EDS analyses on the mineral composition of the obtained co-generation clicker sample. It can be found from the experimental results that the mineral composition of co-generation clinker presents great difference with the temperature change in the furnace on the test stand; when the temperature in the furnace reaches to 1,330°C, the main mineral species in co-generation clinker sample are 2CaO•SiO2, Q phase and 3CaO•3Al2O3•CaSO4 with excellent hydration activity. Conducted thermodynamic calculation on the mineral formation reaction probably occurring in the chemical compositions of Q-phase cement clinker co-generated from Changguang coal. It is shown in the findings of computational analyses that, according to the chemical composition of clinker, the direct synthesis reaction of 2CaO•Al2O3•SiO2 firstly occurs, followed by the direct synthesis reaction of 2CaO•SiO2, the next is the indirect synthesis reaction of Q-phase mineral, and the last is the indirect synthetic reaction of 3CaO•3Al2 O3•CaSO4; the final main mineral compositions of co-generation clinker should be 2CaO•SiO2, Q phase and 3CaO•3Al2O3•CaSO4. The conclusion of thermodynamic analyses on co-generation clicker mineral formation reaction basically conforms to the mineral composition in experiment of Changguang coal co-generating Q-phase cement clinker.


AZO is an ideal replacement transparent conducting oxide (TCO) for ITO to all corresponding applications. The typical applications include: transparent electrodes for solar cells, flat panel displays, LCD electrodes, electro-magnetic compatibility (RF-EMI shielding) coatings, touch panel transparent contacts, static discharge dissipation. The production of useful and commercially attractive thin films using different deposition processes is very important parameter to investigate. A systematic study of the sputtering condition and their influenced on electrical and structural were studied. In this work, AZO films were deposited by RF magnetron sputtering at 200 °C. The result shows that the deposited time has influenced the characteristic of deposited AZO films. For a longer deposition time, thin film shows a uniform grain growth. The resistivity found minimum at the deposition time of 45 minutes. It can be considered that by reducing of the grain boundaries which enable the electron carries to conduct smoothly.


One of the main maritime security threats in Southeast Asia is Piracy. While piracy has been a perennial problem, this threat has received increasing attention in the region over the past few years. Reports published by the International Maritime Organization (IMO) as well as the International Maritime Bureau show an alarming number of piratical acts in Southeast Asian waters over the past decade. Southeast Asia had the second highest number of piracy attacks in the world from 2008–2012. Only the African Region transcended Southeast Asia in the number of attacks. This is concerning because the geographical location of the region is very important to world trade. Southeast Asia contains several highly-trafficked sea lanes and straits which are used for international trade. Indeed, five out of the twenty-five busiest ports in the world are located in Southeast Asia. Fortunately, states are making serious efforts at the international as well as regional level to combat piracy. This essay explores some of the international and regional efforts that countries in Southeast Asia have made to fight piracy and identifies some of their benefits and shortcomings.


United States citizen scientist, researcher, and anti-geoengineering activist, Rosalind Peterson of Mendocino, California, proved both pioneer and prophet. She helped catalyze a global grassroots anti-geoengineering movement through her decades-long work crusading for clearer skies, cleaner water, healthier trees and plants, and a more resilient planet free of geoengineering fallout. Peterson combined scientific data collection and research, publishing, public speaking, and political advocacy to educate the world about the many negative environmental consequences of clandestine geoengineering. Founder of the California Skywatch in 2002 and the Agricultural Defense Coalition in 2006, Peterson built an extensive collection of multimedia materials over three decades, now being archived and curated through Our Geoengineering Age for public use by the global scientific community. As an initial "sort" of her extensive archival collection reveals, Peterson proved a tenacious and courageous citizen scientist who wore many hats: environmentalist, photographer, field scientist/researcher, writer, speaker, and activist/publicist. Peterson's decades-long effort to uncover the myriad toxic environmental impacts of clandestine geoengineering also provides a compelling, scientifically researched alternative to the widely accepted theory advanced by the United Nations' Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) that global warming is primarily caused by anthropogenically released carbon dioxide.


The effects of circadian blood pressure (BP) changes on the echocardiographic parameters of left ventricular (LV) hypertrophy were investigated in 235 consecutive subjects (137 unselected untreated patients with essential hypertension and 98 healthy normotensive subjects) who underwent 24-hour noninvasive ambulatory blood pressure monitoring (ABPM) and cross-sectional and M-mode echocardiography. In the hypertensive group, LV mass index correlated with nighttime (8:00 PM to 6:00 AM) systolic (r = 0.51) and diastolic (r = 0.35) blood pressure more closely than with daytime (6:00 AM to 8:00 PM) systolic (r = 0.38) and diastolic (r = 0.20) BP, or with casual systolic (r = 0.33) and diastolic (r = 0.27) BP. Hypertensive patients were divided into two groups by presence (group 1) and absence (group 2) of a reduction of both systolic and diastolic BP during the night by an average of more than 10% of the daytime pressure. Casual BP, ambulatory daytime systolic and diastolic BP, sex, body surface area, duration of hypertension, prevalence of diabetes, quantity of sleep during monitoring, funduscopic changes, and serum creatinine did not differ between the two groups. LV mass index, after adjustment for the age, the sex, the height, and the daytime BP differences between the two groups (analysis of covariance) was 82.4 g/m2 in the normotensive patient group, 83.5 g/m2 in hypertensive patients of group 1 and 98.3 g/m2 in hypertensive patients of group 2 (normotensive patients vs. group 1, p = NS; group 1 vs. group 2, p = 0.002).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)


This paper reviews the theory of thermal conduction of ceramic materials with the aim to reduce further the thermal conductivity of plasma sprayed thermal barrier coatings. Methods of reducing thermal conductivity of plasma sprayed thermal barrier coatings including seeking for alternative ceramic materials to 8YSZ, addition of some dopants, preparing nanostructured coating and double-ceramic-layer coating are advised. It is indicated that the combination of colouring plus nanostructured and double-ceramic-layer coating of new ceramic candidate materials of lower thermal conductivity should be an very important research direction in future.


About the book: Exploring social policy in the 'new' Scotland is the first book specifically aimed at students that integrates the description and analysis of social policy in Scotland since devolution in 1999. It has been designed to support the delivery of social policy and related courses in Scotland itself but also to appeal to students on social policy, politics, sociology, public policy and regional studies courses across the United Kingdom, on which devolution and its impact are examined.


The nonestrogen receptor-mediated antiproliferative action of antiestrogen binding site (AEBS) ligands, including triphenylethylene antiestrogens and phenothiazines, has been linked to their ability to inhibit protein kinase C (PKC). Recent studies indicate that some diphenylmethane derivatives inhibit growth, are potent AEBS ligands, and antagonize histamine binding at an AEBS-related histamine site different from H1 and H2. Three novel diphenylmethane derivatives, N,N-diethyl-2-[4-(phenylmethyl)phenoxy]ethanamine.HCI (DPPE), 4-decanoyl-DPPE (dec-DPPE), and 4-benzylphenyl decanoate (BPD) were studied in an attempt to determine whether PKC or histamine interactions best correlate with their antiproliferative effects. Platelet aggregation and the phosphorylation of a platelet Mr 47,000 protein (p47) induced by phorbol-12-myristate-13-acetate (PMA) represent two processes mediated by PKC. DPPE inhibits PMA-induced aggregation [50% inhibitory concentration (IC50) = 31.2 +/- 2.4 (SEM) x 10(-6) M] but does not significantly inhibit either PMA-induced phosphorylation of Mr 47,000 protein (IC50 greater than 500 x 10(-6) M), or binding of [3H]phorbol dibutyrate to platelets. dec-DPPE is a more potent inhibitor of PMA-induced platelet aggregation (IC50 = 18.8 +/- 0.7 x 10(-6) M), a weak inhibitor of Mr 47,000 phosphorylation (IC50 = 80-200 x 10(-6) M), but is without effect on [3H]phorbol dibutyrate binding. BPD, which lacks the alkylaminoethoxy side chain necessary for binding to the AEBS/DPPE site, is devoid of anti-PMA effects. These results are compared to the inhibition of [3H]histamine binding in rat cortex membranes (Ki value for DPPE = 0.83 +/- 0.62 x 10(-6) M; Ki value for dec-DPPE = 6.6 +/- 3.5 x 10(-6) M; BPD is inactive) and growth inhibition of MCF-7 cells (IC50 value for DPPE = 4.5 x 10(-6) M; IC50 value for dec-DPPE = 1.5 x 10(-5) M; BPD is ineffective at all concentrations tested). Thus, while dec-DPPE is a more potent inhibitor of PKC-mediated phosphorylation, DPPE is a more potent inhibitor of histamine binding and is correspondingly more antiproliferative than dec-DPPE. The results support a relationship between antagonism of histamine binding and growth inhibition but argue against an association between the antiproliferative effects of DPPE and dec-DPPE and inhibition of PKC. The findings for DPPE suggest that platelet response to PMA, antagonized by diphenylmethane-type AEBS-ligands, may be mediated, at least in part, by mechanisms other than activation of protein kinase C-dependent phosphorylation.


We investigate whether word embeddings using deep neural networks can assist in the analysis of text produced by a speechrecognition system. In particular, we develop algorithms to identify which words are incorrectly detected by a speech-recognition system in broadcast news. The multilingual corpus used in this investigation contains speech from the eleven o cial South African languages, as well as Hindi. Popular word embedding algorithms such as Word2Vec and fastText are investigated and compared with context-specific embedding representations such as Doc2Vec and non-context specific statistical sentence embedding methods such as term frequency-inverse document frequency (TFIDF), which is used as our baseline method. These various embeddding methods are then used as fixed length input representations for a logistic regression and feed forward neural network classifier. The output is used as an additional categorical input feature to a CatBoost classifier to determine whether the words were correctly recognised. Other methods are also investigated, including a method that uses the word embedding itself and cosine similarity between specific keywords to identify whether a specific keyword was correctly detected. When relying only on the speech-text data, the best result was obtained using the TFIDF document embeddings as input features to a feed forward neural network. Adding the output from the feed forward neural network as an additional feature to the CatBoost classifier did not enhance the classifier's performance compared to using the non-textual information provided, although adding the output from a weaker classifier was somewhat beneficial.


INTRODUCTION
Progesterone receptor component 1 (PGRMC1) has been identified as a potential target in atypical antipsychotic drug-induced metabolic disturbances as well as neuroprotection in the central nervous system. In our study, we aimed to figure out the essential role of PGRMC1 signaling pathway underlying clozapine-induced cognitive impairment.

METHODS
In male SD rats, we utilized recombinant adeno-associated viruses (BBB 2.0) and the specific inhibitor of PGRMC1 (AG205) to regulate the expression of PGRMC1 in the brain, with a special focus on the hippocampus. Treatments of clozapine and AG205 were conducted for 28 days, and subsequent behavioral tests including modified elevated plus maze and Morris water maze were conducted to evaluate the cognitive performance. Hippocampal protein expressions were measured by Western blotting.

RESULTS
Our study showed that long-term clozapine administration led to cognitive impairment as confirmed by behavioral tests as well as histopathological examination in the hippocampus. Clozapine inhibited neural survival through the PGRMC1/EGFR/GLP1R-PI3K-Akt signaling pathway, leading to a decrease in the downstream survival factor, brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), and simultaneously promoted neural apoptosis in the rat hippocampus. Intriguingly, by targeting at the hippocampal PGRMC1, we found that inhibiting PGRMC1 mimics, while its upregulation notably mitigates clozapine-induced cognitive impairment through PGRMC1 and its downstream signaling pathways.

CONCLUSION
PGRMC1-overexpression could protect hippocampus-dependent cognitive impairment induced by clozapine. This effect appears to arise, in part, from the upregulated expression of PGRMC1/EGFR/GLP1R and the activation of downstream PI3K-Akt-BDNF and caspase-3 signaling pathways.


"Coverage" is a means of evaluating any public health programs effectiveness. Needle and syringe distribution coverage for people who inject drugs is traditionally measured at the population-level, which has a number of recognised limitations. Alternatively, syringe coverage can be measured at the individual-level, which provides a more complete and nuanced assessment of coverage and associated areas of deficiency. This thesis explores individual-level syringe coverage, broadening the understanding of syringe coverage, its measurement and barriers, and provides recommendations for the improvement of harm reduction service delivery and hence the reduction of injecting risk behaviours and blood-borne virus transmission.


This paper is a review of the threats to the cultural heritage of Syria, recently brought to the forefront of current events because of the armed conflict happening there. We will discuss archeological sites designated as UNESCO (United Nations Scientific and Cultural Organization) World Heritage Sites and focus on the damage done to Syria's cultural heritage not only in the past, specifically during colonial times, when foreign museums acquired so many artifacts of Syrian heritage, but that which continues to the present day. Sadly, the pillaging of historical artifacts continues into present times, albeit with new and more efficient methods. Current political instability in the country has considerably increased the incidence of looting, leaving the cultural heritage in a very critical situation.


Background and aims: Dietary folate is believed to protect against colorectal cancer (CRC). However, few studies have addressed the role of circulating levels of folate. The aim of this study was to relate prediagnostic plasma folate and homocysteine concentrations and the methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) 677C>T and 1298A>C polymorphisms to the risk of developing CRC. Subjects: Subjects were 226 cases and 437 matched referents from the population based Northern Sweden Health and Disease Cohort. Results: We observed a bell-shaped association between plasma folate concentrations and CRC risk; multivariate odds ratio for middle versus lowest quintile 2.00 (95% confidence interval (CI) 1.13–3.56). In subjects with follow up times greater than the median of 4.2 years however, plasma folate concentrations were strongly positively related to CRC risk; multivariate odds ratio for highest versus lowest quintile 3.87 (95% CI 1.52–9.87; p trend = 0.007). Homocysteine was not associated with CRC risk. Multivariate odds ratios for the MTHFR polymorphisms were, for 677 TT versus CC, 0.41 (95% CI 0.19–0.85; p trend = 0.062), and for 1298 CC versus AA, 1.62 (95% CI 0.94–2.81; p trend = 0.028). Interaction analysis suggested that the result for 1298A>C may have been largely due to linkage disequilibrium with 677C>T. The reduced CRC risk in 677 TT homozygotes was independent of plasma folate status. Conclusions: Our findings suggest a decreased CRC risk in subjects with low folate status. This possibility of a detrimental component to the role of folate in carcinogenesis could have implications in the ongoing debate in Europe concerning mandatory folate fortification of foods.


The purpose of this study to explain applications research-based learning in educational environment for scientific writing majors social studies department. This study uses a quasi-experimental design with two groups of experimental classes and control classes. The results showed the significant value of 0.002 t-test (<0.05). This means that there is the influence of research-based learning applications on students' ability to write scientific subjects of environmental education with the study of carrying capacity. Four indicators were biggest increase in the introduction, literature review, methods, and the results and discussion.


Abstract This paper presents the results of pea straw compaction efficiency tests. The compliance of the tested material to pressure agglomeration was assessed depending on the compaction pressure used (45-113 MPa). The compaction was carried out using a Zwick testing machine, type Z020/TN2S, and a closed die pressing unit. It was found that, along with the pressure increase, the material density in the chamber increased (from 1.255 to 1.76 g∙cm−3), as well as the agglomerate's density (from 0.739 to 1.05 g∙cm−3) and the product's mechanical resistance (from 0.31 to 0.69 MPa). Increasing the compaction pressure in the analyzed range increased the unit value of compaction work, from 17.16 to 34.27 J·g−1.


Humans commonly solve complex problems by decomposing them into easier subproblems and then combining the subproblem solutions. This type of compositional reasoning permits reuse of the subproblem solutions when tackling future tasks that share part of the underlying compositional structure. In a continual or lifelong reinforcement learning (RL) setting, this ability to decompose knowledge into reusable components would enable agents to quickly learn new RL tasks by leveraging accumulated compositional structures. We explore a particular form of composition based on neural modules and present a set of RL problems that intuitively admit compositional solutions. Empirically, we demonstrate that neural composition indeed captures the underlying structure of this space of problems. We further propose a compositional lifelong RL method that leverages accumulated neural components to accelerate the learning of future tasks while retaining performance on previous tasks via off-line RL over replayed experiences.


This paper describes our participation in SemEval-2017 Task 3 on Community Question Answering (cQA). The Question Similarity subtask (B) aims to rank a set of related questions retrieved by a search engine according to their similarity to the original question. We adapted our feature-based system for Recognizing Question Entailment (RQE) to the question similarity task. Tested on cQA-B-2016 test data, our RQE system outperformed the best system of the 2016 challenge in all measures with 77.47 MAP and 80.57 Accuracy. On cQA-B-2017 test data, performances of all systems dropped by around 30 points. Our primary system obtained 44.62 MAP, 67.27 Accuracy and 47.25 F1 score. The cQA-B-2017 best system achieved 47.22 MAP and 42.37 F1 score. Our system is ranked sixth in terms of MAP and third in terms of F1 out of 13 participating teams.


ABSTRACT Nowadays, denim consumers are more interested in esthetic and garment comfort features such as softness, lightweight and smoothness. Coating method is widely used to impart esthetic and functional properties to denim fabrics. It is a known fact that the coating process adversely affects various mechanical and comfort properties of fabrics. This study presents identifying of the optimum levels of the coating process parameters for combination of tear strength and stiffness properties of cotton/elastane blend denim fabrics by Taguchi method (TM) and Grey relational analysis (GRA). Denim fabric samples were coated with a standard paste used for coloring the fabric surfaces by the Rotary Screen Coating Method. The selected parameters are weft density, drying temperature, viscosity of coating fluid, squeeze pressure and fabric passing speed. First, each output was individually optimized by TM, and then all outputs were optimized together taking into account the primacy of the goals by TM and GRA. For all outputs, the most effective parameters were found as the weft density and the fabric passing speed, respectively. Consequently, optimal common combination for multi-performances was found as 14 picks/cm weft density, 160°C drying temperature, 50 dPa.s viscosity, 3 bar squeeze pressure, 30 m/min fabric passing speed.


Author(s): Rose, Ian Robert | Advisor(s): Buffett, Bruce A | Abstract: Rotating planets are most stable when spinning around their maximum moment of inertia, and will tend to reorient themselves to achieve this configuration. Geological activity redistributes mass in the planet, making the moment of inertia a function of time. As the moment of inertia of the planet changes, the spin axis shifts with respect to a mantle reference frame in order to maintain rotational stability. This process is known as true polar wander (TPW). Of the processes that contribute to a planet's moment of inertia, convection in the mantle generates the largest and longest-period fluctuations, with corresponding shifts in the spin axis. True polar wander has been hypothesized to explain several physiographic features on planets and moons in our solar system. On Earth, TPW events have been invoked in some interpretations of paleomagnetic data. Large swings in the spin axis could have enormous ramifications for paleogeography, paleoclimate, and the history of life.Although the existence of TPW is well-verified, it is not known whether its rate and magnitude have been large enough for it to be an important process in Earth history. If true polar wander has been sluggish compared to plate tectonic speeds, then it would be difficult to detect and its consequences would be minor. Herein I investigate rates of true polar wander on convecting planets using scaling, numerics, and inverse problems.I perform a scaling analysis of TPW on a convecting planet, identifying a minimal set of nondimensional parameters which describe the problem. The primary nondimensional numbers that control the rate of TPW are the ratio of centrifugal to gravitational forces m and the Rayleigh number Ra. The parameter m sets the size of a planet's rotational bulge, which determines the amount of work that needs to be done to move the spin axis. The Rayleigh number controls the size, distribution, and rate of change of moment of inertia anomalies, all of which affect the rate of TPW. I find that the characteristic size of moment of inertia anomalies decreases with higher Ra, but that the characteristic response time for TPW also decreases. These two effects approximately cancel. However, the orientation of the principal axes of the moment of inertia becomes less stable to perturbations at high Ra, thereby increasing the rate of TPW. Overall, I find that a more vigorously convecting planet (one with a higher Ra) is more likely to experience large TPW events. If early Earth had more vigorous convection, it may have experienced more TPW than present-day Earth.Flow induced by density anomalies in the mantle deflects free surfaces at the surface and the CMB, and the mass anomalies due to these deflections contribute to the moment of inertia. A full accounting of the moment of inertia anomalies must include these surface effects. Numerical models of mantle convection with a free surface have suffered from numerical sloshing instabilities. I analyze the sloshing instability by constructing a generalized eigenvalue problem for the relaxation time spectrum. The minimum relaxation time of the spectrum sets the maximum stable timestep. This analysis gives the first quantitative explanation forwhy existing techniques for stabilizing geodynamic simulations with a free surface work. I also use this perspective to construct an alternative stabilization scheme based on nonstandard finite differences. This scheme has a single parameter, given by an estimate of the minimum relaxation time, and allows for still larger timesteps.Finally, I develop a new method for analyzing apparent polar wander (APW) paths described by sequences of paleomagnetic poles. Existing techniques, such as spline fits and running means, do not fully account for the uncertainties in the position and timing of paleomagnetic pole paths. Furthermore, they impose regularization on the solution, and the resulting uncertainties are difficult to interpret. Our technique is an extension of paleomagnetic Euler pole (PEP) analysis. I invert for finite Euler pole rotations that can reproduce APW paths within a Bayesian Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) framework. This allows us to naturally include uncertainties in age and position, and provides error estimates on the resulting model parameters. Regularization can be accomplished viaphysically motivated choices for the parameters' prior probability distributions.I applied the Bayesian PEP technique to the Mesoproterozoic Laurentian APW track, which primarily comes from the Keweenawan Midcontinent Rift. I fit the track with one and two Euler rotations. Both inversions did a good job of reproducing the Keweenawan track, though the two Euler pole inversion has a closer fit. I find that the implied Laurentian plate speeds exceeds 22.9 cm/yr at the 95\% confidence level. These speeds are significantly faster than Cenozoic plate speeds, and could be explained by either faster plate speeds in the Proterozoic or a TPW event.


The international transfer of advantages by a firm is a necessary condition for successful international operations. Because of the difference between advantages relative to home competitors and advantages relative to foreign competitors, the source of the advantage transferred abroad need not be something unique to the firm. Rather, it can be a factor or characteristic shared by the industry or nation, or it can also be a non-distinctive asset or skill. Non-transferability, in turn, stems from immobility due to geographical specificity and tacit knowledge. Transfer is neither automatic nor easy and often requires investment in complementary assets. Transferability also affects and is affected by the choice of the mode of operation and the choice of target country. Understanding the concept of transferability of advantages is useful in building bridges between strategic management and international business.


Motivated by the Mediterranean outflow into the North Atlantic, a simple diffusive layer model of a deep buoyancy-driven circulation driven by a middepth inflow from the eastern boundary is developed. Cross-interfacial velocities are allowed and are related to the stratification through a density equation. The horizontal circulation, cross-interfacial (vertical) velocities, and density stratification are all coupled and are determined by the model as part of the solution. The importance of water masses injected into the ocean interior in driving the deep circulation is demonstrated. The inflow from the eastern boundary turns northward before reaching the western boundary current region and flows along the eastern boundary. The westward distance traveled by the inflow before turning northward can be derived by considering the dissipation of long westward traveling Rossby waves by the vertical density diffusion. Layers above and below the inflow are also set in motion, and their circulation is southward along the eastern boundary, opposite to the direction of the circulation in the inflow layer. The vertically integrated circulation of the model is similar to that in a Stommel-Arons model with the mass source on the eastern boundary: Most of the inflow flows to the western boundary current region, spreads there along the boundary, and reenters the interior as a broad northward current.


Objective— ApoM (apolipoprotein M) binds primarily to high-density lipoprotein before to be exchanged with apoB (apolipoprotein B)–containing lipoproteins. Low-density lipoprotein (LDL) receptor–mediated clearance of apoB-containing particles could influence plasma apoM kinetics and decrease its antiatherogenic properties. In humans, we aimed to describe the interaction of apoM kinetics with other components of lipid metabolism to better define its potential benefit on atherosclerosis. Approach and Results— Fourteen male subjects received a primed infusion of 2H3-leucine for 14 hours, and analyses were performed by liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry from the hourly plasma samples. Fractional catabolic rates and production rates within lipoproteins were calculated using compartmental models. ApoM was found not only in high-density lipoprotein (59%) and LDL (4%) but also in a non–lipoprotein-related compartment (37%). The apoM distribution was heterogeneous within LDL and non–lipoprotein-related compartments according to plasma triglycerides (r=0.86; P<0.001). The relationships between sphingosine-1-phosphate and apoM were confirmed in all compartments (r range, 0.55–0.89; P<0.05). ApoM fractional catabolic rates and production rates were 0.16±0.07 pool/d and 0.14±0.06 mg/kg per day in high-density lipoprotein and 0.56±0.10 pool/d and 0.03±0.01 mg/kg per day in LDL, respectively. Fractional catabolic rates of LDL-apoM and LDL-apoB100 were correlated (r=0.55; P=0.042). Significant correlations were found between triglycerides and production rates of LDL-apoM (r=0.73; P<0.004). Conclusions— In humans, LDL kinetics play a key role in apoM turnover. Plasma triglycerides act on both apoM and sphingosine-1-phosphate distributions between lipoproteins. These results confirmed that apoM could be bound to high-density lipoprotein after secretion and then quickly exchanged with a non–lipoprotein-related compartment and to LDL to be slowly catabolized.


Agricultural development in Indonesia is one of the important aspects of national development in term national income contribution. The one of problems in agricultural development is how to manage the stock, especially Raskin. Several aspects that important to note in case of Raskin management are: to safe the base price of grain purchase, Raskin distribution for poor people, to keep national stock for emergencies and another public purpose to control the market price. This study apply quantitative method with analysis data method using partial regression statistics to find out the influence of stock control toward Raskin distribution in Perum Bulog Divre Jabar. The result of this research show if the value of stock control is 0.017K<0.05, Ho is rejected and Ha is accepted. It means Raskin stock control has significant influence toward the distribution in Perum Bulog Divre Jabar. KeyWord : Stock Control, Distribution, Raskin


One of the most successful and most controversial innovative financial products in recent years has been collateralised debt obligations (CDOs). The dimensionality of dependency embedded in a typical CDO structure poses great challenges for researchers - in both generating realistic default dynamics and correlation, and in the mean time achieving fast and accurate model calibration. The research presented in this thesis contributes to the class of bottom-up models, which, as opposed to top-down models, start by modelling the individual obligor default process and then moving them up through the dependency structures to build up the loss distributions at the portfolio level. The Gaussian model (Li 2000) is a static copula model. It has only on correlation parameter, which can be calibrated to one CDO tranche at a time. Its simplicity achieves wide spread industry application even though it suffers from the problem of 'correlation smile'. In other words, it cannot fit the market in an arbitrage-free manner in the capital-structure dimension. The first contribution of this thesis is the sensitivities analysis with regard to model parameters of expected losses of CDO tranches in the Gaussian and NIG copula models. The study provided substantial insight into the essence of the dependency structure. In addition, we apply the intensity approach to credit modelling in order to imply market distributions non-parametrically in the form of a binomial lattice. Under the same framework, we developed a series of three models. The static binomial model can be calibrated to the CDS index tranches exactly, with one set of parameters. The model can be seen as a non-parametric copula model that is arbitrage free in the capital-structure dimension. Static models are not suitable to price portfolio credit derivatives that are dynamic in nature. The static model can be naturally developed into a dynamic binomial model and satisfies no-arbitrage conditions in the time dimension. This setup, however, reduces model flexibility and calibration speed. The computational complexity comes from the non-Markovian character of the default process in the dynamic model. Inspired by Mortensen (2006), in which the author defines the intensity integral as a conditioning variable, we modify the dynamic model into a Markovian model by modelling the intensity integral directly, which greatly reduces the computational time and increases model fit in calibration. We also show that, when stochastic recovery rates are involved, there is a third no-arbitrage condition for the expected loss process that needs to be built into the Markovian model. For all binomial models, we adopt a unique optimisation algorithm for model calibration - the Cross Entropy method. It is particularly advantageous in solving large-scale non-linear optimsation problems with multiple local extrema, as encountered in our model.


This article described the methods of media education development of personality (including the audience's individual, creative critical thinking corresponding to conceptual (knowledge of media culture theory), sensory (intentional communication with mass media, orientational experience in genre and topical repertory flow), motivational (emotional, cognitive, moral, aesthetic motives of contact with media and media texts), evaluative (faculty for audiovisual thinking, analysis, synthesis of space-and-time form of media texts narrative, for selfidentification with its character and author, for understanding and evaluation of the author's conception in the context of sound-and-visual media text structure); creative (creative selfexpression in various activities) indicators. As a result of such set of studies a considerable part of the audience proceeds from the initial and secondary levels of media text perception to a higher level of complex identification, showing the students' ability to identify with the author's position.


: Bactericidal activity for a serum-sensitive Aerobacter aerogenes strain was associated with antibodies present in immunoglobulin G1 (IgG1) and immunoglobulin M (IgM), with the greatest activity on a weight basis in IgM. Activity in immunoglobulin G2 was absent. A total of 118 serums were prepared from blood collected from neonatal calves on farms experiencing unusually high mortality from diarrhea. The serums were allotted to 4 groups on the basis of total serum protein concentrations as follows: group I=7.0 to 9.5 g/dl, group II=6.00 to 6.98 g/dl, group III=5.00 to 5.90 g/dl, and group IV=3.9 to 4.9 g/dl. Bactericidal activity for the serum-sensitive aerobacter strain was distributed approximately equally throughout the 4 groups. Activity for 3 strains of Escherichia coli was minimal to absent. Concentrations of IgG1 and IgM were determined in 82 of the serums. Concentrations of IgG1 ranged from 0 to 54.2 mg/ml, with overlapping among the 4 groups. Concentrations of IgM could not be determined in serums with concentrations greater than 1.6 mg/ml. However, bactericidal activity did not correlate with the immunoglobulin concentrations, since activity was present to the same degree in serums with small concentrations of immunoglobulins compared with serums with as much as threefold larger concentrations.


We apply a Bayesian parameter estimation technique to a chemical kinetic mechanism for n-propylbenzene oxidation in a shock tube to propagate errors in experimental data to errors in Arrhenius parameters and predicted species concentrations. We find that, to apply the methodology successfully, conventional optimization is required as a preliminary step. This is carried out in two stages: First, a quasi-random global search using a Sobol low-discrepancy sequence is conducted, followed by a local optimization by means of a hybrid gradient-descent/Newton iteration method. The concentrations of 37 species at a variety of temperatures, pressures, and equivalence ratios are optimized against a total of 2378 experimental observations. We then apply the Bayesian methodology to study the influence of uncertainties in the experimental measurements on some of the Arrhenius parameters in the model as well as some of the predicted species concentrations. Markov chain Monte Carlo algorithms are employed to sample from the posterior probability densities, making use of polynomial surrogates of higher order fitted to the model responses. We conclude that the methodology provides a useful tool for the analysis of distributions of model parameters and responses, in particular their uncertainties and correlations. Limitations of the method are discussed. For example, we find that using second-order response surfaces and assuming normal distributions for propagated errors is largely adequate, but not always.


Abstract Introduction Vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE) are important causative agents of healthcare-associated infections. This study investigated the prevalence of VRE isolates of clinical specimens from a tertiary hospital in Southern Thailand and their biofilm formation and associated virulence factors. Methods This retrospective study was conducted from February 2011 to March 2021 at a 1,000-bed tertiary care hospital in Songkhla Province in Southern Thailand. Results In total, 95 VRE isolates were collected. Urine had the highest VRE prevalence (38%), followed by pus or secretions (23%) and the digestive tract (19%). VRE infections were most common in medical (45%) and surgical wards (19%). VRE strains were equally resistant (85–100%) to the six classes of antibiotics commonly used in a tertiary care hospital. Biofilms were produced by 73% of the multidrug-resistant strains; however, 93% of VRE isolates lacking hyl were highly capable of producing biofilms. Conclusions No relationship was observed between virulence genes and biofilm formation. Thus, efforts to establish appropriate treatment and control measures are necessary, as distinctive VRE characteristics are relevant to the treatment of enterococcal infections in hospitals.


Machine Type Communications (MTC) is a main use case of 5G and beyond wireless networks. Moreover, due to the ultra-dense nature of massive MTC networks, Random Access (RA) optimization is very challenging. A promising solution is to use machine learning methods, such as reinforcement learning, to efficiently accommodate the MTC devices in RA slots. In this sense, we propose a distributed method based on Non-Orthogonal Multiple Access (NOMA) and ${Q}$ -Learning to dynamically allocate RA slots to MTC devices. Numerical results show that the proposed method can significantly improve the network throughput when compared to recent work.


This study presents the first performance history of Samuel Beckett's drama in London
theatres. The study focuses on a selection of professional productions of Beckett's dramatic
canon and assesses the impact these performances had on London and British theatre cultures
between 1955 and 2010.
Since the British premiere of Waiting for Godot, Beckett's oeuvre has been staged
across a variety of London theatres and contexts, ranging from the Riverside Studios in
Hammersmith to the Theatre Royal Stratford East. The performance histories of Beckett's
plays represent a neglected facet of Beckett studies, but through research undertaken for the
Staging Beckett Database – a searchable data model for Beckett performances staged in the
UK and Ireland – a broad tradition of staging Beckett in the British Isles has been discovered.
Through the support of these records, performance histories, theatre historiography and
performance archives, the study shows how Beckett's drama featured in key London theatres
during prominent moments in British theatre history in a series of landmark and lesser known
productions and seasons. By means of a chronological structure, this account examines the
factors that contributed to Beckett's role in metropolitan theatre cultures, discussing how his
theatre was created and received and the legacies or significance of his drama on the city's
theatrical landscape.
Beckett's evolving stature and the multifunctional role he played in London theatre
cultures is reflected in the four chapters that investigate the history. Chapters one and two
reveal the key partnerships he established in theatres such as the English Stage Company at
the Royal Court and the National Theatre, and the eclectic range of performances from the
international productions during the World Theatre Seasons to the multiple presentations of
his drama for young theatregoers at the newly started Young Vic. Chapter three examines the
development of Beckett's practice through some of his last productions staged or rehearsed at
the Royal Court, Riverside Studios and the National Theatre. The final chapter discusses
performances post-Beckett, when his drama proliferated across London, from West End
productions with star actors to Festivals celebrating his entire canon.


In this work, we have completed a study of the development of the ovoviviparous lizard Liolaemus tenuis tenuis. Ovoviviparity in this lizard is a condition in which eggs are retained within the reproductive duct for about 60 days. During this period the phases of segmentation, gastrulation, neurulation, presomitic, and somitic embryos transpire. During the months of December and January the eggs are laid, and at this time the embryos are comparable to stage 27 Liolaemus gravenhorsti lizard embryos, or to stage 29 Calotes versicolor lizard embryos. Differentiation of the facial region occurs between Days 12 and 42 after egg laying. Limbs develop rapidly between the 8th and 23rd days. By 53 days the appendicular skeleton is completely formed. After 36 days the mesonephros begins to degenerate, and its function is gradually taken over by the developing metanephros. Newborn lizards do not possess an egg caruncle. During the period up to hatching, there is a great increase of liquid within the egg, presumably amniotic fluid. Cracks develop in the leathery shell shortly before hatching and are, perhaps, the first sign of the onset of hatching. Increase of liquid in the egg during postlaying development accounts for its increase in weight and change in shape. Weight of the embryo at hatching does not exceed 32% of the total weight of the egg.


Background: Financial hardship influences health-related quality of life (HRQoL) of older adults. However, little is known about the relationship between financial hardship and HRQoL among vulnerable populations. Objective: We examined the associations between financial hardship and HRQoL among older Latinos living with chronic disease, including cancer. Methods: This cross-sectional study included 68 Latinos (age range 50-87) with one or more chronic health conditions who participated in a pilot randomized clinical trial. Participants responded to 11 financial hardship questions. We used factor analysis to explore constructs of financial hardship. HRQoL was assessed using the 27-item Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-General (FACT-G). Multiple linear regression examined the associations between financial hardship and HRQoL subscales (physical, social/family, emotional, functional well-being). Results: The factor analysis revealed 3 constructs of financial hardship: medical cost concerns, financial hardship treatment adherence, and financial worry. A 1-point increase in the factor score for financial hardship treatment adherence was associated with a 2.1-point (SE = 0.771) decrease in physical well-being and with a 1.71-point (SE = 0.761) decrease in functional well-being. A 1-point increase in the financial stress factor score was associated with a 2.0-point (SE = 0.833) decrease in social/family well-being, and with a 2.1-point (SE = 0.822) decrease in functional well-being. Conclusion: In this study of older Latinos with chronic diseases, financial hardship was associated with worse HRQoL across several domains. Healthcare providers should refer older Latinos living with chronic disease to appropriate support providers, such as care coordinators, social workers, or patient navigators, who can assist them with obtaining financial assistance and other resources.


The liver epoch like other tissue epochs occurs after that different events have induced heterogeneity in embryonic cells which results in distinct evolutionary processes. These events and those of organogenesis like "induction" are deeply dependent on cell-cell communications. Cell-cell interactions involve either soluble factors (hormones, growth factors), extracellular matrix or plasma membrane proteins responsible for cell-cell recognition and/or adhesion. All these plasma membrane signals are transduced to the nucleus and modulate the expression of groups of genes. To be functionally stable along the adult stage the liver has to maintain an ordered activity of cell renewal. This balance between proliferation and differentiation is, at least in part, controlled by cell-cell communications. Therefore, it is not surprising that intercellular communications are altered during hepatocarcinogenesis. They involve changes in the distribution of junctions, in the amounts of extracellular matrix components and/or growth factors which all result in modifying the differentiation/proliferation balance. Cell culture models have been used for these different studies; new in vitro systems should be set up in the near future by taking advantage of the targeted hepatocarcinogenesis in transgenic mouse.


Nitrogen is an essential element for plant growth and yield. Improving Nitrogen Use Efficiency (NUE) of crops could potentially reduce the application of chemical fertilizer and alleviate environmental damage. To identify new NUE genes is therefore an important task in molecular breeding. Macroautophagy (autophagy) is an intracellular process in which damaged or obsolete cytoplasmic components are encapsulated in double membraned vesicles termed autophagosomes, then delivered to the vacuole for degradation and nutrient recycling. One of the core components of autophagosome formation, ATG8, has been shown to directly mediate autophagosome expansion, and the transcript of which is highly inducible upon starvation. Therefore, we postulated that certain homologs of Saccharomyces cerevisiae ATG8 (ScATG8) from crop species could have potential for NUE crop breeding. A soybean (Glycine max, cv. Zhonghuang-13) ATG8, GmATG8c, was selected from the 11 family members based on transcript analysis upon nitrogen deprivation. GmATG8c could partially complement the yeast atg8 mutant. Constitutive expression of GmATG8c in soybean callus cells not only enhanced nitrogen starvation tolerance of the cells but accelerated the growth of the calli. Transgenic Arabidopsis over-expressing GmATG8c performed better under extended nitrogen and carbon starvation conditions. Meanwhile, under optimum growth conditions, the transgenic plants grew faster, bolted earlier, produced larger primary and axillary inflorescences, eventually produced more seeds than the wild-type. In average, the yield was improved by 12.9%. We conclude that GmATG8c may serve as an excellent candidate for breeding crops with enhanced NUE and better yield.


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Abstract Since the confluence of the food and oil price crises of the mid 2000s, Ghana has become a prime destination for large-scale farmland investments. While this trend could make valuable contributions to an ailing agricultural sector, the alienation of rural land for commercial ends could conversely have far-reaching implications for customary land rights. Through an analysis of the legislation protecting customary land rights and governing such the alienation of those rights and by contrasting this with practice, this article highlights some of the fundamental challenges in translating legal rights into tenure security in contemporary Ghana. It shows that despite the legal recognition of customary land rights, in practice customary land users are ultimately responsible for contesting infringements upon these rights. With traditional authorities able to capture substantial rents from the alienation process and government institutions offering scant oversight as a result of fragmented responsibilities, capacity constraints, and political disincentive, the protection of customary land rights is becoming increasingly contingent on community 'capacity to claim'. Since poor access to information, unrealistic expectations and deference to traditional authority tends to quell disputes over alienation, the limited mechanisms for protecting citizen access to resources gives reason to reconsider the importance of direct state involvement in the customary land domain.


This paper is a part of the author's wider research on the current Polish pension fund system. It deals with the system's efficiency from the point of view of the individual fund member. After over three years of functioning, the savings accumulated with the pension funds only slightly exceed the total premiums that have so far been paid. The study shows that the system is not cost effective and that the incentives produced by the fees and the peer-based performance measurement frameworks have a detrimental impact on active investment management. The low net results from the second pillar are also caused partly by the relatively low share of the funded component of the retirement premium. It is shown that considerable cost improvements can be obtained by immediate corrections. However, more fundamental changes in the system are suggested. In particular, the fee structure should be rearranged to create better motivation for active management. To achieve this, the penalty institution of minimal required rate of return should be abandoned. Furthermore, the investment limits should be reconsidered to allow for greater diversification and higher long-run risk to overcome the capacity problem of the local stock market. This study shows that the evaluation of funds should employ an external index to avoid herding and to allow a long-run investment strategy for retirement purposes. Several possible candidates for benchmarks are proposed. c t Journal of E onomic Li erature Classification Numbers: H-55 (Social Security and Public Pensions) G-28 (Government Policy and Regulation) G-23 (Pension Funds; Other Private Financial Institutions)


Muscle stem cells (MuSCs) are an essential stem cell population for skeletal muscle homeostasis and regeneration throughout adulthood. MuSCs are an ideal candidate for cell therapies for chronic and acute muscle injuries and diseases given their inherent ability to self-renew and generate progenitor cells capable of myogenic commitment and fusion. Given their rarity and propensity to lose stem-cell potential in prolonged culture, methods for ex vivo MuSC expansion that achieve clinical-scale stem cell yields represent a critical unmet need in muscle cell-therapeutic development. Here, we tested a microenvironment engineering approach to achieve long-term adult mouse MuSC expansion suitable for clinical demands through the combined optimization of techniques previously reported to achieve small-yield MuSC expansion in short-term cultures. We developed an optimized protocol for high-yield MuSC expansion through the combination of inflammatory cytokine and growth factor co-stimulation, temporally-staged inhibition of the p38α/β mitogen activated protein kinase signaling pathway, and modulation of substrate rigidity in long-term hydrogel cultures. We found that, on soft, muscle-mimicking (12 kPa) hydrogel substrates, a mixture of the cytokines TNF-α, IL-1α, IL-13, and IFN-γ and the growth factor FGF2 stimulated robust exponential proliferation of adult MuSCs from both wildtype and mdx dystrophic mice for up to five weeks of culture that was accompanied by a phenotype shift towards committed myocytes. After observing that the temporal variation in myogenic commitment coincided with an oscillatory activation of p38α/β signaling, we tested a late-stage p38α/β inhibition strategy and found that blocking p38α/β signaling after three weeks, but not earlier, substantially enhanced cell yield, stem-cell phenotypes, and, critically, preserved transplantation potential for up to five weeks of FGF2/cytokine mix culture on soft hydrogels. Notably, this retention of transplant engraftment potency was not observed on traditional plastic substrates. We estimate that this protocol achieves >108-fold yield in Pax7+ stem cells from each starting MuSC, which represents a substantial improvement in stem-cell yield from long-term cultures compared to established methods. Highlights TNF-α/IL-1α/IL-13/IFN-γ cytokine cocktail supports prolonged MuSC proliferation ex vivo but induces differentiation. Cytokine cocktail regulates cell signaling with varied prolonged activation signatures. Effects of p38α/β inhibition on cytokine-induced MuSC expansion are stage-dependent. Soft hydrogels with late-stage p38α/β inhibition expand functional Pax7+ MuSCs long-term. Short summary Cosgrove and colleagues develop a long-term muscle stem cell expansion protocol by combining a tunable stiffness hydrogel substrate, an inflammatory cytokine cocktail, and targeted inhibition of p38 MAPK signaling. They show that soft, muscle-mimicking hydrogels with delayed p38 inhibition yield robust quantities of Pax7+ functional muscle stem cells.


BACKGROUND: Short-term results have shown that transanal total mesorectal excision is safe and effective for patients with mid to low rectal cancers. Transanal total mesorectal excision is considered technically challenging; thus, adoption has been limited to a few academic centers in the United States. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study is to describe outcomes after the initiation of a transanal total mesorectal excision program in the setting of an academic colorectal training program. DESIGN: This is a single-center retrospective review of consecutive patients who underwent transanal total mesorectal excision from December 2014 to August 2016. SETTING: This study was conducted at an academic center with a colorectal residency program. PATIENTS: Patients with benign and malignant diseases were selected. INTERVENTION: All transanal total mesorectal excisions were performed with abdominal and perineal teams working simultaneously. OUTCOME MEASURES: The primary outcomes measured were pathologic quality, length of hospital stay, 30-day morbidity, and 30-day mortality. RESULTS: There were 40 patients (24 male). The median age was 55 years (interquartile range, 46.7–63.4) with a median BMI of 29 kg/m2 (interquartile range, 24.6–32.4). The primary indication was cancer (n = 30), and tumor height from the anal verge ranged from 0.5 to 15 cm. Eighty percent (n = 24) of the patients who had rectal cancer received preoperative chemoradiation. The most common procedures were low anterior resection (67.5%), total proctocolectomy (15%), and abdominoperineal resection (12.5%). Median operative time was 380 minutes (interquartile range, 306–454.4), with no change over time. For patients with malignancy, the mesorectum was complete or nearly complete in 100% of the specimens. A median of 14 lymph nodes (interquartile range, 12–17) were harvested, and 100% of the rectal cancer specimens achieved R0 status. Median length of stay was 4.5 days (interquartile range, 4–7), and there were 6 readmissions (15%). There were no deaths or intraoperative complications. LIMITATIONS: This study's limitations derive from its retrospective nature and single-center location. CONCLUSIONS: A transanal total mesorectal excision program can be safely implemented in a major academic medical center. Quality outcomes and patient safety depend on a comprehensive training program and a coordinated team approach. See Video Abstract at http://links.lww.com/DCR/A448.


occur at the moment of the arterial occlusion, just as it may occur immediately when the heart ceases to contract at death; though it is unlikely that anyone has been making an ophthalmoscopic examination precisely when the central retinal artery became occluded. One may here ask, when segmentation of the retinal blood columns occurs (together with cessation of the heart's action), what would happen to the eyes if in an exceptional case the heart was successfully induced to contract normally again. Since 1892 I have made no further observations myself, but a good deal of literature has been published, notably by M. H. Kahn (1913, 1924). After Dr. Kahn's work I published some short notes of my 1892 observations (1925).-I am, etc.,


This paper considers the social practices of 3D printing by comparing consumer perspectives and practices with legal scholarship on intellectual property regimes. The paper draws on data gained through a mixed-methods approach involving participant observation, focus groups, and social network analysis of 3D printing file-sharing practices. It finds that while consumers display a level of naivety about their 3D printing rights and responsibilities, they possess a latent understanding about broader digital economies that guide their practices. We suggest that the social practices associated with 3D printing function through communication networks to decentralise manufacture and reconfigure legal capacities for regulation. The paper concludes by introducing nascent paths forward for policy frames across industry, government and consumer concern to address the opportunities and challenges of 3D printing's evolving interface with society.


Background Reducing healthcare associated infections (HCAI) and providing a safe environment within the Neonatal Unit (NNU) are essential to reduce mortality and morbidity. To reduce HCAI's and improve patient safety there are national and local directives concerning the recording and audit of key aspects of patient care. Outline and activity Alongside the local and national initiatives, data concerning monthly reporting on compliance with mandatory daily checks has been recorded for a number of months on a level 2 NNU. From this data the Safety Monitoring and Reporting Tool (SMART) was developed. This year a significant infection resulted in an extended period of unit closure necessitating a review of daily practice within the NNU. The SMART tool enabled retrospective analysis of the monthly reporting before and after the closure. Project outcomes Review of the SMART tool data showed statistically significant improvements in the areas of the Unit Environment and Patient Safety Factors. This improvement was reinforced by a statistically significant (p≤0.002) improvement in the Critical Care Audit tool values which was also being analysed. Possible implications for practice The SMART tool will allow monthly review of daily check practices, to facilitate timely intervention and prevention of critical incidences in the future. Future plans The SMART tool augments the monitoring of the current audit tools from the Department of Health, the Trust and the Critical Care Audit Tool, providing a joint platform for ongoing evaluation and optimisation of current practice with the aim of improving patient care.


Background No co-productive narrative synthesis of system-level facilitators and barriers to personal recovery in mental illness has been undertaken. Aims To clarify system-level facilitators and barriers to personal recovery of people with mental illness. Method Qualitative study guided by thematic analysis. Data were collected through one focus group, which involved seven service users and three professionals. This group had 11 meetings, each lasting 2 h at a local research institute, between July 2016 to January 2018. Results The analysis yielded three themes: barriers inhibiting positive interaction within personal relationship networks, roots of barriers from mental health systems and the social cultural context, and possible solutions to address the roots. Barriers were acknowledged as those related to sense of safety, locus of control within oneself and reunion with self. The roots of barriers were recognised within mental health services, including system without trauma sensitivity, lack of advocacy support and limited access to psychosocial approaches. Roots from social cultural context were also found. There were no narratives relating to facilitators. A possible solution was to address the roots from systems. Social cultural change was called for that makes personalised goals most valued, with an inclusive design that overcomes stigma, to achieve an open and accepting community. Conclusions The analysis yielded system-level barriers specific to each recovery process. Roots of barriers that need transformation to facilitate personal recovery were identified within mental health services. Social interventions should be further explored to translate the suggested social cultural changes into action.


Diabetes mellitus is one of the most common non-communicable diseases globally. Magnitude of DM in developing countries including Bangladesh is rising rapidly. Several studies across the world have reported the association of higher serum hepatic enzyme levels with type 2 DM which may be an expression of excess deposition of fat in the liver. Thus, serum hepatic enzyme levels may serve as a marker of insulin resistance in the liver and may predict the prognosis and complications in type 2 DM individuals. The present crosssectional study was conducted in the Department of Biochemistry, Dhaka Medical College, Dhaka from July' 2015 to June' 2016 to find out the association of serum hepatic enzyme levels with type 2 DM individuals in a tertiary level hospital. A total number of 100 subjects were selected with the age ranging from 30 to 60 years. Among them, 50 diagnosed type 2 DM individuals were included in the Group A and 50 apparently healthy individuals were selected as Group B for comparison. The study parameters were fasting plasma glucose (FPG), HbA 1c , ALT, AST, ALP and GGT. The mean(±SD) serum ALT, AST, ALP and GGT concentration (U/L) in cases were 46.28±.81, 28.17±10.08, 118.26±16.08 and 36.98±10.08 respectively and mean(±SD) serum ALT, AST, ALP and GGT concentration(U/L) in controls were 29.54±8.56, 24.54±6.89, 96.68±14.36 and 23.82±6.98 respectively. The present study showed that higher levels of serum hepatic enzymes (ALT, AST, ALP and GGT) were present in subjects with type 2 diabetes mellitus. Among these parameters, ALT, ALP and GGT showed positive correlation with FPG and HbA1c in both groups but AST showed no correlation with FPG and HbA 1c . Bangladesh J Med Biochem 2017; 10(2): 58-63


Despite the Supreme Court's repeated use of free speech doctrine to derail media reforms, some reform is possible. As Jerome A. Barron recognized, the Court's central error is hypothesizing a romanticized speaker. The Court's copyright jurisprudence is similarly marred by its congruent focus on a romanticized author. The original and continuing central purpose of both copyright and free speech is the wide distribution of material to citizens – especially when politically relevant information and opinions are involved. The Constitution's copyright clause, Article I, section 8, clause 8, allows Congress the power to enact only such statutes as encourage the progress (meaning distribution) of science (meaning knowledge). See Malla Pollack, What Is Congress Supposed to Promote?, 80 Nebr. L. Rev. 754 (2001). This reading explains why James Madison saw no need for a free speech clause, despite understanding that [a] popular government without popular information [b] or the means of acquiring it is but a prologue to a farce or a tragedy or perhaps both. See id. at 774-75. The Court, however, has allowed free speech to be used to undermine government attempts to regulate the media in the name of citizen enlightenment, and has allowed copyright to be wielded as a private weapon against distribution of politically potent writings. See, e.g., Time Warner Enter. v. FCC, 240 F.3d 1126 (D.C. Cir.) (holding that FCC's rule limiting the vertical integration of cable ownership violates the First Amendment), cert. denied sub. nom., 534 U.S. 1054 (2001); Harper & Row Publishers v. Nation, 471 U.S. 539, 558-59 (1985) (holding that political importance of President Ford's account of Nixon's resignation was a reason supporting use of copyright to prevent its distribution by a competitor). Barron's solution, however, is outdated. Barron believed that citizen-listeners would obtain the needed-inputs if would-be-speakers had a right of access to the mass media. Mere access is no longer enough. The explosion and digitalization of distribution channels drowns most content in noise. See, e.g., Ellen P. Goodman, Media Policy Out of the Box, 19, Berkeley Tech. L.J. 1389, 1392 (2004) (Today, the scarce resource is attention, not programing.). Citizen-listeners need some form of mediation to locate and recognize relevant high-quality content. Despite the Court's continuing reluctance to burden speakers and authors for the benefit of listeners and readers, several existing doctrines offer possible routes to at least partial solutions. Copyright offers fair use and the uncopyrightability of government works. See 17 U.S.C. §§ 105 (government works), 107 (fair use); Banks v. Manchester, 128 U.S. 244 (1888) (rejecting copyright protection of judicial opinions). Free speech offers the concept of government speech. See Johanns v. Livestock Marketing Assn., 125 S. Ct. 2055 (2005) (allowing private parties to be compelled to fund government speech with which they disagree); Legal Svc. Corp. v. Velaquez, 531 U.S. 533, 540 (2001) (explaining prior case law as allowing viewpoint discrimination within the government's own speech, even if voiced through a proxy). If the Supreme Court's approval was the only road-block, the best solution would be an independent federal agency, generously supported by congressionally appropriated funds, with the sole mission of uncovering and distributing (in attention-catching form) information and opinions skeptical of official policies and pronouncements - a National Corporation for Public Criticism. Accord National Endowment for the Arts v. Finley, 524 U.S. 569 (1998) (approving government sponsored program where experts make quality decisions regarding which speech to fund). The government might be the only target, or the NCPC could scrutinize any entity related to an issue of public concern. Besides a generous budget for investigation and creative programing, NCPC would offer prospective investigative reporters the right to shield whistle-blowers (contra DOJ follow ups of the revelations that Plame worked for the CIA and that the president had approved warrant-less domestic wiretapping by the NSA). Congress and the President, however, are unlikely to bless such an official gadfly. (Consider, for example, the political appointees who tried to silence NASA scientists about global warming.) Some partial solutions may be more possible. First, a job for the courts, the government speech doctrine should be modified. The government is not an independent constitutional actor; it is the creature of the people, as copyright doctrine recognizes in refusing to ban unsanctioned copying of statutes and court decisions. Therefore, none of the generally accepted policy goals of free speech support the current, broad doctrine insulating government control of the bloated set of statements now imputed to the government. The government as speaker must be disaggregated and stripped of anonymity. But see Johanns (approving government message purporting to be sponsored by America's Beef Producers). At least as to issues of political concern, the government entity sponsoring the speech must be clearly identified to listeners, thus protecting citizens from public relations tapes broadcast in the guise of independently authored news stories. Furthermore, government speakers must be allowed or actively encouraged to publicly disagree with each other. Second, a job for the legislature, internet mass media and government sources should be required to host or co-operate with citizen comments. Such a system could work by hyperlink and blog-like technology. Tying comments to internet-posts originated by professional news organizations or government agencies would solve the location problem. Legitimization of individual comments should be handled through reader-rating systems such as used by eBay and Move-On's Action Forum. But see Miami Herald v. Tornillo, 418 U.S. 241 (1974) (using First Amendment to strike down a state statute which required hard-copy newspapers to print responses by political candidates); Los Angeles Times v. Free Republic, 54 USPQ2d 1543 (C.D. Cal. 1999) (holding that newspapers' copyrights in original articles were violated by blog where copies of news reports were posted and criticized). Internet technology allows comments which do not meaningfully limit the space available for the newspapers' own speech. To summarize, the Court still makes the analytical error recognized by Barron forty years ago. That error is reinforced by a similar misstep in copyright theory. Nevertheless, with creativity, some media reform is possible. This paper is part of a symposium in honor of the fiftieth anniversary of Jerome A. Barron's article, Access to the Press - a New First Amendment Right, 80 Harv. L. Rev. 1641 (1967). Papers will be published in Hofstra Law Review.


Effective outcomes in cardiothoracic surgical research using rodents are dependent upon adequate techniques for intubation and mechanical ventilation. Multiple methods are available for intubation of the rat; however, not all techniques are appropriate for survival studies. This article presents a refinement of intubation techniques and a simplified mechanical ventilation setup necessary for intrathoracic surgical procedures using volatile anesthetics. The procedure is defined and complications of the procedure are elucidated that provide a justification for animal numbers needed for initiating new studies. Lewis rats weighing 178–400 g (287 ± 44) were anesthetized using Enflurane and intubated with a 16-G angiocatheter using transillumination. Mechanical ventilation (85 bpm, 2.5 mL TV, enflurane 1.5–2%) maintained adequate sedation for completion of an intrathoracic procedure. Complications of the intubation and ventilation included mortality from anesthetic overdose, intubation difficulty, pneumothorax, traumatic extubation, and ventilation disconnection. Anesthetic agents and their related effects on the rat heart and reflexes are compared. This article also underscores the importance of refinement, reduction, and replacement in the context of cardiothoracic surgery using rodent models.


Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) has a unique set up: while the monetary policy is centralised at the Union-level, the fiscal policies are left to the member states within the limitations of the Stability and Growth Pact. The Commission argues that within time EMU would constitute an optimum currency area, and further centralisation of fiscal policies, thus, is not needed. Fiscal federalism literature, on the other hand argues that stabilisation functions should be centralised, since no individual would be able to deal with an asymmetric shock without harming another member. Therefore the fiscal policy centralisation should accompany the monetary centralisation. This study tries to assess whether the EMU has become more symmetric over time. By proposing a centralised insurance against asymmetric shock, and linking the trend of the stabilisation provided by the insurance scheme to the ability of EMU to absorb asymmetric shocks, the results of the study suggests that EMU has become more symmetric over time. Keywords: EMU, OCA, Asymmetric Shock, Fiscal Federalism, Jel Codes: C23, E63, H77


Background: Women with type 2 diabetes are more susceptible to coagulopathy disorders and endothelial dysfunction. One possible explanation is the effects of different sex hormones in inflammatory conditions. Increased plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 (PAI-1) activity has been observed as a possible predisposing factor for coagulopathy disorders and endothelial dysfunction. However, the effect of gender on PAI-1 in patients with type 2 diabetes (T2D) and albuminuria has not been studied sufficiently.Objectives: In this study, we examined whether changes of PAI-1 activity according to the albuminuria state in patients with type 2 diabetes are different in males and females.Materials and Methods: A matched case-control study was performed among participants with T2D, as 38 microalbuminuric patients were matched with 38 normoalbuminuric patients who were similar in age and body mass index (BMI). PAI-1 activity was compared between the two groups with and without gender stratification.Results: PAI-1 activity in microalbuminuric women was higher in comparison to that of the normoalbuminuric controls (P-value < 0.05). There was no significant difference in PAI-1 activity between macroalbuminuric and normoalbuminuric men. In women with type 2 diabetes and albuminuria, PAI-1 activity was independently and significantly associated with urinary albumin excretion.Conclusions: Gender differences in PAI-1 activity, seen in the early stages of diabetic nephropathy, are a possible explanation for the higher incidence of vasculopathy in women with type 2 diabetesKeywords: plasminogen activator inhibitor-1; coagulopathy; microalbuminuria; type 2 diabetes; gender


The effect of beta-carotene on the morphology of NCI-H69 small cell lung cancer cells that had undergone beta-carotene-induced growth reduction (P < 0.05) was examined. The cells were grown at 1 x 10(8) cells/L and were cultured with or without 20 micromol/L beta-carotene. The qualitative electron microscopic observations revealed that beta-carotene-treated cells contained more vacuoles than control cells not treated with beta-carotene. The quantitative image analysis showed a significantly smaller (P < 0.05) value of the nuclear roundness factor for treated cells compared with control cells, indicating an irregular nuclear morphology of beta-carotene-treated cells. The major diameter of the cells and the minor diameter of the nuclei were significantly smaller (P < 0.05), and the nuclear perimeter was significantly larger (P < 0.05) in beta-carotene-treated cells. The ratio of nucleus to cytoplasm was significantly less (P < 0.05) in beta-carotene-treated cells compared with control cells, indicating a less malignant growth of the cells. These results demonstrate that the treatment of small cell lung cancer cells with beta-carotene induces morphological changes in the cells concomitant with a reduction in their proliferation. Further investigation is required to show a direct effect of beta-carotene or its intracellular polar metabolites on the morphology of these cells.


The unique characteristics of blogs make them a new important media outlet. As the population of Internet users grows rapidly, blogging has become one of the most popular online activities in China. To examine whether blogs have an inter-media agenda-setting function similar to the traditional media, this study applies content analysis, cross-lagged correlation analysis, and Rozelle-Campbell baseline analysis to explore the causal relationship among Chinese newspapers—the Southern Metropolis, the Beijing News, the Modern Express—Chinese blogs, and the New York Times on issues related to the 2008 Beijing Olympics both for a short term (1 week) and a long term (1 month) time lag. The results indicate that Chinese newspapers set the issue agenda for Chinese blogs for both time lags; the New York Times set the agenda for Chinese newspapers for both time lags, but it had no influence on Chinese blogs for the short term time lag, and the results are mixed for the long term time lag. So far, there is no agreement on the optimum time lag for inter-media agenda-setting research of the Internet. Besides examining blogs' agenda-setting effects, this study also provides useful tests about the optimum time lag for blogs and two types of newspapers, regionally and internationally.


We present a new near‐real‐time method for converting earthquake source parameters into ground motion (GM) at locations across the west coast of the United States. This method, called earthquake information to ground motion (eqInfo2GM), has been implemented as part of the ShakeAlert earthquake early warning (EEW) system and makes estimated GM accessible to users on the EEW timeframe of seconds, as the U.S. Geological Survey ShakeMap does at higher resolution and accuracy in the minutes following a seismic event. Whereas the higher fidelity ShakeMap comes at the cost of longer processing times, eqInfo2GM effectively provides a predicted ShakeMap before shaking arrives at many locations. We describe key design details, including ground‐motion prediction equations (GMPEs) implemented, modifications made to optimize for speed, and formats created for conveying GM severity. The GM output format determines added latency and reflects a trade‐off between speed and accuracy; for our test earthquake data set, added latency is in the 0.01–1.5 s range after earthquake source parameters have been generated. GMPE implementations are validated against predicted ShakeMaps (without observations), with almost all events showing minimal mean shaking intensity level differences, reflecting variations only in treatment of source distances and VS30 data. Comparison against ShakeMaps computed with observations (a proxy for true GM) show larger differences, demonstrating the challenges of working in the EEW timeframe, when full source characterization and peak ground motion observations are both unavailable. Although specific configurations and features of the method will evolve as the needs of the EEW user community become evident, eqInfo2GM is expected to improve the overall utility of EEW alerts by providing end users with estimates of predicted local GM hazard. Such near‐real‐time estimates will enable users to decide more accurately what action to take to reduce the impact of imminent, potentially damaging shaking.


We generalize linearized Gouy-Chapman-Stern theory of electric double layer for morphologically complex and disordered electrodes. Equation for capacitance is obtained using linear Gouy-Chapman (GC) or Debye-Hückel equation for potential near complex geometry electrode/electrolyte interface. The effect of surface morphology of an electrode on electric double layer (EDL) is obtained using "multiple scattering formalism" in surface curvature. The result for capacitance is expressed in terms of the ratio of Gouy screening length and the local principal radii of curvature of surface. We also include a contribution of compact layer, which is significant in overall prediction of capacitance. Our general results are analyzed in details for two special morphologies of electrodes, i.e. "nanoporous membrane" and "forest of nanopillars". Variations of local shapes and global size variations due to residual randomness in morphology are accounted as curvature fluctuations over a reference shape element. Particularly, the theory shows that the presence of geometrical fluctuations in porous systems causes enhanced dependence of capacitance on mean pore sizes and suppresses the magnitude of capacitance. Theory emphasizes a strong influence of overall morphology and its disorder on capacitance. Finally, our predictions are in reasonable agreement with recent experimental measurements on supercapacitive mesoporous systems.


With the advance of modern technology, social networking sites, such as Twitter, are becoming increasingly important information sources for people to find answers to their questions. Given such trend, in this project, we report results from our analysis of 10,000 English-written question tweets with expectations of helpful answers (which we call "information seeking tweets" in the following paper) collected in one week period. We explore the topical characteristics and patterns demonstrated in people's information seeking behaviors under online social contexts. In particular, through our topical comparisons between social search, traditional search and real time search, we find that social information seekers show more personalized requirements and more timely needs. Technology, healthcare and education related questions appeared extremely frequent among questions asked on Twitter, along with a desire to pursue help from experts in these areas. In addition to our findings on the topical domains, we also observe that social search contains a significantly less proportion of direct communication than general tweets, showing user's relatively higher openness to diversified answers. Our results also indicate the important role that time and location play in social information seeking context. Based on these findings, implications for future design of social search systems or tools are discussed at the end.


Chemical-looping combustion (CLC) is a novel combustion technology where fuel is converted in the absence of air. The process is carried out in two fluidized bed reactors, one in which a metal oxide (oxygen carrier) is oxidized by air and one in which fuel is converted to combustion products through reaction with the oxidized oxygencarrier. Thecombustionproductsarethusinherentlyseparatedfromairand CO2 can be separated for carbon capture and storage without large energy penalties. Much of the current work with implementing conventional scale CLC aims at evaluatingtheperformanceandeconomicviabilityofdifferentoxygencarriers. CLC of biomass is of interest for sustainability reasons and evaluating if oxygen carriers are suitable for biomass-CLC includes ensuring that the material can perform well also in the presence of biomass ashes. Glodskal and LD-slag are two low cost steel industry by-products that have shown desirable fuel conversion properties in CLC, and their interactions with some common potassium ash components (KCl, K2CO3, K2SO4 and KH2PO4) in reducing atmosphere have been investigated in this study. Glodskal consists mainly of Fe and Fe oxides and traces of other metals and oil residuesfromtheprocess. ThemaincomponentsofLD-slagisCa-oxidesandoxides of Fe, Si, Mg and Mn. LD-slag also contains lower concentrations of Al, Ti and V. Utilizing low cost waste materials is beneficial both for economic and sustainable reasons. The materials have been mixed with potassium salt to obtain a mixture with 4wt% potassium content. The mixtures have been reduced in a glass quartz reactor for 8 hours in 850°C. The reduced samples have been analyzed in SEM with EDS.ThemixtureshavealsobeentestedinThermogravimetricanalysis. Itwasseen that all the salts except for KH2PO4 had positive effect on the porosity of Glodskal. K2CO3 increased the reduciton rate of Glodskal. KH2PO4 caused agglomeration of Glodskal which had a negative impact on the reactivity. The agglomeration is due to formation of a K-P-Fe component. Some accumulation of K was seen in both Glodskal and LD-slag after reduction in the presence of K2SO4. With K2CO3 and K2SO4 K accumulated in LD-slag together with vanadium. K2CO3 deactivated LDslag. KH2PO4 reacted with Ca in LD-slag and formed a K-P-Ca component which caused some agglomeration but didn't affect the reduction rate.


Zero-shot cross-domain crowd counting is a challenging task where a crowd counting model is trained on a source domain (i.e., training dataset) and no additional labeled or unlabeled data is available for fine-tuning the model when testing on an unseen target domain (i.e., a different testing dataset). The generalisation performance of existing crowd counting methods is typically limited due to the large gap between source and target domains. Here, we propose a novel Crowd Counting framework built upon an external Momentum Template, termed C2MoT, which enables the encoding of domain specific information via an external template representation. Specifically, the Momentum Template (MoT) is learned in a momentum updating way during offline training, and then is dynamically updated for each test image in online cross-dataset evaluation. Thanks to the dynamically updated MoT, our C2MoT effectively generates dense target correspondences that explicitly accounts for head regions, and then effectively predicts the density map based on the normalized correspondence map. Experiments on large scale datasets show that our proposed C2MoT achieves leading zero-shot cross-domain crowd counting performance without model fine-tuning, while also outperforming domain adaptation methods that use fine-tuning on target domain data. Moreover, C2MoT also obtains state-of-the-art counting performance on the source domain.


The subject of 'marketing' as a field of agricultural policy and applied research is discussed in this paper. Agribusiness approaches to marketing advanced in recent years are argued to have made little contribution to policy or research and are rejected in favour of the more traditional framework of applied economic analysis. Developments in government policy on national statutory marketing authorities for agricultural products are appraised along with some evidence on the allocation of research effort revealed in professional journals. It is argued that more research should be conducted on the impact of the promotion of agricultural products and on the efficiency and distributional impact of marketing policies of statutory marketing authorities.


Silicon Nitride thin films were deposited on glass substrates by r.f. magnetron sputtering with a mixture gas of N2 and Ar. The properties of the thin films vs substrate temperature have been investigated. The phase structure, surface morphology, chemical composition, thickness and optical properties of the films were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy (UV-Vis) and nkd-system spectrophotometer. The results show that the films appear amorphous and crystalline structure at the substrate temperature of 20 and 300 , respectively, the atomic ratio of Si to N of the films is nearly 1:1, the transmittance in the ultraviolet-visible region is above 75%; with increasing substrate temperature the refractive index and the optical band gap increase, and the deposition rates of the films decreases.