Six designed mutants of T4 lysozyme were created in an attempt to create putative salt bridges on the surface of the protein. The first three of the mutants, T115E (Thr 115 to Glu), Q123E, and N144E, were designed to introduce a new charged side chain close to one or more existing charged groups of the opposite sign on the surface of the protein. In each of these cases the putative electrostatic interactions introduced by the mutation include possible salt bridges between residues within consecutive turns of an alpha-helix. Effects of the mutations ranged from no change in stability to a 1.5 degrees C (0.5 kcal/mol) increase in melting temperature. In two cases, secondary (double) mutants were constructed as controls in which the charge partner was removed from the primary mutant structure. These controls proteins indicate that the contributions to stability from each of the engineered salt bridges is very small (about 0.1-0.25 kcal/mol in 0.15 M KCl). The structures of the three primary mutants were determined by X-ray crystallography and shown to be essentially the same as the wild-type structure except at the site of the mutation. Although the introduced charges in the T115E and Q123E structures are within 3-5 A of their intended partner, the introduced side chains and their intended partners were observed to be quite mobile. It has been shown that the salt bridge between His 31 and Asp 70 in T4 lysozyme stabilizes the protein by 3-5 kcal/mol [Anderson, D. E., Becktel, W. J., & Dahlquist, F. W. (1990) Biochemistry 29, 2403-2408]. To test the effectiveness of His...Asp interactions in general, three additional double mutants, K60H/L13D, K83H/A112D, and S90H/Q122D, were created in order to introduce histidine-aspartate charge pairs on the surface of the protein. Each of these mutants destabilizes the protein by 1-3 kcal/mol in 0.15 M KCl at pH values from 2 to 6.5. The X-ray crystallographic structure of the mutant K83H/A112D has been determined and shows that there are backbone conformational changes of 0.3-0.6 A extending over several residues. The introduction of the histidine and aspartate presumably introduces strain into the folded protein that destabilizes this variant. It is concluded that pairs of oppositely charged residues that are on the surface of a protein and have freedom to adopt different conformations do not tend to come together to form structurally localized salt bridges. Rather, such residues tend to remain mobile, interact weakly if at all, and do not contribute significantly to protein stability. It is argued that the entropic cost of localizing a pair of solvent-exposed charged groups on the surface of a protein largely offsets the interaction energy expected from the formation of a defined salt bridge. There are examples of strong salt bridges in proteins, but such interactions require that the folding of the protein provides the requisite driving energy to hold the interacting partners in the correct rigid alignment.


Since radio frequency identification (RFID) technology has been used in various scenarios such as supply chain, access control system and credit card, tremendous efforts have been made to improve the authentication between tags and readers to prevent potential attacks. Though effective in certain circumstances, these existing methods usually require a server to maintain a database of identity related information for every tag, which makes the system vulnerable to the SQL injection attack and not suitable for distributed environment. To address these problems, we now propose a novel blockchain-based mutual authentication security protocol. In this new scheme, there is no need for the trusted third parties to provide security and privacy for the system. Authentication is executed as an unmodifiable transaction based on blockchain rather than database, which applies to distributed RFID systems with high security demand and relatively low real-time requirement. Analysis shows that our protocol is logically correct and can prevent multiple attacks.


The influence of cyclones on the structural and floristic composition of tropical lowland and foothill rain-forest in north Queensland is briefly described. Local topographic effects, as well as the general frequency and intensity of cyclones, are important. The local intensification of wind velocities, probably exceeding 100 m. p. h., which occur regularly in parts of the coastal corridor south of Cairns, produces "cyclone scrubs". Because of extensive windthrows, these have a low uneven canopy with scattered emergents. densely draped by vines. In more sheltered areas, with cyclonic winds averaging 60-80 m. p. h. not locally accelerated by turbulence, upper canopy defoliation and occasional wind- throws have resulted in a dense understorey of the shade-intolerant lawyer vine (Calamus australis (Mart.) Beccari) under a relatively even canopy averaging 90-110 ft high. On exposed spurs of the rugged coastal ranges, Acacia aulacocarpa A. Cunn. is a common emergent of rune forests. Fire following "dry" cyclone damage may further modify vine forests adjacent to fire-paths in sclerophyll or grassy forest. The principal effects of fire are the absence of the fire-sensitive Calamus spp., and the presence of numerous sclerophyllous species in addition to A. aulacocarpa. The reactions of Queensland tropical rain-forest to cyclones are compared with those described for west Africa, Malaya, and the West Indies. The catastrophic effect of cyclones on rain-forests overrides the usual ecological factors, and in such areas, even without human interference, a stable forest climax is not attained. The frequency of cyclonic damage means that exposed sites of the tropical lowlands and adjacent foothills of north Queensland have an uncertain silvicultural future.


One of SIAP's goals has been to examine the links that connect arts participation to other form of civic engagement. In previous papers, the team used a variety of perspectives--the location of organizations, levels of community participation, observation of behavior and physical traces, and levels of regional cultural participation--to examine this process. This paper uses a community participation survey conducted in five Philadelphia case study neighborhoods to examine links between community participation, community arts participation, and regional arts participation. This paper and other SIAP studies have found that the socio-economic status of a neighborhood is a consistent predictor of residents' level of participation. Yet, the paper also suggests that cultural participation is more complex than either the economic model or the cultural capital theory would predict. A neighborhood's cultural infrastructure is a stronger predictor of participation than either income or education. Moreover, decisions about cultural participation are closely related to engagement in other types of community activities, such as schools, community groups, and social clubs. Thus neighborhood residents effectively function as connectors between arts and non-arts institutions. The paper documents a strong relationship between neighborhood cultural participation and other forms of community engagement. The fact that residents make connections that remain elusive for organizational leaders suggests an avenue for strengthening institutional networks. Disciplines Arts and Humanities | Civic and Community Engagement | Social Statistics | Sociology Comments This paper is based on the community participation survey conducted in 1996 and discussed in Social Citizenship and Urban Poverty (SIAP Working Paper #4, Stern and Seifert, Feb 1997). The neighborhoods selected for case study were of two types: multiracial, diverse neighborhoods (Powelton, West Mount Airy, East Mount Airy) and predominantly poor, minority neighborhoods (Mantua-West Powelton, Point Breeze). Thus, the sample population are all residents of the city of Philadelphia and disproportionately AfricanAmerican SIAP's Culture Builds Community inquiry was undertaken from 1996 to 2001 with support by the William Penn Foundation. This working paper is available at ScholarlyCommons: http://repository.upenn.edu/siap_culture_builds_community/7 Social Impact of the Arts Project ________________________ University of Pennsylvania School of Social Work


Widely tunable laser action by low threshold optical excitation can be realized by a colloidal crystal gel (CC-G) film permanently stabilized by a non-volatile ionic liquid. The CC-G film consists of a non-close-packed structure of microparticles immobilized in a polymer gel. Optical excitation with green light gives rise to a single and very narrow laser emission with red color. The single laser emission peak can be tuned in a wide wavelength range by applying mechanical stress.


Oxidative stress has been implicated in the pathophysiology of hypertension (HTN) through redox-sensitive processes that cause vascular damage. Despite recent advances in the field of vascular redox signalling in HTN, it still remains unclear exactly how ROS cause vascular injury. We hypothesise that regulation of redox-sensitive protein tyrosine phosphatases (PTP) through post-translational oxidative modification, is impaired in HTN where ROS levels are increased. Vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMC) from small arteries of normotensive (NT) and hypertensive (HT) individuals were stimulated with AngII (10-7 M) and ET-1 (10-7 M). Irreversible oxidation of proteins and PTPs was assessed by oxyblot and immunoblotting, respectively. Differential gel electrophoresis (DiGE) and CyDye thiol labelling were employed for screening of reversibly oxidised proteome. Irreversible protein oxidation was not affected by AngII or ET-1 in VSMCs from NT and HT subjects. PTP hyperoxidation tended to increase in VSMCs from NT upon stimulation with AngII (FC=2.12 at 60min) and ET-1 (FC=1.60 at 60min), whereas a similar trend was observed only after AngII treatment (FC=1.38 at 60min) in HTN (p>0.05). Proteomic data, filtered for FC>2, detected 2051 spots with 1899 (92.5%) being equally oxidised between NT and HT. In addition, oxidation of 57 (2.9%) spots was increased, while 95 (4.6%) were decreased in HT. Candidate proteins exhibiting consistent changes across three experimental replicates included β-actin (FC=-2.86), annexin A1 (-2.23), galectin-1 (-1.67), FK506 binding protein (-2.35) and polymerase I and transcript release factor (PTRF, -1.92). Stimulation with AngII altered the redox status in 2-3% of proteins, both in HT and NT. However, vimentin was the only target changing consistently across the replicates (FC=2.48). Our findings indicate that pro-hypertensive agents may not impact significantly on irreversible protein and PTP oxidation in health and disease, but may have effects on reversible oxidation. Our proteomic data, in agreement with our previous rat studies, support decreased reversible thiol oxidation in HTN. Moreover, these novel findings identify differentially oxidised proteins which may contribute to oxidative vascular injury in HTN.


Structural reforms in the public health system makes it necessary to examine the status and trends in the use of resources in both Russia and in some regions. Objects for the study were chosen among the areas most characteristic of the Volga Federal Okrug and socioeconomic and ethnic-confessional diversity of its regions. Reforms in inpatient and outpatient service for the population are analyzed. Both positive results in the optimization of structural reforms in the public health system and some negative trends were found.


This article gives an overview of recent x-ray diffraction experiments with time resolutions down to 10^-13s. The scientific motivation behind the development is outlined, using examples from solid state physics and biology. The ultrafast resolution may be provided either by fast detectors or short x-ray pulses, and the limitations of both techniques are discussed on the basis of state of the art experiments. In particular, it is shown that with present designs, high time resolution reduces the structural information attainable with high spatial resolution, thereby limiting feasible experiments on the ultrashort time-scale. The first experiment showing subpicosecond conformation changes was recently achieved with simple solids using an ultrafast laser-produced plasma x-ray source. The principles of this experiment are described in detail.


ABSTRACT: The profound influence of Thomas Donaldson and Thomas Dunfee's integrative social contracts theory (ISCT) on the field of business ethics has been challenged by Andreas Scherer and Guido Palazzo's Habermasian approach, which has achieved prominence of late with articles that expressly question the defensibility of ISCT's hypernorms. This article builds on recent efforts by Donaldson and Scherer to bridge their accounts by providing discursive foundations to the hypernorms at the heart of the ISCT framework. Extending prior literature, we propose an ISCT* framework designed to retain ISCT's practical virtue of managerial guidance while answering the demands of Scherer and Palazzo's discursive account. By subscribing to a suitable portfolio of discursively justified hypernorms, we argue, companies unlock the valuable moral guidance of ISCT*, which says to treat these hypernorms as unequivocal outer bounds to the pursuit of business and as a starting point to tailor local norms through discursive stakeholder engagement.


In the design of Integrated circuits, area occupancy plays a vital role because of increasing necessity of portable systems. Carry Select Adder (CSLA) is a fast adder used in data-processing processors for performing fast arithmetic functions. From the structure of the CSLA, the scope is to reduce the area of CSLA based on the efficient gate-level modification. In this paper 128 bit Regular Linear CSLA, Modified Linear CSLA, Regular Square-root CSLA (SQRT CSLA) and Modified SQRT CSLA architectures have been developed and compared. However, the Regular CSLA is still area-consuming due to the dual Ripple-Carry Adder (RCA) structure. For reducing area, the CSLA can be implemented by using a single RCA and an add-one circuit instead of using dual RCA. Comparing the Regular Linear CSLA with Regular SQRT CSLA, the Regular SQRT CSLA has reduced area as well as comparing the Modified Linear CSLA with Modified SQRT CSLA; the Modified SQRT CSLA has reduced area. The results and analysis show that the Modified Linear CSLA and Modified SQRT CSLA provide better outcomes than the Regular Linear CSLA and Regular SQRT CSLA respectively. This project was aimed for implementing high performance optimized FPGA architecture. Modelsim 10.0c is used for simulating the CSLA and synthesized using Xilinx PlanAhead13.4. Then the implementation is done in Virtex5 FPGA Kit.


A Biometrical study was conducted on the digestive tract of 35 foetuses of the one-humped camel collected from the Sokoto metropolitan abattoir, over a period of five months at different gestational ages. The approximate age of the foetuses was estimated from the crown vertebral rump length (CVRL) and samples were categorised into first, second and third trimester. The mean body weight of the foetus at first, second third trimester ranged from 1.40 ± 0.06 kg, 6.10 ± 0.05 kg and 17.87 ± 0.6 kg respectively. The mean weights of the entire digestive system at first, second and third trimester were 0.80 ± 0.07 kg, 2.13 ± 0.04 kg and 4.86 ± 0.08 kg respectively. The mean weights of the digestive tract at first, second and third trimester were 0.53 ± 0.07 kg, 1.03 ± 0.05 and 2.43 ± 0.07 kg respectively. T he small intestine at first trimester were found not to have any clear demarcation to show duodenum, jejunum and ileum; the entire small intestine was found to be 76.00 ± 3.00 cm at first trimester and showed clear demarcation at second and third trimesters. . The mean volumes of the entire stomach (rumen, reticular and abomasum) ranged from 136.67 ± 8.30 cm 3 at first trimester to 353.33 ± 6.50 cm 3 at third trimester. It was observed that there was increase in body weight, organ weight and individual segment of the digestive tract of the fetuses with advancement in gestation period. A geometrical increase in length and diameter of the various segments of the digestive tract showed a significant difference (P≤ 0.05) with advancement in gestational period.


The foundation as the form activation of the of disabled and elderly personsThe purpose of this article is to describe foundations, which are one of the most popular form of social activities next to associations. The author presents the foundation as a good way to the mobilization of disabled and elderly people. In the first part of the article the author presents a brief history of the development of foundations. The next section presents legal grounds of foundation in the Polish law. This ground is the Law of Foundation, dated 1984. Additionally, the article presents a comparison of the two forms of the social activities: foundations and associations. The most important differences are: Foundations — the main component of it are assets donated by the sponsor. Associations — people who create this form of social activity are the main component. Foundations — governing board holds the control over foundations; other organs are optional. Associations — authorities comprise of assembly of association members, governing board and an obligatory internal audit office. Foundation — directs its activities and represents it to the world; cannot direct its activities to the governing board. Associations — activities can be directed to the world but also to the members of the association. The article also presents a definition of economic activity and foundations' possibilities to take such activities. The author describes his own experience at the foundation created by teachers and graduates from his former school for blind children. The article presents common challenges newly starting foundations have to face, the most important of which is the problem of vague evaluation criteria for applications in competitions organized by public authorities and problems with acquiring source of funds for their activity. In the last part of the article the author presented areas of activities performed by foundations working for disabled and elderly persons. The main scope is, of course, taking care of the elderly and disabled, but also facilitating the access to culture, art and the organization of tourist trips. The above mentioned activities are more and more needed and a lot of organizations are developing these areas.


MULTI-ROBOT ACTIVE INFORMATION GATHERING USING RANDOM FINITE SETS Philip M. Dames Vijay Kumar Many tasks in the modern world involve collecting information, such as infrastructure inspection, security and surveillance, environmental monitoring, and search and rescue. All of these tasks involve searching an environment to detect, localize, and track objects of interest, such as damage to roadways, suspicious packages, plant species, or victims of a natural disaster. In any of these tasks the number of objects of interest is often not known at the onset of exploration. Teams of robots can automate these often dull, dirty, or dangerous tasks to decrease costs and improve speed and safety. This dissertation addresses the problem of automating data collection processes, so that a team of mobile sensor platforms is able to explore an environment to determine the number of objects of interest and their locations. In real-world scenarios, robots may fail to detect objects within the eld of view, receive false positive measurements to clutter objects, and be unable to disambiguate true objects. This makes data association, i.e., matching individual measurements to targets, di cult. To account for this, we utilize ltering algorithms based on random nite sets to simultaneously estimate the number of objects and their locations within the environment without the need to explicitly consider data association. Using the resulting estimates they receive, robots choose actions that maximize the mutual information between the set of targets and the binary events of receiving no detections. This e ectively hedges against uninformative actions and leads to a closed form equation to compute mutual information, allowing the robot team to plan over a long time horizon. The robots either communicate with a central agent, which performs the estimation and control computations, or act in a decentralized manner. Our extensive hardware and simulated experiments validate the uni ed estimation and control framework, using robots with a wide variety of mobility and sensing capabilities to showcase the broad applicability of the framework.


. Dynamic content for Web applications is typically managed through database engines, including registration information, credit cards medical records and other private information. The web applications typically interface with web users and allow them to make only certain queries from the database while they safeguard the privacy where expected, for example, they may allow to add data in a column of the database but not to view the complete contents of this column. We will describe a new technique that allows executing a timing attack which recovers entries from a private column in a database and only requires the ability to insert data in this private column. During the presentation, we will show the experiments that led us to developing exploit code for the MySQL engine that demonstrates this technique, give details for the au-dience to understand the underlying algorithm, analyze the results and discuss future work. We will also discuss how to protect from or detect this exploit.


Abstract: Community structure and species' abundances may be strongly correlated to patterns of forest cover, although such patterns are poorly known for tropical dry-forest birds, especially for those in Panamanian dry forests. Birds were distance-sampled during point counts in five dry-forest fragments in Panama. Distance from point count to forest edge and forest coverage at three spatial scales (500, 1000 and 2000-m radius) were compared as covariate predictors of the abundance of avian species and guilds. Each covariate was selected in at least two models of species or guild abundance. Abundance patterns were consistent with previously reported habitat associations for only two of seven open-habitat or forest-preferring species that showed forest cover-abundance relationships. Null models best described the abundance of all forest species and the subset of uncommon forest species. Thus many of these species appear insensitive to the forest-cover gradients studied. Total abundance of open-habitat-preferring species increased in dry forests with increasing forest coverage within 500 m, suggesting that the relationship between their abundance and vegetation structure are spatial-scale and habitat dependent. Nectarivores had lower abundance as forest cover within 1000 m increased, supporting previous claims that this group is tolerant of forest edges.


Glucocorticoid receptor content was determined in cytosol preparations of soft tissue tumors from 42 patients. Leiomyosarcoma had significantly elevated receptors in comparison to malignant melanoma, liposarcoma, malignant fibrous histiocytoma, and invasive desmoid.


To evaluate the potential of chemically synthesized lipopeptides for vaccination against foot-and-mouth disease (FMD), seven lipopeptides containing the immunostimulating principle of bacterial lipoproteins and linear B-cell epitopes of FMDV strain O(1)Kaufbeuren (O(1)K) were used to immunize cattle (n=7). Animals were vaccinated once and 21 days after immunization animals were infected with the homologous virus. Four animals were protected. After vaccination, as well as after challenge infection, B- and T-cell responses were examined. Sera were tested for virus- and peptide-specific antibodies and showed after vaccination only a weak antibody response. After challenge infection, an increase in antibody titre was obvious but there was no correlation between antibody titre and protection. The reactivity of the cellular immune system was detected by analyses of PBMCs for virus- and peptide-specific T-lymphocytes. With regard to the virus-specific T-lymphocytes, a heterogeneous reactivity could be shown. No correlation between virus-specific T-cell proliferation and protection was found. Obvious was the fact that all protected animals showed after vaccination a strong T-cell response against at least one of the peptides used for immunization. These results suggest a correlation between the onset of an antigen-specific T-cell reaction and protection.


BACKGROUND
Although angiotensin II receptor blockers (ARB) have been found to reduce the coronary atherosclerotic plaque burden in animal models, it is unknown whether ARB have a similar effect on human coronary arteries.

METHODS AND RESULTS
Serial intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) studies of the left main (LM) coronary artery were performed in 64 patients at baseline and after 7-month follow-up. All patients were divided into 2 groups (ARB group: 23 patients; non-ARB group: 41 patients). Three-dimensional volumetric analysis was done throughout the LM coronary artery, and the volume index (VI; volume/length) was calculated for the vessel (VVI), lumen (LVI), and plaque (PVI). No significant difference was found between the 2 groups in baseline clinical characteristics, including age, gender, blood pressure levels, serum cholesterol levels, the presence of diabetes and smoking status. At baseline VVI, LVI and PVI were similar between the groups. In the non-ARB group, VVI, LVI, and PVI did not change between baseline and follow-up. In the ARB group, PVI significantly decreased during follow-up (9.9 +/-3.1 mm2 vs 9.1+/-2.7 mm2, p<0.01), whereas VVI and LVI were unaffected.

CONCLUSIONS
This preliminary IVUS study suggests that ARB could cause regression of coronary atherosclerosis in humans.


This paper aims to use embodied theory to analyze consumer experience in a retail brandscape, Hollister Co. By taking a holistic, embodied approach, this study reveals how individual consumers interact with such retail environments in corporeal, instinctive and sensual ways. The primary source of data was 97 subjective personal introspective accounts undertaken with the target age group for the store. These were supplemented with in-depth interviews with consumers, managers and employees of Hollister. The authors offer a conceptualization of consumers' embodied experience, which they term The Immersive Somascape Experience. This identifies four key touch points that evoke the Hollister store experience – each of which reveals how the body is affected by particular relational and material specificities. These are sensory activation, brand materialities, corporeal relationality and (dis)orientation. These may lead to consumer emplacement. The authors propose that taking an "intelligible embodiment" approach to consumer experiences in retail contexts provides a deeper, more holistic understanding of the embodied processes involved. They also suggest that more anthropological, body-grounded studies are needed for the unique insights they provide. Finally, they note that there is growing consumer demand for experiences, which, they argue, points to the need for more research from an embodied experience perspective in our field. The study reveals the perils and pitfalls of adopting a sensory marketing perspective. It also offers insights into how the body leads in retail brandscapes, addressing a lack in such approaches in the current retailing literature and suggesting that embodied, experiential aspects of branding are increasingly pertinent in retailing in light of the continued growth of on-line shopping. Overall, the study shows how an embodied approach challenges the dominance of mind and representation over body and materiality, suggesting an "intelligible embodiment" lens offers unique insights into consumers' embodied experiences in retail environments.


We present a novel architecture for providing a reliable multicast transport service over existing protocol stacks. These protocol stacks ordinarily support reliable unicast transport layer connections over a network layer which is capable of providing an unreliable multicasting service. We propose the addition of a new single connection emulation (SCE) sublayer between the unicast transport layer and the multicast network layer. This added layer mimics the single destination network layer interface to the transport layer and interfaces with the multicast network layer to provide the necessary multicast functionality. The new architecture also enables interactions between applications and the SCE, thus allowing the applications to control the semantics of the reliable multicast connection. We discuss the design issues that need to be considered when such a sublayer is to be introduced. We also discuss an implementation of this new approach using the TCP/IP protocol stack and present some preliminary experimental results.


FROM time to time physicians are confronted with the problem of dealing with patients who have apparently wilfully fabricated symptoms and signs in order to secure medical attention. At times the story and alleged physical signs are so clumsily manufactured that the real situation is readily apparent. At other times they are so skilfully woven that much ingenuity is required in order to recognize the true nature of the malady and, sometimes, unfortunately, it is not recognized until one or more needless operative procedures have been carried out. The motivating forces have varied as widely as the symptomatology. Sometimes the complaints have obviously been made in order to collect compensation, to secure narcotics, to avoid work or other duties, to escape unpleasant situations or for some other recognizable motive. At other times the motives are obscure. There is indeed a thin borderline between the patient who deliberately feigns illness but


Reconstruction of the trophic position of a fish can be performed by analysing stable nitrogen and carbon isotopes in otolith protein. However, ambient temperature may affect the tissue–diet isotopic spacing of stable isotopes from diet to predator tissue and bias estimates of trophic position. To test this, otolith protein, heart and muscle tissue from a rearing experiment with juvenile cod held at different temperatures (4, 7, 10 and 14°C) were analysed. There was no significant effect of temperature on otolith δ15N, whereas muscle and heart exhibited a slight decrease in δ15N values with increasing temperature corresponding to maximum of 0.6‰ over the 10°C range. By contrast, the otolith protein δ13C values at 4 and 7°C were significantly higher than for 10 and 14°C, suggesting an approximate 1‰ increased tissue–diet enrichment at the lower temperatures. Temperature had no significant effect on muscle and heart δ13C values. Considering the annual mean variation in ocean temperatures, our results indicate that the trophic signals recorded in the otoliths will reflect changes in diet isotope values with little bias from the ambient temperature experienced by the fish.


Ensuring joint program participation by distributors is essential to channel management. Although studies confirm that firms can promote distributor participation by attending to their participation motivations, the authors argue that distributors may change their motivations over the course of a joint program, driven by an increase of programrelated information and how their peer distributors behave. Drawing insights from the information asymmetry literature, the authors postulate that distributors' ex ante commitment is driven by their motivation to avoid losses, and after they participate, their ex post adaptation reflects rent-seeking motivations. This study also examines how the participation of peer distributors operates as an information signal that moderates the motivation‐participation link for the focal distributor. In the context of an actual sales program, this study confirms the postulate of motivation shift and the salience of network-based information in distributors' program participation. The results show that a manufacturer needs to manage its distributors' participation in a discriminant, process-oriented , and systemsensitive manner by addressing the latter's diverse motivations, changing goals in the joint program, and influences from peer distributors.


Paramedics are trained to perform endotracheal intubation (ETI), though a step-wise airway management approach has led to the use of supraglottic airway devices (SGAs), often in place of ETI. The current article considers airway management by paramedics during cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). A case-note review relating to adult out-of-hospital cardiac arrests was carried out, with the collection of data over the period of a year, in one region of the UK. The results indicate that airway management is inconsistent during CPR, though simple adjuncts are used successfully. In a cohort of 2779 patients, in resuscitated cardiac arrest, attempts to intubate were made in less than half of the patients. Less than a third of patients were successfully intubated. Reasons for not attempting intubation need further investigation, alongside reasons for unsuccessful attempts.


OBJECTIVE
The robust data about myo-inositol (Myo-Ins) safety profile and effectiveness opened a new scenario for the treatment and prevention of Gestational Diabetes Mellitus (GDM). We report our experience about a case of GDM successfully treated with Myo-Ins.

PATIENTS AND METHODS
An overweight 29-year-old Caucasian pregnant woman, nulliparous, affected by GDM, according to the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) Guideline. After diagnosis, the patient underwent regular glycemia checks: mean fasting blood glucose value was 103.63 ± 1.46 mg/dl, whereas 1-hour and 2-hours after-meal values were 122.74 ± 11.14 mg/dl and 110.74 ± 10.70 mg/dl, respectively. We decided to prescribe a low-calorie diet and oral treatment with 4 g of Myo-Ins, 3 times per day for 3 weeks.

RESULTS
After the treatment, mean fasting value was 90.74 ± 5.30 mg/dl, whereas 1-hour after and 2-hours after-meal values were 108.11 ± 6.05 mg/dl and 101.21 ± 4.78 mg/dl, respectively.

DISCUSSION
We reported a significant decrease of glycemia in a faster and steady way at fasting, 1-hour and 2-hours after-meal post oral treatment with 4 g of Myo-Ins 3 times per day, in a patient affected by GDM.

CONCLUSIONS
On the one hand, we could confirm the safety profile of the molecule also at this high dosage, free from any side effects; on the other hand, our experience highlighted the faster glucose-lowering effect due to a higher dose of Myo-Ins. This outcome may open a new scenario in the treatment of GDM.


Microbial community succession in tailings materials is poorly understood at present, and likely to be substantially different from similar processes in natural primary successional environments due to the unusual geochemical properties of tailings and the isolated design of tailings storage facilities. This is the first study to evaluate processes of primary succession in microbial communities colonizing unamended tailings, and compare the relative importance of stochastic (predominantly dust-borne dispersal) and deterministic (strong selection pressures from extreme geochemical properties) processes in governing community assembly rates and trajectories to those observed in natural environments. Dispersal-based recruitment required > 6 months to shift microbial community composition in unamended, field-weathered gold tailings; and in the absence of targeted inoculants, recruitment was dominated by salt- and alkali-tolerant species. In addition, cell numbers were less than 106 cells/g tailings until > 6 months after deposition. Laboratory experiments simulating microbial cell addition via dust revealed that high (>6 months' equivalent) dust addition rates were required to effect stabilization of microbial cell counts in tailings. In field-weathered tailings, topsoil addition during rehabilitation works exerted a double effect, acting as a microbial inoculant and correcting geochemical properties of tailings. However, microbial communities in rehabilitated tailings remained compositionally distinct from those of reference soils in surrounding environments. pH, water extractable Mg, and water extractable Fe emerged as major controls on microbial community composition in the field-weathered gold tailings. Overall, this study highlights the need for application of targeted microbial inoculants to accelerate rates of microbial community succession in tailings, which are limited primarily by slow dispersal due to physical and spatial isolation of tailings facilities from inoculant sources; and for geochemical properties of tailings to be amended to moderate values to encourage microbial community diversification and succession.


In conventional digital differential analyzers (DDA), the word length used for the transmission of information between integrators is restricted to at most a single magnitude bit and a sign bit. This restriction seriously limits integrator frequency response and has to a large extent been responsible for the failure of DDAs to achieve widespread acceptance as general purpose differential analyzers. In this paper it is shown that DDA speed and accuracy can be greatly improved by using increment word lengths which are approximately one-half the length of integrand registers providing that integration formulas more accurate than Euler integration are used. The programming of such machines for the solution of both linear and nonlinear differential equations is discussed and a quantitative evaluation of performance improvement is presented. At the same time, an effort is made to isolate the principal difficulties in hardware implementation which result from extending the integrator increment resolution.


An assay for the detection of Brucella abortus is described. IgG from rabbit antisera against live brucellae or brucella extracts was chemically linked to cellulose to form a solid phase reagent capable of binding brucella antigens present in buffer solutions or serum. After washing away any unbound material the presence of bound antigen was revealed by incubation with radioactively-labelled anti-brucella antibodies. The assay was capable of detecting less than 100 pg brucella antigen in a 20 microliter sample. Experiments in which IgG of non-related specificity was used in place of anti-brucella IgG showed that the test was specific. Normal human serum had only a slight inhibitory effect but anti-brucella antibodies were strongly inhibitory if present in the test sample. The extent of this effect and its relationship to antibody titre was investigated in 12 sera from brucellosis patients.


Fluorescent whitening agents are widely used to increase the brightness and whiteness of printing paper. The fluorescence of these whitening agents is known to fall as a result of exposure to light, and the magnitude of the change has been documented in both accelerated fading tests and in exposure under more typical viewing conditions. In this study we exposed prints on optically brightened papers to narrow-band radiation at 350 nanometres, using a double monochromator. The change in spectral reflectance was found.


Delay-based congestion control algorithms inability to recognize increased RTT related to rerouting from increased RTT related to congestion is their most serious problem which has serious effect on their throughput. FAST TCP is one of delay-based TCP variants that although outperforms other TCP variants in high bandwidth-delay product networks, but suffers from several problems that inhere in its procedure to estimate trip delay. The most serious of these problems is rerouting. When rerouting occurs and round-trip time (RTT) of the new path is longer than RTT of the old path, the throughput of FAST TCP decreases sharply. Because FAST misinterprets the increased RTT as result of the network congestion and consequently decreases its own window size. This paper solves this problem by considering the relationship between sending rate and observed RTT. The simulation results show the effectiveness of proposed solution to solve rerouting problem while simultaneously preserves FAST TCP prominent primitive features.


An agglutination (LA) test, using latex beads sensitised with anti-rotavirus immunoglobulin G, was evaluated to detect human rotavirus in 200 stool specimens by comparing its results with those of an ELISA (Rotazyme, Abbott Laboratory, Diagnostic Div., North Chicago, IL). The specimens were collected from a systematic sample of 200 infants and pre-school children attending the Diarrhoeal Disease Research and Rehydration Centre at the Bab-El-Sha'reya University Hospital, Egypt. Of the 200 stool specimens tested, 79 were positive by the ELISA and 68 were positive by the LA test. Taking the ELISA as the standard, the LA test showed 11 false-negative and six false-positives giving a sensitivity and specificity of 86% and 95% respectively. Using 48 stool specimens positive for rotavirus by both the tests, the degree of positivity of the LA test roughly showed a linear relationship with the degree of rotazyme optical density. Thus, the simple and inexpensive LA test may be useful as a screening procedure to detect rotaviruses in the stools of children with diarrhoea.


National or regional policy, regulatory framework and administration/dissemination constitute governance. Environmental governance is distinctive because advice to policy formation implies a bottom-up, participative and collaborative structure and set of processes. Solving environmental problems, which involves community engagement, inevitably invites a more diverse participation. This often creates tensions between government and some stakeholders in society and among stakeholders. This article examines some of these tensions that have arisen in Hong Kong as government, non-government organizations (NGOs) and business interests attempt to move to a multi-level approach. Academia and NGOs are concerned particularly with quality of life issues and policies that ameliorate the impact of environmental deterioration. The business sector, whilst realizing that environmental concerns cannot be ignored, needs to consider profit imperatives and also it often takes a different policy and regulatory perspective. The article concludes by highlighting issues of participation gap and other barriers within environmental governance, and suggesting ways to resolve these problems.


Novel R-phenylglycine derived organocatalysts were prepared from the reaction of Cbz-R-phenylglycine with indoline, pyrrolidine, or (S)-(-)-2-(diphenylmethyl)pyrrolidine in 3 steps. The asymmetric Michael addition of cyclohexanone to nitroolefins was investigated using R-phenylglycine derivatives along with L-prolinamides as chiral catalysts. The desired products were obtained in excellent yields with enantioselectivities up to 90% ee and diastereomeric ratio up to 98:2 of the syn }addition product.


in developing countries is still remarkably low. One of the key factors behind poor tax collection refers to low tax compliance. In this paper, we look at compliance with income tax in Eswatini. Eswatini shares the same tax performance of other sub-Saharan African countries: the tax to GDP ratio is about 15%. However, Eswatini collects proportionally more income tax, for around half of its total revenue. In this setting, we focus on a particular dimension of compliance: filing of nil returns by companies. We make use of anonymous administrative data provided by the Eswatini Revenue Authority (SRA) and map the extent of nil filing in the country. The main goal of this study is to shed light on an often un-explored topic in the literature. This exercise also represents the first robust and comprehensive analysis of nil returns within the SRA. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first work of this type in any low-income country.


Child maltreatment is a major public health issue in Israel. According to a recent Israeli national epidemiological survey, approximately half of Jewish and Arab girls and boys between the ages 12 and 17 experienced at least one type of child maltreatment, at any severity level. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the influence of multi-type maltreatment on Israeli children and youth survivors' reluctance versus urge to disclose; with the effects of gender, age, and ethnicity taken into account. The study is important since non-disclosure has deleterious effects in terms of continuation of the abuse, delays in criminal prosecution and commencement of treatment. A self-report questionnaire incorporating the following instruments was administered: the Juvenile Victimization Questionnaire, the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire, and the Disclosure of Trauma Questionnaire. The sample consisted of 6,253 Jewish and Arab children and youth who reported experiencing at least one lifetime child maltreatment event. Study results indicated that children and youth's reluctance to disclose is positively associated with their emotional reactions to disclosure, as well as with higher instances of child maltreatment exposure; whereas urge to talk is negatively correlated with their emotional reactions to disclosure.


Sexual minorities' rights are increasingly included in the EU internal as well as external agenda. While the EU normative framework and its internal developments seem to be dominated by the value of equality, doubts arise on the rationale underlying the EU external action. All institutions are indeed involved in this field. While the Commission is called to monitor issues relating to sexual orientation and gender identity in accession countries, the Council has issued specific Guidelines and the EU Parliament has in turn raised specific concerns in its dialogue with African partners. Although these attempts are welcomed for stressing the need to protect a 'vulnerable' group in countries where they have no guarantees, a 'selective' non-discrimination approach seems to emerge in most actions having an external dimension. This approach contradicts the EU internal developments and may eventually risk being ineffective and counterproductive for targeted people. Considering the international trend in human rights law towards the recognition of the full spectrum of human rights irrespective of one's sexual orientation or gender identity, this article posits the need for a significant change in the EU external approach in this field.


Background: Severe equinovarus foot deformity in adults is a challenging problem. Conservative treatment rarely is effective, and operative options are limited. The aim of this study was to evaluate the results of talectomy and tibiocalcaneal arthrodesis with intramedullary nail fixation for the treatment of severe equinovarus deformity in adults. Methods: Twelve patients (average age 39 years, range 15-70 years) with severe equinovarus deformities of the foot were treated with talectomy and tibiocalcaneal arthrodesis with intramedullary nail fixation between March 2010 and February 2013. Average follow-up was 20 months (range 10-37 months). Results: Tibiocalcaneal fusion was achieved in all patients at an average of 12 weeks (range 8-17 weeks). Preoperatively, all patients had severe, irreducible equinovarus deformities; at last follow-up, almost all feet had mild residual deformity, but were plantigrade and did not require a brace or orthosis. The average AOFAS ankle score improved from 41.1 (range 8-66) preoperatively to 78.4 (range 67-86) postoperatively (P = .02). There was a similar improvement in the average VAS score from 6.3 (range 2-10) preoperatively to 0.8 (range 0-4) postoperatively (P = .02). Conclusion: The combination of talectomy and tibiocalcaneal arthrodesis was effective in correcting severe rigid equinovarus deformity in adults. Removal of the talus resulted in laxity of the soft tissues, making correction of the deformity easier. Tibiocalcaneal arthrodesis achieved a stable foot without the problems associated with talectomy alone. Level of Evidence: Level IV, case series.


Y1.97-xTi0.03CdxO2S (0≤x≤0.06) phosphors with long afterglow were synthesized by solid-state reaction. The photoluminescence spectra, decay curves, thermoluminescnece spectra and Chromaticity coordinate curves were investigated. Results showed that the luminescence and afterglow intensity of Y1.97-xTi0.03CdxO2S (0≤x≤0.06) reduced gradually with increasing Cd2+ ion content while the shape and position of emission peak remain unchanged. The Chromaticity coordinate of present phosphor keeps at (0.5497,0.4415). Furthermore, based on the results of thermoluminescence curves of Ti, Cd single doped and co-doped Y2O2S phosphors, the doped Cd ion reduces the inherent trap depth of Ti single doped Y2O2S:Ti, and induces simultaneously a new trap level in Y2O2S:Ti,Cd phosphor. Thus, it was proposed that the introduced new structure defect by Cd2+ ions should be responsible for the reducing luminescence and afterglow property.


This Article explores child pornography law in relation to teen sexting conduct. Recently, some teens who engaged in teen sexting have been convicted under child pornography laws and have been required to register as sexual predators. The criminalization of teens for developmentally typical behavior, mimicking the conduct of adults, can result in grave harm to most teens. Furthermore, the application of child pornography laws to teen sexting conduct demonstrates the constitutional overbreadth of the current definition of child pornography. Photographs have an emblematic role in society-capturing and celebrating youth. Moreover, the creation of teen sexting images accompanies a teen's developmental quest for a sexual identity and individuation. Thus, teen sexting images constitute teen sexual speech and are entitled to some degree of constitutional protection, so long as the images are not obscene. The variable obscenity standard of Ginsberg v. New York has since been modified by the Bellotti v. Baird strict scrutiny standard. Thus, any legislation related to teen sexual speech must be narrowly tailored to protect the minor from harm, or further another compelling state interest. This Article tests the author's proposed teen sexting legislation under the Bellotti test.


Land use modelling is increasingly used by archaeologists and palaeoecologists seeking to quantify and compare the changing influence of humans on the environment. In Southeast Asia, the intensification of rice agriculture and the arrival of European colonizers have both been seen as major catalysts for deforestation, soil erosion, and biodiversity change. Here we consider the Tuwali-Ifugao people of the Cordillera Central (Luzon, Philippines), who resisted Spanish colonial subjugation from the 16th to the mid-nineteenth century, in part through the development of a world-renowned system of intensive wet-rice terrace agriculture. To quantify changes in how the Tuwali-Ifugao used their environment, we model land use in Old Kiyyangan Village, a long-inhabited settlement, at two timepoints: circa 1570 CE, prior to the Spanish arrival in Luzon, and circa 1800 CE, before the village was sacked by Spanish military expeditions. Our model demonstrates that between 1570 and 1800 the adoption of rice as a staple and the corresponding expansion in terrace agriculture, along with a general diversification of diet and land use, enabled the village's population to double without increasing total land use area. Further, this major intensification led to the solidification of social hierarchies and occurred without a proportional increase in deforestation.


This chapter in TAX JUSTICE: THE ONGOING DEBATE examines tax justice in the American political tradition, focusing on tax policy and politics since World War II. The postwar period witnessed the decline of vertical equity as a serious topic of study among tax experts, especially economists. Beginning in the 1950s and accelerating in the 1970s, economists turned their attention away from vertical equity and toward efficiency and economic growth. To the extent economists considered questions of tax equity, they examined how deviations from horizontal equity influenced efficiency and growth, rather than how degrees of vertical equity effected prevailing norms of social and economic justice. The turn away from progressive equity -- in combination with a sustained period of stagnant economic growth, inflation, and public cynicism toward government -- prompted the American public to support tax policies that emphasized efficiency rather than equity. This environment allowed tax-cutters to push through reforms that excluded equity considerations altogether, and it gave credence to the supply-side notion that taxes should be set with the primary purpose of minimizing distortions. The chapter concludes by arguing that the abandonment of progressive tax equity as a policymaking construct has left tax experts out of touch with the American public, which continues to demonstrate a keen sensitivity to questions of fairness, justice, and progressivity. At a time of acute income and wealth inequalities -- the social ills that historically have motivated considerations of redistributive taxation in the United States -- we would do well to reconsider tax justice and its policymaking implications.


This workshop provides instructions for folding the star-building unit – a modification of the Sonobe module for unit origami. Geometric questions naturally arise during this process, ranging in difficulty from middle school to graduate levels. Participants will learn to fold and assemble star-building units, then explore the structure of the eight strictly convex deltahedra.


The neurotoxin purified from the venom of Bungarus caeruleus causes a neuromuscular blockade on acetylcholine-induced muscle twitch response in isolated frog rectus abdominis muscle preparation. Neuromuscular blockade produced by d-tubocurarine on acetylcholine-induced muscle twitch response in an isolated frog rectus abdominis muscle preparation was reversed to normal muscle twitch response in presence of neostigmine. Whereas the purified neurotoxin produced an irreversible neuromuscular blockade in presence of the same strength of neostigmine. As it is already known, botulinum toxin, which also brings about neuromuscular blockade, is effectively used as a drug in the treatment of painful movement disorders. Since the purified toxin also causes paralysis of the muscle, we propose its possible efficacy in the treatment of neuromuscular disorders.


The study presents the results of a project in which tablets and a ready-made application were used for teaching basic programming concepts to young primary school students (ages 7-9). A total of 135 students participated in the study, attending primary schools in Athens, Greece, divided into three groups. The first was taught conventionally. The second was taught using a board game, while the third was taught using tablets and an application. Students' performance was assessed using evaluation sheets. Data analyses revealed that students in the tablets/application group outperformed students in the other two groups in three out of four tests. Students' views regarding the application were highly positive. The learning outcomes can be attributed to the combination of the application's game-like features and to the tablets' ease of use. On the basis of the results, educators can consider the use of tablets and mobile applications for teaching basic programming concepts to young primary school students.


Abstract Dimorphosiphon talbotorum n. sp. from the Upper Ordovician Bighorn Dolomite of Wyoming is an ancient representative of the erect skeleton-building green algae. Circumstantial evidence indicates that the original skeletal material was aragonite. If so, D. talbotorum and its Ordovician relatives in eastern North America, Europe, and Kazakhstan are reminders that even morphologically simple aragonite producers could thrive during one of Earth's "calcite sea" intervals. Unlike previously described Ordovician members of its family, the new species is represented by selectively silicified thalli showing three-dimensional details of internal tubes and a highly variable external form. It differs from a similar taxon, D. rectangulare, in having branched as well as unbranched thalli and in morphology of radial tubes. The new species is the first thoroughly documented record of Dimorphosiphon in western North America. Its stratigraphic position in the Richmondian part of the Bighorn Dolomite correlates with previously reported occurrences of the genus in the Red River Formation of North Dakota and Manitoba. The Wyoming fossils typically occur as scattered components of wackestone and include both silicified and calcitic individuals. The change in skeletal composition from aragonite to calcite apparently took place before tubes decayed, thus preserving tube morphology. Subsequent silicification varied in degree among specimens, probably reflecting differences in permeability of the secondarily calcitic skeletons.


Waste heat recovery is very important, because it not only reduces the expenditure of heat generation, but also it is of high priority in environmental consideration, such as reduction in greenhouse gases. One of the devices used in waste heat recovery is heat pipe heat exchanger. An experimental and theoretical research is carried out to investigate heat performance of an air to water thermosyphon heat pipe heat exchanger according to e-NTU method. The experiments were done according to the following procedure: cold water with 0.1kg/s flows through the condensation section and hot air in a closed cycle is blown into the evaporation section. A blower with varying frequency of current turns in the mass flow rate between 0.14-0.6 kg/s and a temperature range of 125-225°C. The results of the experiments show that as the ratio of hc CC rises, the rate of heat transfer goes up. The efficiency of the heat pipe heat exchanger remains constant as the temperature of the hot stream goes up, but the amount of heat transferred increases.


Many postmenopausal women have osteopenia, a condition characterized by loss of bone mineral density (BMD) that is not as severe as in osteoporosis. The objective of this study was to estimate the cost‐effectiveness of alendronate to prevent fractures in osteopenic postmenopausal women without a history of fracture in Japan. An individual simulation model was developed to predict lifetime costs and quality‐adjusted life years (QALYs) of 5 years of preventive alendronate therapy versus no preventive therapy. The risk of hip and vertebral fracture associated with age and BMD was derived from epidemiologic studies in Japan. We ran the model with different combinations of age (65, 70, and 75 years), BMD (70%, 75%, and 80% of young adult mean [YAM]), and additional clinical risk factors. For 70‐year‐old women with a BMD of 70% of the YAM having one of the following risk factors: a family history of hip fracture, high alcohol intake, or current smoking, the incremental cost‐effectiveness ratio (ICER) of alendronate was $92,937, $126,251, and $129,067 per QALY, respectively. These results were sensitive to age, BMD, and number of clinical risk factors. Probabilistic sensitivity analysis for the base case showed that in the presence of one, two, and three risk factors, alendronate was cost‐effective in 0.2% to 2.6%, 13.1% to 56.1%, and 99.1% of the simulations, respectively, if society is willing to pay $50,000 per QALY. Additional analysis indicated that alendronate can be a good value in osteopenic women if the 10‐year probability for a osteoporotic hip or vertebral fracture is more than 26.2%. Our results indicate that whether to treat osteopenia with alendronate should be determined on the basis of age, BMD, and number of clinical risk factors in terms of cost‐effectiveness. © 2013 American Society for Bone and Mineral Research


In this essay I examine Harriet Martineau9s domestic novel Deerbrook (1839), in which the author, famous for her works in the public discourse of political economy, experimented with the genre most associated with the private. I suggest that the novel be read as a struggle to reconcile the claims of privacy with Martineau9s intellectual, social, and political commitments to free circulation. I link the tensions in Martineau9s efforts to imagine a domestic sphere organized around the free circulation of information to an ambivalence about privacy in discussions of contemporary economic challenges and argue that this ambivalence lingered even where privacy has been understood to be most at ease——in business, in the novel, and in the home. I trace Deerbrook9s uneven treatment of love, desire, and women to the difficulty assimilating them to the ethic of free circulation of information. The taint of suspicion that lingers around the private sphere in the novel suggests that we reconsider what is sometimes presumed: the Victorian faith in the private as the guarantor of morality and ethical identity under capitalist social relations.


The relationship between renewable energy sources and economic growth has attracted the interest of researchers in recent years. However, the analysis has focused mostly on measuring the impact of renewable energy consumption on economic performance (such as economic growth) that does not reflect the quality of standards of living. We employ a different approach measuring the impact of renewable energy consumption on the Human Development Index (HDI) that considers these qualitative characteristics associated with better health and educational standards along with income performance. Additionally, we develop a simultaneous equation system approach that describes the interrelations between economic variables, renewable energy and pollution emissions with feedback effect tendencies. We provide robust evidence using panel data for a set of 28 OECD countries over the period 2004-2015. The system of equations is estimated by 3sls considering a static and dynamic specification of the model. It is shown that renewable energy consumption along with human and physical capital are important factors for explaining the sustainable development level of the countries considered. Renewable energy consumption is mostly determined by higher levels of human capital, the R&D spending and the stage of countries' development. Factors like the stage of development, total energy consumption, renewable energy consumption and standard levels of education are important elements for explaining environmental pollution (measured by CO2 emissions per capita). It is also established a non-linear relationship between the countries` stage of development and carbon emissions.


Laser welding is known for its low heat input compared to arc welding methods. This could enable laser welding of sheet metals with lighter fastening solutions and less time-consuming tack welding alternatives. A feasibility study was carried out to study four different corner joint types for 2 mm thick cold rolledcold-rolled steel sheet by using filler-free laser welding. The aim of the research was to get more experimental knowledge about the laser welding of corner joints. Also possible benefits concerning faster manufacturing times and smaller costs by developing fastening applications for small batch laser welding was to be studied in practice. The 170 mm long joints were welded without air gap or pressing. All corner joint types proved to be weldable with a continuous wave Yb:YAG diode-pumped disk laser. It was also found during the With the experiment it was also found out that laser welding enables the use of light and inexpensive fasteners such as magnetic holders in steadinstead of traditional clamps and fixturing. With some joint types, the insufficient fastening power of magnetic fasteners against distortions was compensated by making a spot-like laser tack weld toat the end of the weld before welding the actual seam. This showed that it is possible to make precise and small tack welds with a laser and to use laser -tacking in sheet metal assembly.


The commercial aviation in the last twenty years has doubled the Revenue Passenger Kilometers (RPKs), and forecast estimates the global fleet will be almost the double over the next 20 years. In this competitive market, Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul (MRO) industry will demand innovative solutions, a key role to sustain such increase will be the digitalization and automation of the maintenance procedure, such as: integration of collaborative robot, collecting data, connected tools and machine learning. Those innovating tools, are applied in order to create an advanced diagnostic for primary flight control, where the Electro-Hydraulic Servo-Actuator (EHSA) is the most spread technology that is used. This M.Sc thesis, is the result of over nine months of research activity carried out at Lufthansa Technik AG (LHT) facilities, in Hamburg, in collaboration with Politecnico di Torino. The chapter 1, is the motivation of the work, describing why the case of study is the A320 family with the elevator as Unit Under Test (UUT). Moreover, a brief overview of the global market forecast is presented. The chapter 2, describes the Hydiag laboratory focusing on the measurement chain, such as: the hydraulic supply, measurement hardware and all sensors used (LVDT;RVDT; Force Load; Incremental Sensor etc). The chapter 3, starts with a brief description of flight controls and hydraulic system of the A320 family. Then, the last part is geared to the Electro-Hydraulic Servo-Valve (EHSV) and elevator EHSA, with a detailed description of the EHSV first stage and an academic scheme of the complicated re-centering mechanism, which helps the lecture to understand the general function of this mechanism and the further chapters. The chapter 4, concerns the automation of maintenance, adjustment procedures, the first part gives a brief description of the Universal Robot 10 (UR10), then, is given an explanation why the adjustment tests have to be done following a precise order. The last part, starts with the description how the communication between the automatic algorithm, UR10 and UUT works, then, is focused on the description of the three automatic algorithms with flowchart and descriptions. The chapter 5, describes how the new robotic health feature of the recentering device is extracted, moreover, are shown three different methods to obtain the goal current of recentering device's gain adjustment, and an evaluation of the best method is made. In the last part, are shown several physical descriptions of some interesting behaviour that were found out, explained in detail with schemes and data collected. The chapter 6, introduces some improvement to the actual Component Maintenance Manual (CMM) troubleshooting that regards the automatic adjustment procedure shown in chapter 4, adding new possible fault and try to isolate them. The last part, is a preliminary concept of the final certification, comparing the actual Hydiag entry test with two visions as final certification.


We have developed a reliable fabrication method of forming micron scale metal patterns on poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) using a pattern transfer process. A metal stack layer consisting of Au-Ti-Au layers, providing a weak but reliable adhesion, was deposited on a silicon wafer. The metal stack layer was then transferred to a PDMS substrate using serial and selective etching. We demonstrate that features as small as 2 microm were reliably transferred on to the PDMS substrate for use as interconnects and electrodes for biosensors and flexible electronics application.


Purpose To describe a spectrum of severe chronic central serous chorioretinopathy (cCSC) cases and their response to photodynamic therapy (PDT). Patients and methods A total of 66 patients (81 eyes) with active severe cCSC were studied, and their response to PDT was compared with a control group consisting of 35 active cCSCs (37 eyes) that did not display characteristics of severity. Best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) and complete resolution of subretinal fluid (SRF) were considered as main outcome measures. Results In severe cCSC cases, we found cumulative areas of diffuse atrophic retinal pigment epithelium alterations in 48 eyes (59%), multiple "hot spots" of leakage in 36 eyes (44%), posterior cystoid retinal degeneration in 25 eyes (31%), and 13 eyes (16%) had a diffuse leakage on fluorescein angiography. After PDT treatment, BCVA increased in both groups, from 66 to 72 Early Treatment of Diabetic Retinopathy Study (ETDRS) letters in the case group (P<0.001), and from 78 to 82 ETDRS letters in the control group (P<0.001). SRF had resolved completely in 87% of severe cCSC cases and 95% of controls at final follow-up visit. Conclusion A spectrum of severe cCSC exists, and PDT seems to be an effective treatment in both severe cCSC and nonsevere cCSC in terms of resolution of SRF. Final BCVA shows a significant improvement in both groups after PDT treatment.


The bulk photovoltaic effect (BPVE) is a phenomenon which creates a net electrical current from sunlight in a polar noncentrosymmetric material possessing a moderate band gap. This effect is being explored as an alternative to traditional pn-junction solar cells to convert solar energy into electricity. This paper assesses the possibility that hydrogenated Zintl-phase compounds consisting only of metal, metalloid, and hydrogen atoms, may be able to provide a BPVE response. Towards this end, the magnitude of the BPVE shift current is calculated for each of the compounds AeTrTtH (Ae = Ca, Sr, and Ba; Tr = Al and Ga; and Tt = Si, Ge, and Sn). For this family of hydogenated Zintl compounds, maximum shift current responses are predicted that are up to eight times greater than that calculated for BiFeO3, and have a significant response down to much lower photon energies than BiFeO3 as well. With band gaps below 1 eV, and with some members of this family of compounds exhibiting stability in air up to 770 K, some of these compounds may find use in photovoltaic devices.


Numerous neurological problems appear in the Sherlock Holmes stories. These include dementia, delirium, seizures, toxic-metabolic encephalopathies, syncope, movement disorders, cerebrovascular disease, and alocholism. Several problems of a neuropsychiatric nature, such as malingering and brain fever, are also reviewed. In addition, Holmes' knowledge of electroencephalography is revealed.


Mathematicians agree that homogeneous archetypes are an interesting new topic in the field of programming languages, and researchers concur. In our research, we verify the evaluation of model checking. In this position paper we describe an encrypted tool for refining lambda calculus (VENDS), which we use to prove that the Internet can be made empathic, game-theoretic, and


In this study, a different application of the signal recognition is presented for classification of source voltage level, which leads to produce corona noise in an experimental set-up, using recorded sound data of corona (electrical discharge) and utilizing probabilistic neural network (PNN). By applying different levels of 50 Hz ac high-voltage, the corona sound data are acquired experimentally from a test set-up intentionally producing corona sound. After successfully recording the sound data, they have been used in training and test sets of the probabilistic neural network. In this context, we can indicate the main objective for our study; to develop a model to determine exact source voltage level by only analyzing the recorded corona sound data. During the application of algorithmic method, linear prediction coefficients are used. It is shown that reasonable results can be obtained by following the proposed method.


Three edible essential oils extracted from West African Black Pepper (WABP), Piper guineense Schum and Thonn., Clove, Syzgium aromaticum (L.) Merril and Percy and Ethiopian Pepper, Xylopia aethiopica (Dunn) A. Rich were investigated for their effectiveness in suppressing the number and adult emergence of flat grain beetle, C. ferrugineus. Five pairs of adult C. ferrugineus were treated with the three edible essential oils at the rates of 0.25, 0.5, 0.75 and 1.0mg/10 g broken maize grain at 20% of 109 maze grains. The experiment was carried out as treatment before infestation (TBI) in the laboratory in a completely randomized block design, replicated four times. In comparison to the treatment and control (0.00 mg), the entire plant oil significantly (P<0.05) reduced the population of C. ferrugineus by causing high mortality rates and completely prevented subsequent adult emergence. Treatments with Ethiopian Pepper and WABP oil at the rates of 0.25 ,0.5, 0.75 mg/l 0 g broken maize recorded up to 90% mortality while clove oil recorded 100% mortality at all the dosage rates applied when compared with the control. The potential effectiveness of all the three edible essential oils implies that maize stored as grits could be adequately protected against C. ferrugineus, thus reducing their infestation and damage on maize grains.


This research addresses the association between attention to science fiction and public opinion of human genome editing (HGE). Using a nationally representative survey, our results show that attention to science fiction is associated with both risk and benefit perception of the technology. In addition, results show that, at higher levels of attention to science fiction, the levels of concern from conservatives (ordinarily predisposed to negative views toward science) and from liberals (ordinarily predisposed to positive views toward science) come closer to being the same. This research contributes to our understanding of debates about controversial science.


Large-eddy simulation is used to investigate the effects of cold pools driven by rain evaporation on the shallow-to-deep convection transition over land. The physically consistent methodologies are developed to obtain a time-dependent reference ensemble without cold pools and to apply interactive surface heat fluxes without modeling of surface energy and water budgets. Three different simulation ensembles are contrasted. The reference ensemble, in the spirit of one-dimensional single-column models, eliminates cold pools by horizontally homogenizing negative buoyancy production due to rain evaporation. The additional ensembles complement the reference cold-pool-free ensemble by including cold pools and by applying either interactive or prescribed surface fluxes. Contrasting these ensembles suggests possible improvements of convection parameterization in large-scale models of weather and climate. Without cold pools, the reference ensemble preserves key features of buoyancy-driven cellular convection associated with a field of convective plumes, as assumed in a typical convection parameterization. With cold pools, a significant enhancement of surface heat and moisture fluxes and about an hour delay of their daily maximum is simulated. Cold pools enhance near-surface temperature and moisture standard deviations as well as maxima of the near-surface updraft velocity. They also lead to the reduction of cloud lateral entrainment, deeper vertical development of the cloud layer, and a few-times-larger accumulated surface precipitation. Interactive surface fluxes provide a damping mechanism that noticeably suppresses all these effects. Perhaps surprisingly, cold pools do not significantly change the cloud-base convective mass flux that approximately follows the evolution of surface heat fluxes.


We investigate the relationship between unemployment and growth in China. We find considerable differences in the nature of this relationship across Chinese regions. We argue that this may reflect the different progress in transition across regions, in line with the Aghion–Blanchard model of optimal speed of transition. When we test this model, we find strong evidence of a hump-shaped relationship between unemployment and our proxy for the speed of reform. Current unemployment in China, furthermore, appears to be close to the level associated with the optimal speed of transition.


Introduction In the UK, an estimated 30,000 out of hospital cardiac arrests (CA) are treated by emergency medical services annually. Better access to early chain of survival is expected to result in improved survival rates. Therefore, more patients are expected to live with the consequence of the CA, which can range from impairment of cognitive function, deterioration in emotional well-being and perceived quality of life (QoL). Follow-up of patients at the Essex Cardiothoracic Centre, in a current research trial involving CA survivors, emphasised that standard psychological support arrangements for these patients and their caregivers are alarmingly inadequate. Last year in the Netherlands, a randomised trial demonstrated that introduction of early psychological support service significantly improved QoL for survivors of CA compared with control group, paving the way for this to be incorporated in routine clinical practice. This study also showed that a higher percentage of patients (50%) receiving the intervention returned to work 3 months after CA compared to 21% in the control group. Methods and results In the setting of the CARE after resuscitation trial, we are the first NHS trust investigating the effects of a comprehensive psychological support service in patients following CA. In group 1, 20 patients and their caregivers have been recruited at least 3 months after the CA, to assess the effectiveness of current 'standard care'. About 50% of these patients still experienced moderate to severe depression, 20% suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder and they were referred to a clinical psychiatrist for further management. In group 2, a further 20 patients, after surviving a CA with good neurological recovery and their caregivers are reviewed on the ward prior to discharge by a senior ICU nurse and a cardiologist. They are given a leaflet detailing life after cardiac arrest and the support network in place, and given a novel telephone help line (managed by ICU nurses that they can call during working hours). Once discharged patients are contacted by the ICU nurse within 48 h to ask about their well-being. Patients and caregivers are then invited back to a dedicated cardiac arrest outpatient clinic after 6–8 weeks, where they are seen by a multi-disciplinary team including cardiologist, ICU nurse and psychiatrist. Patients and their caregivers will then be reviewed in 6 months to re-evaluate their QoL and their ability to return to work. Conclusion We hope that the observations from the Netherlands can be replicated here in the "intervention group" and these data will be presented at the BCS conference in June 2015. If successful, we will disseminate our experience with the rest of the UK so that, all survivors of CA and their caregivers can benefit from this service.


The UKWIR methodology for the determination of groundwater source outputs was developed in order to provide a standard, relatively simple and auditable means of assessing outputs from the wide range of groundwater source types and aquifers in the UK for a variety of water level and demand conditions. New case studies are presented which illustrate aspects of the methodology and its flexibility. The cases derive from use of the methodology by the author at over 150 well sources in response to the Environment Agency's 'Reassessment of Water Company Yields'. The methodology can be adapted to include refinements, such as transposition to account for changes in regional abstraction, the use of a pump curve instead of a single value of pump capacity, and adaptation of the analytical approach to allow for unequal pumping from wells at a multiple source. Topics for discussion include: choosing between the options, the plotting of operational bounding curves, definition of the deepest advisable pumping water level, data requirements, refinements to the analytical approach, drought and demand, determining the average day peak week, the group licence constraint, and assessment gradings.


Sediment samples from Ugbo water way, South Western Nigeria were assessed for total petroleum hydrocarbon (TPH) and trace metal concentrations. Seven sampling stations were selected and one control station. Total petroleum hydrocarbon (TPH) in the sediment samples was determined using Gas Chromatography-Flame Ionisation Detector (GC-FID) while trace metal concentrations were determined with Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer (AAS). In situ measurement of the physicochemical parameters of the water was done during sampling. The average concentration of TPH in the sediment samples is 0.131 mg/kg which is far well below the maximum permissible limit (10 mg/kg) and the occurrence of the measured trace metals is in the decreasing order for the different metals Fe>Pb>Zn>Cu>Ni>Mn>Cd. Fe had the highest concentration with an average value of 0.845 mg/kg while Cd had the lowest average concentration of 0.032 mg/kg. The highest concentration of the TPH occurs at the point of offload of petroleum motor spirit (K5) and increases outwards in the down current direction as we travel away from K5. The levels of Cd, Fe, and Mn all exceeded the U.S.E.P.A recommended limit, while the rest of the metals (Pb, Zn, Cu, and Ni) were found to be within recommended limits.

 Key words: Trace metal, pollution, physico-chemical parameters, sediment.


Although in vitro fertilization (IVF) is used widely for a variety of purposes, it is often not appreciated how this technology was developed. A large number of experiments beginning in 1878 contributed to the first successful reports of IVF over 75 years later. The discovery of sperm capacitation in 1951 was central to the development of IVF technology, and it was rapidly followed by the first convincing reports of IVF in several species. The ability to fertilize oocytes in vitro has allowed major advances to be made into understanding the mechanisms involved in fertilization and early development, and IVF now supports reproductive biotechnology in animals and in humans. This article is a historical review of key experiments that helped to provide the basis for present day IVF procedures, placed into context with current practice.


The authors discuss the theoretical aspects of the process of lavage fluid absorption from bronchial and alveolar spaces during broncho-alveolar lavage. It is shown that pressure in the vessels of pulmonary circulation, the blood colloid osmotic pressure, and permeability of the alveolar-capillary barrier play an important role in the dynamics of changes of the absorption process. Methods for correcting the intensity of absorption (use of solutions of different osmotic force for lavage) are suggested. Data gained in observation over the use of therapeutic lavage in children confirm the theoretical conclusions and demonstrate the favourable results of lavage in children with atelectases.


Temperature abuse is a main concern for chilled and/or MAP meat and poultry products since it will not only cause economic loss, but may also lead to a foodborne illness hazard. A major question for such products is whether organoleptic spoilage due to microbial or chemical action will occur before pathogen numbers or toxin levels become a risk when a product undergoes abuse temperatures. Time-temperature integrators (TTI) have shown potential to indicate or estimate temperature abuse. However knowledge of predictive food microbiology is needed for each food to employ a TTI tag. The simple Monod and the nonlinear Gompertz function can be used to obtain growth parameters (i.e., lag time, exponential growth rate) from kinetic studies of microbial spoilage. The temperature dependence of these parameters is best evaluated by the Arrhenius or the square root model. Effects of temperature on other deteriorative processes can also be described similarly. Three approaches are presented to evaluate the extent and impact of temperature abuse on meat and poultry by use of TTI tags, which include the effective temperature, the equivalent time and the equivalent point approach. Other technologies to evaluate or to reduce the impact of temperature abuse are also discussed.


AIM To investigate involvement of patients into control of their pressure to improve quality of treatment for arterial hypertension (AH). MATERIALS AND METHODS 134 hypertensive patients (76 females and 58 males) were interviewed. Criteria of efficacy of AH control were ability and motivation of self-measurement of blood pressure and its maintenance at the optimal level. RESULTS For the past year, 40% of the patients measured pressure regularly (once a day or more frequently), 34%--1-3 times a week, 9%--1-3 times a month, 17%--rarely, mostly, males. Most of the patients controlled their pressure insufficiently. This is explained by "working pressure" (high in many cases) which was registered in most of the examinees. When part of the patients reached that working pressure they discontinued treatment. CONCLUSION Involvement of hypertensive patients and members of their families into control of hypertension is a feasible and valuable method of improving quality of hypertension treatment.


The mean magnetization (MM) approximation is undoubtedly the most widely used approximation in magnetorheology both from theoretical and simulation perspectives. According to this, spherical magnetizable particles under field can be replaced by effective dipole moments m placed at their center with strength m = V(p)⟨M(p)⟩. Here V(p) and ⟨M(p)⟩ are the volume and mean (average) magnetization of the particles, respectively. In spite of being extensively used, there is not a mathematical justification to do so in most cases. In this manuscript, we test this approximation using experiments, theories and simulations, for a wide range of magnetic field strengths and particle loadings, in both conventional magnetorheological fluids (CMRFs) and inverse ferrofluids (IFFs). Results demonstrate that the MM approximation is applicable in IFFs for a very wide range of field strengths (up to external fields of 265 kA m(-1)) and particle loadings (up to 20 vol%). For CMRFs, the MM approximation is only applicable in two particular circumstances; in magnetic saturation or in infinite dilution.


Let G be a connected, undirected graph. Distance two labeling or a L(2,1)-labeling of a graph G is an assignment f from the vertex set V (G) to the set of non-
 negative integers such that |f(x)− f(y)| is greater than or equal to 2 if x and y are
 adjacent and |f(x) − f(y)| is greater than or equal to 1 if x and y are at distance 2,
 for all x and y in V (G). The L(2,1)-labeling number (Lamda)(G) of G is the smallest number
 k such that G has an L(2,1)-labeling f with max {f(v) : v 2 V (G) }is equal to k.
 In this paper, we present algorithms to get L(2,1)-labeling of cycle dominating graphs
 like Diamond graphs, nC4 with a common vertex and Books Bn and hence we find
 the (lamda)- number of these graphs.

 Keywords: Channel assignment; transmitters; L(2,1)-labeling; Books; Distance two labeling

 2010 Mathematics Subject Classification: 05C78.


Abstract. Several recent wind power estimates suggest that this renewable energy resource can meet all of the current and future global energy demand with little impact on the atmosphere. These estimates are calculated using observed wind speeds in combination with specifications of wind turbine size and density to quantify the extractable wind power. However, this approach neglects the effects of momentum extraction by the turbines on the atmospheric flow that would have effects outside the turbine wake. Here we show with a simple momentum balance model of the atmospheric boundary layer that this common methodology to derive wind power potentials requires unrealistically high increases in the generation of kinetic energy by the atmosphere. This increase by an order of magnitude is needed to ensure momentum conservation in the atmospheric boundary layer. In the context of this simple model, we then compare the effect of three different assumptions regarding the boundary conditions at the top of the boundary layer, with prescribed hub height velocity, momentum transport, or kinetic energy transfer into the boundary layer. We then use simulations with an atmospheric general circulation model that explicitly simulate generation of kinetic energy with momentum conservation. These simulations show that the assumption of prescribed momentum import into the atmospheric boundary layer yields the most realistic behavior of the simple model, while the assumption of prescribed hub height velocity can clearly be disregarded. We also show that the assumptions yield similar estimates for extracted wind power when less than 10% of the kinetic energy flux in the boundary layer is extracted by the turbines. We conclude that the common method significantly overestimates wind power potentials by an order of magnitude in the limit of high wind power extraction. Ultimately, environmental constraints set the upper limit on wind power potential at larger scales rather than detailed engineering specifications of wind turbine design and placement.


Abstract This paper is in two parts, both of which are concerned to explore the justificatory presuppositions and limits of the idea of a universal framework for bioethical judgments; a global bioethics. The first part takes up the issues of the meaning and justification of global bioethics. After distinguishing the different ways in which global bioethics may be understood, various strategies for justifying the project are described. It is argued that in the absence of an actual global consensus on the content of the framework, a procedure for establishing what that content should be is required. This requirement is explored by outlining the contributions of Hermeneutics and Critical Theory. This part of the paper concludes with the view that one central presupposition of the project of global bioethics is that there is, or could be, a global consensus about the general norms of reason and discourse that disagreements over the ethical content of the framework should observe. Part two of the paper aims to explore one aspect of the rational limit to global bioethics that is revealed by the interplay between it and the claims of collective identity that groups of people make. The paper concludes that because of its 'existential connotations' identity may be resistant to rational scrutiny, which paradoxically may not be irrational. Those for whom the 'language of identity' gives way to the 'language of interests' may well be able to engage in compromise and negotiation towards consensus on ethical principles and values.


One electric organ of anaesthetized Torpedo marmorata was stimulated through electrodes placed on the electric lobe of the brain. Nerves to the other electric organ were cut to provide an unstimulated control. Glucose 6-[32P]phosphate was injected into each organ 16h before electrical stimulation. After stimulation for 10 min at 5 Hz, the organs were removed homogenized and centrifuged on a density gradient for the preparation of subcellular fractions. Stimulation increased the incorporation of 32P into phosphatidate, phosphatidylinositol and phosphatidylcholine. The increased phosphatidate labelling, but not that of the other two lipids, was seen in fractions rich in synaptic vesicles. Stimulation had no effect on ATP labelling. The phosphatidate content of most fractions fell slightly after stimulation, but amounts of other phospholipids were not affected.


BACKGROUND
The single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) context of a previously identified periodontitis-associated locus is investigated, and its association with microbial, biologic, and periodontal disease clinical parameters is examined.

METHODS
A 200-kb spanning region of 1q12 previously highlighted in a genome-wide association scan among 4,766 European American individuals (SNP rs1633266) was annotated. Two haplotype blocks were selected. Association of these polymorphisms with data on microbial plaque composition, gingival crevicular fluid (GCF)-interleukin (IL)-1β levels, and clinical parameters of periodontal disease were examined. Descriptive analysis of IFI16 and AIM2 protein expression in gingival tissues from healthy individuals (n = 2) and individuals with chronic periodontitis (n = 2) was done via immunohistochemistry.

RESULTS
The highlighted locus is a 100-kb region containing the interferon γ-inducible protein 16 (IFI16) and absent in melanoma 2 (AIM2) genes. Two haplotype blocks, rs6940 and rs1057028, were significantly associated with increased extent bleeding on probing and levels of microorganisms Porphyromonas gingivalis, Tannerella forsythia, and Campylobacter rectus (P ≤0.05). Haplotype block rs1057028 was also significantly associated with pathogens Fusobacterium nucleatum and Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans, increased GCF-IL-1β levels, and extent of probing depth ≥4 mm (P ≤0.05). Prevalence of severe periodontitis (biofilm-gingival interface P3 classification) was positively associated with haplotype block rs1057028. Similar trends were observed for haplotype block rs1057028. IFI16 and AIM2 protein expression was observed in multiple cell types of gingival tissues, including inflammatory cells.

CONCLUSION
This study found IFI16 and AIM2 SNPs associated with higher levels of periodontal microorganisms and an increased percentage of periodontal disease clinical parameters, suggesting the need for functional studies and additional fine-mapping of variants in the 1q12-locus.


The clinical course of neuromuscular disorders (NMDs) can be affected by infections, both in immunocompetent individuals, and in those with reduced immunocompetence due to immunosuppressive/immunomodulating therapies. Infections and immunizations may also trigger NMDs. There is a potential for reduced efficacy of immunizations in patients with reduced immunocompetence. The recent vaccination program for coronavirus disease‐2019 (COVID‐19) raises several questions regarding the safety and efficacy of this vaccine in individuals with NMDs. In this Practice Topic article, we address the role of vaccine‐preventable infections in NMDs and the safety and efficacy of immunization in individuals with NMDs, with emphasis on vaccination against COVID‐19.


As in other industrialized countries, many urban water social-ecological systems in the United States are characterized by frequent discharges of contaminated runoff, catastrophic flooding, and near-complete severance of the hydrologic cycle. Recent advancements in stormwater best management practices aim to push urban water social-ecological systems into a more sustainable regime that reconnects the hydrologic cycle and utilizes ecosystem services, such as infiltration and evapotranspiration, to improve the quality of urban and suburban water bodies. Collectively, these approaches are termed green infrastructure. As a decentralized approach, green infrastructure requires implementation on, as well as access to, property throughout a watershed, which poses particular governance challenges for watersheds where most land is held privately. We argue that green infrastructure on private property has a strong potential for creating a more sustainable regime through Citizen Stormwater Management, a participatory form of governance with strong citizen influence and engagement. We develop a classification scheme to assess policy instruments' degree of government intervention, citizen participation, and engagement. The paper explores how various policy instruments encourage Citizen Stormwater Management across the United States on both public and private property. We then conduct a textual analysis of ten years of publicly available data from Onondaga County, New York (USA) to assess the implementation of applicable policy instruments. Findings indicate that incentive-based (carrots) along with outreach (sermon) policies can play an important role when regulatory instruments (sticks) are lacking.


We describe a real-time model of terrain traversal by simulated human agents. Agent navigation includes a variety of simulated sensors, terrain reasoning with behavioral constraints, and detailed simulation of a variety of locomotion techniques. Our Kinematic Locomotion Generation Module (KLOG) generates various terrain navigation skills as well as both rhythmic and non-rhythmic variations of these skills. The terrain navigation skills include curved path walking, lateral or backward stepping, running, and the transitions between walking and running for motion continuity. Locomotion attributes such as pelvis rotation and translation and torso flexion and twist are used to modify the KLOG skills so that realistic looking rhythmic locomotion or non-rhythmic variations, such as ducking under a low hanging branch of a tree, can be achieved. The path through the terrain is incrementally computed by a behavioral reasoning system configuring a behavioral feedback network. A number of sensors acquire information on object range, passageways, obstacles, terrain type, exposure to hostile agents and so on. The behavioral reasoner weighs this information along with collision avoidance, cost, danger minimization, locomotion types and other behaviors available to the agent and incrementally attempts to reach a goal location. Since the system is reactive, it can respond to moving obstacles, changing terrain, or unexpected events due to hostile agents or the effects of limited perception. Comments Postprint version. Presented at Proceedings of the Fourth Conference on Computer Generated Forces and Behavioral Representations, May 1994, 9 pages. This conference paper is available at ScholarlyCommons: http://repository.upenn.edu/hms/107 Terrain Navigation Skills and Reasoning Hyeongseok Ko Barry D Reich Welton Becket and Norman I Badler Center for Human Modeling and Simulation University of Pennsylvania