Objective: Historically, naming has been assessed with visual object naming; however, we have found that auditory description naming significantly enhances lateralization and localization of dysfunction. We previously published auditory naming (ANT) and complementary Visual Naming Tests (VNT) for young adults, and recently developed these measures for children (ages 6-15 years) and older adults (ages 56-100 years). Here, we update the original stimuli and more rigorously norm the tests for ages 16-55, addressing prior limitations. Methods: Test stimuli were selected based on item characteristics and preliminary screening, eliminating those with less than 90% name agreement. A sample of 178 healthy individuals ages 16-55 years were administered the updated ANT and VNT, and other standardized measures, either in person (n = 114) or via telehealth (n = 64). Results: With no effect of age, yet a significant influence of education, education-based normative data are provided for accuracy, tips-of-the-tongue (i.e. delayed, accurate responses plus correct responses following phonemic cueing), and an aggregate Summary Score. Internal and test-retest reliability coefficients were reasonable (.67-.90). Conclusions: These measures provide updated and improved naming assessment for ages 16-55 years, contributing to a contiguous set of naming tests for school-aged children through elderly adults. Compared to the original ANT and VNT, these measures were designed to have stimuli longevity, and offer reduced item burden and evidence-based recommendations for performance measures with the greatest clinical sensitivity. The addition of these measures enables continuity in assessment across the age span, facilitating longitudinal assessment related to disease progression or therapeutic intervention.


The medial ganglionic eminence (MGE) is an embryonic forebrain structure that generates the majority of cortical interneurons. MGE transplantation into specific regions of the postnatal central nervous system modifies circuit function and improves deficits in mouse models of epilepsy, Parkinson's disease, pain, and phencyclidine-induced cognitive deficits. Herein, we describe approaches to generate MGE-like progenitor cells from mouse embryonic stem (ES) cells. Using a modified embryoid body method, we provided gene expression evidence that mouse ES-derived Lhx6+ cells closely resemble immature interneurons generated from authentic MGE-derived Lhx6+ cells. We hypothesized that enhancers that are active in the mouse MGE would be useful tools in detecting when ES cells differentiate into MGE cells. Here we demonstrate the utility of enhancer elements [422 (DlxI12b), Lhx6, 692, 1056, and 1538] as tools to mark MGE-like cells in ES cell differentiation experiments. We found that enhancers DlxI12b, 692, and 1538 are active in Lhx6-GFP+ cells, while enhancer 1056 is active in Olig2+ cells. These data demonstrate unique techniques to follow and purify MGE-like derivatives from ES cells, including GABAergic cortical interneurons and oligodendrocytes, for use in stem cell-based therapeutic assays and treatments.


Abstract Li17-Pb83 eutectic is considered as one of the option for ITER test blanket and breeder blanket of DEMO reactor. Properties of Li-Pb eutectic define the conditions of its application and breeder blanket design and vice versa – operating conditions affect to the properties of eutectic that resulted in structure and properties changes. The paper deals with the structure peculiarities, physical and mechanical properties investigation of Li-Pb eutectic. It was shown that Li-Pb eutectic may deviate from eutectic composition due to structure instability at some working conditions. Long term exposure at high temperature both in liquid and solid state resulted in non-homogeneity of microstructure of Li-Pb alloy. Temperature dependencies of physical and mechanical properties (under compression and tension) and structure stability issues of Li-Pb eutectic and near eutectic alloys were studied. These results are discussed in the paper.


Background: The empathy of doctors is closely related to patients' outcomes. This research aimed to examine whether patients' stigma, self-efficacy, and anxiety mediate the relationship between doctors' empathy and cellular immunity in patients with advanced prostate cancer treated by orchiectomy. Participants and methods: Data on the empathy of doctors and the demographics, disease condition, stigma, self-efficacy, and anxiety of patients were collected. Patients' psychological indicators and cellular immunity were measured at admission, after 14 days, and after 3 months. The variance analysis test was used to compare the immune indices at the three time points. At T3, a multivariate linear regression model was used to analyze the factors that influenced the immune index. Pearson correlation analysis and structural equation modeling were used to examine the relationships among patients' stigma, self-efficacy, anxiety, and cellular immunity and doctors' empathy. Results: At the three time points, all three psychological indicators of the patients were statistically significant. Among the immune indices, only the change in the percentage of NK cells (NK subset) was statistically significant, while the changes in the percentages of CD3 + , CD4 + , CD8 + , and B cells were not statistically significant. The doctors' empathy showed negative relationships with patients' stigma and anxiety and a positive relationship with patients' self-efficacy. Patients' stigma and anxiety were negatively associated with NK subset, while patients' self-efficacy showed a positive relationship with NK subset. Anxiety was positively related to stigma and negatively related to self-efficacy. Therefore, the effect of the doctors' empathy on the patients' NK subset was mediated by the patients' stigma, self-efficacy, and anxiety. Conclusion: Doctors' empathy affected the NK subset in advanced prostate cancer patients and was related to the patients' stigma, self-efficacy, and anxiety. In addition, anxiety directly affected stigma and self-efficacy. Thus, medical staff should focus on improving their empathy toward patients. Interventions that focus on patients' anxiety, stigma, and self-efficacy may be helpful to improve immunity.


3C-SiC films grown on carbonized Si (100) by plasma-assisted CVD have been investigated with systematic changes in flow rate of monosilane (SiH4) and propane (C3H8) as source gases. The deposition rate of the films increased monotonously and the microstructures of the films changed from 3C-SiC single crystal to 3C-SiC polycrystal with increasing flow rate of SiH4. Increasing C3H8 keeps single crystalline structure but results in contamination of α-W2C, which is a serious problem for the epitaxial growth. To obtain high quality 3C-SiC films, the effects of C3H8 on the microstructures of the films have been investigated by reducing the concentration of C3H8. Good quality 3C-SiC single crystal on Si (100) is grown at low net flow rate of C3H8 and SiH4, while 3C-SiC single crystal on Si (111) is grown at low net flow rate of C3H8 and high net flow rate of SiH4. It is expected that 3C-SiC epitaxial growth on Si (111) will take placed at a higher deposition rate and lower substrate temperature than that on Si (100).


Introduction Bowel cancer screening has resulted in a greater incidence of early colorectal cancers, or malignant polyps (MPs). Increasingly MPs are being resected endoscopically, hence avoiding the associated risks of major surgery. There remains, however, concern regarding local cancer recurrence and residual loco-regional lymph node disease, along with the future risk of metachronous disease in the remaining bowel. Detection of these adverse outcomes of endoscopic resection suggests a need for regular surveillance, though this has to be contrasted with the risks of unnecessary surveillance; e.g. morbidity, false negatives, and cost. The ACPGBI position statement1gives guidance on post-resection colonoscopies, though there is little guidance on other surveillance modalities. This study aimed to review post-MP excision surveillance practice in a single NHS Trust. Method All excised MPs were identified from a prospective consecutive database of all colorectal cancers with a date of diagnosis 01/04/10 – 31/03/14 diagnosed in a UK NHS Foundation Trust. Electronic records were reviewed to ascertain the number of endoscopic and radiological tests that patients underwent post-MP excision (excluding initial staging scans). Primary outcomes were tumour recurrence, metastases or detection of metachronous disease. Investigations for reasons other than surveillance (e.g. emergency admission) were excluded. Results There were 130 MPs excised over a four year period, 96 of which were excised initially endoscopically (28 underwent further formal resection, in which there were four cases of residual disease: 3 nodal diseases and 1 local disease). Median follow-up was 34 months (range 3–58). A total of 106 surveillance CT scans were performed and eight surveillance MRI scans (range 0 to 5 CTs, and 0–3 MRIs per patient). 194 surveillance endoscopies were performed (98 colonoscopies, 96 flexible sigmoidoscopies), ranging from zero to seven per patient. There was no association with duration of follow-up for either scans or endoscopies, though on average, surgically managed patients had more surveillance scans, whereas those managed endoscopically had more surveillance endoscopies. In total there were no recurrences, 1 case of metastases and 2 detected metachronous tumours. Conclusion Surveillance of patients following MP excision remains controversial; this experience highlights a wide variation in practice, and low yield from surveillance tests. Although each case should be managed individually according to a local multi-disciplinary team, there appears to be a requirement for a larger evidence base and subsequent guidance on optimal surveillance for these patients. Disclosure of interest None Declared. Reference Williams JG, et al. Management of the malignant colorectal polyp: ACPGBI position statement. Colorectal Dis.2013;15(Suppl 2):1–38


Fish fermentation differs from one region to another in the world. Different types of fish, different fermentation conditions, and different fermentation pro-cesses are used, thus resulting in different fermented fish products. The most investigated fermented fish products in regard to the fatty acid contents are Kejeik from Sudan, Fseekh from Egypt, Hatahata-zushi from Japan, and Tareeh and Mehiawah from the Middle East. The results of those studies were not consistent regarding the effect of the fermentation process on the contents of saturated fatty acids (SFAs), monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFAs), and polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs). Some of those studies reported an increase in the level of SFAs and a decrease in the PUFAs contents, while other studies reported the opposite. The fermentation process itself was attributed to different microorganisms such as lactic acid bacteria (LAB), halophilic bacteria, the bacterial flora of Micrococcus and Bacillus species, and a new bacillus strain named Bacillus mojavensis-ASK . Autolytic enzymes from the fish were also reported to be responsible for the fermentation process.


: Changes in the heart in regional songestion of the lymph were studied both on sectional (26 observations) and experimental (20 dogs) material. It was shown that blocking of the lymphatic ways brought about dilatation and deformation of lymphatic capillaries and vessels, growth of capillaries, formation of lymphatic lacunas, varicosis of the wall of lymphatic vessels, and -- in complete obstruction of the lymph flow -- the appearance of lympho-venous shunts. In the myocardium stroma there were observed oedema, lympho-histiocytic and plasmocellular infiltrations, and in muscle cells -- dystrophic and necrobiotic changes. The degree of manifestation of the disorders depended upon the duration of congestion of the lymph; their outcome is replacing and stromogenous cardiosclerosis.


Photoelectrochemical chromium ion oxidation from the trivalent to the hexavalent state has been demonstrated by using WO3 nanosponge photoanodes in sulfuric acid electrolytes under simulated sunlight. Faradaic efficiencies of almost 100% were achieved in electrolytes containing high Cr3+ (≥10 mM) and low SO42− (≤10 mM) concentrations at very low bias potential voltages below 1.1 VRHE. At the photoanode, the production of Cr6+ ions competed with the formation of S2O82− ions from HSO4−/SO42− ions. At the cathode, hydrogen evolution occurred with 100% faradaic efficiency. Additionally, Cr3+ recovery was also observed at the cathode upon switching the electrolytes of the anode and cathode cells after the Cr6+ production, demonstrating the complete cyclic photoelectrochemical reaction between Cr3+ and Cr6+ ions. Finally, we showed the applicability of chromic acid oxidation to quinone production by using the photoelectrochemically produced Cr6+ ions in the sulfuric acid solutions. p-Benzenediol was successfully converted into p-benzoquinone with high efficiency. Thus, we have demonstrated the production of high-value-added organic reagents via photoelectrochemically driven chromic acid oxidation with the recycling of Cr6+ from Cr3+ using solar energy.


Abstract Objective: To know whether the expression of Fas Ligand has correlation with incidene of metastasis of pelvic lymph node and lymph-vascular stromal invasion (LVSI). Methods: All patients diagnosed of cervical cancer stage IB or IIA who underwent radical hysterectomy in Dr. Cipto Mangunkusumo Central General Hospital from January 2008 until December 2009 were included in analytic cross sectional study. We tested expression of Fas Ligand in cervical cancer specimen by immunohystochemistry with monoclonal antibody. The expression of Fas Ligand was compared between the group of patients with a positive and negative pelvic lymph node and between LVSI positive and negative. The difference of expression in both group were statistically analized with Chi-square test and the correlation Spearman test. Result: Ninety one patients underwent radical hysterectomy for twoyears and 43 patients were included in these study. The expression of Fas Ligand in 7 patients (16.3%) were negative and the others were positive, with weak, moderate and strong expression were 4 (9.3%), 27 (62.8%), and 5 (11.6%) respectively. The expression of Fas Ligand was significantly higher in the group of patients with positive pelvic lymph node compared to the group of the patients with negative pelvic lymph node (p=0.007) but there was no significant difference between group of the patients with LVSI positive and negative. With Spearman test, we found that the expression of Fas Ligand had a strong correlation with pelvic lymph nodes metastasis (coeff. correlation=0.519 and p=0.00) and have no correlation with LVSI (coef. corellation=0.112 and p=0.474). Conclusion: These finding suggested that expression of Fas Ligand in cervical cancer patients has a strong correlation with the incidence of pelvic lymph node metastasis and none with LVSI. [Indones J Obstet Gynecol 2012; 36-4: 194-9] Keywords: cervical cancer, fas ligand, immunohystochemistry, LVSI, pelvic lymph node metastasis


Movement is controlled by neuronal central pattern generator (CPG) networks that are segmentally organised in organisms across the animal kingdom. The precise role of neuromodulators in the function, development and, particularly, the maintenance of these circuits is currently unresolved. This study investigates the effects of chronically altered signalling of tyramine and/or octopamine, two well established neuromodulators, in Drosophila larval locomotion. It shows that tyramine reduces crawling speed in larvae, whereas octopamine increases speed up to a physiological maximum. Changes in crawling speed are mediated by modulating stride duration, whilst stride length remains constant. These two neuromodulators also affect segmental muscle contraction and relaxation rates, indicative that the effects on crawling speed are likely to be at least partially due to modulatory effects on muscle physiology. Muscle recordings from muscle M6 in two adjacent segments, during fictive forward locomotion show that stride duration is influenced by a variable time delay between segmental CPG outputs. Frequency and duration of individual segmental outputs, by contrast, remains constant. The behavioural and electrophysiological data suggest, therefore, that the segmental locomotor CPG outputs remain constant in response to chronically altered neuromodulatory signalling. This study also identified a close spatial proximity of motor neuronal dendritic branches and putatively octopaminergic and/or tyraminergic synaptic terminal varicosities in the ventral nerve cord (VNC) neuropil. Moreover, manipulation of a putatively octopaminergic and/or tyraminergic subpopulation of interneurons, located in anterior brain regions, is sufficient to induce a similar, albeit smaller, larval crawling deficit. This indicates that the effects of locomotion may be induced in the central nervous system. This is confirmed in identified motor neurons as chronic changes in octopaminergic and/or tyraminergic signalling increase the frequency of bursting of action potential firing. In addition, the synaptic current amplitudes are substantially reduced in both ventral and dorsal muscle- innervating motor neurons, indicative of an effect to presynaptic excitation. In contrast, the function of neuromuscular junction remains largely unchanged. Taken together, this data shows that neuromodulation is sufficient to alter the output of a relatively small group of neurons, that comprise the locomotor CPG. The site of action of these modulators is, however, likely to be diverse.


The usage of Internet of Things (IoT) devices over cellular networks is seeing tremendous growth in recent years, and that growth in only expected to increase in the near future. While existing 4G and 5G cellular networks offer several desirable features for this type of applications, their design has historically focused on accommodating traditional mobile devices (e.g. smartphones). As IoT devices have very different characteristics and use cases, they create a range of problems to current networks which often struggle to accommodate them at scale. Although newer cellular network technologies, such as Narrowband-IoT (NB-IoT), were designed to focus on the IoT characteristics, they were extensively based on 4G and 5G networks to preserve interoperability, and decrease their deployment cost. As such, several inefficiencies of 4G/5G were also carried over to the newer technologies. This thesis focuses on identifying the core issues that hinder the large scale deployment of IoT over cellular networks, and proposes novel protocols to largely alleviate them. We find that the most significant challenges arise mainly in three distinct areas: connection establishment, network resource utilisation and device energy efficiency. Specifically, we make the following contributions. First, we focus on the connection establishment process and argue that the current procedures, when used by IoT devices, result in increased numbers of collisions, network outages and a signalling overhead that is disproportionate to the size of the data transmitted, and the connection duration of IoT devices. Therefore, we propose two mechanisms to alleviate these inefficiencies. Our first mechanism, named ASPIS, focuses on both the number of collisions and the signalling overhead simultaneously, and provides enhancements to increase the number of successful IoT connections, without disrupting existing background traffic. Our second mechanism focuses specifically on the collisions at the connection establishment process, and used a novel approach with Reinforcement Learning, to decrease their number and allow a larger number of IoT devices to access the network with fewer attempts. Second, we propose a new multicasting mechanism to reduce network resource utilisation in NB-IoT networks, by delivering common content (e.g. firmware updates) to multiple similar devices simultaneously. Notably, our mechanism is both more efficient during multicast data transmission, but also frees up resources that would otherwise be perpetually reserved for multicast signalling under the existing scheme. Finally, we focus on energy efficiency and propose novel protocols that are designed for the unique usage characteristics of NB-IoT devices, in order to reduce the


Born in Paris, Andre Gide, was however derived from two strains trans-planted, his mother's family was from Normandy and his paternal family from Langued-oc. The differences in the two families, through which itself wanted to explain his tenure ambiguity and his vocation as an artist, however, were not so great; Gide was a child of the upper middle class and born of two Protestant lineage. this legacy played a fundamental role in his psychology. Therefore, it seems particularly interesting to go back as far as pos-sible in his childhood and reveal the genesis of the environment in which he was born, to better understand the motivations and mechanisms of his literary creation.


The spectroscopy and structural dynamics of a deep eutectic mixture (KSCN/acetamide) with varying water content is investigated from 2D IR (with the C-N stretch vibration of the SCN- anions as the reporter) and THz spectroscopy. Molecular dynamics simulations correctly describe the nontrivial dependence of both spectroscopic signatures depending on water content. For the 2D IR spectra, the MD simulations relate the steep increase in the cross-relaxation rate at high water content to the parallel alignment of packed SCN- anions. Conversely, the nonlinear increase of the THz absorption with increasing water content is mainly attributed to the formation of larger water clusters. The results demonstrate that a combination of structure-sensitive spectroscopies and molecular dynamics simulations provides molecular-level insights into the emergence of heterogeneity of such mixtures by modulating their composition.


Supplemental Digital Content is available in the text. Primary aldosteronism (PA) is characterized by inappropriate aldosterone production. Chronic aldosterone excess has detrimental effects on cardiovascular system, including endothelial dysfunction and vascular inflammation. Circulating extracellular vesicles (EVs) are central players in the crosstalk between endothelium, vascular structures, and inflammatory cells. The aim of the study was to assess the potential role of EVs in aldosterone-related vascular damage by evaluating a comprehensive panel of 37 EV surface antigens. Serum EVs were isolated by immunocapture from 32 patients with PA, 29 patients with essential hypertension and from 22 normotensive controls. EVs were characterized by Western blotting, nanoparticle tracking analysis, transmission electron microscopy, and flow cytometry. Particle concentration was higher and diameter lower in patients with PA compared with controls and the number of particles decreased after unilateral adrenalectomy. Nineteen EV surface antigens were differentially expressed in patients with PA compared with patients with essential hypertension or normotensive controls, including markers of activated platelets, endothelial and immune/inflammatory cells. The specific EV surface signature discriminated patients with PA from controls, whereas after specific PA treatment the profile became similar to essential hypertension. Stimulation of human endothelial cells with PA-derived EVs resulted in the overexpression of 5 selected genes (AKT1-CALR-CSNK2A1-FN1-PIK3R1), previously identified by bioinformatic analysis as targets of differentially expressed EV antigens. Overexpression of CALR and FN1 was confirmed also at protein level. Our data suggest that EVs represent biomarkers of vascular inflammation and endothelial dysfunction in patients with PA and also potential biovectors contributing to accelerated organ damage by multiple signaling processes.


This article pursues 2 objectives: First, we show how a national park project in the Swiss Alps, Parc Adula, was addressed in contemporary neoliberal discourses on conservation and how these discourses influenced the rejection of the park. Second, we use triangulation to bridge the gap between 2 data analysis approaches, combining qualitative methods with the quantitative analytical tools of corpus linguistics. This allows an in-depth analysis of discourses surrounding and influencing national park planning. Furthermore, we outline challenges faced by conservation incentives based on discursive gaps and different uses of language in the arguments of government officials and residents affected by park negotiations. In the case of Parc Adula, these discursive gaps and language differences created distrust and made park planning difficult. This further reinforced a discursive disruption within and between neoliberal understandings of conservation and local discourses, eventually leading to the rejection of the national park project. This paper presents a novel analytical perspective on current conservation issues in Alpine areas and opens up ground for further research on communication practices, their local embeddedness, and their impacts on protected area establishment.


For decades, biomedical and pharmaceutical researchers have worked to devise new and more effective therapeutics to treat diseases affecting the central nervous system. The blood–brain barrier effectively protects the brain, but poses a profound challenge to drug delivery across this barrier. Many traditional drugs cannot cross the blood–brain barrier in appreciable concentrations, with less than 1% of most drugs reaching the central nervous system, leading to a lack of available treatments for many central nervous system diseases, such as stroke, neurodegenerative disorders, and brain tumors. Due to the ineffective nature of most treatments for central nervous system disorders, the development of novel drug delivery systems is an area of great interest and active research. Multiple novel strategies show promise for effective central nervous system drug delivery, giving potential for more effective and safer therapies in the future. This review outlines several novel drug delivery techniques, including intranasal drug delivery, nanoparticles, drug modifications, convection‐enhanced infusion, and ultrasound‐mediated drug delivery. It also assesses possible clinical applications, limitations, and examples of current clinical and preclinical research for each of these drug delivery approaches. Improved central nervous system drug delivery is extremely important and will allow for improved treatment of central nervous system diseases, causing improved therapies for those who are affected by central nervous system diseases.


A number of methods for assessing wind-induced vibration of structures are available ranging from simplified procedure using quasi-static methods to the detailed procedure using statistical methods. The appropriate procedure should be selected in accordance with wind sensitivity of structures. However, it still remains unresolved concerning how to provide a universal criterion with physically meaningful and convenient for the concept of the wind sensitivity until now. In order to solve the previous problem of how to distinguish between those structures for which the wind effects can be treated by simplified procedure, and those for which the wind effects must be treated by detailed procedure, a concept of sensitivity for wind-resistance is presented in this paper. The essential idea of this theory is to provide a general expression of wind sensitivity of structures by synthesizing three factors between wind load and the structure, including the size-effect factor, frequency-effect factor and mode-effect factor, which are based on the analytical derivation and take duly into account the influence of all the significant parameters for the response. Based on that, two case studies of cantilevered roof and single-layer reticulated shell structures under wind actions are demonstrated as illustrative examples.


Abstract. The relativistic electron response in the outer radiation belt during magnetic storms has been studied in relation to solar wind and geomagnetic parameters during the first six months of 1995, a period in which there were a number of recurrent fast solar wind streams. The relativistic electron population was measured by instruments on board the two microsatellites, STRV-1a and STRV-1b, which traversed the radiation belt four times per day from L ~ 1 out to L ~ 7 on highly elliptical, near-equatorial orbits. Variations in the E > 750 keV and E > 1 MeV electrons during the main phase and recovery phase of 17 magnetic storms have been compared with the solar wind speed, interplanetary magnetic field z-component, Bz , the solar wind dynamic pressure and Dst *. Three different types of electron responses are identified, with outcomes that strongly depend on the solar wind speed and interplanetary magnetic field orientation during the magnetic storm recovery phase. Observations also confirm that the L-shell, at which the peak enhancement in the electron count rate occurs has a dependence on Dst *. Key words. Magnetospheric physics (energetic particles, trapped; storms and substorms) – Space plasma physics (charged particle motion and accelerations)


The class action device is essential to a well-functioning system of justice because of its ability to balance the values of access to the courts and efficient adjudication of disputes. This was the vision of the drafters of Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 23. This Court can and should interpret Rule 23's text in a way that vindicates these overarching goals.Particularly in an adjudicative class action, the certification motion needs to be understood as a preliminary step that is complimented by motions to dismiss and summary judgment motions. The aim of class certification is not to screen out suits that fail even to allege a claim for relief (that is for motions to dismiss), nor to issue dispositive rulings on the merits (that is the purpose of summary judgment or trial). Instead, it is to determine whether the purposes of the class action rule would be served by proceeding with a collective litigation.The district court case did not abuse its discretion in concluding that the proposed class met the requirements of Rule 23(a). In fact, the court's attention to the detailed pleadings and the extensive evidence gathered by the parties in assessing whether the named plaintiffs' claims shared common questions of law or fact with claims of absent class members showed a level of rigorous evaluation that went beyond the 23(a) threshold. Classification of the class under 23(b)(2) was also appropriate under the Federal Rules. Petitioner's contrary arguments ignore the text, purpose and history of Rule 23.


Ability to automatically align phonetic transcriptions with their associated acoustic signal is crucial to the development of computer-assisted speech training system where, it is frequently needed to locate phone boundaries from a known transcription in the signal. In this paper, an attempt to locate phone boundaries in the case where only the numbers of boundaries are known is described. Phone boundaries are hypothesized based solely on acoustic discontinuities without knowing exact transcriptions. This allows speech segmentation to be performed without large number of in-domain speech data for training. The boundary identification is done in two stages. Candidates for possible boundaries are selected in the first stage via local maxima of spectral changes. Dynamic programming is used to search for the best locations of phone boundaries from the candidate list. Allowing at most 20 ms. deviation from the actual boundaries, approximately 75% accuracy is achieved on a Thai continuous speech corpus.


The epidermal growth factor (EGF)-induced removal of the EGF receptor (EGFR) from the plasma membrane and its endocytic downregulation is a major negative feedback mechanism controlling the intensity and duration of receptor signaling. Different mechanisms of ligand-accelerated endocytosis, rapid ubiquitination of activated EGFR, and sorting of the receptor into multivesicular bodies for lysosomal degradation, are the underlying principles of EGFR downregulation. The physical degradation of the EGFR is thought to protect cells from excessive stimulation. In addition, sequestering the receptor into intralumenal vesicles of endosomes, thereby uncoupling the intracellular tyrosine kinase domain from its downstream effectors, is proposed to contribute to signal attenuation. On the other hand, endosomal EGFR can be active and is able to compensate for signaling initiated at the plasma membrane. How the pool of active endosomal receptor is regulated, and to what extend it contributes to the biological response, has not been investigated conclusively to date. In this study, we aimed to dissect the precise contribution of endocytic sorting events to the EGF response. Consequences of perturbations in EGFR sorting, particularly upon interfering with clathrin- and dynamin-dependent endocytosis, after knockdown of CBL ubiquitin ligases, and of depletion of endosomal sorting complex required for transport (ESCRT) subunits, were investigated in detail. The activation status of signaling components was determined, and a reporter assay was set up to measure EGF-dependent transcriptional activation in living cells. The induction of endogenous target genes downstream of the EGFR-MAPK (mitogen-activated protein kinase) cascade was quantified by real-time RT-PCR, microarray analysis, and by utilizing the recently developed NanoString technology.


This study aims to determine the influence of personality factors which inclusive of price consciousness, fashion consciousness and value consciousness towards purchase intention of counterfeit products among college students. A total of 178 respondents have been selected through two levels of sampling, which are simple random sampling and systematic random sampling. Pearson correlation analysis showed that there were significant relationships between price consciousness towards purchase intention of counterfeits products (r=0.394, p=0.000) and fashion consciousness towards purchase intention of counterfeits products (r=0.475, p= 0.000). The result of multiple Regression showed that fashion consciousness is the main influence on purchase intention (β= 0.386, p<0.001). Based on the result, it gives the implication of knowledge to the consumers to further understand consumers" behaviour. Besides that, it also enables the producer of the original products to propose suitable designs and pricing structure to attract price consciousness and fashion consciousness consumers in purchasing original goods.


Located approximately 120 km offshore, Ormen Lange, with an estimated 400 billion m3 of natural gas, is the second-largest gas discovery on the Norwegian shelf. The water depth is up to 850 meters, making Ormen Lange the first deepwater project on the Norwegian Continental Shelf. The development of Ormen Lange is under shared operatorship between Norsk Hydro and Shell. Ormen Lange's untreated well stream will be transported to shore in two 120 km long, 30-inch diameter pipelines to a processing plant at Nyhamna, Norway. From there, gas will be exported via a 42" 1200 km sub sea pipeline (Langeled) to Easington at the east coast of the UK. The pipelines have to pass over the Storegga slide edge which rises 200–300 meters toward the continental shelf in very steep slopes, which are also encountered in the nearshore Bjornsundet area. The uneven and steep seabed conditions require the use of approximately 2.8 million tons of rock to support and stabilize the pipelines. The sea bottom conditions on the Norwegian continental shelf are characterized by many outcrops as well as very soft clay deposits. The immediate settlement of the rock supports during installation form a significant amount of the total required rock volume. In this paper a procedure is presented on how to assess these immediate settlements recognizing four contributing components all being discussed separately. The calculation results are compared to a back-analysis, performed during the execution of the Ormen Lange rockworks, proving the suitability of the calculation method.Copyright © 2007 by ASME


The Feichtinger conjecture for exponentials asserts that the following property holds for every fat Cantor subset B of the circle group: the set of restrictions to B of exponential functions can be covered by Riesz sets. In their seminal paper on the Kadison-Singer problem, Bourgain and Tzafriri proved that this property holds if the characteristic function of B has Sobolev regularity. Their probability based proof does not explicitly construct a Riesz cover. They also showed how to construct fat Cantor sets whose characteristic functions have Sobolev regularity. However, these fat Cantor sets are not convenient for numerical calculations. This paper addresses these concerns. It constructs a family of fat Cantor sets, parameterized by their Haar measure, whose characteristic functions have Sobolev regularity and their Fourier transforms are Riesz products. It uses these products to perform computational experiments that suggest that if the measure of one of these fat Cantor sets B is sufficiently close to one, then it may be possible to explicitly construct a Riesz cover for B using the Thue-Morse minimal sequence that arises in symbolic topological dynamics.


Aluk Todolo belief is the ancestral belief of Toraja and Mamasa people before the arrival of Islam and Christianity in Indonesia. This belief is ancestral teaching that regulates the philosophy of worship procedures through rituals, prohibitions and ethical behavior. The presence of Zending missionaries in the early 20th century with an evangelistic mission to adherents of the local Aluk Todolo belief created conflict in the Toraja and Mamasa people. The purpose of this study is to provide a solution to the evangelistic approach to Zending missionaries in their evangelistic mission to the Aluk Todolo believers in the Toraja and Mamasa communities at that time. Arguments for analysis using qualitative procedures and conflict solutions using a cultural approach, conflict solutions in evangelism Zending missionaries can use adaptation and integration methods through inculturation, indigenization, glocalization, eschatology, and media religious symbol approaches so that the local cultural values of their ancestors are respected. The findings of this article state that the mission of evangelizing the Zending missionaries caused social conflict in Toraja people because of the intervention and hegemonic attitude of the Zending missionaries in the practice of evangelism to Toraja people, adherents of the Aluk Todolo belief. The solution found in this article is an approach to Toraja culture using religious symbols that can be carried out by Zending missionaries in carrying out evangelistic practices to Toraja people.


The detection of borderline oxacillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (BORSA) represents a challenge to both, veterinary and human laboratories. Between 2015 and 2017, 19 equine S. aureus with elevated minimal inhibitory concentrations for oxacillin were detected in routine diagnostics. The aim of this study was to characterize these isolates to identify factors possibly associated with the BORSA phenotype. All S. aureus were subjected to antimicrobial susceptibility testing and whole genome sequencing (WGS). A quantifiable β-lactamase activity assay was performed for a representative subset of 13 isolates. The WGS data analysis of the 19 BORSA isolates identified two different genomic lineages, sequence type (ST) 1 and ST1660. The core genome multilocus sequence typing (cgMLST) revealed a close relatedness of all isolates belonging to either ST1 or ST1660. The WGS analysis identified the resistance genes aadD, dfrG, tet(L), and/or blaZ and aacA-aphD. Phenotypic resistance to penicillins, aminoglycosides, tetracyclines, fluoroquinolones and sulfamethoxazole/trimethoprim was observed in the respective isolates. For the penicillin-binding proteins 1–4, amino acid substitutions were predicted using WGS data. Since neither transglycosylase nor transpeptidase domains were affected, these alterations might not explain the BORSA phenotype. Moreover, β-lactamase activity was found to be associated with an inducible blaZ gene. Lineage-specific differences regarding the expression profiles were noted.


Isozymes and quantitative traits were used to explore the organization of genetic variation within and among seven natural populations of the wild soybean, Glycine soja, from Mishima, Japan. Seed enzymes were separated by horizontal starch and polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. One-hundred and eleven individuals were scored for their genotypes at 48 gene loci resolved from 20 enzyme systems and one seed protein. Fifteen of the isozyme gene loci were polymorphic. The values for average polymorphism per locus (using the 99% criterion), average number of alleles per locus, and the proportion of heterozygotes observed were 0.140, 1.14 and 0.002, respectively. The average value for G$\sb{\rm ST}$ was 0.627. The average value for Nei's genetic distance was 0.063. Estimates of phenotypic and life-history variation in populations of wild soybean were obtained by growing seed collected in the field in two "common garden" experiments (one in 1986 and one in 1987). Of the 32 traits examined, 21 were significantly different among populations in 1986 and 18 were significantly different in 1987. In both years, approximately 70% of the total phenotypic variation resided within populations. Canonical discriminant analysis demonstrated that the populations have diverged most significantly for those traits related to flower size, leaf shape, and yield. The correlation between Nei's genetic distance (D) and Mahalanobis' phenotypic distance (D$\sp2$) was not significant in 1986 (r$\sb{\rm s}$ = 0.61, p = 0.14), but was significant in 1987 (r$\sb{\rm s}$ = 0.85, p = 0.02). This inconsistency was attributed to small sample sizes, experimental error, and phenotypic plasticity. Variation in six reproductive yield components was examined among the seven populations of G. soja. The three early yield components (number of flower buds, flowers and immature pods per inflorescence) were significantly different among the seven populations; the three late yield components (number of mature pods and seeds per inflorescence and mature seed weight per inflorescence) were not significantly different among the populations. The rates of abortion for wild soybean ranged from 61.4% for immature pods to 3.5% for flower buds. The patterns of abortion were likely associated with resource availability. Aspects of soybean germplasm conservation and directions for future research were discussed.


The aim of the study is to improve talent search, training methodology and injury prevention in women's soccer. It analyses to what extent there are physical differences between top female soccer players (S) and a control group of sporty females (ff = fitness females). Furthermore, it examines whether differences in injuries can be identified between individual game positions (defense, midfield, forward, goalkeeper) and/or somatotypes. For this purpose, the anthropometric measurements of 233 top female soccer players (Ø 22 years old) and 40 fitness females (Ø 25 years old) who had been doing regular strength/endurance training twice a week for 2 years were statistically recorded, evaluated and used for determination of constitutional types according to Heath and Carter, Conrad and Knussmann and the AKS index according to Tittel and Wutscherk. In addition, body fat percentage according to Siri and the body mass index (BMI) were calculated. For the sample of soccer players, the types of injuries (categories: cruciate ligament, other knee, ankle joint/foot, shoulder/torso/hip, other injuries) and injury frequency according to the game positions, somatotypes and various body mass indices were compared statistically. There were significant differences between the anthropometric measurements of pelvic circumference (S: 81.2 ± 4.3cm; ff: 95.7 ± 7.7 cm; p ≤ 0.001) and maximum femoral circumference (S: 54.1 ± 3.1 cm; ff: 51.1 ± 4.4 cm; p ≤ 0.001). In terms of kinanthropometry, there were significant differences in the somatochart according to Heath and Carter [9] (S: 4/5/2; ff: 6/5/3), in the checkerboard pattern according to Conrad [3] (S: leptomorphic/hyperplastic; ff: metromorphic/hyperplastic) and in body fat percentage (S: 18.1  ±  2.1%; F:  25.0 ± 4.3%; p ≤ 0.001). The goalkeepers differed significantly from the field players with higher heights, lengths, sizes, higher body weight and a higher proportion of other injuries (e.g. hand, arm and head injuries). Sportanthropological and sports traumatological aspects of women's soccer Y. Voss, C. Raschka Papers on Anthropology XXVIII/2, 2020, pp. 105–120 https://doi.org/10.12697/poa.2020.29.1.08 106 | Y. Voss, C. Raschka In  constitutional terms, they differed only slightly from the field players. These appeared homogeneous in terms of body structure and injury mechanisms.


The radiative kernel technique is employed to quantify twenty-first century changes to the tropospheric energy budget in the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Fourth Assessment Report (AR4) models in order to better understand changes in global-mean precipitation. The strongest feedbacks on the tropospheric radiative cooling are found to be associated with increases in temperature and water vapor, with the water vapor feedback offsetting a significant portion (∼39%) of the increase in radiative cooling due to higher temperatures. Cloud and surface sensible heat flux feedbacks, though not as large in magnitude as the temperature and water vapor feedbacks, are important contributors to the intermodel difference in the global precipitation response to warming, or hydrological sensitivity. The direct effects of radiative forcing agents on the tropospheric energy budget are also important. Rising CO2 levels reduce tropospheric radiative cooling and hence limit the increase in global rainfall. Additionally, in some of the models, further reductions in radiative cooling occur due to increases in absorbing aerosol, suggesting that differences in aerosol forcing can explain part of the difference in hydrological sensitivity between models.


The land question loomed large in late Victorian and Edwardian politics, playing a major part in Conservative, Liberal and Labour policymaking: in the context of concern about the faltering agricultural economy and the effects of large-scale rural-urban migration, land reforms were hotly debated in and out of parliament as never before. This book offers the first full-length study of the relationship between Englishness and the politics of land. It explores the ideas and cultural attitudes that informed political positions on the land question, from paternalist 'pure squire Conservatism' to patriotic radical visions of pre-enclosure England: the author underlines how the land question excited political passion and controversy because it involved contested issues of national identity, national character and race.By examining how land politics functioned as a site for patriotic debate, the book offers fresh insights into the ideological significance of contemporary nationalistic discourse, which in the British context has more usually been associated with war and empire than apparently 'domestic' issues. In doing so, it argues for the importance of rural - but not necessarily reactionary - constructions of Englishness in late nineteenth and early twentieth-century England. Dr. Paul Readman is Lecturer in Modern History at King's College London.


The filamentation instability (FI) of counter-propagating beams of electrons is modelled with a particle-in-cell simulation in one spatial dimension and with a high statistical plasma representation. The simulation direction is orthogonal to the beam velocity vector. Both electron beams have initially equal densities, temperatures and moduli of their non-relativistic mean velocities. The FI is electromagnetic in this case. A previous study of a small filament demonstrated that the magnetic pressure gradient force (MPGF) results in a nonlinearly driven electrostatic field. The probably small contribution of the thermal pressure gradient to the force balance implied that the electrostatic field performed undamped oscillations around a background electric field. Here, we consider larger filaments, which reach a stronger electrostatic potential when they saturate. The electron heating is enhanced and electrostatic electron phase space holes form. The competition of several smaller filaments, which grow simultaneously with the large filament, also perturbs the balance between the electrostatic and magnetic fields. The oscillations are damped but the final electric field amplitude is still determined by the MPGF.


In this work, we discuss the novel concept of using metallo-dielectric electromagnetic bandgap (EBG) structures to address critical electromagnetic noise problems in high-speed circuits, packages and boards. Various design techniques for these structures, when embedded in a parallel metallic-plate structure, are presented and their efficacy and preciseness are compared. An accurate physics-based model for the unit cell of these surfaces is introduced and its accuracy is compared with simulations and measurements. It is shown that the behavior of the EBG structures in PCBs is like a low-impedance surface rather than a high-impedance surface. In particular, novel concepts presented in recent works are being used to show the validity of this observation and the effectiveness of the physics-based model to model the new concepts and applications. Finally, a new technique for the reduction of electromagnetic interference in packages using EBG structures is introduced and numerical simulations are used to show the mechanism of such interference reduction.


The Temple of Zeus Basileus at Lebadea rests almost unknown. Its physical remains and date (not systematically explored so far) pose a riddle, as regards not only the circumstances which entailed its presumed incompletion but also the historic context in which the commencement of construction can be embedded. The dimensions of the krepis alone render this edifice highly interesting in the history of temple-building. The in situ preserved architectural elements suggest that here was begun the erection of what was at the time the largest peristasis in Mainland Greece. The temple stylobate measures 200 feet/podes in length, with a lower column diameter equal to just over two metres, and the longest interaxial spacings and corresponding architraves of its time. By increasing the length and height of the structure, the architects achieved its qualification as colossal. This qualification is revealed from the uniquefor-the-Classical-period length of 14 columns along the peristasis, with visible euthynteria and hypeuthynteria courses. As shown in this paper, this colossal structure abided by the rules of Doric design. Ascribing the unfinished state of the temple probably to financial shortcoming and/or military adventures, Pausanias did comment on its ambitious, gigantic size. The level of construction eventually reached is another focal point of our investigation. The study of the Temple of Zeus Basileus brings out the multifaceted notion of the term "monumentality", tightly related to visual impact. One of the aims of its commissioners would have been to establish a landmark on the summit where Zeus was probably co-worshipped with Trophonios, the Boeotian hero-prophet. Since the temple in question, as we propose, most probably commemorated both a grandiose military victory in the 3rd century BC and the contemporary political situation, its imposing volume, along with the aesthetic effect of bichromy, were meant to perpetuate the overtone of these events within the ambience of the sacred Lebadea. Another facet of monumentality involves the respective building programme, and it derives from epigraphical sources, namely a contract specifying construction details, with particular instructions already at the orthostate level, denoting that accuracy in execution safeguarded the high quality of ancient Greek architecture.


Spray deposition processed 6061Al/SiC/Gr hybrid metal matrix composites (MMCs), in their as-extruded condition, have been demonstrated to exhibit both relatively high damping and high elastic modulus, but a reduced strength in comparison with that of unreinforced 6061-T6A1 alloy. In order to explore the possibility of obtaining optimal mechanical properties for potential structural applications, the present work reports on the effect of T6 heat treatment on the damping capacity, elastic modulus, yield, and ultimate strengths of the hybrid MMCs. Both damping capacity and dynamic modulus were measured using a dynamic mechanical thermal analyzer at frequencies of 0.1, 1, and 10 Hz over a 30 to 250°C temperature range. Tension tests were conducted at room temperature on an Instron testing machine. Experimental results revealed that the 6061 Al/SiC/Gr MMCs, following T6 heat treatment, exhibit an optimum combination of room temperature mechanical properties along with an improved damping capacity in the intermediate testing temperature range. The operative damping mechanisms are discussed on the basis of microstructural analyses.


During the development of high performance mechatronic systems it is necessary
to ensure high quality products and short time-to-market. Because the Embedded
Software (ESW) is a fundamental part of such systems, it is necessary to provide a
well suited testing environment. A challenge in testing ESW is that its hardware
environment, called the plant, is needed to properly evaluate its behavior. It is, in
many cases, not feasible to test the ESW on the hardware because there are no, or
not enough, hardware resources available. To address this problem, the ESW can
be tested using a software simulation of the plant behavior. This leads to several
advantages. For example, the plant hardware is not needed for testing the ESW
and it is possible to test faster, more frequent and more e�ective.
Since �ve years, such a simulation environment has been in use at Oc�e to test
the part of the ESW that controls the paper transport inside the printer. This is
done by executing the ESW together with a plant model, emulating the hardware
included in the paper transport, on a software engineer's workstation. Due to the
great success of this simulation environment, the goal of this project is to extend
the simulation environment to be able to test the ESW of the whole printer, using
simulated plant models.
In order to achieve this goal, the architecture of the simulation environment
has been reviewed and newly designed to meet the new requirements. The new
version of the simulation environment is well prepared for the future use of multiple
di�erent plant models, which is important to reach the goal of testing all printer
functions in the simulation environment.
To support the creation of plant models, a plant modeling framework has been
developed. This plant modeling framework enables short modeling times and re-
quires only little domain knowledge of the plant concepts and the modeling of
physical systems. These are important properties of the framework, since the main
users of the framework are software engineers.
The evolution of the testing environment has been an important step towards
developing high performance printers without the need of hardware prototypes.
This leads to lower cost, since there are no costs for hardware. It also leads to a
short time-to-market, since no build and adaption time is needed when the hard-
ware evolves, and the development of ESW can start earlier in the development
process.


Rupture of the interventricular septum is a classical complication of acute myocardial infarction. The diagnosis should be evoked when the patient's hemodynamic condition deteriorates in the presence of a new systolic murmur. A transthoracic or, preferably, transesophageal echocardiography confirms the diagnosis. Early surgical correction constitutes the best treatment. Despite recent progresses, mortality remains high but long term results are encouraging. The risk factors conditioning prognosis, the surgical options and the question of simultaneous coronary bypass will be discussed after a thorough review of the literature.


Introduction: After the regulation of Physical Therapy (PT) in 1969, there were only six undergraduate courses in Brazil. In the 90s, higher education underwent major expansion in all professions and the same occurred to PT, with consequent increase in the number of professionals in the labor market and privatization of education. Objective: To describe the current situation of PT courses in Brazil offered by Higher Education Institutions (IES). Methods: The data for the region, academic organization, situation, period, school system, administrative category, vacancies, course hours and duration were obtained from the website of the Ministry of Education (MEC) and refer to the year of 2013. The descriptive analyzes of central tendency, dispersion and percentage were performed in Stata 9®. Results: From the total of 550 IES registered in the MEC, 281 (51%) were in the Southeast. Regarding the academic organization, 341 (62%) corresponded to universities and 483 (87.9%) of the IES were private. Of the courses, 521 (94.7%) are active, the predominant school system was the semiannual (91.5%) and 438 were part-time. The average vacancies authorized by the IES were 129 ± 102, with at least 44,900 vacancies available in the country. Of the courses, 75% had 4,000 hours of duration with the minimum of seven semesters and a maximum of fourteen. Conclusion: The data show a higher offer of PT courses in the private sector compared to the public. There was a progressive concentration of courses and vacancies in the Southeast, especially in Sao Paulo.


A generalized induction motor model in the arbitrary reference frame that includes saturation of the magnetizing branch is presented. The model incorporates the spatially dependent or cross saturation effect. Steady-state, dynamic, and transient analyses and tests are presented to show the importance saturation has to induction motor dynamics. Comparisons with other simulation approaches show that the proposed model has clear advantages in computational accuracy and efficiency.


A novel robust control scheme based on a sliding mode approach is proposed for a general class of non-linear uncertain systems with saturation-bounded inputs. By introducing a new sliding variable as a complement to the conventional sliding variable, a useful error measure is defined from which a new sliding mode controller is developed. This controller can give a closed-loop system with better error responses during the reaching phase and a smaller ultimate error bound when in the boundary layer. Without raising the stability issue, an antiwindup compensator is incorporated into the proposed control scheme to help counteract the input-saturated effect. The non-linear benchmark problem, RTAC (Rotational/Translational Actuator)s was used as a simulated example to demonstrate the effectiveness of the design.


Glomerular endothelial cell dysfunction (GED) with defective release of vasodilator has been delineated in nephrosis (NS) in vivo and in vitro studies. In NS with focal segmental glomerulosclerosis (FSGS), an immunocirculatory balance may be impaired due to defective anti-inflammatory cytokine. This study aimed at simultaneous determination of both proinflammatory cytokine (tumor necrosis factor alpha) and an anti-inflammatory cytokine (interleukin-10) in NS with FSGS. An endothelial cell cytotoxicity (ECC) was also examined using nephrotic serum. It was shown that (1) the initial endothelial cell cytotoxicity was significantly different from the control, (2) ratio between tumor necrosis alpha and interleukin-10 was significantly elevated, and (3) intrarenal hemodynamics was changed significantly.


In a scenario in which the State is unable to serve the entire population, private health organizations have emerged, offering health plans and private assistance, called supplementary health systems. Given this context, the theme of this work is the study of the effect of psychological reactance on the satisfaction of users of supplementary health plans. The empirical phase was conducted through a survey with 145 university students. Data analysis, conducted through the macro PROCESS, indicated that the valuation of supplementary health care providers is closely related to the level of individual reactance of the user and the way the plan is contracted. Furthermore, freedom of choice of the operator minimizes negative evaluations from individuals with high psychological reactance.


Chronic pancreatitis is a syndrome involving inflammation, fibrosis, and loss of acinar and islet cells which can manifest in unrelenting abdominal pain, malnutrition, and exocrine and endocrine insufficiency. The Toxic-Metabolic, Idiopathic, Genetic, Autoimmune, Recurrent and Severe Acute Pancreatitis, Obstructive (TIGAR-O) classification system categorizes known causes and factors that contribute to chronic pancreatitis. Although determining disease etiology provides a framework for focused and specific treatments, chronic pancreatitis remains a challenging condition to treat owing to the often refractory, centrally mediated pain and the lack of consensus regarding when endoscopic therapy and surgery are indicated. Further complications incurred include both exocrine and endocrine pancreatic insufficiency, pseudocyst formation, bile duct obstruction, and pancreatic cancer. Medical treatment of chronic pancreatitis involves controlling pain, addressing malnutrition via the treatment of vitamin and mineral deficiencies and recognizing the risk of osteoporosis, and administering appropriate pancreatic enzyme supplementation and diabetic agents. Cornerstones in treatment include the recognition of pancreatic exocrine insufficiency and administration of pancreatic enzyme replacement therapy, support to cease smoking and alcohol consumption, consultation with a dietitian, and a systematic follow-up to assure optimal treatment effect.


The Radioactive Scrap and Waste Facility Liner-by-Liner Characterization Project was initiated to support waste management planning and disposition activities at the Materials and Fuels Complex located at the Idaho National Laboratory. The project scope consisted of a detailed examination of available historical records to consolidate information and eliminate discrepancies between sources. This information was captured in a new comprehensive searchable online database dubbed Sealion (Searchable Liner Online). For each storage liner and associated waste container, Sealion tracks the physical configuration, radiological data (e.g., source term, transuranic content, fissile content, and direct gamma radiation reading), Resource Conservation and Recovery Act characterization data, contents descriptions, and a variety of other waste management data. Historical hard-copy records were scanned and are stored in the database for easy access. In addition to storing the consolidated data in a library for easy retrieval or linking, Sealion serves as a tool in the development of batching plans for retrieving, transporting, processing, and, ultimately, dispositioning the waste. An integral search function allows the user to query for a variety of parameters in order to plan custom batches and account for facility or regulatory limitations (e.g., U.S. Department of Transportation limits, hazard category determinations, and fissile gram equivalentmore » limitations). Liners can be combined or batched together and the combined results displayed in real-time graphs and tables showing the cumulative characteristics. The basic database architecture has proven to be adaptable to a variety of other similar applications. Sealion is capable of tracking segmented inventories (i.e., the liners can be replaced with storage drums, racks in a warehouse, or grids overlaid on a landfill). Additionally, the batching functions allow for the ability to combine inventory sub-locations into real-time graphs that summarize the characteristics of the contents for ease in comparison of characteristics to established thresholds or decision-making modeling needed to support waste-management operations.« less


Built-In Self-Test (BIST) techniques constitute an effective and practical approach for VLSI circuits testing. BIST schemes are typically classified into two categories: off-line and on-line. Input vector monitoring concurrent BIST schemes are a class of on-line techniques that circumvent the problems appearing separately in on-line and in off-line BIST. The utilization of input vector monitoring concurrent BIST techniques provides the capability to perform testing at different stages, manufacturing, periodic off-line and concurrent online. The input vector monitoring concurrent BIST schemes proposed so far have targeted either exhaustive or pseudorandom testing separately. In this paper a novel input vector monitoring concurrent BIST scheme based on a pre-computed test set is presented. The proposed scheme can perform both concurrent on-line and off-line testing; therefore it can be equally well utilized for manufacturing and concurrent on-line testing in the field. The applicability of the scheme is validated with respect to the hardware overhead and the time required for completion of the test in benchmark circuits. To the best of our knowledge, the proposed scheme is the first to be presented in the open literature based on a pre-computed test set that can perform both concurrent on line and off-line testing.


Background/Aims Small intestinal bacterial overgrowth (SIBO) diagnosis is usually based on non-invasive breath tests (BTs), namely lactulose BT (LBT) and glucose BT (GBT). However, divergent opinions and problems of parameter standardization are still controversial aspects. We aim to perform a meta-analysis to analyze diagnostic performance of LBT/GBT for SIBO diagnosis. Methods We searched in main literature databases articles in which SIBO diagnosis was achieved by LBT/GBT in comparison to jejunal aspirate culture (reference gold standard). We calculated pooled sensitivity, specificity, positive, and negative likelihood ratios and diagnostic odd ratios. Summary receiver operating characteristic curves were drawn and pooled areas under the curve were calculated. Results We selected 14 studies. Pooled sensitivity of LBT and GBT was 42.0% and 54.5%, respectively. Pooled specificity of LBT and GBT was 70.6% and 83.2%, respectively. When delta over baseline cut-off > 20 H2 parts per million (ppm) was used, GBT sensitivity and specificity were 47.3% and 80.9%; when the cutoff was other than and lower than > 20 ppm, sensitivity and specificity were 61.7% and 86.0%. In patients with abdominal surgery history, pooled GBT sensitivity and specificity gave the impression of having a better performance (81.7% and 78.8%) compared to subjects without any SIBO predisposing condition (sensitivity = 40.6% and specificity = 84.0%). Conclusions GBT seems to work better than LBT. A cut-off of delta H2 expired other than and lower than > 20 ppm shows a slightly better result than > 20 ppm. BTs demonstrate the best effectiveness in patients with surgical reconstructions of gastrointestinal tract.


The present studies were undertaken to resolve conflicting reports on the inducibility of liver microsomal benzo[a]pyrene hydroxylase activity in rats treated with pregnenolone-16 alpha-carbonitrile (PCN). Several studies have shown that treatment of Long Evans rats with PCN causes a 5- to 10-fold induction of benzo[a]pyrene hydroxylase activity, whereas little or no induction occurs in Sprague-Dawley or Wistar rats. Studies with one-month-old-male Long Evans, Sprague-Dawley, Wistar and Holtzman rats failed to reveal an anticipated strain difference in the inducibility of benzo[a]pyrene hydroxylase activity by PCN. Studies with immature and mature male and female Long Evans rats revealed that the inducibility of benzo[a]pyrene hydroxylase activity decreases with age in male but not female rats, i.e., PCN induced benzo[a]Pyrene hydroxylase activity 5- to 8-fold in immature male, immature female and mature female rats but only 2-fold in mature male rats. The age-dependent decrease in inducibility by PCN in male rats coincided with an age-dependent increase (2.4-fold) in the basal activity of benzo[a]pyrene hydroxylase. These sex-dependent developmental changes can be explained by an age-dependent increase in the constitutive levels of the major PCN-inducible form of cytochrome P-450 (cytochrome P-450-PCN) in male but not female rats. Electrophoresis of liver microsomes and studies on the binding of metyrapone to dithionite-reduced cytochrome P-450 provided additional evidence for age- and sex-dependent differences in the levels of microsomal cytochrome P-450-PCN. In addition to reconciling the conflicting literature reports, the age- and sex-dependent differences in cytochrome P-450-PCN levels account, at least in part, for age and sex differences in certain liver microsomal enzyme activities, including benzo[a]pyrene hydroxylase activity.


The large amount of cotton that continues to be used for textiles means that reactive dyes are
still quantitatively the most significant group of dyes. Dying cellulose textiles with reactive
dyes is always accompanied by hydrolysis of the dye. The degree to which reactive dyes are
fixed to the cellulose fibre is between 70 and 95 %. The dye hydrolysates negatively affect the
wet fastness of the dyed textile. For this reason they have to be removed from the textile in an
extensive washing process, which means a high consumption of water, energy and time. The
resulting colour in the wastewater prevents both direct water recycling in textile finishing and
discharge into a sewer. Decolourisation of the wastewater is thus necessary. If it is possible to
attain a sufficient level of decolourisation, the water can be reused in the finishing process;
this recycling means a great reduction in the necessary chemicals, energy and time.
 This work describes the oxidative degradation of selected reactive dyes. The chemical
oxidative degradation with peroxodisulphate and an enzymatically catalysed oxidative
reaction (Baylase ® RP) are examined. To this end, certain commercial reactive dyes with
typical chromophores and anchor groups were chosen; these were provided to us in the form
of trade products with an exact declaration of the content of auxiliary substances. Three of
these dyes, called Black C, Yellow D and Red F, were used in extensive investigations of the
intermediates and products of oxidative degradation.
 After textile finishing, the dyes in the wastewater are present in the hydrolysed form, so that a
procedure for the quantitative hydrolysis of the dyes had to be worked out. It was possible to
hydrolyse the anchor groups without cleaving the chromophoric system.
 The redox potential of peroxodisulphate depends on the pH value of the solution and is large
enough to oxidize chloride to chlorine or hypochlorite. In the beginning of the work the
question arose as to whether oxidation in the presence of chloride, an important component in
dye-baths or wash-waters, leads to contamination with chlorinated aromatic compounds. For
this study, 1-naphthol was used as a model compound; an excess of chloride was added to it,
and the mixture was treated oxidatively. At pH values of 11 and above, no chlorinated
aromatic compounds were found among the oxidation products. The results were quite
different in acidic milieu, where a large number of chlorinated aromatic compounds were
formed. To prevent additional dangers for the environment, oxidative degradation with
peroxodisulphate thus has to take place in alkaline solution. All further studies were carried
out in the presence of the amount of base needed to neutralise the protons arising during the
reaction with peroxodisulphate.
 After the oxidation took place, the concentration of the intermediates was low. To improve
detection, the products were first enriched by solid-phase extraction; this also separated them
into polar and moderately polar fractions. The main moderately polar compounds were
characterised by reversed-phase chromatography with a UV/VIS diode array detector or by
mass spectrometry (LC-QTof with ESI). Precision masses, with in most cases deviations of =
5 ppm from the theoretical value (W-mode with phosphoric acid as an internal standard), led
in combination with plausibility considerations to proposals for the structures. These results
were supported in some cases by NMR spectra ( 1 H- and 13 C-NMR) of isolated degradation
products (preparative HPLC).
 The oxidative treatment of the hydrolysates led to intermediates in low concentrations. Only
in a few cases was further reaction of the intermediates slower than the degradation of the
hydrolysates themselves; in these cases products were observed to increase in concentration,
at least for a short time.
 At a point where the values required in supplement 38 of the German Waste Water regulation
(Abwasserverordnung) with 7 m -1 (λ = 436 nm), 5 m -1 (λ = 525 nm) and 3 m -1 (λ = 620 nm)
were satisfied, no hydrolysed dyes were detectable. The moderately polar intermediates
formed were also detectable only in traces. Mainly polar products with low molecular weights
were found.
 The structures of the intermediates based on MS and NMR data make the following
generalisations about the degradation pathway possible:
 • cleavage of the azo link and formation of OH, NH 2 or NO 2 groups in its stead • loss of sulphate-ester and sulphonic-acid groups • loss of hydroxy-ethyl groups • formation of isoxazole compounds where the basic structure allows it Comparison of the oxidation methods examined (with peroxodisulphate and Baylase ® RP)
showed two main differences, the speed of decolourisation on the one hand and the number of
observed degradation products on the other. Peroxodisulphate was proved to be very effective
for rapid decolourisation of dye hydrolysates: complete decolourisation, even of heavily
coloured samples, could be achieved within a few minutes. Baylase ® RP turned out to be
slower, decolourisation sometimes taking hours. The reason for this can be found in the
different pathways of decolourisation, radical vs. enzymatic mechanisms.
 The two oxidative methods differ in the number of degradation products formed. In spite of a
ten-fold greater amount of dye, oxidation with peroxodisulphate led to only a few detectable
degradation products. The enzymatic system generates a huge number of products, which can
be used to elucidate the dyes' decomposition route. Studies with Baylase ® RP and a higher
concentration of dye (1 g L -1 ) showed fewer degradation products, as with the chemical
oxidation with peroxodisulphate. It is possible that the surprisingly small number of products
is due less to the oxidation method than to some mass-spectrometric discrimination.


Abstract The study analyzed the criminogenic effect of legalizing recreational marijuana dispensaries in Denver. Street segments with recreational dispensaries experienced no changes in violent, disorder and drug crime but did experience an 18% increase in property crime, and street segments adjacent to recreational dispensaries experienced some notable (but non-significant) drug and disorder crime increases. Medical dispensaries demonstrated no significant crime changes. A cost-benefit analysis found the associated crime costs were largely offset by sales revenue. Monetary benefits were much less pronounced, and barely cost effective, when only considering tax revenue.


In this paper, we adapt triplet neural networks (TNNs) to a regression task, music emotion prediction. Since TNNs were initially introduced for classification, and not for regression, we propose a mechanism that allows them to provide meaningful low dimensional representations for regression tasks. We then use these new representations as the input for regression algorithms such as support vector machines and gradient boosting machines. To demonstrate the TNNs' effectiveness at creating meaningful representations, we compare them to different dimensionality reduction methods on music emotion prediction, i.e., predicting valence and arousal values from musical audio signals. Our results on the DEAM dataset show that by using TNNs we achieve 90% feature dimensionality reduction with a 9% improvement in valence prediction and 4% improvement in arousal prediction with respect to our baseline models (without TNN). Our TNN method outperforms other dimensionality reduction methods such as principal component analysis (PCA) and autoencoders (AE). This shows that, in addition to providing a compact latent space representation of audio features, the proposed approach achieves higher performance than the baseline models.


Point defects significantly influence the optical and electrical properties of solid-state materials due to their interactions with charge carriers, which reduce the band-to-band optical transition energy. There has been a demand for developing direct optical imaging methods that would allow in situ characterization of individual defects with nanometer resolution. Here, we demonstrate the localization and quantitative counting of individual optically active defects in monolayer hexagonal boron nitride using single molecule localization microscopy. By exploiting the blinking behavior of defect emitters to temporally isolate multiple emitters within one diffraction limited region, we could resolve two defect emitters with a point-to-point distance down to ten nanometers. The results and conclusion presented in this work add unprecedented dimensions toward future applications of defects in quantum information processing and biological imaging.


A survey was administered to 304 respondents participating from three areas near Welkom, South Africa. Face-toface interviews were conducted with women from randomly selected households to evaluate the impact of a service provision programme targeting women living with HIV/AIDS and gender based violence. Gender based violence (GBV) awareness and knowledge was high. Respondents had high perceived levels of risk. They reported making various behavioural changes to avoid GBV. The respondents were aware of their legal rights pertaining to GBV. HIV/AIDS knowledge levels and attitudes were acceptable. Behavioural changes included condom use, abstinence and being faithful to one partner. Disclosure of HIV was lower than disclosure of GBV.Awareness and knowledge of female condoms were high, yet usage low. Participants reported that they would be able to introduce condoms to a relationship and negotiate usage with relative ease. Perceived levels of GBV and HIV were high, and stigma levels towards the affected women were also relatively high. The awareness and knowledge levels of GBV and HIV of older respondents were lower than younger respondents. The key findings of this study support the notion of using a holistic approach, targeting more than one issue. There is lower stigma levels associated with combined conditions, which might allow easier access to vulnerable groups. Coordination and collaboration of services are however needed to enable this benefit.


If nothing else, the war in Iraq and the 1991 Gulf War have taught us much about media and technology as key players in how war is waged, packaged for public consumption, and exported in real time to the rest of the globe. A critic of the art of technology, Paul Virilio has keenly observed that media images quite often constitute a strategy of war and that accident is becoming indistinguishable from attack. For more than fifty years Virilio has offered incisive and provocative criticism on technology and its moral, political, and cultural implications. Yet until now, much of his work, originally published in French, remains elusive in full English translation. The Paul Virilio Reader collects for the first time English extracts reflecting the entire range of Virilio's diverse career. The book's introduction demonstrates that Virilio has produced an important-if controversial-"theory at the speed of light" that uncannily illuminates the impact of new information and communications technologies in a world that collapses time and distance as never before. The inventor of "dromology," which views speed as a defining concept for contemporary civilization, Virilio is noted for his proclamation that the logic of ever-increasing acceleration lies at the heart of the organization and transformation of the contemporary world. Arranged chronologically, the Reader illustrates the development and interconnectedness of Virilio's work. Each extract is prefaced by bibliographical and contextual commentary, and the book includes an innovative guide to reading Virilio.


A method is presented for evaluating the coupling between two identical resonant cavities coupled by a small aperture in a plane common wall of arbitrary thickness. The coupling is related to the frequencies of the symmetric and asymmetric modes of oscillation of the coupled cavity structure, and a variational technique is used to determine those frequencies. The method is applied to circular and rectangular apertures, and it is shown that the coupling is separable into electric and magnetic terms. The results enable theoretical solutions to be obtained for the electric and magnetic polarizabilities of circular and rectangular apertures in walls of zero thickness, and equivalent polarizabilities to be obtained when the wall thickness is nonzero. Curves of numerical values are given for circular and rectangular apertures. With zero wall thickness, the results obtained are the same as those of Bethe for a circular aperture and give good agreement with Cohn's experimental results for rectangular apertures.


ABSTRACT Recordings of the Earth's oscillations made by seismometers, following earthquakes or other geophysical phenomena, can be made audible by simply accelerating and playing them through an audio reproduction system. We evaluate quantitatively the possibility of using such an acoustic display of seismic data for practical applications. We first present to listeners examples of two categories of data, based on geophysical parameters that are not revealed to them. In the first test, the control parameter is the terrain, either oceanic or continental, sampled by the propagating seismic wave. In the second test, it is the geometry of the seismic fault, which can be either thrust or strike slip. The listeners are asked to associate each of a set of audified seismograms, that are presented to them binaurally, to either one of the two categories. At the end of the test, they are asked to define the features of audified signals that helped them in completing their task. The third and final test consists of repeating the fault‐geometry categorization exercise after a brief training session. About 35, 27, and 17 listeners participate in the first, second, and third tests, respectively. Both sexes, a wide range of ages, and three different backgrounds (acousticians, geoscientists, and physicists) are represented. Although the number of listeners is too small for a definitive statistical analysis, our results suggest that listeners are able, at least in some cases, to categorize signals according to all the geophysical parameters we had chosen. Importantly, we clearly observe that listeners' performance can be improved by training. Our work opens the way to a number of potentially fruitful applications of auditory display to seismology.


WhatsApp, as the world's most popular messaging application, offers significant opportunities for improving the reach and effectiveness of engagement projects. In collaboration with the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) we designed WhatFutures, a collaborative future forecasting engagement for global youth using WhatsApp. WhatFutures was successfully deployed with 487 players across 5 countries (Kenya, Bulgaria, Finland, Australia and Hong Kong) to inform strategic change within the IFRC. Based on our analysis of the activity - including 16,100 messages, 95 multimedia artifacts, and a post-engagement survey - we present a reflection upon the design decisions underpinning WhatFutures and identify how decisions made around group structures, processes and externalization of outputs influenced engagement and data quality. We conclude with the wider implications of our findings for the design of engagements that best utilize the affordances of existing messaging applications.


ABSTRACT Decades of both non-violent and armed struggle did not bring much result to the Oromo quest for political power over the Ethiopian state, and contemporary Oromo politics often appear recondite and discordant. When Abiy Ahmed came to power as the new Prime Minister in April 2018 as the first Oromo politician entering the former imperial palace, many believed it was the Oromo's turn to rule. Developments since then have, however, revealed a far more complex picture, where previous internal divisions have resurfaced, and where the inherently fragmented nature of Oromo politics seems to have prevailed. Drawing on recent interviews, in this article, we argue that the current divisions and positions in Oromo politics may be made explicable by applying a multilayered ethnographic approach to identify their provenance and grassroots anchoring. With the three main positions found within Oromo politics – the unitarist, secessionist, and federalist – as our point of departure, we unveil the deeper connections between the current political positioning and their historical trajectories and ethnographic anchoring, and we capture overlooked and competing power discourses informing Oromo politics.


We present MindMiner, a mixed-initiative interface for capturing subjective similarity measurements via a combination of new interaction techniques and machine learning algorithms. MindMiner collects qualitative, hard to express similarity measurements from users via active polling with uncertainty and example based visual constraint creation. MindMiner also formulates human prior knowledge into a set of inequalities and learns a quantitative similarity distance metric via convex optimization. In a 12-participant peer-review understanding task, we found MindMiner was easy to learn and use, and could capture users' implicit knowledge about writing performance and cluster target entities into groups that match subjects' mental models.


Innovations in complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS) single-photon avalanche diode (SPAD) technology has featured in the development of next-generation instruments for point-based time-resolved fluorescence spectroscopy (TRFS). These instruments provide hundreds of spectral channels, allowing the collection of fluorescence intensity and fluorescence lifetime information over a broad spectral range at a high spectral and temporal resolution. We present Multichannel Fluorescence Lifetime Estimation, MuFLE, an efficient computational approach to exploit the unique multi-channel spectroscopy data with an emphasis on simultaneous estimation of the emission spectra, and the respective spectral fluorescence lifetimes. In addition, we show that this approach can estimate the individual spectral characteristics of fluorophores from a mixed sample.


The world wide web is becoming wider at an increasing rate. It is virtuallyimpossible to take any kind of accurate snapshot of the state of its development. Undergraduate mathematics courses presented on the internet are relative newcomers to the race but nevertheless seem to be increasing in numbers also at a phenomenal rate. Internet education in mathematics is developing as a new mode of teaching with its own characteristics and possibilities, different from any traditional way of teaching. Research on this new mode of teaching is sparse and open research questions are temptingly plentiful. In a study presented in two parts, we try to capture the world of internet teaching of undergraduate mathematics with its myriad of possibilities. In this, the first part, we briefly list some of the technologies involved and we attempt to create some order in the huge number of activities that are available on the web.We give an overview of the scope of mathematics courses presented via the internet and attempt a graphical classification of the different types of web courses. In the second part (Engelbrecht, J. and Harding, A.: 2004a, Teaching undergraduate mathematics on the web 2: Attributes and possibilities ) we discuss characteristics and implications of this mode of teaching/learning mathematics, list possible research issues and envisage possible future trends.


The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of 6 wk of whole body vibration (WBV) training on sprint running kinematics and explosive strength performance. Twenty-four volunteers (12 women and 12 men) participated in the study and were randomised (n = 12) into the experimental and control groups. The WBV group performed a 6-wk program (16-30 min·d, 3 times a week) on a vibration platform. The amplitude of the vibration platform was 2.5 mm and the acceleration was 2.28 g. The control group did not participate in any training. Tests were performed Pre and post the training period. Sprint running performance was measured during a 60 m sprint where running time, running speed, step length and step rate were calculated. Explosive strength performance was measured during a counter movement jump (CMJ) test, where jump height and total number of jumps performed in a period of 30 s (30CVJT). Performance in 10 m, 20 m, 40 m, 50 m and 60 m improved significantly after 6 wk of WBV training with an overall improvement of 2.7%. The step length and running speed improved by 5.1% and 3.6%, and the step rate decreased by 3.4%. The countermovement jump height increased by 3.3%, and the explosive strength endurance improved overall by 7.8%. The WBV training period of 6 wk produced significant changes in sprint running kinematics and explosive strength performance.


Summary
1Ecological invasions are often associated with persistent changes to underlying ecological processes. Restoration of invaded communities is dependent on manipulation of these processes to favour the target species composition and impart resistance to further invasion. We applied these principles to extensively degraded grassy woodlands in temperate agricultural regions of Australia, where widespread invasion by mediterranean annuals is related to altered ecological processes such as soil nutrient cycling.
2We investigated carbon supplementation and spring burns, in association with re-establishment of native perennial grasses, as potential management tools for manipulating nitrogen cycling, soil seed banks and establishment conditions in degraded woodland understoreys. Through these mechanisms we aimed to enhance native cover and increase resistance to invasion by exotic annuals.
3In two contrasting degraded remnants, repeated sucrose applications temporarily reduced soil nitrate to inferred pre-European levels, which dramatically reduced growth of exotic annuals and enhanced native perennial abundance. Repeated spring burns did not reduce soil nitrate but reduced exotic annual grasses through effects on soil seed banks and/or establishment conditions.
4Spring burns and carbon supplements both significantly enhanced establishment of Themeda australis, a dominant tussock grass prior to European settlement. Combinations of T. australis seed addition and either spring burning or carbon supplements enhanced native plant abundance more effectively than treatments without seed addition.
5Within 18 months of their establishment, T. australis seedlings significantly reduced soil nitrate in some treatments, providing a preliminary indication that re-establishment of a dense sward of this species may restore ecosystem function to a low-nitrate state that favours native perennials over exotic annuals.
6Synthesis and applications. Ecological restoration can be viewed as targeted intervention in species–environment interactions, whereby ecological conditions are manipulated to enhance establishment or vigour of key species, and these species in turn help restore ecological processes that favour the target species composition. In grassy ecosystems re-establishing a perennial sward of appropriate native tussock grasses may be critical for restoring pre-disturbance nitrogen cycles and improving resistance to invasion by exotic annuals. Carbon supplements and spring burns facilitate this process through complementary mechanisms.


The office, where many people spend most of their day, influences the health of employees, their families, communities, and society. While the body of research that relates office environment to health is growing, a question of interest for practitioners arises: how buildings should be designed and managed in order to support and promote health. This thesis adopts a salutogenic perspective in physical office environments. The salutogenic approach is an orientation toward health that focuses on the origins of health rather than on the determinants of disease. Salutogenesis indicates that the factors that create health are often different from those that cause illness. In this perspective, 'sense of coherence' has been found to be a resource for health promotion. However, the previous research concerning health in offices has tended to focus on the negative impacts of physical office environments (pathogenic) and less research has been carried out on the components that create and maintain health (salutogenic). The research work included two literature reviews and a mixed-method case study approach. First, health and healthy offices are studied in the context of office design approaches to explore how health is understood in the literature. Additionally, the Nordic perspective is specifically studied as a complementary setting to gain a deeper understanding of healthy office conceptualizations. While the literature provides input from the scientific perspective, the case study approach was used to explore the sense of coherence theory in an architectural context. The findings first revealed that conceptualizations of health and healthy offices were not abundant, and most approaches were limited to a pathogenic perspective. Second, design strategies were often formulated with little consideration of contextual factors. That is, no holistic office design approach was found to address all design features and health aspects. Finally, from a sense of coherence perspective, manageability and meaningfulness were the most recurrently influenced components, mainly by a sense of control, ownership, and opportunities for social interactions. Comprehensibility was also influenced, nevertheless, largely by the lack of behavioral rules and clarity. Contextual factors, such as the organizational work culture, facility management style, individual preferences, and activities were critical to elucidate the findings. To conclude, the findings highlight the need for holistic approaches that go beyond the mitigation of pathogenic aspects and promote the salutogenic resources of the physical office environment in order to strengthen employees' sense of coherence and empower them to more positively and adaptively deal with stressors. As such, the move toward the healthy continuum in office environments involves two complementary strategies. First, modifications can be made to the office aimed at alleviating risk factors (e.g., improving air quality) and second, maximizing the presence of salutogenic resources (e.g., optimizing a sense of control).


The northeast region of Birjand is located in Lut structural and geological province. In this area we can distinguish two separate volcanic rock groups: intermediate to acidic volcanic rocks, including dacite, andesite, rhyolite and trachyandesite; and basic rocks, including basaltic andesite, mugearite and basalt. In this region, intermediate to acidic rocks, which belong to the Eocene-Miocene period according to dating results, are the main formation, and we can see the second, younger (evidently Pliocene) volcanic rock group as outcrops with a northwest-southeast trend in the background of the intermediate to acidic volcanic rocks. Geochemical studies show the differences between these two distinctive groups clearly, and reveal that intermediate to acidic rocks belong to active continental margin calc-alkaline rocks. Studies also show the related mantle magma has been influenced by subducted lithospheric slab and metasomatized by crustal materials. The second volcanic rock group belongs to within-plate alkaline rocks. The linear successions and the arrangement of the basic volcanic rocks' outcrop in a northwest–southeast trend is in relation to the right lateral fault zones that have branched out of the Nehbandan fault system. As a result of the extensional regime development, and the high depth of these faults, alkaline magma could have formed and ascended to the surface. Considering with accepted ideas concerning eastern Iran geodynamic evolution and our new data, we have tried to complete the previous findings and present a seven-stage model for geological evolution of eastern Iran.