Developing electrode materials with a full conversion reaction is an effective route to break through the capacity barriers, but this goal remains a great challenge. In this work, we report the synthesis of CoSe2 anodes with a quasi-reversible conversion reaction by uniformly encapsulating CoSe2 nanoparticles in nitrogen-doped carbon nanofibers (CoSe2/N-CNFs). The space-confined effect of CNFs effectively inhibits pulverization and amorphization of CoSe2 during charge and discharge and thus remarkably ensures the integrity of the crystal structure. Meanwhile, pseudocapacitive contributed by the size effect of CoSe2 nanodots and excellent conductivity due to doped nitrogen heteroatoms give the electrode outstanding electrochemical properties. When used as an anode, the CoSe2/N-CNFs achieved a reversible capacity of 371.8 mA h g−1 after 500 cycles at 0.2 A g−1. Even at a high current density of 2 A g−1, the discharge capacity of the CoSe2/N-CNFs still reached 308 mA h g−1 after 1000 cycles with excellent rate performance. The first principles calculations demonstrate that the heterointerfaces between CoSe2 and nitrogen-doped carbon can significantly enhance the stability of the structure and improve the storage/diffusion capability of Na+. Moreover, ex situ high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) and selected area electron diffraction (SAED) reveal that the unique structure enables quasi-reversible crystalline-phase transformation of CoSe2, which leads to the superior cycling stability of the battery with high capacity retention.


Seven-year-old children with reading disabilities (RD-only), behaviour problems (BP-only), both conditions (RD-BP) and neither condition (Comparison) were compared on indices including temperament and behaviour, gathered in five periods between infancy and 6 years of age. The RD-BP group differed clearly from the RD-only group from infancy onwards. This comorbid group was similar to the BP-only group, while the RD-only group was similar to the Comparison group, until school age. The gender composition of the two RD groups differed, and the RD-BP boys showed the most problematic characteristics. The findings indicate different developmental pathways for "pure' RD children and those with comorbid BPs.


In the last two decades, we have seen the rise of companies providing digital services. Big Tech firms have become all-pervasive, playing critical roles in our social interactions, in the way we access information, and in the way we consume. These firms not only strive to be dominant players in one market, but with their giant monopoly power and domination of online ecosystems, they want to become the market itself. They are gaining not just economic, but also political power. This can be illustrated by Donald Trump's campaigns, in which he attempted to influence the sovereign will, as the sovereign power is vested in the people. The Trump campaigns' use of Facebook's advertising tools contributed to Trump's win at the 2016 presidential election. After criticism of that election, Facebook stated that it would implement a series of measures to prevent future abuse. For example, no political ads will be accepted in the week before an election. Another example of how Big Tech firms can effect the sovereign is by national legislator. For example, Australia had a dispute with digital platforms such as Facebook and Google. That was because Australia began to develop a News Media and Digital Platforms Mandatory Code. To persuade the Australian legislature to abandon the idea of this code, Facebook prevented Australian press publishers, news media and users from sharing/viewing Australian as well as international news content, including blocking information from government agencies. Such action demonstrated how large digital platforms can affect the flow of information to encourage the state and its legislature to change their position. Because of such pressure, Australia eventually made adjustments to the code in order to find a compromise with the digital platform. Also, when we are referring to political power, it should include lobbying and the European Union legislator. Tech giants are lobbying their interests to influence the European Union's digital policy, which has the most direct effect on member states, given that the member states are bound by European Union law.


This paper empirically examines the determinants of households' food security in District Dir (Lower) Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Primary data were gathered through a prestructured questionnaire. The screening questions approach was adopted to solicit the information from a total of 200 households. The binary logistic regression was used for data analysis. Our results show that farm households with an employed head, and having improved access to farm and non-farm income, are more likely to be food secure. While larger sized farm households located away from the main stream markets, are more likely to be food insecure. We conclude that households' access to a secure source of income and markets have a significant influence to ameliorate the food security in rural areas. The policy is informed to improve households' access to farm and non-farm income vis-à-vis accessibility to the main stream markets. We recommend that interventions are needed to enhance off-farm employment opportunities, make the agriculture technology more accessible to farmers, and develop the physical infrastructure in rural areas. The findings of the study have significant policy implications in the context of food security in other developing countries.


Ecotourism is increasing throughout the world and in particular in less developed countries where it is often promoted in association with protected areas (Weaver 1998). Guides have important roles to perform in the ecotourism experience, such as ensuring the safety of the visitor, providing accurate and compelling interpretation of sites, and modelling appropriate environmental and cultural behaviour. To be able to serve this wide range of interests, guides need training that provides them with necessary knowledge and skills. A pilot study was carried out to determine what types of guide training are currently being delivered in less developed countries. The results of this study assisted in identifying some of the key issues and research priorities for future ecotour guide training in the 21f l century. The results suggest that although training is currently being delivered in various forms by a variety of providers in less developed countries, there is scope for the development and improvement of training in less developed countries, particularly in the areas of suitable training models, appropriate assessment, program content and program evaluation.


The greedy tree $\mathcal{G}(D)$ and the $\mathcal{M}$-tree $\mathcal{M}(D)$ are known to be extremal among trees with degree sequence $D$ with respect to various graph invariants. This paper provides a general theorem that covers a large family of invariants for which $\mathcal{G}(D)$ or $\mathcal{M}(D)$ is extremal. Many known results, for example on the Wiener index, the number of subtrees, the number of independent subsets and the number of matchings follow as corollaries, as do some new results on invariants such as the number of rooted spanning forests, the incidence energy and the solvability. We also extend our results on trees with fixed degree sequence $D$ to the set of trees whose degree sequence is majorised by a given sequence $D$, which also has a number of applications.


Cortisol is a hormone that corresponds to physiological and emotional stress. The purpose of this study was to 1) evaluate the changes in cortisol in female Division I collegiate lacrosse players (n = 15) throughout the competitive season, and 2) evaluate the correlation between cortisol and athlete wellness and workload. Salivary cortisol samples were collected weekly in the morning throughout the entirety of the 2021 competitive season (12 weeks). Subjective athlete total wellness scores and sub-scores (muscle soreness, sleep quality, fatigue, and stress) were taken on the same days. Objective total weekly Athlete Load (AL, an amalgam workload metric) were tabulated from the previous training week. A significant effect of time was found on wellness (p < 0.001) and AL (p < 0.001) over the twelve weeks with weekly differences, such as weeks with more than one game, weeks with no games, weeks with students in quarantine (not competing), or weeks with academic stressors such as final exams. There were no weekly differences in cortisol (p = 0.058). Cortisol had negligible correlations with wellness (r = -0.010, p = 0.889) and AL (r = 0.083, p = 0.272) during the competitive season. These findings suggest that cortisol changed little for athletes throughout the season although training volume and wellness did. Thus, assessing acute responses of cortisol may prove to be more beneficial to evaluating athletes' stress.


Abstract In recent years, improvements in obstetrical and neonatal care have significantly improved survival in preterm and, particularily, the very low birth weight infant. Several studies stress the importance of timely and adequate nutrition in these high-risk infants on a short- and long-term. Presently, there is little consensus among the neonatologists concerning the optimal way to initiate, advance or maintain enteral feeding in preterm Infants. The preferred food for premature infants is fortified milk from the infant's own mother or,alternatively, formula designed for premature infants. The recent guidelines proposed by ESPGHAN Committee on Nutrition provide minimal and maximal levels of intake for individual macro- and micro-nutrients.


The increasing opposition to blood transfusion makes the management of surgical children who require blood very challenging. This retrospective study reviews records of blood transfusion so as to determine the advantages and hazards in surgical children. The advantages and hazards of blood transfusion in surgical children over 28 years, 1980-2008, at the Paediatric Surgical Ward of the University of Benin Teaching Hospital, Nigeria, were retrospectively analyzed. Of a total 12,320 children aged between 2 days and 16 years (mean 6 ± 5.4 years) comprising 8100 males and 4220 females with male/female ratio 1.9:1, 820 (6.7%) had 851 sessions of blood transfusion. Blood loss following trauma, burns and intraoperative losses were the major indications for transfusion. Adequate screening of donors' blood, grouping/cross matching, proper labeling, careful dispensing and strict monitoring during blood transfusion were adhered to during the period. Overall, 801 (97.7%) children recorded rapid improvement in clinical conditions, low wound sepsis and early discharged compared to 87 (10.6%) with similar surgical diseases who were refused transfusion (P were no significant statistical differences observed when the advantages and hazards recorded were compared between pre-, intra- and postoperative blood transfusions (P Blood transfusion was advantageous in managing surgical children. Thorough screening of donors' blood, adequate grouping and cross matching, proper labeling, dispensing and strict monitoring during blood transfusion are advocated in reducing associated hazards. Keywords: Blood Transfusion, Surgical Children, Advantages, Hazards.


A microelectro-mechanical systems (MEMS) laboratory course (MEMSlab) in the Mechanical and Process Engineering Department at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH Zurich), is presented. The course has been taught for four years and has been attended primarily by Master's students from mechanical and electrical engineering; since fall 2006, the course has been required within the Master of Micro and Nanosystems curriculum. Students participating in the MEMSlab course learn the operational principles of comb-structure accelerometers, as well as how to fabricate, package, and test single-axis accelerometers, thereby being exposed to the multiple disciplines and practical topics that are involved in the production of MEMS and microelectronics. Based upon the course assessments, which are summarized and discussed, one of the benefits of MEMSlab is the course format. This format, which includes a dedicated course text, referred to as the ldquoscript,rdquo and two introductory lecture sessions, has allowed students without prior semiconductor physics or process experience to participate fully in the course and to learn the major elements of MEMS fabrication. The MEMSlab course provides students at the ETH Zurich with their sole opportunity to experience clean room microfabrication through a structured course setting, since there are no other solid-state device fabrication laboratory courses offered at the ETH Zurich.


This paper discusses the conceptual categories used by the Baganda, to describe the events of normal and abnormal pregnancies. Kiganda knowledge of obstetrics is based upon observations of uterin size, foetal movements, amenorrhoea, vaginal bleeding and the delivery of the dead or alive foetus itself. This paper shows the relationship between Western obstetric categories, and those of the Baganda, and how, although the classification of the latter differs from that of the former in the terms used, it comprehensively descirbes all the types of normal and abnormal pregnancy that Western obstetrics recognizes.


Ground-penetrating radar surveys along a highly dynamic, paraglacial coastline of Nantucket Island, Massachusetts, reveal geological signatures of coastal environmental changes that are presently masked by coastal dunes and vegetation. The high-resolution geophysical records reveal 1) the geometry and genesis of discontinuities produced by spit migration, 2) thickness and progradation style of beach and nearshore deposits, 3) subsurface expression of a paleo-scarp beneath a prograded coastal sequence, and 4) dimensions and mode of infilling of a proglacial valley containing an ephemeral inlet channel. This study illustrates the value of geophysical research in complementing and extending the historical shoreline change data, providing the basis for quantitative assessment of landscape change, and offering a more complete picture of Holocene coastal dynamics.


One of the earliest responses of plants to environmental stress is establishing a temporary growth arrest that allows adaptation to adverse conditions. The response to abiotic stress requires the modulation of gene expression, which may be mediated by the alteration of chromatin structures. This alteration can be accomplished with the help of chromatin-remodeling enzymes, such as the various SWI/SNF classes of ATPases. Here, we investigate the role of the Arabidopsis SNF2/Brahma-type AtCHR12 chromatin-remodeling gene in plant growth and development in reaction to adverse environmental conditions. We show that the AtCHR12 chromatin-remodeling gene plays a vital role in mediating the temporary growth arrest of Arabidopsis that is induced upon perception of stress. Exposing an AtCHR12 overexpressing mutant to stress conditions leads to growth arrest of normally active primary buds, as well as to reduced growth of the primary stem. In contrast, the AtCHR12 knockout mutant shows less growth arrest than the wild-type when exposed to moderate stress. Without stress, mutant plants are indistinguishable from the wild-type, and the growth arrest response seems to depend on the severity of the stress applied. Modulation of AtCHR12 expression correlates with changes in expression of dormancy-associated genes. This is in agreement with the concept of AtCHR12 participation in priming the plants for the growth arrest response. Our data indicate that AtCHR12-associated growth arrest differs from DELLA-mediated growth restraint. This establishes AtCHR12 as a novel gene involved in the response repertoire of plants that permits flexible modulation of growth in adverse and/or otherwise limiting environments.


In order to satisfy Moore's prediction law digital circuit fabrication technology has undergone various stages of evolution from Small Scale Integration (SSI) to Very Large Scale Integration (VLSI). Further for future scaling; industrialists and researchers are very much concentrated in Ultra Large Scale Integration (ULSI) technology; where interconnect issues turn out be serious bottle neck limiting the overall performance of the circuit. In our paper; we have proposed a solution that will hold good for the interconnect issues with future technologies. After going through a serious of pros and cons with copper element as interconnect in ULSI technology we have analyzed the suitability and need for silver metal among various different metal elements as substitute element to replace conventional copper as interconnect. To start up with; initially Silver nano-particles were synthesized from its precursor Silver Nitrate (AgNO3) by a novel solvo thermal and filtration process; SEM images and XRD analysis of prepared silver nano-particles were carried out and the results were checked to conform the formation of silver nano-particles. Thus prepared silver nano-particles were used to draw interconnect patterns and these patterns were characterized to prove its identity to find application as interconnect in ULSI technology.


Based on a qualitative study in four villages in Indonesia, this article explores how the conditional cash transfer (CCT) recipient households use the CCT funds. In 2007, the Government of Indonesia introduced a household CCT programme called Program Keluarga Harapan (PKH, Family of Hope Programme) with the aim of providing the chronic poor with cash transfers to help them better access basic education and healthcare services. The study found that recipients have used the transfer not only to fulfil their basic education and healthcare needs, but also to grow their assets whenever possible. Furthermore, by comparing urban and rural cases, where both informal social security and the real value of CCT funds differ, it seems that welfare improvements as a result of the cash transfers are more significant in rural than in urban areas.


Our purpose is to develop new models that define the advanced development & corporate research approaches of modern global high tech firms. While the world has moved on from Bell Labs' famous advanced research model, visionary and farsighted technology-driven innovation is still vital to many of today's most successful global technology companies. Corporate innovation strategies are implemented through research laboratories, academic collaborations, advanced technology groups, standards groups, CTO office prototypes, internal/ external incubations, and open innovations. Unlike the well-understood nature of short-term product development, long time frames, fuzzily defined goals, and unclear measures of success lead to uncertainty of how to best run and fund advanced technology and applied corporate research. While all firms agree that advanced research is vital, their measures and processes differ widely. To identify modern models of effective advanced research approaches, the context in which such approaches are most effective, and the metrics by which they should be evaluated, we interviewed leaders at various successful and established global firms such as Cisco, Intel, Google, and others. We used the data collected to inductively arrive at six models that characterize modern advanced research approaches. The approaches of these models were different in the sense that some rely on academic and industry collaboration while others revolve around disrupting the status quo. The fact that the companies included in this study were successful means that all the models reflect a useful approach to advanced research. Therefore, no single model should be considered as better or ideal than the other. The models could be of use to a company trying to create an appropriate advanced research approach based on its goals and needs. Similarly, these models could help a company fine tune its existing R&D approach as its goals and identity develop over time. The models we present here provide useful terminology and will serve as backbone for further study of advanced development & corporate research approaches.


Food refusal can have the potential to lead to nutritional deficiencies, which increases the risk of a variety of communicable and non-communicable diseases. Deciding when food refusal requires professional intervention is complicated by the fact that there is a natural and appropriate stage in a child's development that is characterised by increased levels of rejection of both previously accepted and novel food items. Therefore, choosing to intervene is difficult, which if handled badly can lead to further food refusal and an even more limited diet. Food refusal is often based on individual preferences; however, it can also be defined through pathological behaviours that require psychological intervention. This paper presents and discusses several different types of food refusal behaviours; these are learningdependent, those that are related to a medical complication, selective food refusal, fear-based food refusal and appetiteawareness-autonomy-based food refusal. This paper describes the behaviours and characteristics that are often associated with each; however, emphasis is placed on the possibility that these different types of food refusal can often be co-morbid. The decision to offer professional intervention to the child and their family should be a holistic process based on the level of medical or psychological distress resulting from the food refusal.


There are many perfectly satisfactory ways to remove bucket handle meniscal fragments under arthroscopic control, and there is nothing to be achieved by arguing the relative merits of dividing the back end before the front, the central approach or the anterolateral, or the role of the operating arthroscope. In my experience, the method described has proved reliable, simple, and quick, with an average operating time in the range of 20 minutes. Additional advantages are that the technique requires only simple hand instruments and that the formalized step-by-step approach makes both learning and teaching of the technique more straightforward. Although this technique has many advantages, it is not universally effective; there are times when it must be modified or another approach used instead, and other surgeons may find that other techniques suit the better. If there is a single "secret" of arthroscopic surgery, it is that the surgeon should have at his or her command a wide variety of arthroscopic approaches and techniques and be thoroughly confident in basic arthroscopic skills before attempting arthroscopic surgery. As in other fields of orthopedic surgery, technical success is based upon careful planning and the proper use of simple instruments handled correctly and precisely.


The hole cleaning issue in gas-lift drilling has been a concern and has not been previously investigated due to the difficulties of experimental studies and analytical modeling. The objective of this study is to deliver an assessment of hole cleaning capacity of drilling fluid in reverse circulation conditions for different bit designs. We use the finite element method (FEM) to target this issue and address a critical question in gas-lift drilling. The result of the theoretical investigation indicates that clean bottom hole can be achieved in gas-lift drilling through optimization of drill bit design to balance fluid energy (cleaning power) between tooth blades. Three drill bit designs were investigated in this study. The flow power balance between blades can be achieved with a 3-orifice bit design and a 2-orifice bit design, but there exist flow stagnation zones between these orifices, which are not desirable for bit tooth and borehole cleaning. The 1-orifice bit design with four cutter blades can eliminate flow stagnation zone and improve flow field to achieve a much better flow power balance between blades and thus bit tooth and borehole cleaning. Therefore, drill bits with one orifice are desirable for reverse circulation gas-drilling. This paper presents a novel technique of using FEM to evaluate bit hydraulics for hole cleaning in reverse drilling conditions. Future laboratory tests are desirable to obtain real data for further validating the model result.


This paper explores why the Prevent strand of the UK Government's counter-terrorism strategy, CONTEST, is failing to achieve success in reducing radicalisation of young Muslims. By refusing to engage with extremists, and denying 'extreme' ideas a platform for expression, this paper will explain how the importance of cultural-linguistic epistemologies, and their role in extremism, has been overlooked. Rather than striving to understand how socio-political factors influence one's reading of religious doctrines or interpretation of ideology, Prevent understands ideology to be the core radicalising agent, used by influential figures who can exploit the grievances of the vulnerable. The problematic repercussions of this will be addressed throughout, highlighting the various, and extensive, criticisms that Prevent has faced from academics, practitioners and commentators – primarily that it is counter-productive. The importance of the post-9/11 neoconservative paradigm in underpinning Prevent will be explained, but a Neo-Weberian approach, as a better lens through which to understand radicalisation, will be proposed, to ultimately trump the simplistic, yet currently dominant, 'Conveyor Belt' theory. Based on this, recommendations are made for an improved Prevent, rooted in the notion that radicalisation, extremism, or terrorism cannot be prevented, without knowing the motives, the views, and the assumptions of the radicals, the extremists, and those vulnerable to engaging with them.


This paper reports on an ESRC/HEFCW-funded research project which was part of a research capacity building programme initiated through the Welsh Education Research Network (WERN). The research team included a mix of early career and more experienced education researchers from two Welsh universities and undertook an exploratory pilot study on visual elicitation methods for assessing the conceptual understanding of science concepts with pupils for whom English is an Additional Language (EAL).

Affordances for collaborative learning about the conduct of research derived from hands-on team work and co-participation in the research design, development of instruments and fieldwork in a primary school. Sections of the paper report the chronology of the 'learning by doing' which brought the team together as they sought secondary data on EAL pupils, negotiated access through hierarchies of consent, created research tools and organized translations with Polish Learning Support Assistants (LSAs). A learning journey was undertaken which had positive outcomes for all players including the differentially experienced research team of early career reseaercher (ECR), second career researcher (SCRs) and midcareer researchers (MCRs), bilingual Learning Support Assistants (LSAs), the Ethnic Minority Advisory Service (EMAS) and hosting school. Our collaborative team was heuristic in several ways which built up research capacity.

This paper draws upon a variety of material: field notes, observational records, visual material, analytic memos and researcher diaries to illustrate the approaches used to trial the methods and to highlight what and how we learned by undertaking a pilot study together.


In this paper, TVOC emission of veneered wood-based panel and coating processing was systematically discussed. The results showed that resin content and hot-pressing temperature of veneered wood-based particle board had obvious impact on TVOC releasing. When velocity of flow was 0.02 m/s, after 10 hours experiment, TVOC concentration in the environment chamber was 263μg/m3. While velocity of flow 0.04m/s, TVOC concentration was 29 μg/m3. High-flow velocity was helpful for rapid dissemination of TVOC. The research also found after 10 hours experiment, concentration of TVOC in environment chamber is 31μg/m3, 220μg/m3 and 400μg/m3 corresponding amount of paint was 20g, 40g and 60g. The thicker the layer was, the longer the time of layer dehumidification and TVOC diffusion needed.


Industrial gas turbines show performance characteristics that distinctly depend on ambient and operating conditions. They are not only influenced by site elevation, ambient temperature, and relative humidity, but also by the speed of the driven equipment, the fuel, and the load conditions. Proper application of gas turbines requires consideration of these factors. This tutorial explains these characteristics based on the performance of the engine compressor, the combustor and the turbine section, and certain control strategies. It introduces fundamental concepts that help to understand the flow of energy between the components. Additionally, methods are introduced that allow the use of data for trending and comparison purposes. The impact of component degradation on individual component performance, as well as overall engine performance is discussed, together with strategies to reduce the impact of degradation.


This paper presents a method for assessing desynchronized video with the aid of a software package specially developed for this purpose. A unique methodology of substituting values for lost frames was developed. It is shown that in the event of non-similarity of the sent and received sequences because of the loss of some frames in transit, the estimation of the quality indicator via traditional (existing) software is done inaccurately. We present in this paper a novel method of estimating the quality of desynchronized video streams. The developed software application is able to carry out the estimation of the quality of video sequences even when parts of the frame is missing, by means of searching out contextually similar frames and "gluing" them in lieu of the lost frames. Comparing obtained results with those from existing software validates their accuracy. The difference in results and methods of estimating video sequences of different subject groups is also discussed. The paper concludes with adequate recommendations on the best methodology to adopt for specific estimation scenarios.


Employing high-pressure infrared spectroscopy we unveil the Weyl semimetal phase of elemental Te and its topological properties. The linear frequency dependence of the optical conductivity provides clear evidence for metallization of trigonal tellurium (Te-I) and the linear band dispersion above 3.0 GPa. This semimetallic Weyl phase can be tuned by increasing pressure further: a kink separates two linear regimes in the optical conductivity (at 3.7 GPa), a signature proposed for Type-II Weyl semimetals with tilted cones; this however reveals a different origin in trigonal tellurium. Our density-functional calculations do not reveal any significant tilting and suggest that Te-I remains in the Type-I Weyl phase, but with two valence bands in the vicinity of the Fermi level. Their interplay gives rise to the peculiar optical conductivity behavior with more than one linear regime. Pressure above 4.3 GPa stabilizes the more complex Te-II and Te-III polymorphs, which are robust metals.


textabstractIt is hypothesized that childhood asthma, especially when not well controlled,
may constitute a risk factor for the development of COLD in adulthood
(Cropp, 1985), It is unknown whether lung injury during early life is a risk factor
for the development of COLD in adulthood, Asthma often starts before schoolage
(Cropp, 1985), Except for the disturbing symptoms, a reason for paying attention to asthma in preschool children is the hypothesis that adequate intervention
may reduce the risk of COLD in adult life (Kerrebijn, 1982). To detect lung
function abnormalities at as young as possible ages suitable methods should be
available. Most lung function methods can only be performed in children over 6
years of age.
Lung function was measured with the forced pseudo-random noise oscillation
technique (FOT) (Uindser et al., 1976a) because only passive cooperation
is needed. Resistance (R,) and reactance (X,) of the respiratory system are
simultaneously measured over a frequency spectrum of 2 to 26 Hz. R, is mainly
determined by the patency of the upper and large airways. X, is influenced by
mass-inertial and elastic properties of the respiratory system.
The applicability ofFOT in preschool children was investigated. The method
is now suitable for use in clinical practice to measure lung function and BR in
children from about 2lfz years of age.
We measured airway patency, bronchial smooth muscle tone and BR in
preschool asthmatic children. Secondly, we investigated whether lung injury during
early influences the development of lung function and bronchial responsiveness
in children who do not have a genetic predisposition of asthma.
This was investigated in children who had infant bronchiolitis, in subjects
who survived infant bronchopulmonary dysplasia after neonatal respiratory distress
syndrome and in individuals who experienced a near-drowning accident.
The results are compared to data found in healthy controls.


The Force Density Method has been traditionally employed to seek the equilibrium shape of tension structures. Recently, the use of a process based on topology has been introduced to provide a first network in which the Force Density Method can be applied. Compression-only structures such as vaults and domes can also be modelled by means of the former approach if this is modified to get a design process similar to the Gaudí's one based on hanging models. The conjunction of Topological Mapping and the Forced Density Method is first explained in the form-finding process of tension structures and, later on, the modifications to that approach are introduced so that an iterative procedure is obtained to get equilibrium shapes of compression-only structures. The versatility of this novel approach is presented by means of the analysis of some representative examples


The article discusses the main achievements and failures of fiscal policy in the European Union. It also examines potential scenarios for EU fiscal policy. The article looks at how EU member states approach the idea of transferring fiscal policy tools from the national to the EU level. In this context, the author discusses the advantages and disadvantages of a common EU fiscal policy. The assessment of this policy is influenced by temporary factors such as a financial crisis. To offer a broader picture, the author analyzes the current economic situation in the EU and the implications of the latest financial crisis. The article also refers to past challenges, achievements and obstacles to a sustainable fiscal policy, starting from the 1970s. The methodology adopted by the author is based on an analytical approach that makes it possible to assess the collective efforts of member states to harmonize their national fiscal policies. The adopted method also makes it possible to examine the adequacy of anti-crisis measures taken by member states. In addition, the author uses a comparative method to present the diversity of political cultures, preferences and challenges stemming from the size of national economies. The results of the analysis show that the governments of individual member states are aware of the need for greater flexibility in negotiations on harmonizing fiscal policies at the EU level and are ready to reduce their fiscal sovereignty (as evidenced by the outcomes of anti-crisis summits). However, a further transfer of fiscal powers or fiscal unity do not mean that national governments will be completely deprived of control over fiscal policy, at least not for now, the author says.


Two community colleges and two state universities in central Massachusetts developed a collaborative partnership of faculty assessment teams using institutionally developed rubrics and the LEAP VALUE Written Communication rubric to compare the scoring results and record perceptions of the scoring process itself. Qualitative analysis revealed that while there were differences in interpretations of terminology impacting the assessor confidence and voice when applying both the national and local rubrics to score student work, the process of explicating what goes into selecting a score was central to the process of judging student artifacts. Despite the differences in interpretation of language, quantitative data demonstrated that the LEAP VALUE rubric in its original form or slightly modified allowed assessors to detect significant differences in freshman and sophomore writing samples. By creating a shared partnership for assessment using a mixed-methods approach faculty were able to discuss the requisite level of proficiency in written communication for successful transfer. Translating this knowledge into the types of assignment prompts and assessments needed to measure and communicate a student's proficiency may help to maximize the transfer success for academically at-risk students—indeed, for all students.


Objective. To describe the perception of the quality of life of family caregivers of adult individuals with cancer. Methodology. Descriptive study conducted in 2008 with a convenience sample of 209 caregivers of adults with cancer who attended oncology units in Medellin, Colombia. The instrument proposed by Ferrell et al., was used to measure the quality of life of the family member caring for the patient, which evaluates quality of life through 37 items that integrate their meaning in the: physical (5 items), psychological (16 items), spiritual (9 items), and social (7 items) well-being. The evaluation of each item is conducted through a Likert-type scale from 1 to 4. Interpretation of the total score and by subscale is an inverse relationship between the score and the deterioration of the caregiver's state. Results. The participants perceive as most affected the dimensions from the physical (83.2%), psychological (80.9%), and social well-being (75.6%) quality of life scale. The spiritual dimension was the least affected (9.1%). Conclusion. Caregivers of adult patients with cancer have a negative perception of their quality of life. Nursing should participate to support these caregivers


Extreme storms in South Africa and specifically in the Western Cape have been responsible for widespread destruction to property and infrastructure, even leading to displacement and death. The occurrences of these storms have been increasingly linked to human-induced climate change that is expected to cause more variable weather. Studies on climate circulation models for future climate conditions project that rainfall in the Western Cape and wider South African region is to become more intense and extreme. Sub-daily rainfall for 3 stations in the Western Cape and 4 stations in the rest of South Africa were analysed in order to determine if any trends towards more intense and extreme rainfall are observed and whether the trend is unique to the Western Cape or indicates a wider trend. This study explores this expectation by using historical short-duration rainfall (less than 24 h) for 7 stations in the Western Cape and South African region. Digitised autographic and automatic weather station 5-min rainfall data were combined to extend the effective record length. Both the magnitude and frequency of occurrence of rainfall events were analysed to assess if rainfall intensities are showing any evidence of increasing over time. For the magnitude of rainfall events, extreme value theory was applied to non-stationary sequences, using both a parametric and non-parametric approach for both event maxima and peaks over threshold modelling. The frequency analysis entailed measuring the frequency of exceedance of rainfall events over a certain threshold value. Both the magnitude and frequency analysis indicated that the combination of the two record types influenced the results of some of the stations, while the others showed no consistent evidence of changing rainfall intensities. This led to the conclusion that, from the available observed short-duration record, no evidence was found of trends or indications of changes in rainfall intensities. Keywords : climate change, short duration rainfall, extreme value theory, non-stationary


paring different drugs for the treatment of serious arrhythmias. It does not follow, however, that the data obtained from such "single drug" studies are of no value. For example, in many studies using intracardiac techniques, tape monitoring, or exercise testing the patient acts as his own control and drug effect (or lack of it) can be accurately documented. There is now very good evidence that the acute effect of a drug on a ventricular tachycardia correlates well with long term suppression of the arrhythmia and prolonged survival.9 Rigorously controlled comparisons of drugs in this patient group would be clinically inappropriate and beset with ethical difficulties. We believe there is no place for an empirical approach to the treatment of tachycardias. Careful analysis of spontaneous recordings should allow correct diagnosis in most cases. Armed with this information and the clinical pattern of the arrhythmia, the physician should be able rationally to select a drug with known effects with a high chance of therapeutic success. DAVID WARD


The tenth annual summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) in Astana, Kazakhstan, on June 15 was a milestone in the history of the institution. The organization comprising China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan has gained a reputation as a possible strategic rival to American and Western interests throughout Central Asia. Current signs suggest that SCO membership may increase and the organization could become a more prominent regional geopolitical actor.


Sustainable drainage systems (SuDS) can be a key tool in the management of extremes of rainfall, due to their capacity to attenuate and treat surface water. Yet, implementation is a complex process, requiring buy-in from multiple stakeholders. Buy-in is often undermined by a lack of practical evidence and monitoring of implemented SuDS. In this paper, we present a collaborative case study between a local authority, university and the UK Environment Agency. This partnership approach enabled the installation of SuDS and monitoring equipment to address surface runoff in the north east of England. Ultrasonic sensors were installed in the drainage network to evaluate the attenuation of surface water. SuDS were installed during an atypically wet spring, followed by a hot and dry summer, providing a range of conditions to assess their performance. Results demonstrate that there was a statistically significant difference in the detected flow level in manholes downstream of the SuDS interventions. Several challenges occurred, from signal obstacles in wireless telecommunication services, to logistical constraints of installing sensors in the drainage network, and issues with the adoption of property level SuDS. These issues require further research. Qualitative support for partnership working was crucial to increase the capacity for delivering SuDS. To ensure the success of future schemes and likelihood of SuDS uptake, partnership working and engaging with communities is vital.


Photodissociation pathways of HNO3 involving the four lowest electronic singlet states (S0, S1, S2 and S3) were studied by the MS-CAS(12e,8o)PT2/6-31+G* method. All critical points, i.e. minima, transition states and minimum energy conical intersections, were explored systematically by the global reaction route mapping (GRRM) strategy utilizing the anharmonic downward distortion following (ADDF) method. Some key structures were also optimized at the MS-CAS(16e,12o)PT2/aug-cc-pVDZ level. Based on structures and relative energies of these critical points, we discussed the wavelength-dependent photodissociation mechanism of HNO3 in detail. The OH(X(2)Π) dissociation was found to occur through four pathways on the S1, S2, and S3 surfaces depending on the excitation energy, and one of the four pathways was shown to undergo the excited state roaming mechanism. The experimental appearance energy of the O((1)D) dissociation channel at 538.8 kJ mol(-1) was attributed to a conical intersection between the S2 and S3 surfaces. It has been shown experimentally that the O((1)D) channel was dominant at the higher excitation energy. In this study, its mechanistic reason was explained by the shape of the S3 surface and locations of important critical points.


A detection scheme is proposed for targets in a correlated interference environment. The scheme does not require training data but uses the bootstrap to estimate the distribution of the test statistic under the null hypothesis directly from the received data. It also provides estimates of the frequency and phase of the target return as by-products. Simulation results are provided that indicate its performance for correlated Gaussian and non-Gaussian interference. Good detection of 100% is achievable at -5 dB signal-to-noise ratio for sample sizes as small as 500 data points.


This paper describes a digital storytelling project, completed with two classes of "non-college bound" Seniors at Shady Grove High School in the Midwestern United States. Using narrative inquiry as a methodological framework, student's stories were examined and considered as meaningful contributions to current knowledge about issues in rural education. Three broad themes revealed themselves in the student's work: 1. High school is viewed solely as a pipeline to college, 2. High school is not seen as "useful" or meaningful for students with career aspirations that do not require a four-year college degree, and 3. High school is mediated through the relationships formed there (teacher and peer). This project revealed the complex and complicated ways in which one group of rural students engaged with digital literacies to reflect on who they are, how they see themselves, and how they view their educational experiences connecting to their future selves.


In this paper, the torsional rigidity of the composite sections formed by different materials is obtained by using a finite element procedure. In the derivation of the differential equation, the Saint-Venant's stress function was used. The obtained partial differential equation was discretized by finite elements to get the potentials in the nodal points. After the calculations of the unknown potentials on the composite cross-section, the torsional rigidity is calculated by integrating the potentials on the solution domain. To test the validity of the proposed algorithm, the available analytical and numerical results from the previous studies were studied. It was seen that this new algorithm is efficient and simpler than the previous ones.


An explosion is defined as a large-scale, rapid and sudden release of energy. Explosions, such as a bomb explosion within or immediately nearby a building and a gas-chemical explosion, can cause catastrophic damage on the building's frames, collapsing of walls, blowing out of large expanses of windows, and shutting down of critical life-safety systems. In fact, an explosion may result in large dynamic loads, greater than the original design loads, of many structures. Blast phenomenon and blast efforts have been made during the past several decades to develop methods of structural analysis and design to resist blast loads. The analysis and design of structures subjected to blast loads require a detailed understanding of blast phenomena and the dynamic response of various structural elements. This paper introduces different methods to estimate blast loads, also presents a comprehensive overview of the effects of explosion on RC structures.


Artificial neural networks (ANNs) are being used increasingly to predict water variables. This study offers an alternative approach to quantify the relationship between time of chlorination in potable water (due to convectional treatment procedure) and chlorination by-products concentration (expressed as carbon and bromine) with an ANN model, i.e., capturing non-linear relationships among the water quality variables. Thus, carbon and bromine concentrations in potable water (the second chosen due to the toxicity of brominated trihalomethanes, THMs) were predicted using artificial neural networks (ANNs) based mainly on multi-layer perceptrons (MLPs) architecture. The chlorination (detention) time as much as 58 hours in Athens distributed network, comprised the input variables to the ANNs models. Moreover, to develop an ANN model for estimating carbon and bromine, the available data set was partitioned into training, validation and test set. In order to reach an optimum amount of hidden layers or nodes, different architectures were tested. The quality of the ANN simulations was evaluated in terms of the error in the validation sample set for the proper interpretation of the results. The calculated sum-squared errors for training, validation and test set were 0.056, 0.039 and 0.060 respectively for the best model selected. Comparison of the results showed that a two-layer feed-forward back propagation ANN model could be used as an acceptable model for predicting carbon and bromine contained in potable water THMs.


Study Design. This report details the sudden catastrophic neurologic deterioration concerning a patient with an acute fracture of T5 associated with osteoporosis. Objective. To describe a unique presentation of abrupt spinal cord injury in this condition. Summary of Background Data. Vertebral fractures occur frequently in osteoporosis, but associated spinal cord injury is a rare occurrence. When neurologic injury occurs it is generally of a very low incidence and with a gradual onset, and spontaneous recovery can be expected. Most reports in the literature are of delayed-onset paraplegia after vertebral collapse. We report a unique case of a sudden and catastrophic thoracic spinal cord injury occurring spontaneously. Methods. An 88-year-old woman had a sudden thoracic vertebral fracture with complete spinal cord injury while attempting to get out of bed. She was treated with continuous oral corticosteroids for >40 years for both rheumatoid arthritis and restrictive lung disease. She was never investigated or treated for osteoporosis. Results. Plain radiographs indicated multilevel osteoporotic fractures throughout the spine with diffuse, marked osteopenia. Magnetic resonance imaging scans showed changes in keeping with severe vertebral osteoporosis and spinal cord injury. She was treated nonoperatively in view of the extremely osteoporotic spine and her overall poor medical condition. Despite an initial improvement in her respiratory condition with medical therapy, she died 72 hours following admission. Conclusion. With increasing awareness of the morbidity attached to the osteoporotic spine, investigation and pharmacologic treatment are warranted and may reduce the possibility of catastrophic neurologic impairment as occurred in this case.


Trophic levels can be applied to describe the ecological role of organisms in food webs and assess changes in ecosystems. Stable isotopes analysis can assist in the understanding of trophic interactions and use of food resources by aquatic organisms. The local ecological knowledge (LEK) of fishers can be an alternative to advance understanding about fish trophic interactions and to construct aquatic food webs, especially in regions lacking research capacity. The objectives of this study are: to calculate the trophic levels of six fish species important to fishing by combining data from stable isotopes analysis and fishers' LEK in two clear water rivers (Tapajós and Tocantins) in the Brazilian Amazon; to compare the trophic levels of these fish between the two methods (stable isotopes analysis and LEK) and the two rivers; and to develop diagrams representing the trophic webs of the main fish prey and predators based on fisher's LEK. The fish species studied were Pescada (Plagioscion squamosissimus), Tucunaré (Cichla pinima), Piranha (Serrasalmus rhombeus), Aracu (Leporinus fasciatus), Charuto (Hemiodus unimaculatus), and Jaraqui (Semaprochilodus spp.). A total of 98 interviews and 63 samples for stable isotopes analysis were carried out in both rivers. The average fish trophic levels did not differ between the stable isotopes analysis and the LEK in the Tapajós, nor in the Tocantins Rivers. The overall trophic level of the studied fish species obtained through the LEK did not differ from data obtained through the stable isotopes analysis in both rivers, except for the Aracu in the Tapajós River. The main food items consumed by the fish according to fishers' LEK did agree with fish diets as described in the biological literature. Fishers provided useful information on fish predators and feeding habits of endangered species, such as river dolphin and river otter. Collaboration with fishers through LEK studies can be a viable approach to produce reliable data on fish trophic ecology to improve fisheries management and species conservation in tropical freshwater environments and other regions with data limitations.


Carbohydrates that migrate to wood surfaces in sapwood during drying might influence properties such as mould susceptibility and colour. Sugars on the surface of Norway spruce boards during various heat treatments were studied. Samples (350mmx125mmx25mm) were double-stacked, facing sapwood-side outwards, and dried at 110oC to a target moisture content (MC) of 40%. Dried sub-samples (80 mm x 125 mm x 25 mm) were stacked in a similar way and further heated at 110oC and at 130oC for 12, 24, and 36 hours, respectively. Glucose, fructose, and sucrose as well as 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) and furfural in the sapwood surface layer of treated wood were analysed using HPLC (RI- and UV-detectors). Carbohydrates degraded to a lower extent at 110oC than at 130oC. Furfural and to a larger extent HMF increased with treatment period and temperature. Heat treatment led to a decrease in lightness and hue of the sapwood surface of sub-samples, while chroma increased somewhat. Furthermore, considerably faster degradation (within a few minutes) of the carbohydrates on the surface of the dried spruce boards was observed when single sub-samples were conductively hot pressed at 200oC. Treatment period and initial MC influenced the presence of the carbohydrates in wood surface as well as colour change (Eab) of the hot pressed sub-samples.


Abstract The effect of pressure on the naturally occurring hydroxide-perovskite stottite, FeGe(OH)6, has been studied in situ by micro-Raman spectroscopy to 21 GPa at 300 K. The ambient spectrum contains six OH-stretching bands in the range 3064−3352 cm−1. The presence of six non-equivalent OH groups is inconsistent with space group P42/n. In view of this inconsistency a new ambient structure determination of stottite from Tsumeb was carried out, but this did not allow the clear rejection of P42/n symmetry. However, a successful refinement was also carried out in space group P2/n, a subgroup of P42/n, which allows for six non-equivalent O atoms. The two refinements are of comparable quality and do not allow a choice to be made based purely on the X-ray data. However, taken with the ambient and 150 K Raman spectra, a good case can be made for stottite having P2/n symmetry at ambient conditions. On this basis, the pressure induced spectroscopic changes are interpreted in terms of a reversible phase transition P2/n ↔ P42/n.


The Affordable Care Act provides advanced premium tax credits to millions of Americans to help with the cost of purchasing private health insurance on the new health insurance marketplaces. The amount of subsidy a family qualifies for is based on their projected income for the year ahead. However, since income is fairly unpredictable, some families end up qualifying for a larger tax credit when they do their taxes, while others end up with a smaller credit and must repay what they received throughout the year. In the first year of this reconciliation process, half of those who received advanced premium tax credits had to pay at least a part back. This outcome is consistent with recent literature in behavioral economics, which explores psychological, social, and cognitive influences on decision-making. This paper explores the reconciliation problem and possible approaches to reducing or eliminating it.


In this article, I show that crosslinguistically, there is a recurring pattern in various ellipsis constructions (e.g., fragment answers, right-dislocation, right-node raising, VP-ellipsis), to the effect that parts of a remnant can be additionally deleted under adjacency to a deletion site, often ignoring constituency. I argue that the phenomenon in question follows from the fact that PF deletion, being an operation in the component determining linear order, targets linearized strings, similarly to the fact that movement, being an operation in the component determining hierarchical relations, targets constituents.


"L'Abbe C" is a shocking, unnerving narrative about the intense and terrifying relationship between twin brothers. Charles is a modern libertine, dedicated to vice and depravity, while Robert is a priest so devout that he is nicknamed 'l'Abbe'. When the sexually wild Eponine intrudes upon their suffocating relationship, anguish, delirium, and death ensue. Charged with sensuality and a heightened, dreamlike atmosphere, this novel portrays the darkest and most profound aspects of human experience.


The hysteresis loop effect on the solar activity as coronal index (CI) and solar flare index (SFI) over cosmic ray intensity (CRI) at the low cut-off rigidities neutron monitoring station Oulu on the monthly basis data for the period January 1, 1986 to December 31, 2008 has been studied. It is observed that the shape of the hysteresis loops is varying from solar cycle 22 to 23. The hysteresis loops for solar cycle 23 are broad ovals whereas for solar cycle 22 are nearly flat. A complementary feature of the cosmic ray intensity decreases more rapidly as the increase in solar activity (coronal index and solar flare index). The positive solar polar magnetic parameter (A>0) and negative solar polar magnetic parameter (A<0) is representing the hysteresis loops.


We describe an approach to support athletes at various fitness levels in their training load analysis using heart rate (HR) and heart rate variability (HRV). A smartphone-based application (HRV4Training) was developed that captures heart activity over one to five minutes using photoplethysmography (PPG) and derives HR and HRV features. HRV4Training integrated a guide for an early morning spot measurement protocol and a questionnaire to capture self-reported training activity. The smartphone application was made publicly available for interested users to quantify training effect. Here we analyze data acquired over a period of 3 weeks to 5 months, including 797 users, breaking down results by gender and age group. Our results suggest a strong relation between HR, HRV and self-reported training load independent of gender and age group. HRV changes due to training were larger than those of HR. We conclude that smartphone-based training monitoring is feasible and a can be used as a practical tool to support large populations outside controlled laboratory environments.


It is common in moderation analysis that at least one of the target moderation variables is latent and measured with measurement error. This article compares six methods for latent moderation analysis: multigroup, means, corrected means, factor scores, product indicators, and latent product. It reviews their use in marketing research, describes their assumptions, and compares their performance with Monte Carlo simulations. Several recommendations follow from the results. First, although the means method is the most frequently used method in the review (95% of articles), it should only be used when reliabilities of the moderation variables are close to 1, which is rare. Then, all methods except the multigroup method perform similarly well. Second, the results support using the factor scores method and latent product method when reliabilities are smaller than 1. These methods perform best with parameter and standard error bias less than or equal to 5% under most investigated conditions. Third, specific settings can warrant using the multigroup method (if the moderator is discrete), the corrected means method (if moderation variables are single indicators), and the product indicators method (if indicators are nonnormally distributed). Practical guidelines and sample code for four statistical platforms (SPSS, Stata, R, and Mplus) are provided.


A generalized Yee-algorithm is presented for the temporal full-wave analysis of microwave monolithic integrated circuit (MMIC) devices. This algorithm has the significant advantage over the traditional Yee-algorithm in that it is based on unstructured and irregular grids. Thus, using the generalized Yee-algorithm, MMIC devices that contain curved conductors or complex geometries can be more accurately and conveniently modeled using standard automatic grid generation techniques. The generalized Yee-algorithm is based on the time-marching solution of the discrete form of Maxwell's equations in their integral form. A correction scheme is introduced that is stable, maintains second-order accuracy, and maintains the divergenceless nature of the flux densities. Furthermore, by structuring the algorithm as a series of sparse matrix-vector multiplications, the generalized Yee-algorithm can be efficiently implemented on vector or parallel high performance computers.


While language embeddings have been shown to have stereotyping biases, how these biases affect downstream question answering (QA) models remains unexplored. We present UNQOVER, a general framework to probe and quantify biases through underspecified questions. We show that a naive use of model scores can lead to incorrect bias estimates due to two forms of reasoning errors: positional dependence and question independence. We design a formalism that isolates the aforementioned errors. As case studies, we use this metric to analyze four important classes of stereotypes: gender, nationality, ethnicity, and religion. We probe five transformer-based QA models trained on two QA datasets, along with their underlying language models. Our broad study reveals that (1) all these models, with and without fine-tuning, have notable stereotyping biases in these classes; (2) larger models often have higher bias; and (3) the effect of fine-tuning on bias varies strongly with the dataset and the model size.


ABSTRACT Large-scale land-use change driven by residential development has degraded native ecosystems and altered the composition of species communities. Concern over the loss of habitat for human-sensitive species has led to questions about how housing impacts bird communities along the urban to rural gradient. Yet most studies of birds in residential ecosystems are limited to the breeding season, thus the effects of housing on avian habitat use in winter are not well understood. We surveyed winter resident birds, vegetation cover and structure, and human activity along a housing gradient in a Colorado landscape undergoing exurban development. Using an occupancy-based approach, we evaluated models for species with sufficient detections (n = 8). We found that habitat use by six species [American Robin (Turdus migratorius), Black-billed Magpie (Pica hudsonia), Dark-eyed Junco (Junco hyemalis), Downy Woodpecker (Picoides pubescens), Pygmy Nuthatch (Sitta pygmaea), Townsend's Solitaire (Myadestes townsendi)] was positively associated with housing density at scales ranging from 100–1,000 m. In contrast, habitat use by two species [Mountain Chickadee (Poecile gambeli) and Steller's Jay (Cyanocitta stelleri)] was negatively associated with housing proximity, and human activity had no effect on habitat use for any species. Canopy cover or understory vegetation cover and structure were important covariates for predicting habitat use of all species modeled. Our results suggest that to maximize the value of residential areas for a diverse wintering bird community, areas with natural vegetation should be incorporated into development planning. Overall, we found that the resident winter birds evaluated in our study were resilient to development in exurban areas. Indeed, these species may be opportunistic in occupying residential habitats that allow them to exploit anthropogenic resources during an energetically expensive time of year.


Today, 189 out of 193 officially recognised nation-states have a written constitution, and 75% of these have been ratified since 1975. How did this worldwide diffusion of constitutions come about? In this book, Wim Voermans traces the varied and surprising story of constitutions since the agricultural revolution of c.10,000 bce. Adopting an interdisciplinary approach, Voermans shows how human evolution, human nature and the history of thought have all played their part in shaping modern constitutions. Constitutions, in turn, have shaped our societies, creating imagined communities of trust and recognition that allow us to successfully co-operate with one another. Engagingly and wittily told, the story of constitutions is vital to understanding our world, our civilisations and, most significantly, ourselves.


The Online Enrolment Reservation System with SMS notification Implementing Descriptive Analytic was proposed in replacement of the Manual Enrolment System of the institution for it to have an organized flow of transaction and an ease of work especially to the administrators of Binan City Senior High School. As the enrollees increase every year, enrolment procedure becomes harder to deal, this also a big help to all enrolment staff, especially under the computer department because they are the one who are entitled to head and update the information in the database. Having this system helps the school in upgrading the enrolment process so as they meeting the qualities that we are trying to achieve. Today, the use of the technology has been an effective tool on improving such as kind of enrolment system.


In this study, the antioxidant activity of ethanol extract of Salvia halophila Hedge (Lamiaceae) was evaluated by 2 antioxidant assays, including phosphomolybdenum reduction and free radical scavenging activity. The ethanol extract showed free radical scavenging activity with IC50 of 67.73 mg/mL in 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) assay. The antioxidant activity of the extract was found to be 84.87 ± 0.7 mg ascorbic acid equivalent (AAE)/g extract in phosphomolybdenum assay. In the addition to the antioxidant activity of the extract, the total phenolic content was measured. Total phenolic content of ethanol extract was found to be 8.21 ± 0.0 mg gallic acid equivalent (GAE)/g extract. Antimicrobial activity of the extract was examined against 13 bacteria and 2 yeasts by agar diffusion method. The ethanol extract of S. halophila had no effect against the tested yeasts. The ethanol extract showed antibacterial activity against all of the tested Gram (+) bacteria except Listeria monocytogenes at 1%, 2.5%, 5%, and 10% concentrations. The ethanol extract had no effect on the entire tested Gram (-) bacteria except Aeromonas hydrophila and Pseudomonas aeruginosa.


Research indicates that children do not typically understand the connection between counting and cardinality for several months after learning to count, yet parents speak to 3-year-olds as though they already understood the significance of counting. The present research was designed to investigate mothers' awareness of the discrepancy between children's procedural and conceptual mastery of counting. In Study 1 mothers of a hundred 3- to 41/2-year-olds completed an anonymous questionnaire asking them to anticipate how their child would respond to a series of real-life vignettes based on widely used experimental measures of cardinal understanding. Most anticipated that their child, irrespective of age, would (1) understand the significance of the last word of a count, and (2) be able accurately to give a specified non-subitizable number of objects. Comparison with the performance of 54 children from the same local population supported the hypothesis that parents overestimate children's understanding of the cardinal significance of counting. Mothers reported a range of impromptu number-related activities in which their child had recently participated at home; most of these involved simple procedural counting. In Study 2, 35 mothers of 3- to 41/2-year-olds completed a modified questionnaire concerning procedural aspects of counting as well as cardinality; their responses were then compared with the performance of their own children. Again, mothers overestimated their children's cardinal understanding, but this was shown not to be a result of a general tendency to overestimate their counting abilities. It is suggested that preschoolers' counting generally occurs during joint activities in which caregivers may be unaware of the support that they provide, and, provided that the jointly executed count procedures are error-free, parents implicitly assume a 'common knowledge' regarding the cardinal significance of counting.


Analyses of plasma membrane and other subcellular fractions indicate that the primary location of cytochrome b in human neutrophils is not the plasma membrane. The procedure developed for the purification of plasma membrane from fresh human neutrophils yielded a 14-fold enrichment in the marker enzyme 5'-nucleotidase and a 10-fold enrichment in ouabain-sensitive ATPase. On sucrose density gradients, the peak density of 5'-nucleotidase activity was 1.12 g/ml, and was shifted after digitonin addition to 1.15 g/ml. Protein in the plasma membrane equalled approximately 8 percent of the whole cell protein. A b-type cytochrome was found to be present in the plasma membrane fraction at a concentration of 205 pmol/mg of protein, which is three times greater than that in the neutrophil overall. Although this cytochrome has been reported previously in the neutrophil, this is the first determination for purified plasma membrane and may indicate that b-type cytochrome has a dual localization in the human neutrophil. Differential centrifugation results suggest that the primary location is in the granules, probably specific granules. Quinone content in the plasma membrane was found to be 740 pmol/mg of protein, a concentration two times greater than in the whole cell. Such a small enhancement of quinone indicates that quinone also is not primarily located in the plasma membrane.


The competitive ability of phytoplankton cells is simulated in a model chemostat in which cell size is considered to be an adaptive trait. Parameters describing nutrient uptake kinetics are constrained by empirically derived allometric rules. With a steady input of a single nutrient, the evolutionarily stable cell size is selected through competition among phytoplankton. We find that large cells may be favored when (1) phytoplankton growth is limited by the rate at which internally stored inorganic nutrients can be converted into biomass, and (2) maximum quotas increase with size faster than minimum quotas. Increased internal quotas then accelerate the rate of biomass production in large cells, despite their enhanced requirements for resources. The evolutionarily stable strategy is set by the allometric relationships for nutrient uptake kinetics and by metabolism.


The present research focused on the phenomenon of motivational contagion while being physically active. It can be assumed that communication with significant others impacts upon a person's behavior in situations where communication or interaction is not explicitly intended to change behavior. Specifically, the purpose of the two present studies was to examine the effect of positive (i.e., intrinsically connoted) and negative (i.e., extrinsically connoted) self-disclosure from a confederate on the motivational state of an individual simultaneously exercising with the confederate. These studies sought to replicate the experimental study of Scarapicchia, Andersen, & Bengoechea (2013). In addition, to test the further assumption that the relationship impacts upon contagion processes, we included a short team-building intervention involving our confederate and the participant in order to manipulate the relationship quality (Study 1) and to compare friends with strangers (Study 2). Our results show that the participants who were exposed to the intrinsic cues (e.g., "I enjoy riding the bike, it's great that there is a study about it") reported greater interest and enjoyment while exercising on the bicycle ergometer than those who were exposed to extrinsic cues (e.g., "I don't enjoy cycling at all. I'm only participating because my teacher told me to do so"). The relationship between the confederate and participant was not found to affect the main effect.


The fracture behavior of a brittle coating on an elastic substrate under residual stress is investigated. Using a mechanical model, the analytical solutions for the distribution laws of the tensile stress developed in the coating, the shear stress developed along the interface and the relationship between the crack density of the coating and the residual stress can be obtained. The analytic relationship between the crack density and the residual stress can also be taken as a new expression to estimate the magnitude of the residual stress. A numerical example is presented to show how the crack density varies versus the residual stress.


A localization technique using reliable, highly accurate, robust, inexpensive light beam sensors designed for mechanical assembly and manufacturing is presented. The technique involves passing polyhedral objects through a set of crossed beams and storing the positions when any beam is broken or reconnects. The geometrical constraints simplify the correspondence problem, so that it is solvable in linear time or can be solved using a precomputed hash table. The global minimum least-squared error pose is computed exactly using methods from algebra and numerical analysis. The limitations of this technique result from the beam sensor's limitations.<<ETX>>


An understanding of the speciation of iron catalyst precursor during reduction is an important piece of knowledge in Fischer–Tropsch Synthesis (FTS) reaction. The thermodynamics of the precursor speciation is governed by the reducing gases used, and this tends to influence the activity, selectivity and the catalyst life span. During catalyst reduction or FT synthesis, the interaction of reducing agents with Fe-based catalyst results in the formation of several gaseous components such as CO, H2, CO2 and H2O. The partial pressure of each gaseous component and operating conditions determine the predominant state of the catalyst. Catalyst speciation happens due to different partial pressures of the gaseous components, and as a result, the stable iron phases formed during catalyst reduction are those that are in equilibrium with the gas composition. Although the ratio of PH2/PH2O and PCO/PCO2 or the partial pressure of water and carbon dioxide does not have any appreciable effect on the deactivation by oxidation on the FT reaction rate in Cobalt catalysts, in the iron based catalyst deactivation by oxidation is predominant. Based on thermodynamic calculations of the FTS system, the maximum allowable oxygen partial pressure during catalyst activation is 1 × 10−45 bars. The oxygen partial pressure is therefore dependent on the PH2/PH2O and PCO2/PCO ratios, and the equilibrium constants.


Evaluating the rural communities capacity to manage changes is of paramount importance for effective Social Sustainability strategies identification. The aim of the present study is to analyze if social resilience can be integrated into the social assessment of rural communities, with the aim of implementing sustainability-oriented policies and strategies. A literature review was carried out on the Resilience approach definition and its application to the Social Assessment in rural areas. The analysis showed that the Resilience approach enriches the Social Assessment by focusing on the specific capabilities of the communities in managing changes. The Resilience perspective embraces the dynamic character of communities and human-ecosystem interactions providing a deeper understanding of how a community's positive response to change can be strengthened and supported. Moreover, the specific focus on rural communities highlights how strongly social and ecological resilience are intertwined in guaranteeing social sustainability which, in turn, is strictly interrelated with environmental and economic sustainability.


Design and control of human-like robots mimicking the motion using biped legs are still in demand. However, the vast majority of the biped robots are too heavy due to the number of actuators and their bulky design. Compliant designs can mimic the motions in nature through the large deformation of their compliant members and have the ability to be designed as a single piece thereby reducing the overall weight and increasing the performance of the mechanism. Biped robots specifically designed for walking currently existing in the literature often arranged in series form. Although serial design leads high flexibility, each link carries its actuator compromising the overall weight and stability. This paper presents the design and development of a bioinspired leg for biped robots without the requirement of actuation of the knee or addition of a spring element. Each leg is designed as a single piece by exploiting a compliant knee joint, 3D printed using TPU filament and actuated through a cam design using a servo motor. Servo motor is also attached to the trunk which serves as the torso of the robot body. Zero moment point (ZMP) analysis is performed by adopting simple cart-table and inverted pendulum methods. Stiffness of the compliant knee is obtained from multibody dynamic simulations in MSC Adams. The preliminary testing of the bio-inspired biped robot reveals that the robot performs successful periodic gait.


Ontology summarization has been recognized as a very useful technique to facilitate ontology understanding and then support ontology reuse as a new or supplementing technique. A number of efforts have emerged lately that apply different criteria, addressing different features of ontology, to extract ontology summaries. However, those efforts are ad-hoc in that there lacks consensus on a number of issues fundamental to the development of the field, such as a definition for ontology summarization, use case scenarios etc. Also, there lack sufficient evaluations and analysis, e.g. comparison among them and with other similar techniques, to provide meaning guidelines for users of this technique. With the aim to provide solutions to those fundamental issues, in this work, we present an analysis of this technique and its approaches. With the help of an objective evaluation method, we investigate what features of ontology are important in ontology summarization.


The rearing period has a key influence on dairy cows, affecting their future fertility, longevity and lifetime milk production. An age at first calving (AFC) close to 2 years (23-25 months) is optimum for economic performance as it allows sufficient growth while minimising the non-productive period and it also facilitates a seasonal calving pattern (Wathes and others 2014). In order to calve at 24 months, replacement heifers must have reached about 55% to 60% of their mature body weight at first service so that they can conceive by 15 months. For a typical Holstein type heifer this requires an average growth rate of about 750 g/d.
Ensuring that calves are born into a clean environment and then receive an adequate colostrum intake are both beneficial first steps towards rearing healthy calves (Patel and others 2014). A volume of 3-4 L colostrum (approximately 10% body weight) containing >50 g immunoglobulin (Ig)G/L and with a low bacterial count should ideally be fed within 2 h of birth and no later than 6 h. Adequate intake cannot be assumed when calves suckle their dam. New born calves have little body fat, so are also highly dependent on the lipids and lactose in colostrum as a source of energy. Other beneficial ingredients in colostrum include minerals, vitamins and antimicrobials. Despite the importance of colostrum, a recent survey of 102 UK dairy farms revealed that only 43% checked that colostrum quality was adequate and took appropriate steps if it was not (Boulton and others 2015). Risk of subsequent mortality and morbidity are increased by having a difficult calving and/or subsequent exposure to unhygienic facilities, cold stress or inadequate feed intake. We found that about 3.4% of heifer calves currently die within their first month, but this rate varied from 0-12% between farms, reflecting differences in management (Brickell and others 2009).
Feed accounts for nearly half the costs associated with pre-weaning management. Current UK nutritional practices during this period are extremely variable. Our survey found that reconstituted milk replacer (55%) was most common followed by whole milk (18%). This was usually fed warm by bucket (36%), multi teat feeder (24%) or automatic feeder (20%) The average volume of milk fed to a heifer calf per day was 4.58 ± 1.33 L but with a wide range of 2.1 to 12.6 L (Boulton and others 2015). These lower amounts would be insufficient to maintain a good growth rate particularly in temperatures below thermoneutral where more nutrients are required for maintenance. Previous studies have, however, found that heifers provided with intensified feeding programmes attain puberty, conceive and calve earlier and produce more milk during their first lactation (Wathes and others 2014). Weaning occurred at a mean age of 62 ± 13.3 days (range 42 to 112) and was most commonly based on age (53%) rather than size (19%) or feed intake (17%). This may also lead to later problems as there will be a post weaning growth check if calves are not consuming sufficient solid feed before weaning.
In summary, educating dairy producers to invest adequate resources into pre-weaned calf management offers scope for significant improvements in calf health and welfare and should pay long term dividends by providing better replacements into the herd.


Prior research has demonstrated that neither children nor adults hold a scientific understanding of the big ideas of astronomy, as described in standards documents for science education (National Research Council (1996). National science education standards. Washington, DC: National Academy Press; American Association for the Advancement of Science (1993). Benchmarks for science literacy. New York: Oxford University Press). This manuscript focuses on ideas in astronomy that are at the foundation of elementary students' understanding of the discipline: the apparent motion of the sun, moon, and stars as seen from an earth-based perspective. Lack of understanding of these concepts may hinder students' progress towards more advanced understanding in the domain. We have analyzed the logic of the domain and synthesized prior research assessing children's knowledge to develop a set of learning trajectories that describe how students' initial ideas about apparent celestial motion as they enter school can be built upon, through successively more sophisticated levels of understanding, to reach a level that aligns with the scientific view. Analysis of an instructional intervention with elementary students in the planetarium was used to test our initial construction of the learning trajectories. This manuscript presents a first look at the use of a learning progression framework in analyzing the structure of astronomy education. We discuss how this work may eventually lead towards the development and empirical testing of a full learning progression on the big idea: how children learn to describe and explain apparent patterns of celestial motion. 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 47: 768-787, 2010


The Adaptive Optics is the measurement and correction in real time of the wavefront aberration of the star light caused by the atmospheric turbulence, that limits the angular resolution of ground based telescopes and thus their capabilities to deep explore faint and crowded astronomical objects. The lack of natural stars enough bright to be used as reference sources for the Adaptive Optics, over a relevant fraction of the sky, led to the introduction of artificial reference stars. The so-called Laser Guide Stars are produced by exciting the Sodium atoms in a layer laying at 90km of altitude, by a powerful laser beam projected toward the sky. The possibility to turn on a reference star close to the scientific targets of interest has the drawback in an increased difficulty in the wavefront measuring, mainly due to the time instability of the Sodium layer density. These issues are increased with the telescope diameter. In view of the construction of the 42m diameter European Extremely Large Telescope a detailed investigation of the achievable performances of Adaptive Optics becomes mandatory to exploit its unique angular resolution .
The goal of this Thesis was to present a complete description of a laboratory Prototype development simulating a Shack-Hartmann wavefront sensor using Laser Guide Stars as references, in the expected conditions for a 42m telescope. From the conceptual design, through the opto-mechanical design, to the Assembly, Integration and Test, all the phases of the Prototype construction are explained. The tests carried out shown the reliability of the images produced by the Prototype that agreed with the numerical simulations. For this reason some possible upgrades regarding the opto-mechanical design are presented, to extend the system functionalities and let the Prototype become a more complete test bench to simulate the performances and drive the future Adaptive Optics modules design.


Media architecture exploits interactive technology to encourage passers-by to engage with an architectural environment. Whereas most media architecture installations focus on visual stimulation, we developed a permanent media facade that rhythmically knocks xylophone blocks embedded beneath 11 window sills, according to the human actions constantly traced via an overhead camera. In an attempt to overcome its apparent limitations in engaging passers-by more enduringly and purposefully, our study investigates the impact of feedforward learning, a constructive interaction method that instructs passers-by about the results of their actions. Based on a comparative (n=25) and a one-month in-the-wild (n=1877) study, we propose how feedforward learning could empower passers-by to understand the interaction of more abstract types of media architecture, and how particular quantitative indicators capturing this learning could predict how enduringly and purposefully a passer-might engage. We believe these contributions could inspire more creative integrations of non-visual modalities in future public interactive interventions.


Squamous cell carcinoma caused by ultraviolet light exposure represents over 40% of all malignant diseases. It is one of the most commonly found human tumours. Tumour mass within squamous cell carcinoma consists of various cell types, including cancer-initiating cells that are responsible for tumour progression, metastasis and chemoresistance and implicated in clinical relapse. In the present study, we aimed to characterise whether the cell population with high CD34 and α6-integrin expression behave as cancer-initiating cells within ultraviolet-induced squamous cell carcinoma in mouse skin. CD34highα6-integrinhigh compared to CD34lowα6-integrinhigh cells isolated from ultraviolet-induced squamous cell carcinoma could propagate effectively by displaying greater tumour initiating and self-renewal abilities. Our study suggests that CD34highα6-integrinhigh cells act as initiators upon ultraviolet-induced skin squamous cell carcinoma.


The residuals of liquid free-surface wave oscillations induced by a rest-to-rest crane maneuver of a suspended liquid container are eliminated using a command-shaped profile. The dynamics of liquid sloshing are modeled using an equivalent mechanical model based on a series of mass-spring-damper systems. The proposed model considers the excited frequencies of the container swing motion and liquid sloshing modes. The objective is to design a discrete-time shaped acceleration profile with a variable command length that controls the moving crane-jib, while suppressing the sloshing modes. Simulations are conducted to illustrate the command effectiveness in eliminating liquid sloshing with a wide variation range of system and command-designing parameters; liquid depth, cable length, command duration, and the employing of higher sloshing modes in representing the sloshing dynamics. The command sensitivity of the input command to changes of the system parameters are treated as well. A refined and smooth input command based on suppressing the residuals of multimodes is also introduced. Furthermore, the command effectiveness was supported by a comparison with the time-optimal flexible-body control and multimode zero vibration input shaper.


Incorporation of [3H]TTP into membrane-denuded nuclei and fractions of these nuclei from host liver and Morris hepatomas has been compared. Treatment of sucrose nuclei with Triton X-100 removed 95% of the phospholipids and 15 to 20% of the protein. These membrane-denuded nuclei remained physically stable. The Triton X-100-extracted nuclei incorporated label into their DNA in nuclear-incorporating system similar to sucrose nuclei with their membranes intact. Triton X-100-treated nuclei from hepatoma 7777 incorporated six times more label and those from hepatoma 7800 incorporated three times more label than Triton X-100-treated host liver nuclei. Nuclei from the three sources incorporated more label when exogenous DNA was added to the incubation system, but the difference in incorporation between the hepatoma nuclei and the host liver nuclei disappeared. When Triton X-100-treated nuclei, prepared from a tumor-bearing animal given injections of [3H]thymidine for 10 min were fractionated on sucrose gradients after disruption by high Mg2+ concentration, the fractions from hepatoma 7777 nuclei contained six times as much label as the host liver nuclear fractions. Nuclear fractions prepared from unabeled hepatomas or host livers had DNA polymerase activity. The activity, however, is the same in fractions prepared from hepatoma 7777 or host liver nuclei. It is suggested that the nuclear membrane does not play an important role in nuclear DNA synthesis. It is further suggested that the increased incorporation found with hepatoma nuclei is dependent on a physical or chemical arrangement of components within the nucleus and not solely on different enzyme levels.


Author(s): Budhu, Jordan | Advisor(s): Rahmat-Samii, Yahya | Abstract: Two novel aperture type antennas, both for next-generation space borne applications, are designed. The first is 3D printed, all-dielectric, inhomogeneous, shaped lens antenna designed to produce a conically scanned spinning spot beam. The electronic scan stems from a ring of feeds located along the ring focus designed into the azimuthally symmetric lens. The antenna is proposed for use in a space-borne scatterometer used to measure wind speeds upon the surface of the earth's oceans. The design requires the advent of a complex code hybridizing the Computational Electromagnetics method of Geometrical Optics with the optimization strategy of Particle Swarm Optimization. This code and its mathematical formulations, the resultant designs, and the measurements validating the codes and obtained designs are presented in this dissertation. The second is a new novel dual reflector Gregorian antenna system designed to meet the stringent requirements of the newly proposed CubeSat satellite paradigm by folding the optics into one of the most compact dual reflectors to date. The design combines a high gain reflectarray main aperture with an ellipsoidal subreflector fed by a patch array feed. The system is coplanar with the CubeSat chassis, deploying only the subreflector and thus has no moving cables or RF parts. This antenna design also requires a complex computer code to design. The code implemented to design the reflectarrays applies several novel acceleration strategies to the spectral domain method of moments algorithm in order to speed up the calculations. The theory and mathematical formulations behind this algorithm are also presented, as well as the resultant designs and measurements. The accelerated codes are used to design several Ka-Band reflectarrays. Measured and simulated results are provided.


Recently, considerable interest has focused on variable selection methods in regression situations where the number of predictors, $p$, is large relative to the number of observations, $n$. Two commonly applied variable selection approaches are the Lasso, which computes highly shrunk regression coefficients, and Forward Selection, which uses no shrinkage. We propose a new approach, "Forward-Lasso Adaptive SHrinkage" (FLASH), which includes the Lasso and Forward Selection as special cases, and can be used in both the linear regression and the Generalized Linear Model domains. As with the Lasso and Forward Selection, FLASH iteratively adds one variable to the model in a hierarchical fashion but, unlike these methods, at each step adjusts the level of shrinkage so as to optimize the selection of the next variable. We first present FLASH in the linear regression setting and show that it can be fitted using a variant of the computationally efficient LARS algorithm. Then, we extend FLASH to the GLM domain and demonstrate, through numerous simulations and real world data sets, as well as some theoretical analysis, that FLASH generally outperforms many competing approaches.


The Domain Name System (DNS) has been frequently abused for distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks and cache poisoning because it relies on the User Datagram Protocol (UDP). Since UDP is connection-less, it is trivial for an attacker to spoof the source of a DNS query or response. While other secure transport mechanisms provide identity management, such as the Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) and DNS Cookies, there is currently no method for a client to state that they only use a given protocol. This paper presents a new method to allow protocol enforcement: DNS Protocol Advertisement Records (DPAR). Advertisement records allow Internet Protocol (IP) address subnets to post a public record in the reverse DNS zone stating which DNS mechanisms are used by their clients. DNS servers may then look up this record and require a client to use the stated mechanism, in turn preventing an attacker from sending spoofed messages over UDP. In this paper, we define the specification for DNS Protocol Advertisement Records, considerations that were made, and comparisons to alternative approaches. We additionally estimate the effectiveness of advertisements in preventing DDoS attacks and the expected burden to DNS servers.


Sediments in rivers record the dynamics of erosion processes. While bulk sediment fluxes are easily and routinely obtained, sediment caliber remains underexplored when inferring erosion mechanisms. Yet sediment grain size distributions may be the key to discriminating their origin. We have studied grain size‐specific suspended sediment fluxes in the Kali Gandaki, a major trans‐Himalayan river. Two strategically located gauging stations enable tracing of sediment caliber on either side of the Himalayan orographic barrier. The data show that fine sediment input into the northern headwaters is persistent, while coarse sediment comes from the High Himalayas during the summer monsoon. A temporally matching landslide inventory similarly indicates the prominence of monsoon‐driven hillslope mass wasting. Thus, mechanisms of sediment supply can leave strong traces in the fluvial caliber, which could project well beyond the mountain front and add to the variability of the sedimentary record of orogen erosion.


A low concentrated polystyrene (PS) additive to epoxy is used, since it is able to reduce the curing reaction rate but not at the cost of increasing viscosity and decreasing glass transition temperature of the curing epoxy. The modified epoxy is cocured with a compatible thermoplastic interleaf during the vacuum assisted resin transfer molding (VARTM) to toughen the interlaminar of the composites. Using viscometry, the solubilities of thermoplastics (TPs) polycarbonate (PC), polyetherimide (PEI), and polysulfone (PSU) are determined to predict their compatibility with epoxy. The diffusion and precipitation process between the most compatible polymer PSU and epoxy formed semi-interpenetration networks (semi-IPN). To optimize bonding adhesion, these diffusion and precipitation regions were studied via optical microscopy under curing temperatures from 25 C to 120 C and PS additive concentrations to epoxy of 0–5%. Uniaxial tensile tests were performed to quantify the effects of diffusion and precipitation regions on composite delamination resistance and toughness. Crack paths were observed to characterize crack propagation and arrest mechanism. Fracture surfaces were examined by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) to characterize the toughening mechanism of the thermoplastic interleaf reinforcements. The chemically etched interface between diffusion and precipitation regions showed semi-IPN morphology at different curing temperatures. Results revealed deeper diffusion and precipitation regions increase energy required to break semi-IPN for crack propagation resulting in crack arrests and improved toughness. [DOI: 10.1115/1.4036126]