OBJECTIVE
To compare secretory responses to prostaglandin (PG) E(2) in mucosa obtained from the proximal and distal portions of the colon of dogs.

SAMPLE
Colonic mucosa from cadavers of 18 clinically normal adult dogs.

PROCEDURES
Short-circuit current (I(SC)) and maximum change in I(SC) (ΔI(sc)) in response to administration of 1μM PGE(2) were measured across mucosa obtained from the proximal and distal portions of the colon. Responses were evaluated in mucosa (n = 6 dogs) incubated in Ussing chambers with or without 1 mM amiloride or without chloride in the Ringer's bathing solution. Responses were also evaluated in mucosa (n = 9 dogs) incubated with or without pretreatment with 1 μM indomethacin, with or without amiloride in the subsequent bathing solution. Histologic changes in mucosa from 3 dogs were assessed over time.

RESULTS
I(SC) and ΔI(SC) were significantly reduced when chloride was removed from, but not when amiloride was added to, the bathing solution and were significantly reduced after pretreatment with indomethacin. The ΔI(SC) was significantly greater in mucosa from the distal portion of the colon than in the proximal portion of the colon. Histologic changes after incubation for 3 hours were minimal.

CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE
I(SC) and ΔI(SC) resulted from electrogenic chloride secretion. Chloride secretion was reduced when release of PGs was prevented by indomethacin and was induced by administration of PGE(2). Chloride secretion in response to PGE(2) was greater in mucosa from the distal portion of the colon than in mucosa from the proximal portion of the colon.


Background: Chlamydia is the most common STD in the United States (Mishori, McClaskey, & WinklerPrins, 2012). Due to the high reinfection rate of Chlamydia, the CDC recommends retesting three months after initial treatment (Park, Amey, Creegan, Barandas, & Bauer, 2010). Objective: The purpose of this study is to investigate strategies that might improve STD followup rates in a clinic setting. Methods: Public Health Dayton and Montgomery County STD clinic patients 18 years and older who tested positive for NonGonococcal Urethritis (NGU) or Mucopurulent Cervicitis (MPC) and who agreed to participate were given an opinion survey. Results: Of the 31 participants, 24 were female and seven were male. Twenty-two participants were Black; eight were White; one participant was other. When asked what caused most people to get tested for STDs, 22 said that signs/symptoms (71.0%). Almost half (48.4%) of participants believed a money incentive would most likely stimulate patients to retest for Chlamydia (48.4%). Participants believed that the two ways most people would prefer to be reminded for retesting were by phone call and text message. Nineteen of the 31 participants believed fear is the highest barrier to STD testing. Recommendations: Staff should send retest reminders using text messaging and phone calls, advise patients to retest after every positive Chlamydia test, and consider providing incentives for retesting. STD clinics need to educate the public on testing/retesting suggestions.


Ustilago trichophora is a pathogenic fungus infecting the grass of Echinochloa genus. The effect of this pathogen on the growth of Echinochloa was not yet described. Ustilago trichophora was found and described first time in Poland in 1998 on Echinochloa crus-galli specimen. Then U. trichophora was found in several places in the region of Lower Silesia in the following years. The aim of the investigation was to study the effects of Ustilago trichophora on the biometric parameters of plants as well as of seeds of Echinochloa crus-galli . The infected specimens of barnyards grass were found lower, they displayed poorer tillering and they produced a smaller number of panicles than the healthy plants. Seeds from infected bunches weight, were characterized by lower germination and energy capacity than the control ones.


From November 2007 to 0ctober 2009, we conducted a participative research, the main goals of which were (a) to implement and perpetuate a program of cooperation between parents and professionals for at-risk children at school and (b) to develop, jointly with school teams, a plan to create communities of practice. In the French-speaking part of Belgium, around twenty schools took part in this "Program of parents and professionals cooperation for at-risk children" (PAPPER). We will first present our goals and the method used. Afterwards, we will discuss different things, such as the difficulties inherent to a participative research, the richness in co-constructing knowledge and ability in a community of practice, the empowerment of the various actors (teachers, professionals from the CPMS (guidance service), parents) and the product of this research: the " Catalogue of useful resources".


Firstly, the fields of Translation and Lexicography are compared and their similarities and differences are brought to the fore. Later, a review of the (slightly scarce) literature on the topic shows that most of the work has focused on how translators use dictionaries, how useful they are, and which kinds of dictionaries are preferred, among other similar issues. It is highlighted that lexicographers show little interest in the field of translation, at least as a source for dictionary building. A few potential avenues of research are defined, which could be beneficial for translators and lexicographers alike. Palabras clave: Traduccion. Lexicografia. Diccionario. Diccionario bilingue.


Antarctic fish species possess very low metabolic rates and poor metabolic plasticity, thus making them extremely vulnerable to changing environmental conditions. Mitochondria are a key element in shaping whole organism energy turnover and functional capacities. In our study, we compared two nototheniid fish, the Austral black cod (Notothenia angustata, New Zealand) and the Antarctic marbled rockcod (Notothenia rossii, Antarctic Peninsula) for their abilities of metabolic compensation for rising temperature and PCO2 at the intracellular level. We acclimated N. angustata to control conditions (PCO2 of 0.04 kPa) and to an ambient PCO2 of 0.2 kPa for 11 days, and kept N. rossii at a PCO2 of 0.04 kPa. We assessed permeabilized heart fibre oxygen consumption at various respiratory states (e.g. state III complex I/ II, state IV (leak), uncoupled/ ETS capacity, complex IV) in acutely hypercapnic (PCO2 of 2 kPa, corresponds to intracellular PCO2 under 0.2 kPa ambient hypercapnia) vs. normocapnic (PCO2 of 0.04 kPa) respiration media. In all respiratory states, acute exposure to the hypercapnic respiration medium resulted in reduced mitochondrial capacities, in the Austral and the Antarctic notothenioids Yet, overall heart fibre respiration was higher in the hypercapnia acclimated N. angustata than in their control group. This suggests that chronic acclimation of the fish to moderately elevated PCO2 levels might enhance mitochondrial aerobic capacities, involving e.g. changes in enzyme capacities or mitochondrial proliferation. Our data indicate that while acute high PCO2 levels of 2 kPa reduce mitochondrial oxidative capacities in Austral and Antarctic notothenioids, at least the Austral fish seem to be able to compensate for these acutely reduced metabolic capacities by hypercapnia acclimation.


The subject of this paper is a critique of the selective theoretical modelings of economic realities, which are monistic (quasi-neoliberal) and mathematical-statistical in nature. In this sense, the theme named Contemporary Substitutes of the Political Economy is defined. The aim of this research is that the above-mentioned modeling of economic reality would be described as a deliberate motion from the analysis and explanation of fundamental economic problems towards secondary issues. Therefore, we characterize them as unfair and programmed ways of fogging the essence of economic problems and crisis. We start from the hypothesis that these modelings replaced and virtually eliminated the former synthesized and useful political-economic analysis. In this paper, we have used a descriptive, comparative methods, panel sample and a schematic logic modeling. The results of our research show that the substitution of political economy by neoclassical and neoliberal economics is performed over a longer period, and through prioritizing the mathematical and statistical econometric analysis. As a proof, we present our selective research panel using a sample of 39 issues from five international journals, which can be found in databases SSCI and Scopus. This research is limited by the unavailability of most journals on the Internet and in printed publications. The application area of the research results is an economic theory. In conclusion, we ascertain the need for greater affirmation of political economy, which in combination with new institutional theory, enables a more realistic view of social and economic reality.


BACKGROUND
Hypertension is the main independent cardiovascular risk factor. However, there are additional factors that induce organic damage.

AIM
To assess the association between hyperinsulinemia, ventricular hypertrophy and left ventricular diastolic function.

PATIENTS AND METHODS
Seventy-four patients aged 30 to 65 years, with mild or moderate systemic hypertension, with overweight or mild obesity and normal glucose tolerance curve (GTC), were studied. Serum insulin was measured during GTC. The maximum levels of insulin and glucose were observed 60 minutes after the oral glucose load and they were expressed as rG/1. Patients were stratified in three groups according to their glucose and insulin fasting levels (I0) and post-glucose challenge levels (rG/I): Group 1 (normoinsulinemic patients) I0 <17 mU/mL and rG/I >2 (2.45+0.4). Group 2 (post-prandial hyperinsulinemic patients) I0 <17 mU/mL and rG/I <2> 1 (1.34+0.3). Group 3 (persistently hyperinsulinemic patients) I0 >17 mU/mL and <1 (0.7+0.3). Left ventricular mass and its diastolic function were measured by Doppler echocardiography.

RESULTS
No differences in blood pressure or age were observed between groups. There was a negative correlation between ventricular mass and rG/1 (r =-0.282, p =0.015). Left ventricular diastolic dysfunction was significantly more deteriorated in group 3, as compared with group 1 (p <0.001 ANOVA). There was a significant correlation between g/GI and diastolic dysfunction (r =0.232 p =0.047).

CONCLUSIONS
Fasting, post challenge hyperinsulinemia and a rG/I <1 are associated with higher ventricular mass and left ventricular diastolic dysfunction, independent of blood pressure and age.


We firstly report on the fabrication of Cu(2+)-doped germano-silicate glass fiber for nonlinear optical devices application by using modified chemical vapor deposition and solution doping processes. Broadband absorption near 700nm due to the 3d-shell electron transitions of Cu(2+) ions from the ground state to the excited states was observed. The resonant nonlinearity of the Cu(2+)-doped fiber was estimated to be 5.5x10(-17)m(2)/W by measuring the phase shift of the fringes obtained from the long-period fiber grating pair upon pumping with a laser diode at 980nm and non-resonant nonlinearities were also measured to be 4.114x10(-21)m(2)/W by the continuous wave self-phase modulation method.


the use of mobile sinks in data collection has received much attention in recent years. In fact, mobility was introduced to solve problems that occur in data gathering with static sinks such as hotspots, quick energy depletion of sensor nodes and so on. Using mobile sinks provides an effective mechanism to improve reliability, security as well as connectivity within the network. Nevertheless, the sink's mobility poses new challenges, especially when the sink follows an unpredictable movement while gathering data. In this case, the network will experience huge latency and suffer from significant packet loss particularly when sensor nodes do not have enough memory storage to buffer collected data between two successive visits of the mobile sink. In this paper we propose a new approach in which sensor nodes cooperate to manage the storage and prevent packet drops. When a node's memory is almost full, it offloads its data to its neighbor nodes in function of their free spaces.  In case there are no neighbor nodes with sufficient storage space, the sink is urgently notified about the overloaded region that needs to be rapidly dumped. Simulation results reveal that our proposed approach decreases drastically the loss of packets and balances the sensor network.


Introduction: Pyoderma gangrenosum is a rare inflammatory disease characterized by the presence of ulcerated lesions. The etiology is unknown but apparently relates to immunological factors. The authors report a case of pyoderma gangrenosum in the postoperative period of a reduction mammoplasty, treatment, and the importance of early diagnosis to obtain a good aesthetic result. Methods: This is an 18-year-old patient who developed pyoderma gangrenosum after a reduction mammoplasty. The initial symptoms were the formation of violet blisters and ulcerated lesions in both breasts. The disease was suspected, and the patient was promptly treated with prednisolone. Cultures, biopsies and blood tests were performed. Hyperbaric therapy and nutritional support were performed. Daily dressings with epidermal growth factors were performed. After 60 days of follow-up, it was possible to achieve adequate wound healing and good aesthetic results. Results: Early diagnosis associated with systemic immunosuppressive therapy and rigorous local care were fundamental for disease stabilization. The association with hyperbaric therapy and nutritional support contributed to the lesion's epithelialization and the clinical picture control. The approximation of the wound edges with subdermal suture and the subsequent intradermal suture was possible due to the recovery of the dermis and stabilization of the disease. Conclusion: Early diagnosis of pyoderma gangrenosum is essential to achieve stabilization of the disease. It is possible to achieve good aesthetic results based on four elements: early systemic corticosteroids, daily local dressings with epidermal growth factor, nutritional support, and hyperbaric therapy. ■ ABSTRACT


To investigate the molecular mechanisms underlying the differences in iris color in quail, the transcriptome of iris tissue from black quail and Korean quail at day 10 of hatching was RNA sequenced in this study. The differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were screened, functionally annotated and enriched after the quality control and mapping of the raw data. RT-qPCR validation was performed using EIF2S3 as an internal reference gene. The screened SNPs were studied by bioinformatics analysis and iris color correlation analysis. The results showed that there were 425 upregulated genes and 364 downregulated genes in 789 DEGs. Gene Ontology (GO) enrichment analysis revealed that 139 DEGs were significantly enriched in 154 GO terms. The Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes enrichment results showed that the Notch signaling pathway, melanogenesis and tyrosine metabolism were associated with pigment synthesis (p < 0.05). The expression levels of the ASIP, MLPH, PMEL, TYR and SOX10 genes were significantly different in black quail iris and Korean quail iris, as verified by RT-qPCR. The SOX10 gene c.324G>C mutation, which caused the replacement of p.Glu108Asp, had a highly significant correlation with iris color in black quail and Korean quail, which may be one of the reasons for different in iris color between these two quail species.


As part of the WFPC2 close-out calibrations, we examine the stability of the bandwidths of the narrow band and linear ramp filters. We measure the FWHM of the spots produced by VISFLAT exposures using linear ramp filters crossed with narrow band filters. We do this for eight different pairings of narrow band and linear ramp filters. We then compare results from 1995 and 2008, and find negligible change in the bandpass FWHM for all eight filter pairs tested. Any change in the combined bandwidth is less than about 1% of the bandwidth. Our constraints on any changes in the narrow band filters (taken alone) are less strong, but we can rule out bandwidth changes larger than about 5% for typical narrow band filters (16% for the narrowest filter, F656N).


Removal of tuberculous organs or tissues has long been an accepted and successful form of treatment in ' surgical ' tuberculosis. Lesions in the kidneys, the genital organs in both sexes, cervical lymph glands and in certain bones and joints have all been treated in this way with good or excellent results even before the advent of streptomycin. The lung, however, has until recently defied such treatment. Deliberate attempts were made earlier to resect tuberculous lungs in certain desperate situations, and some tuberculous lesions were resected unwittingly in mistake for other conditions. With few exceptions, these early resections ended in disaster with the development of broncho-pleural fistulae and tuberculous infection of the remaining lung, the pleura and the wound. However, during the last decade considerable progress was made in thoracic surgery, much of which had a direct bearing on the problem of resecting the tuberculous lung. The most important of these changes are: i. The development of the technique of dissection pneumonectomy and lobectomy with the isolation and individual treatment of the various hilar structures. This resulted in a more exact knowledge of the anatomy of the lung hilum which in turn paved the way for segmental resections. 2. Improved anaesthetic methods which enabled the anaesthetist to prevent the aspiration ofinfected tuberculous material from the diseased into the normal healthy areas of lung. Cuffed tubes, intrAbronchial blockers and the use of posture (face down position) now provide adequate control of secretions in the average case. 3. A better appreciation of the part that dead space plays in determining the onset or persistence of pleural infection. Early elimination of dead space after resection is one of the best possible safeguards against the development of pleural infection. Carefully placed drainage tubes, the use of suction drainage, the employment of phrenic paralysis with or without a pneumoperitoneum and thoracoplasty all encourage the rapid and complete obliteration of the residual space. 4. Streptomycin. Probably the most important single factor which enabled resections to be undertaken safely was the introduction of streptomycin. This drug is now used extensively in preparing for operation, as an ' umbrella' during and after operation, and for the control of some of the postoperative complications. There is a marked difference between the complication rates of cases treated before and those treated after the introduction of streptomycin, even though the former are a relatively small group and represent the earlier cases to be treated by resection. Recent work suggests that the complication rate for streptomycin resistant cases is significantly higher than for those with sensitive organisms.


Abstract The European fruit lecanium (EFL), Parthenolecanium corni Bouché (Hemiptera: Coccoidea), is a common and harmful soft scale, which attacks Fraxinus oxycarpa Willd. and other ornamental and orchard plants in Tbilisi, Georgia. This study investigates the phenology, degree of plant damage and effect of parasitoids on this scale in Tbilisi, a densely populated area. We present data on the 32 species of chalcidoid parasitoids recorded from EFL in Georgia and south-eastern Europe. The scale is heavily parasitized in Tbilisi, but we did not find any variation in seasonal abundance. The most common parasitoid of EFL was Blastothrix longipennis (Hymenoptera: Encyrtidae).


The Mg-12Gd-2Y-Sm-0.5Zr (wt. %) alloy was prepared by casting technology and the microstructure and mechanical properties of the alloy have been investigated. It was found that the alloy was composed of a-Mg matrix, Mg5Gd phase and dispersed long-period ordered β' precipitates. With temperature increasing from 20 to 300 °C, the tensile strength increased and reached to the maximum strength at 300°C, namely 316.3 MPa. The value was superior to those of the conventional heat-resistant magnesium. The improved strain hardening and critical crack propagation stress were the key factors for experimental alloy possessed anomalous temperature dependence of tensile strength.


We analyze the formation and evolution of the stellar components in "Eris," a 120 pc resolution cosmological hydrodynamic simulation of a late-type spiral galaxy. The simulation includes the effects of a uniform UV background, a delayed-radiative-cooling scheme for supernova feedback, and a star formation recipe based on a high gas density threshold. It allows a detailed study of the relative contributions of "in-situ" (within the main host) and "ex-situ" (within satellite galaxies) star formation to each major Galactic component in a close Milky Way analog. We investigate these two star-formation channels as a function of galactocentric distance, along different lines of sight above and along the disk plane, and as a function of cosmic time. We find that: (1) approximately 70% of today's stars formed in-situ; (2) more than two thirds of the ex-situ stars formed within satellites after infall; (3) the majority of ex-situ stars are found today in the disk and in the bulge; (4) the stellar halo is dominated by ex-situ stars, whereas in-situ stars dominate the mass profile at distances ≲ 5 kpc from the center at high latitudes; and (5) approximately 25% of the inner, r ≲ 20 kpc, halo is composed of in-situ stars that have been displaced from their original birth sites during Eris' early assembly history.


A method for designing and recording transmission holographic lenses, having low aberrations and high diffraction efficiencies, in the presence of a recording–readout wavelength shift, is presented. The method is based on a recursive design technique, in which the final hologram is recorded with complex wave fronts that are derived from intermediate holograms. The design is illustrated for a lens with an f-number of 2.5 and a large offset angle, recorded at 488 nm and read out at 633 nm. A nearly diffraction-limited spot size and an efficiency of >80% are measured.


: Highly immunogenic sublines of L1210 and LSTRA lymphomas were obtained from athymic (nude) mice treated with 4(5)-(3,3-dimethyl-1-triazeno)imidazole-5(4)carboxamide (DIC) in vivo. Conventional mice, compatible with the parent tumor, rejected the DIC-treated sublines and were relatively resistant to a subsequent challenge with the parent lines. The DIC-treated sublines were not rejected by athymic mice, which indicated that the transplantation resistance to these tumors in conventional mice was thymus-cell dependent. In addition, there was marginal or no increase of tumor-cell immunogenicity when the parent lines were passaged in nude mice without DIC treatment. This indicated that the DIC-dependent immunogenic changes in DIC-treated leukemic conventional mice could not be ascribed merely to protection by naturally occurring antigenic clones that resulted from DIC-induced immunodepression.


Flower flies (Diptera: Syrphidae) are one of the most species‐rich dipteran families and provide important ecosystem services such as pollination, biological control of pests, recycling of organic matter and redistributions of essential nutrients. Flower fly adults generally feed on pollen and nectar, but their larval feeding habits are strikingly diverse. In the present study, high‐throughput sequencing was used to capture and enrich phylogenetically and evolutionary informative exonic regions. With the help of the baitfisher software, we developed a new bait kit (SYRPHIDAE1.0) to target 1945 CDS regions belonging to 1312 orthologous genes. This new bait kit was successfully used to exon capture the targeted loci in 121 flower fly species across the different subfamilies of Syrphidae. We analysed different amino acid and nucleotide data sets (1302 loci and 154 loci) with maximum likelihood and multispecies coalescent models. Our analyses yielded highly supported similar topologies, although the degree of the SRH (global stationarity, reversibility and homogeneity) conditions varied greatly between amino acid and nucleotide data sets. The sisterhood of subfamilies Pipizinae and Syrphinae is supported in all our analyses, confirming a common origin of taxa feeding on soft‐bodied arthropods. Based on our results, we define Syrphini stat.rev. to include the genera Toxomerus and Paragus. Our divergence estimate analyses with beast inferred the origin of the Syrphidae in the Lower Cretaceous (125.5–98.5 Ma) and the diversification of predatory flower flies around the K–Pg boundary (70.61–54.4 Ma), coinciding with the rise and diversification of their prey.


The Raman spectrum of a KNO3 single crystal was measured at both room and liquid-nitrogen temperatures. Lattice-dynamical calculations, based on the rigid-ion approximation and empirical potentials, were performed. The possibility of a phase transition at 217 K was investigated by measuring the temperature dependence of the Raman spectrum. ©1992 The American Physical Society. Used by permission. URL: http://link.aps.org/doi/10.1103/PhysRevB.45.2142 DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevB.45.2142 PHYSICAL REVIEW B VOLUME 45, NUMBER 5 1 FEBRUARY 1992-1 Raman scattering and lattice-dynamical calculations of crystalline KN03 D. Liu The Center for Electro-Optics, 248 WSEC, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, Nebraska 68588 F. G. Ullman Behlen Laboratory of Physics and the Department of Electrical Engineering, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, Nebraska 68588 J. R. Hardy Behlen Laboratory of Physics and the Center for Electro-Optics, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, Nebraska 68588 (Received 19 August 1991) The Raman spectrum of a KNO, single crystal was measured at both room and liquid-nitrogen temperatures. Lattice-dynamical calculations, based on the rigid-ion approximation and empirical potentials, were performed. The possibility of a phase transition at 217 K was investigated by measuring the temperature dependence of the Raman spectrum. The potassium nitrate crystal demonstrates strongly anharmonicity and dynamical disorder in its latticedynamical properties. Below 384 K, potassium nitrate is in so-called phase 11, which has Dig symmetry.' Above 403 K, it is designated in phase I, which is believed to have D& symmetry. It has a ferroelectric phase (phase 111) between 384 and 398 K. Balkanski, Teng, and Nusimovicil reported Raman scattering at room and several higher temperatures. At room temperature, 12 of the 30 Raman active modes allowed by the symmetry-selection rules for phase I1 were observed. Two lines at 50 and 83 cm-' had very strong intensities. Later Raman scattering work on KNO, was done by ~ r o o k e r * ~ and Akiyama, Morioka, and ~ a k a ~ a w a . ' Brooker measured the Raman spectra of single-crystal KNO, at both room and liquid-nitrogen temperatures. He observed a broad asymmetry on the low-frequency side of the lattice mode at 52 cm-I for the (ac) scattering configuration at room temperature. He associated this mode with the translational motion of K + ions against the NO3 ions and interpreted the asymmetry as arising from the large amplitude of the motion and associated anharmonicity. Fermor and ~ j e k s h u s ~ performed electrical-resistivity and dielectricconstant measurements on K N 0 3 at low temperature. They reported an anomaly at about 217 K and suggested that there is another phase transition at this low temperature. Lattice-dynamical calculations on KN03 were done by Rao et al.',' and Akiyama, Morioka, and ~ a k a ~ a w a . ' The former used a rigid-body approximation for the NO,molecular ions. The values of their calculated frequencies were not reported. The latter was done by direct least-squares fitting of the force constants to the measured Raman frequencies. There still remains much to be learned about the lattice-dynamical properties of KNO,, such as the symmetry assignments of many lattice modes and further information about the anharmonicity and dynamical disorder. Also, a lattice-dynamical calculation based on analytical inter-ion potentials would be desirable, because it would provide a more physical description of the crystal, free of the kind of errors of numerical fitting of vibrational frequencies, which result from the uncertainty of the vibrational-mode assignments. In this paper we report experimental and theoretical studies of the latticedynamical properties of phase I1 of KNO,. Raman spectra were measured at both room and liquid-nitrogen temperatures. Lattice-dynamical calculations were made, based on the rigid-ion approximation with empirical potentials. The force constants within the molecular group NO,were obtained by numerical fitting of the internal vibrational frequencies. Since the internal modes of NO3are well known, the numerical fits of these modes are free of the uncertainty of the mode assignments. Raman spectra in the lattice-mode region in the (ac) scattering configuration were measured at a series of temperatures to investigate the possibility of a phase transition at 217 K. 11. CRYSTAL STRUCTURE Phase I1 of KNO, was determined by Nimmo and Lucas9 to have an aragonite structure of Dig orthorhombic symmetry. The lattice constants are az5.4142, b=9.1659, and c=6.4309. As shown in Fig. 1, it has four molecules per unit cell and the negative nitrate ions stack directly above each other. The three oxygens in the nitrate ion are not exactly in a plane, and there is a slight bending of the ion. The coordinates of atoms in the unit cell9 are listed in Table I. A complete symmetry analysis was given by ~us imov ic i . ' ~ 111. EXPERIMENTAL APPARATUS AND CALCULATION METHOD Single crystals of KNO, were grown from an aqueous solution by slow cooling. The orientations of the crystal45 2142 @ 1992 The American Physical Society RAMAN SCATTERING AND LATTICE-DYNAMICAL . . . c or °1' 1 A , . y.. = A


Many geologic generalizations are observational patterns that are used to organize and interpret our data base. These patterns play an important role in the logical structure of geologic reasoning. In some cases we use the patterns as empirical generalizasions, and in others we use the same patterns as rules in an explanatory framework. The interaction of these two uses allows us to develop an understanding of geologic processes. It is important to keep these uses separate because different types of problems are associated with each. I suggest that observational patterns in geology are used in the same way as law statements in other sciences.


OF DISSERTATION PROTEIN ENGINEERING IN THE STUDY OF PROTEIN LABELING AND DEGRADATION Proteins are large macromolecules that play important roles in nature. With the development of modern molecular biology techniques, protein engineering has emerged as a useful tool and found many applications in areas ranging from food industry, environmental protection, to medical and life science. Biomimetic membrane incorporates biological elements, such as proteins, to form membranes that mimic the high specificity and conductance of natural biological membranes. For any application involving the usage of proteins, the first barrier is always the production of proteins with sufficient stability, and the incorporation of proteins into the artificial matrix. This thesis contains two major parts, the first part is focused on the development and testing of method to immobilize active enzymes. The second part is devoted to study the degradation of membrane proteins in E. coli cells. In the immobilization study, Pyrophosphatase (PpaC) was chose as a model enzyme. A dual functional tag consist of histidine and methionine has been developed, in which histidine is used for purification while methionine is metabolically replaced with azidohomoalanine (AHA) for immobilization. We found that the addition of the tag and the incorporation of AHA did not significantly impair the properties of proteins, and the histidine–AHA tag can facilitate protein purification, immobilization, and labeling. This tag is expected to be useful in general for many proteins. Degradation of soluble protein has been well characterized, but the membrane protein degradation process remains elusive. SsrA tag is a well-known recognition sequence for soluble protein degradation, which marks prematurely terminated protein products translated from damaged mRNA. SsrA tagged membrane proteins was found to be substrate of a cytosolic protease complex ClpXP, which mediated complete degradation.


In this paper we introduce new expert-coded measures of regime legitimation strategies for 179 countries in the world from 1900 up until 2018 that are comparable across time and space. Country experts have rated the extent to which the government promotes or references its performance, the person of the leader, rational-legality, and ideology in order to justify the regime in place. With regards to ideology, the experts are further asked to categorize the ideology of the regime as nationalist, communist/socialist, conservative/restorative, religious, and/or separatist. The main purpose of this paper is to describe and validate the data against expectations on claims from case studies as well as with existing regime type classifications. We show that experts do understand and can be employed to code legitimation claims. Not only do we document historical shifts in legitimation claims, but the measures also pick up recent trends, such as, an increased emphasis of the leader in countries such as Russia, Turkey, Cambodia over the last decades, and more recently also in India and the Philippines; as well as recent increases in legitimation claims based on both conservative and nationalist ideologies the European countries Serbia, Hungary and Poland, which also have experienced autocratization in recent years.


Two methods are proposed to detect the number and interval information of defective rolling elements in wheelset bearing of high-speed train. In the first method, the amplitudes of the fundamental train frequency and its harmonics are extracted from the envelope spectrum, then the normalized errors between the amplitudes and their theoretical values are calculated. Finally, the coordinate corresponding to the minimum error is the fault information. In the second method, an atom is constructed to execute a convolution with the squared envelope of the collected vibration signal; then the information is extracted from the inner product curves. Experiment verifies the effectiveness of the proposed methods.


Hypersensitivity pneumonitis (HP), also known as extrinsic allergic alveolitis, is the most common interstitial lung disease in children, but remains rarely recognized in the pediatric population. Early recognition of triggering factors and a high index of suspicion of HP could lead to timely diagnosis and individualized treatment. This study aimed to present four clinical cases of HP reported between 2012 and 2022 in Lithuania to improve the suspicion of the disease in children.


Winter wheat in the Texas Rolling Plains is utilized both as forage and grain crop on more than 50% of the wheat sown, and employs conventional tillage in a semi-arid region prone to severe soil erosion by wind and water.  The study compared forage and grain yield response to pre-plant and top-dress N application in no-till and conventional-till dual-use wheat production systems.  Five pre-plant N levels, two tillage systems, and one top-dress N application were evaluated.  There was a linear increase in forage production with increasing pre-plant N application, and no significance difference in forage yield between conventional- and no-till in 3 of 4 yr.  Grain production increased with increased pre-plant N, while top-dressed N enhanced grain yield an additional 20 to 40%.  In 2 of 4 yr, conventional-till resulted in increased grain yield over no-till by about 10 to 12 %.  Top-dressed N resulted in significant yield increases in all pre-plant N treatments but with the greatest yield increases from the 0 and 34 kg ha -1 pre-plant N treatments.  Soil analysis data indicate that following poor wheat production years, residual nitrate N can be substantial and could offset N fertilizer requirements for the following wheat crop.


Arising with the popularity of Hadoop, optimizing Hadoop executions has grabbed lots of attention from research community.
Many research contributions are proposed to elevate Hadoop performance, particularly in the domain of self-adaptive software systems.
However, due to the complexity of Hadoop operation and the difficulty to reproduce experiments, the efforts of these Hadoop-related research are hard to be evaluated.

To address this limitation, we propose a research acceleration platform for rapid prototyping and evaluation of self-adaptive behavior in Hadoop clusters.
It provides an automated manner to quickly and easily provision reproducible Hadoop environments and execute acknowledged benchmarks.
This platform is based on the state-of-the-art container technology that supports both distributed configurations as well as standalone single-host setups.
We demonstrate the approach on a complete implementation of a concrete Hadoop self-adaptive case study.


Low cycle fatigue behavior of Sn-3.8Ag-0.7Cu solder was investigated under fully reversed cyclic loading, with particular emphasis on microstructural effects. The LCF behavior of the solder with equiaxed microstructure was found to differ greatly from that of the solder with a dendrite microstructure. At a given total strain amplitude, the dendrite microstructure exhibited a much longer fatigue life than the equiaxed microstructure. Such a strong microstructural effect on fatigue life arose from the difference in cyclic deformation and fracture mechanisms between the two microstructures. A large number of microcracks along grain boundaries of the equiaxed structure solder developed with increasing cycling, while for the dendrite structure solder, cyclic deformation took place along the direction of the maximal shear stress during fatigue tests and microcracks initiated and propagated along shear deformation bands. Besides, the fatigue behavior of the dendritic microstructure was very sensitive to cyclic frequency whereas the fatigue behavior of the equiaxed microstructure showed less sensitivity to cyclic frequency.


Dipartimento di Studi Politici e Sociali UNIVERSITÀ DEGLI STUDI DI SALERNO ABSTRACT In the article, the complexity and interconnection of the cultural characteristics that impact higher education institutions in the Eastern Partnership countries are presented. The six countries, united in 2009 by Brussels in one block, have a similar policy of the reformation of their higher education systems which has a distinct European vector. The paper is designed to study the higher education reforms and higher through the prism of cultural dimensions portrayed at national and institutional levels. To perform this task Geert Hofstede's cultural value dimensions and World Value Survey database (2010-2014) were employed as well as findings of the individual researchers. In short, this paper aims to discuss the culture implication in academic environment and changes occurring within the higher education institutions of the six countries of Eastern partnership and to explain them by use of G. Hofstede's cultural dimensions. Considering higher education institutions performance with the help of cross-cultural analysis can facilitate analysis of the education practices, teaching and learning methods, readiness to institutional change and external challenges, policies and practices undertaken by academic systems to cope with the external and internal academic environment and modes of the implementing the reformation strategies in the selected countries.


It is now widely accepted that proton secretion by the collecting duct is mediated, in part, by an H(+)-K(+)-adenosinetriphosphatase (H(+)-K(+)-ATPase). Controversy persists regarding which H(+)-K(+)-ATPase isoform is expressed in kidney. Several laboratories have reported preliminarily the amplification from kidney of stomach and/or colon-identical products using gastric or colonic-specific primers in the polymerase chain reaction (PCR). We have developed highly specific probes for the catalytic subunit using reverse transcriptase-PCR with gastric- or colonic-specific primers. The resulting cDNAs were verified by sequencing and were then used in Northern analysis of whole kidney total RNA obtained from one of the following three groups of rats: 1) controls, 2) chronic hypokalemia, or 3) chronic metabolic acidosis. Probes for both the colonic and gastric alpha-subunit H(+)-K(+)-ATPase isoforms hybridized to whole kidney total RNA derived from potassium-replete control rats. A marked elevation of colonic mRNA abundance, but not gastric message, was observed in response to chronic hypokalemia induced by dietary potassium deprivation. Elevation of either gastric or colonic mRNA was not observed with chronic metabolic acidosis. Under the conditions of the present study, it appears that the mRNA encoding the colonic alpha-isoform of the H(+)-K(+)-ATPase in kidney is upregulated by chronic hypokalemia but not by chronic metabolic acidosis. The observation that the gastric H(+)-K(+)-ATPase alpha-isoform does not appear to be regulated in either condition suggests that this isoform is expressed constitutively in kidney.


Because of the mechanical property degradation experienced by the nuclear power plant components, it is important to evaluate the evolution of the mechanical properties during service, such as the yield strength. A lack of materials available from nuclear power plants has led to the development of more and more small-sized specimen tests such as the small-punch test that has the advantage of using very small amounts of material with very simple working conditions (machining and test). In this study, we will present a new method for the yield strength estimation. This method is based on the elastic deformation energy method and is compared with the current methods which include the "two tangents" method and the offset method. This new method consists of the determination of the yield strength by measuring the energy beneath the load-displacement curve in the elastic deformation domain. The elastic deformation domain is defined by measuring the elastic reverse displacement during an unloading phase. Subsequently, the elastic displacement reverse is applied at the beginning of the load-displacement curve. Good agreement has been found between the elastic deformation energy and the square of the tensile yield strength. This method allows a better evaluation of the tensile yield strength and with a reduced scatter compared to the current conventional methods.


The interfacial premelting in ice/clay nano composites was studied by high energy X-ray diffraction. Below the melting point of bulk water, the formation of liquid water was observed for the ice/vermiculite and ice/kaolin systems. The liquid fraction is gradually increasing with temperature. For both minerals, similar effective premelting layer thicknesses of 2-3 nm are reached 3 K below the bulk melting point. For the quantitative description of the molten water fraction in wet clay minerals we developed a continuum model for short range interactions and arbitrary pore size distributions. This model quantitatively describes the experimental data over the entire temperature range. Model parameters were obtained by fitting using a maximum entropy (MaxEnt) approach. Pronounced differences in the deviation from Antonow's rule relating interfacial free energy between ice, water, and clay are observed for the charged vermiculite and uncharged kaolin minerals. The resultant parameters are discussed in terms of their ice nucleation efficiency. Using well defined and characterized ice/clay nano composite samples, this work bridges the gap between studies on single crystalline ice/solid model interfaces and naturally occurring soils and permafrost.


The objective of this study is to improve inventory management for medical supplies in the surgery department at a hospital. There are problems, such as high variations, less inventory turnover rate and high unnecessary cost, caused by unknown statuses of medical supplies and lack of demand forecasting. The countermeasures comprises of, first, using ABC analysis to classify the categories of medical supplies; and, second, usinga demand forecasting model. The ABC classification analysis shows that the percentage of items (percentage of value) are8.35%(78.30%), 35.73%(12.70%), and 55.92%(9.00%)for A, B, and C category items respectively. Then, the category A is classified into 4 subcategories based on the Average Demand Interval (ADI) and the Square Coefficient of Variation (CV). The erratic demand (A-3) and lumpy demand (A-4) subcategory, which have high variation, are chosen to forecast demand. Afterthe demand forecasting model is presented, trend-corrected exponential smoothing model (Holt's model) is chosen for demand forecasting of these medical supplies inventory. The result of the improvement shows that the variation, turnover rate and unnecessary cost are improved 21.97%, 5.00%, and 50.34% respectively.


Methods: The intervention was realised among 500 care providers in an acute care hospital. A prior risk evaluation was performed, using a quantitative approach, to determine the prevalence of adverse psychosocial work factors and of psychological distress in the hospital compared to an appropriate reference population. In addition, a qualitative approach included observation in the care units, interviews with key informants, and collaborative work with an intervention team (IT) including all stakeholders. Results: The prior risk evaluation showed a high prevalence of adverse psychosocial factors and psychological distress among care providers compared to a representative sample of workers from the general population. Psychosocial variables at work associated with psychological distress in the prior risk evaluation were high psychological demands (prevalence ratio (PR) = 2.27), low social support from supervisors and co-workers (PR= 1.35), low reward (PR = 2.92), and effort-reward imbalance (PR = 2.65). These results showed the empirical relevance of an intervention on the four selected adverse psychosocial factors among care providers. Qualitative methods permitted the identification of 56 adverse conditions and of their solutions. Targets of intervention were related to team work and team spirit, staffing processes, work organisation, training, communication, and ergonomy. Conclusion: This study adds to the scarce literature describing the development and implementation of preventive intervention aimed at reducing psychosocial factors at work and their health effects. Even if adverse conditions in the psychosocial environment and solutions identified in this study may be specific to the healthcare sector, the intervention process used (participative problem solving) appears highly exportable to other work organisations.


This paper describes a single-aperture MEMS probe and a MEMS probe array for the measurement of biological properties. We designed and fabricated the single-aperture MEMS probe using surface micromachining and verified it by measuring the permittivity of a standard liquid before introducing the MEMS probe array. The actual aperture size of the single-aperture MEMS probe is only 390 µm × 80 µm, which is very small in comparison with the conventional laser-machined coaxial probe. In order to show the feasibility of the proposed single-aperture MEMS probe for permittivity measurements, we performed in vitro measurements of 0.9% saline. Once the single-aperture probe was verified, we proposed the concept of a probe array for biological measurements and experimentally showed the suitability of the MEMS probe array for biological applications through experiments using pork. The MEMS probe array consists of five microstrip feed lines, each of which is followed by open-ended strip lines, and the permittivity measurement of each port is separately performed through the use of a conventional multiport coaxial switch (Agilent, HP 87106 C), followed by a network analyzer (HP 8510 C). Through broadband measurements of 0.9% saline and pork using the MEMS probe array, we were able to discriminate the muscle and fat of pork through just one contact by placing the MEMS probe array on the boundary of muscle and fat. This newly proposed MEMS probe array has great potential in terms of disposability, low cost, integration with planar circuits and a short detection time for biological measurements.


Influence of temperature upon flowering of fruit trees.-Ecologists and physiologists will be interested in the phenological notes presented by SANDSTEN 24 relative to the influence of temperature and other factors upon the time of flowering of certain fruit trees. He reaches the conclusion that "physiological constants can be formulated from the climatic conditions during the ten months preceding the time of flowering."-E. MEAD WILCOX.


The linkages between the El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and the sea ice extent (SIE) in the Weddell Sea (South Atlantic) and the Bellingshausen–Amundsen Sea (South‐Eastern Pacific) sectors of the Southern Ocean have been studied for the period 1979–2005 using crosswavelet analysis. The analysis showed that the relationship between the tropical expression of ENSO and the SIE in these two areas are different before and after 1992. Further, we investigated the structure and strength of the regional Ferrel cell (RFC) during El Niño and La Niña episodes using composite latitude–pressure cross‐sections of wind anomalies for these two periods. Contrasting features were observed in the structure and strength of the RFC before and after 1992 in both, the South Atlantic and the South‐Eastern Pacific. These modulations in the RFC control the heat transport from the tropics to high latitudes and hence the extent of sea ice in both the regions. We propose that the modulation of the RFC is responsible for the phase shift in the tropical–polar teleconnection. Copyright © 2012 Royal Meteorological Society


Recent contributions in the domains of governance and regulation elucidate the importance of rule-intermediation (RI), the role that organizations adopt to bridge actors playing regulatory or "rule-making" (RM) roles, and those adopting target or "rule-taking" (RT) roles. Intermediation not only enables diffusion and translation of regulatory norms, but also allows for the representation of different actors in policy-making arenas. While prior studies have explored the roles that such RIs adopt to facilitate their intermediation functions, we have yet to consider how field-level structuring processes influence (and are influenced by) the various and changing roles adopted by RIs. In this study, we focus on the mutually constitutive relations between field-level change processes and the evolving roles of RIs by studying the rise of ICLEI (International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives/Local Governments for Sustainability), an RI serving as a bridge for sustainable urban development policies between the United Nations and urban authorities. Using ICLEI as an illustrate case, we theorize four different processes of regulatory field consolidation and fragmentation including: problematization, role specialization, marketization and orchestrated decentralization. We discuss their implications for the RI roles in the field and further theorize the changing dynamics of trickle-up intermediation processes as an RI gains power and influence.
This is the pre-peer reviewed version of the following article: Bothello, J. and Mehrpouya, A. (2018), Between regulatory field structuring and organizational roles: Intermediation in the field of sustainable urban development. Regulation & Governance, which has been published in final form at https://doi.org/10.1111/rego.12215. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions for Use of Self-Archived Versions.


There are a large number of issues that need to be clarified across the European Union (EU) and United States (US) on policies affecting agricultural production and food safety. While both the US and EU aim to meet similar objectives, their regulatory approaches often differ. The US focuses on regulating the end product, the EU has the tendency to regulate the whole production process. At some point it will be important for these regulatory processes to find some equilibrium that will satisfy consumers and regulators. Respecting and understanding current differences appears to be the only way to arrive at an equilibrium that allows the full potential of biotechnology to be utilized.


The aim of this minicourse is to provide a number of tools that allow one to determine at which speed (if at all) the law of a diffusion process, or indeed a rather general Markov process, approaches its stationary distribution. Of particular interest will be cases where this speed is subexponential. After an introduction to the general ergodic theory of Markov processes, the first part of the course is devoted to Lyapunov function techniques. The second part is then devoted to an elementary introduction to Malliavin calculus and to a proof of Hörmander's famous "sums of squares" regularity theorem. 1 General (ergodic) theory of Markov processes In this note, we are interested in the long-time behaviour of Markov processes, both in discrete and continuous time. Recall that a discrete-time Markov process x on a state space X is described by a transition kernel P , which we define as a measurable map from X into the space of probability measures on X . In all that follows, X will always be assumed to be a Polish space, that is a complete, separable metric space. When viewed as a measurable space, we will always endow it with its natural Borel σ-algebra, that is the smallest σ-algebra containing all open sets. This ensures that X endowed with any probability measure is a Lebesgue space and that basic intuitive results of probability and measure theory (Fubini's theorem, regular conditional probabilities, etc) are readily available. We will sometimes consider P as a linear operator on the space of signed measures on X and / or the space of bounded measurable functions by


Anne Farquharson is a Highland girl - tempestuous, bold, determined to be her own woman. Yet the clan Farquharson is threatened. The Highlands suffer at the domineering hand of English King George, while there are rumours that Bonnie Prince Charlie, exiled to France, is raising an army in a bid for the throne. When Anne marries a clan chief and creates a shaky alliance, she is doing more than taking his bed. Soon she is drawn into the heart of a brutal and bloody conflict, and as the Jacobite rebellion escalates, she and her husband find themselves on opposite sides of the battlefield. "White Rose Rebel" is inspired by the true story of a Highland heroine who risked everything for her country and its rightful king.


An intense public debate has fuelled governmental bans on marine mammals held in zoological institutions. The debate rests on the assumption that survival in zoological institutions has been and remains lower than in the wild, albeit the scientific evidence in support of this notion is equivocal. Here, we used statistical methods previously applied to assess historical improvements in human lifespan and data on 8864 individuals of four marine mammal species (harbour seal, Phoca vitulina; California sea lion, Zalophus californianus; polar bear, Ursus maritimus; common bottlenose dolphin, Tursiops truncatus) held in zoos from 1829 to 2020. We found that life expectancy increased up to 3.40 times, and first-year mortality declined up to 31%, during the last century in zoos. Moreover, the life expectancy of animals in zoos is currently 1.65–3.55 times longer than their wild counterparts. Like humans, these improvements have occurred concurrently with advances in management practices, crucial for population welfare. Science-based decisions will help effective legislative changes and ensure better implementation of animal care.


"I often say that when you can measure what you are speaking about, and express it in numbers, you know something about it; but when you cannot measure it, when you cannot express it in numbers, your knowledge is of a meagre and unsatisfactory kind; it may be the beginning of knowledge, but you have scarcely in your thoughts advanced to the state of Science, whatever the matter may be." Baron William Thomson Kelvin (1824-1907) - From 'Electrical Units of Measurement', a lecture delivered at the Institution of Civil Engineers, London (3 May 1883). "The saying often quoted from Lord Kelvin (though the substance, I believe, is much older) that "where you cannot measure your knowledge is meagre and unsatisfactory," as applied in mental and social science, is misleading and pernicious. This is another way of saying that these sciences are not sciences in the sense of physical science, and cannot attempt to be such, without forfeiting their proper nature and function. Insistence on a concretely quantitative economics means the use of statistics of physical magnitudes, whose economic meaning and significance is uncertain and dubious. (Even 'wheat' is approximately homogeneous only if measured in economic terms.) And a similar statement would apply even more to other social sciences. In this field, the Kelvin dictum very largely means in practice, "if you cannot measure, measure anyhow!" That is, one either performs some other operation and calls it measurement or measures something else instead of what is ostensibly under discussion, and usually not a social phenomena. To call averaging estimates, or guesses, measurement seems to be merely embezzling a word for its prestige value. And it might be pointed out also that in the field of human interests and relationships much of our most important knowledge is inherently non-quantitative, and could not conceivably be put in quantitative form without being destroyed. Perhaps we do not "know" that our friends really are our friends; in any case an attempt to measure their friendship would hardly make the knowledge either more certain or more 'satisfactory'"! Knight F. H. 1940. What is Truth in Economics? Journal of Political Economy 48(1):18n


Road accident occurrence is often the result of driving system malfunctions, and road safety improvements need to focus on all basic driving components—the vehicle, road infrastructure, and road users. Only focusing on one type of improvement does not necessarily lead to increased road safety. Instead, improved road safety requires comprehensive measures that consider all factors using in-depth accident analysis. The proposed measures, based on the findings from in-depth data that have general applicability, are necessary to determine whether data gained from in-depth studies adequately represent national statistics. This article aims to verify the representativeness of the Czech In-Depth Accident Study at a national level. The main contribution of this article lies in the use of a weighting method (specifically, a raking procedure) to generalise research results and render them applicable to a whole population. The obtained results could be beneficial at the national level, in the Czech Republic, and also on the supranational level. The applicability of this method on accident data is verified; thus, the method can be applied also in other countries or can be used to verify the applicability of conclusions from the Czech in-depth study also on a European or worldwide level.


Background: Pulmonary hypertension (PH) is a severely disabling disorder characterized by sustained elevations of pulmonary arterial pressure, ultimately leading to right-heart failure and death. Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) usually occurs in the absence of an evident cause (idiopathic PAH) or may be associated with connective tissue disease, HIV infection, congenital heart disease, chronic liver disease or result from the use of toxic agents and anorexigens. Objective/method: Intravenous epoprostenol has been widely used in patients with PAH, leading to long-term clinical benefits and improved survival. Epoprostenol has to be delivered through a permanently implanted Intravenous catheter. This may expose patients to potentially life-threatening complications. Thus, more stable compounds and alternative modes of prostacyclin delivery have been sought. Conclusion: Treprostinil sodium is a stable prostacyclin analogue, sharing pharmacologic actions similar to epoprostenol with comparable haemodynamic effects. Treprostinil is chemically stable at room temperature and has a long half-life (2 – 4 h), making this drug suitable for subcutaneous administration, with practical benefits in avoiding the risk of line infection and thrombosis, and cardiovascular reactions due to abrupt drug discontinuation.


Traditional privileging of the printed text has been considerably eroded by rapid technological advancement and in Australia, as elsewhere, many History teaching program feature an array of multi-modal historical representations. Research suggests that engagement with the visual and multi-modal constructs has the potential to enrich the pedagogy and make the classroom encounters significant and relevant to students' world life outside and beyond school. However, these multi-modal creations of the past are often compromised with agendas and pressures beyond traditional historical evidence, research and writing. This leave the history teacher to navigate the tension that arises from the cognitive, affective and "beyond the classroom" appeal of these historical representations and the quest to teach evidence-based, memorable history. This pedagogical dilemma was the focus of an Australian research project that used survey, interview and case study to investigate the utility of these historical-based contemporary representations in the teaching of disciplinary concepts in the History classroom. This paper presents a synoptic model of the broad research findings and uses case studies to provide examples of effective pedagogies. The unit plans from the case studies are also appended.


The study examines the effects of price limits on return, volatility and liquidity by testing three hypotheses: delayed price discovery hypothesis, volatility spillover hypothesis and trading interference hypothesis (Kim and Rhee, 1997, JF). The delayed price discovery hypothesis states that if the price continues to move in the same direction in the subsequent period after a price-limit-hit, the existence of limits delays price discovery. The volatility spillover hypothesis argues that the stock will have a higher volatility after a price-limit-hit. The trading interference hypothesis asserts that a share that hits the price limits on day t will experience more trading on day t+1. The rationale behind price limits is to provide investors with a cooling-off period to counter noise trading and alleviate market panic. If price limits work, all three hypotheses should be rejected.

Firms on the Shanghai and Shenzhen Stock Exchanges can simultaneously issue two types of shares: A and B-shares. A-shares were initially traded only by domestic Chinese citizens, but opened to Qualified Foreign Institutional Investors (QFIIs) from July 2003 onwards. B shares were initially traded only by foreign investors but then by local Chinese citizens from June 2001. A and B-shares are subject to the same price limits but exhibit different risk and return characteristics. This study explores the effects of price limits on AB-shares using daily data (intraday data) over the period 2004-2012 (2010-2012). For the first time, this study estimates a GARCH model that explicitly incorporates truncation in the distribution of returns that is induced by price limits. The truncated-GARCH model provides a better fit than a conventional model.

Based on the study of daily data, the delayed price discovery and volatility spillover hypotheses are not rejected on either exchange. Similar results have been found in the study of intraday data that price limits are not effective in controlling volatility and counter noise trading. Regarding the trading interference hypothesis, price limits interfere with market liquidity but the level of interference depends on the choice liquidity measures.


This article describes the results of a survey to ascertain the current state of gaming provision in UK libraries. The online survey was completed by a self-selecting sample of libraries from mainly public and school libraries. The questions were based on similar surveys carried out by the Library Game Lab at Syracuse in the United States. The results show that, despite little mention of gaming in library policy documents, there is evidence considerable support for gaming in UK public and school libraries. A number of benefits for libraries and gamers are identified, but there are barriers to greater involvement in gaming such as resources and negative attitudes within the profession


City governments play a pivotal role in helping community developers to revitalize low-income neighborhoods. This research shows that city governments, often criticized for their inefficiencies and thought to be resistant to reform efforts, can improve the way they carry out their community development responsibilities, and there are concrete ways in which national, state, and local funders and supporters of community development can encourage city governments to take steps toward streamlined and effective delivery of neighborhood revitalization programs.


This paper explores the development of rail systems in Ireland and Australia. The paper highlights the different trajectories of both systems and charts the experiences and influences of Empire and Commonwealth on both. In Australia the rail system was developed as a way to promote nation building and overcome isolation while in Ireland both prior to after partition the system enabled access to ports thereby not only fuelling migration but improving levels of accessibility between different parts of rural Ireland and town and country. The paper also describes the role of the rail system in making travel to new worlds possible and the way in which systems developed in both 'new' and 'old' worlds to encourage population movements and dispersal and social cohesion. Growing levels of car dependence since the 1960s and the movement of freight from rail to road has had a significant impact on how public transport is used. This is illustrated by comparison between Northern Ireland and Australia. Deregulation and privatisation have also meant that commercial pressures have had a significant impact on the operation of rail in the days of post Empire. The paper also highlights the ways in which this redefinition of public communication technology and infrastructure, not only confined to the rail industry, has impacted on travel culture and the perception of public transport infrastructure.


For decades, the search for drivers of memory decline in human cognitive aging has focused on neocortical regions, the hippocampus, and dopaminergic neuromodulation. Recent findings indicate that the locus coeruleus (LC) and noradrenergic neuromodulation may also play an important role in shaping memory development in later life. However, technical challenges in non-invasive monitoring of LC integrity have hindered the study of LC-cognition associations in humans so far. Using high-resolution neuromelanin-sensitive magnetic resonance imaging, we found that individual differences in learning and memory were positively associated with LC integrity across a variety of memory tasks in large samples of younger (n = 66), and older adults (n = 233). Moreover, we observed spatially confined and functionally relevant age differences in rostral LC. Older adults who showed a more youth-like rostral LC also showed higher memory performance. These findings link non-invasive, in vivo indices of LC integrity to memory in human aging and extend our knowledge about the role of the LC norepinephrine system in senescent decline in human cognition.


IN THE EARLY DECADES OF THE TWENTY-FIRST century, relations among the nations of East Asia may be characterized by high and rising levels of economic interdependence, expanding cooperation in a lengthening list of international institutions, growing trust and a deepening and ever more stable peace. Or, on the other hand, they could be marked instead by mutual suspicion, shifting diplomatic alignments, arms races, crises, and periodic wars. While many observers hope that Asian international politics in the years ahead will resemble the patterns that have come to prevail in Western Europe in the second half of the twentieth century, skeptics fear that they may be more similar to those that marked the previous four hundred years of modern European history. The way different observers characterize the future of East Asian security depends, among other things, on their beliefs about the fundamental character of world politics and the relative strength of the contending forces that are reshaping the international system. Although it is not always couched in these terms, the debate over Asia's future is, at base, a dispute between adherents to very different theories of international relations. Whether or not they identify themselves with such labels, those who are most pessimistic tend to be guided in their thinking by the tenets of political "realism" while those who take a more optimistic view are usually recognizable either as "liberals" or as what are referred to in contemporary academic jargon as "constructivists." At present, the realists appear to have the better part of the argument. Given the complex and contingent character of international politics and the inadequacy of existing theoretical tools for understanding it, confident predictions about the future should be regarded with great skepticism. Still, there are good reasons to fear that, as the next century begins, Asian international relations will be characterized more by competition and conflict than by cooperation and harmony. Realism In trying to anticipate the likely pattern of relations among a group of states, realists begin by attempting to analyze the distribution of material power among them. Here, in considering Asia, they find several immediate and substantial causes for concern. For a combination of long-term economic and short-run geopolitical reasons, the distribution of power in Asia has changed very rapidly in recent years. The extremely high rates of economic growth that a number of states in the region have been able to sustain over the past two or three decades has helped to make them wealthier and, in the process, has increased their capacity to generate military power. In addition, since the end of the 1980s, a series of unanticipated political developments has begun to transform the relations among the region's major powers. The collapse of the Soviet Union and its replacement with much-weakened Russia has encouraged at least a partial withdrawal of US military forces. The end of the Cold War and the demise of a common Soviet threat have also contributed to some loosening in the ties between the United States and Japan and to a far more dramatic parting of the ways between the United States and China. The sheer speed with which these economic and political changes have been occurring is in itself worrisome. Realists believe that, in the absence of a higher authority to resolve disputes, impose order, and keep peace, states must always be concerned first and foremost about their own security. Rapid changes in power relationships lead to uncertainty (with some states becoming increasingly anxious about their position, and others more confident and assertive), and uncertainty can increase the odds of misperception, miscalculation, and conflict. Even during the Cold War, Asia was never simply bipolar like Europe, divided down the middle by the competition between the United States and the Soviet Union. …


labour delivered by caesarean section in the Birmingham Maternity Hospital; positive cultures were obtained twice (anaerobic streptococci, and B. coli), and both infants made normal progress. It would therefore seem possible that infection of the foetus during prolonged labour is far more common than is generally imagined, and this might well account for the increase in rate of the foetal heart so commonly observed in these circumstances. It would also appear that neonatal immunity or resistance to infection is remarkably high.-I am, etc.,


This article discusses therapeutic letter writing by school counselors as a way of enhancing effectiveness of direct services to students. Writing as an effective therapeutic tool has been well-documented, and therapeutic letter writing specifically has been shown to have positive effects. This article provides a brief literature review, along with sample letters that might be used in elementary, middle, and high school levels. Guidelines for constructing letters are included.


We report on K-band VLTI/AMBER observations at medium spectral resolution (∼1500) of RS Capricorni, an M6/M7III semi-regular AGB star. From the spectrally dispersed visibilities, we measure the star diameter as a function of observing wavelength from 2.13 to 2.47 microns. We derive a Rosseland angular diameter of 7.95 ± 0.07 mas, which corresponds to an effective temperature of 3160 ± 160 K. We detect size variations of around 10% in the CO band heads, which are indicative of strong opacity effects of CO in the stellar photosphere. We also detect a linear increase in the size as a function of wavelength, beginning at 2.29 microns. Models of the stellar atmosphere, based on the mass of the star estimated from stellar-evolution models, predict CO-size effects of about half the sizes observed, and cannot reproduce the linear size increase with wavelength, redward of 2.29 microns. We are able to model this linear size increase with the addition of an extended water-vapor envelope around the star. However, we are unable to fit the data in the CO bandheads. Either the mass of the star is overestimated by the stellar-evolution models and/or there is an additional extended CO envelope in the outer part of the atmosphere. In any case, neither the water-vapor envelope nor the CO envelope can be explained using the current models.


There is a continual need to support and assist carers who play a central role in providing informal care for a relative. This approach to care provision must have a strong foundation based on liaison between the family carers, professional carers and the older or disabled person who is the focus of care. Services that enable effective communication using videoconferencing, interactive communication, tailored Web based programs and other specific resources configured for the needs of the individual can help carers carry out their role effectively. The initiative described in this paper uses a combination of telematic focused interventions to meet the needs of carers and provides an in-depth overview of the ACTION telecare project. The ACTION (Assisting Carers using Telematic Interventions to meet Older persons' Needs) project was set up and funded because of the need to develop supportive methods for carers and older people. The initiative was designed to improve autonomy and maintain independence and quality of life for people in their own homes and therefore reduce the need for institutional care. This has an economic as well as a social dimension. The project has demonstrated that with the involvement of users at all levels it can fulfil this need. The role of the ACTION project was to develop a cost-effective telecare system for the provision of education, information and support and has been demonstrated with successful results.


In this study, the characteristics of wind-blown sand in the hinterland of the Tengger Desert and the regularity of sand deposition in road cutting are studied by combining a field test and numerical simulation. Firstly, the meteorological observation system is used to obtain the long-term monitoring of the Tengger Desert hinterland, and the perennial wind speed, wind direction, and strong wind period are obtained. Then, a three-dimensional ultrasonic anemometer and stepwise sand accumulation instrument are used to measure the transient wind-blown sand velocity and density at the top of the cutting slope, which provide the basis and verification for the numerical simulation. Finally, Fluent software (2020R2) is used to establish two numerical models with and without grading. Based on Euler's two-fluid theory and fluctuating-wind user-defined functions, the movement of wind-blown sand in the cutting section of the desert hinterland is simulated, and the regularity of sand accumulation in the cutting section is obtained. The main conclusions are as follows: (1) The strong wind period in the hinterland of the Tengger Desert in 2021 mainly occurs from April to August, and the mainstream wind direction is concentrated in the WSW and SW directions. (2) The sand in the hinterland of the Tengger Desert is mainly medium–fine, and the particle size range is mainly concentrated at 0.075–0.250 mm, accounting for 98.2% of the total sand; the curve of the wind-blown sand density with height is oblique and L-shaped. (3) The method of grading excavation is beneficial to reduce the sand accumulation rate on the road's surface.


Background—Contrast agents can cause a reduction in renal function that may be due to the generation of reactive oxygen species. Conflicting evidence suggests that administration of the antioxidant acetylcysteine prevents this renal impairment. The action of other antioxidant agents has not been investigated. Methods and Results—We conducted a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial of ascorbic acid in 231 patients with a serum creatinine concentration ≥1.2 mg/dL who underwent coronary angiography and/or intervention. Ascorbic acid, 3 g at least 2 hours before the procedure and 2 g in the night and the morning after the procedure, or placebo was administered orally. Contrast-mediated nephropathy was defined by an absolute increase of serum creatinine ≥0.5 mg/dL or a relative increase of ≥25% measured 2 to 5 days after the procedure. Contrast-mediated nephropathy occurred in 11 of the 118 patients (9%) in the ascorbic acid group and in 23 of the 113 patients (20%) in the placebo group (odds ratio [OR], 0.38; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.17 to 0.85; P=0.02). The mean serum creatinine concentration increased significantly in the placebo group (from 1.36±0.50 to 1.50±0.54 mg/dL, P<0.001) and nonsignificantly in the ascorbic acid group (from 1.46±0.52 to 1.52±0.64 mg/dL, P=0.07). The mean increase in serum creatinine concentration was greater in the placebo group than in the ascorbic acid group (difference of 0.09 mg/dL; 95% CI, 0.00 to 0.17; P=0.049). Conclusions—Prophylactic oral administration of ascorbic acid may protect against contrast-mediated nephropathy in high-risk patients undergoing a coronary procedure.


Swine eperythrozoonosis is a haemotrophic disease caused by Eperythrozoon suis, actually called Mycoplasma suis, an extracellular bacterial organism that apparently adheres to pig erythrocyte membrane, inducing its deformation and damage. Since little is known about the ultrastructural and morphometrical aspects of this microorganism, the present work aimed to deal with these issues. The ultrastructural study revealed the presence of structures corresponding to tubules disseminated throughout the soma of M. suis. A variable separation between the microorganism membrane and that of the erythrocyte was also observed. The structural and positional attitude of M. suis could allow speculation about its mechanism of action.


Carrier frequency offset is a significant problem in achieving signal acquisition in communications equipment. In a receiver the frequency offset must be corrected before symbol timing and phase recovery operations can be completed. Several methods have been applied to frequency estimation, for example, the fast Fourier transform (FFT) method and the differential phase method. However, the FFT method suffers from threshold effects and the differential phase method, although simple, suffers an SNR penalty though its differential detection and is sensitive to large frequency offsets. This paper describes a trellis based scheme for frequency and phase estimation. A recently reported technique, per-survivor processing (Raheli, 1995) has been adapted to make use of the trellis structure and is described. The technique, referred to herein as frequency estimation by PSP (FEPSP), gives near optimum performance under certain conditions. Firstly Cramer-Rao lower bounds (CRLB) are derived for the frequency estimator and the phase estimator. The PSP estimation algorithm is then described. Lastly, the performance of the FEPSP is discussed and compared with that of the CRLB and FFT methods.


Heart failure is common in patients aged over 65 years, and is the fourth leading cause of hospitalization in the United States. Treatment of congestive heart failure involves remodeling the cardiac chamber with ventricular dilatation. New approaches to resolve this problem include medical therapies (digoxin, diuretics, ACE inhibitors, beta-blockers and phosphodiesterase inhibitors) to stabilize patients, followed by chamber remodeling. As yet, surgical intervention in advanced heart failure has been contraindicated, but newly evolving strategies show significant promise. It appears possible that patients can receive surgical therapy to improve cardiac function, followed by state-of-the-art medical therapy for congestive heart failure. This combined medical/surgical approach has led to the evolution of a new subspecialty within cardiology that deals with the management of heart failure.


1. Antipneumococcus serum possesses the power of inhibiting for a certain period of time the multiplication of pneumococci. 2. It also has the capacity of inhibiting the proteolytic and glycolytc functions of pneumococci. 3. This power is acquired for the first time or appears in increased amounts in human serum at the time of crisis in lobar pneumonia. 4. The retardation of bacterial growth is thought to be dependent upon the inhibition of metabolic function due to the presence of anti-enzymotic substances in antipneumococcus serum. To this phenomenon we have applied the term antiblastic immunity.


The inherent multi-disciplinary nature of cyber-physical systems makes it difficult to get early insight in key system properties and trade-offs that have to be made. Our aim is to support system architects of such systems by facilitating the co-simulation of models from different disciplines and design space exploration. This has been achieved by defining a domain-specific language called CoHLA which allows a high-level description of a system architecture and simulation parameters to be specified. A generator has been implemented that generates a co-simulation of component models using an implementation of the HLA standard. Component models that adhere to the FMI standard can be incorporated easily. Moreover, CoHLA includes primitives to express design space parameters and metrics; this information is used to generate tooling for automated design space exploration.


Girl at War by Sara Nović and Exit West by Mohsin Hamid both tell the stories of characters in war-torn countries that are trying to survive day by day. In these novels, there are many physical and intangible borders that impact the main characters' lives in significant ways.  Ana Jurić from Girl at War is a Croatian girl from the former Yugoslavia who lives in poverty in the midst of a civil war at just 10 years old. Exit West follows young, working-class couple Saeed and Nadia from an unspecified country who are experiencing a violent war within the streets of their city while also trying to navigate their forming romantic relationship. Although Exit West differs significantly from Girl at War due to its elements of magical realism, the two novels are very similar in that they both show that money can be used to cross borders. Class borders and the importance of money to go from one place to another play a key role in these novels and in the main characters' lives. A lack of money also creates a border for these characters in many ways. In addition, Ana, Saeed, and Nadia are all moving westward throughout their journeys out of their countries; borders become more restrictive and more dependent on money to cross. This paper will focus on comparing the experiences of Ana Jurić from Girl at War and Saeed and Nadia from Exit West and how these characters use money to cross borders and escape the traumatic living conditions of their home countries, how the lack of money impacts their lives and ability to cross borders, and the connection between the western world and the importance of money in border crossings. Furthermore, Girl at War and Exit West both suggest that resources and opportunities should be more accessible to everyone, not just the affluent, and that wealth distribution would secure the well-being of the working class.


In addition to serving as membrane anchors for cell surface proteins, glycosylphosphatidylinositols (GPIs) can be found abundantly as free glycolipids in mammalian cells. In this study we analyze the subcellular distribution and intracellular transport of metabolically radiolabeled GPIs in three different cell lines. We use a variety of membrane isolation techniques (subcellular fractionation, plasma membrane vesiculation to isolate pure plasma membrane fractions, and enveloped viruses to sample cellular membranes) to provide direct evidence that free GPIs are not confined to their site of synthesis, the endoplasmic reticulum, but can redistribute to populate other subcellular organelles. Over short labeling periods (2.5 h), radiolabeled GPIs were found at similar concentration in all subcellular fractions with the exception of a mitochondria-enriched fraction where GPI concentration was low. Pulse-chase experiments over extended chase periods showed that although the total amount of cellular radiolabeled GPIs decreased, the plasma membrane complement of labeled GPIs increased. GPIs at the plasma membrane were found to populate primarily the exoplasmic leaflet as detected using periodate oxidation of the cell surface. Transport of GPIs to the cell surface was inhibited by Brefeldin A and blocked at 15 °C, suggesting that GPIs are transported to the plasma membrane via a vesicular mechanism. The rate of transport of radiolabeled GPIs to the cell surface was found to be comparable with the rate of secretion of newly synthesized soluble proteins destined for the extracellular space.


Fracture toughness δi of AISI 4340 steel in the hardened and tempered condition has been determined by the multiple-specimen CTOD (crack tip opening displacement) resistance curve method. This fracture toughness δi value has been compared with the JIc fracture toughness also obtained by the multiple-specimen JR curve technique. The investigation also examines the effect of specimen size, thickness, and width on δi and δR curve behavior. The effect of these parameters on the constraint factor m in the J-δ relationship has also been examined. Compact tension specimens with TL orientation were used. All specimens satisfied ASTM E 813 standard size requirements. This investigation demonstrates that Jδi values obtained by the CTOD resistance curve method are similar to JIc values obtained from the J-integral resistance curve method. The specimen thickness has no significant influence on δi or δR curve behavior. On the other hand, specimen width has a distinct influence on constraint factor m and δR curve behavior.


Multidrug resistance of pathogenic bacteria has become a public health crisis that requires the urgent design of new antibacterial drugs such as antimicrobial peptides (AMPs). Seeking to obtain new, lactoferricin B (LfcinB)-based synthetic peptides as viable early-stage candidates for future development as AMPs against clinically relevant bacteria, we designed, synthesized and screened three new cationic peptides derived from bovine LfcinB. These peptides contain at least one RRWQWR motif and differ by the copy number (monomeric, dimeric or tetrameric) and structure (linear or branched) of this motif. They comprise a linear palindromic peptide (RWQWRWQWR), a dimeric peptide (RRWQWR)2KAhx and a tetrameric peptide (RRWQWR)4K2Ahx2C2. They were screened for antibacterial activity against Enterococcus faecalis (ATCC 29212 and ATCC 51575 strains), Pseudomonas aeruginosa (ATCC 10145 and ATCC 27853 strains) and clinical isolates of two Gram-positive bacteria (Enterococcus faecium and Staphylococcus aureus) and two Gram-negative bacteria (Klebsiella pneumoniae and Pseudomonas aeruginosa). All three peptides exhibited greater activity than did the reference peptide, LfcinB (17–31), which contains a single linear RRWQWR motif. Against the ATCC reference strains, the three new peptides exhibited minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC50) values of 3.1–198.0 μM and minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC) values of 25–200 μM, and against the clinical isolates, MIC50 values of 1.6–75.0 μM and MBC values of 12.5–100 μM. However, the tetrameric peptide was also found to be strongly hemolytic (49.1% at 100 μM). Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) demonstrated that in the dimeric and tetrameric peptides, the RRWQWR motif is exposed to the pathogen surface. Our results may inform the design of new, RRWQWR-based AMPs.


This study explores the issue of graduate employability in Malaysia as construed in public discourse
in English, a language of power in Malaysia. The term employability itself has many definitions
depending on the requirements of government and industry, and in the case of Malaysia, the
English-language ability of graduates is inseparable from graduate employability. Data were
collected from three socially significant English-language publications: a mainstream newspaper
(the New Straits Times), an alternative newspaper (The Malaysian Insider), and a government
document outlining the national approach to improving graduate employability in universities (the
Graduate Employability Blueprint). The data were collected between 2012 and 2013, a significant
two-year period of time due to the publication of the Graduate Employability Blueprint in 2012,
and the five-yearly Malaysian General Election in 2013.
Applying Critical Discourse Analysis (Fairclough, 1995), the study employs Transitivity
analysis (Halliday & Matthiessen, 2004) and Appraisal analysis (Martin & White, 2005) from
Systemic Functional Linguistics. The analysis looks at the grammatical roles and evaluation of
important social actor groups in the graduate employability issue (e.g. government, government
link companies, employers, graduates, parents and teachers). The findings show that
government, the government programs and the employers are construed favourably, while the
graduates are depicted unfavourably. Parents and teachers are largely excluded from the
discourse.
Significant government expenditure and national resources from public and private organizations
are dedicated to improving the employability of graduates in Malaysia. However, the public discourse on graduate employability in the powerful English language appears
unlikely to contribute to a social context where the aims of the groups with a key interest in
graduate employability will be achieved.


Individuals with spinal cord injuries who use a wheelchair for full time mobility are at high risk for developing upper limb pain and dysfunction, which can negatively impact functional mobility and quality of life. Due to the detrimental effects, the Consortium for Spinal Cord Medicine and the Paralyzed Veterans of America developed a clinical practice guideline (CPG) to educate clinicians on upper limb preservation methods. Past research has found that passive implementation of a CPG does not change clinical practice and a structured program is needed for effective education. In this dissertation, we have developed a strict protocol to implement the CPG and performed a randomized clinical trial to determine if new wheelchair users who were strictly educated on the CPG have better functional mobility skills, wheelchair characteristics and lower pain. During the course of the study, we found no objective method to evaluate the quality of a transfer. Therefore, an original outcome measure was developed. We evaluated the tool and found that it is safe, can be completed in a short amount of time and has a wide range of reliability and validity. Refinements are necessary, but the tool fills a substantial void in the area of transfer evaluation. The newly created outcome measure was used to evaluate the transfer skills of participants in the randomized trial. A trend in the data found that participants who were strictly educated on the CPG performed better transfers at six months post discharge. The same group of participants was evaluated on wheelchair set up, selection and manual wheelchair propulsion skills. No differences were found between groups based on wheelchair set up and selection; however those strictly educated on the CPG propelled with significantly lower normalized peak resultant forces at six months post discharge. Finally, results found that individuals who were strictly educated on the CPG reported higher pain during movement activities at six months post discharge, although this may be due to increased awareness. The new outcome measure and structured education program are important tools to improve care provided during acute rehabilitation for full time wheelchair users with spinal cord injuries.


Resource efficiency in the agri-food sector is a global urgent issue considering the urbanisation phenomena, the increased nutritional needs, and the emergence of diversified dietary norms. Despite the ongoing progress in digital technologies that could enable resource-efficient operations in the sector, their effectiveness—even in developed countries—remains debateable mainly due to the limited understanding that further impedes their adoption by farmers. Among others, ease of access, training, and engagement with digital technologies appears to be challenging for most stakeholders, especially during the production (farming) stage. Specifically, in developing countries, that often encounter major natural resources challenges, the diverse socio-cultural background of the farmers hinders the adoption of digital technologies to perform highly automated and efficient agricultural operations for ensuring sustainability output. In this regard, we explore publicly available data sources (i.e., institutional reports, databases) to identify key challenges in adopting digital technologies for efficient resource use from a systems-level perspective. Thereafter, we map the determinant factors using the System Dynamics methodology in order to identify areas of interventions to limit natural resources' appropriation and support agri-food sustainability.


Iridium complexes of Cp* and mesoionic carbene ligands were synthesized and evaluated as potential water oxidation catalysts using cerium(IV) ammonium nitrate as a chemical oxidant. Performance was evaluated by turnover frequency at 50% conversion and by absolute turnover number, and the most promising precatalysts were studied further. Molecular turnover frequencies varied from 190 to 451 per hour with a maximum turnover number of 38 000. While the rate of oxygen evolution depends linearly on iridium concentration, concurrent spectroscopic and manometric observations following stoichiometric oxidant additions suggest oxygen evolution is limited by two sequential first-order reactions. Under the applied conditions, the oxygen evolving species appears to be a well-defined and molecular species based on kinetic analyses, effects of careful ligand design, reproducibility, and the absence of persistent dynamic light scattering signals. Outside of these conditions, the complex mechanism is highly dependent on reaction conditions. While confident characterization of the catalytically active species is difficult, especially under high-turnover conditions, this work strongly suggests the primary active species under these conditions is a molecular species.