When she stepped from a packet boat onto a San Francisco dock on April 18, 1906, 22-year-old Edith Irvine made a swift decision to change her travel plans. Instead of embarking on a world tour, she stayed in San Francisco to photograph the devastation from the earthquake that had just occurred. Realizing that photographers were suspect and not welcome among the ruins, Irvine found a baby carriage and stowed her glass-plate photographic equipment inside. Thus equipped, she was protected from armed guards dispatched by city officials to prevent photographers from gathering evidence of the destruction. She then wandered the burning city for three days, photographing what she saw.(1)Irvine took her glass plates home, stored them away, and apparently forgot them as she became a school teacher and went on to live her life. Her nephew discovered the plates in Irvine's attic after she died in 1949, and he donated them to Brigham Young University.(2)The purpose of this essay is to use Irvine's example to contribute to a feminist "text,"(3) an articulation of female lives to elaborate our understanding of how women relate and contribute to social-historical reality, especially when the woman is considered "deviant" because she is working and is stigmatized because she does not comply with what "other people in the society are doing."(4) As a young female photographer, Edith Irvine was both "deviant" and "stigmatized." In her later years she was also eccentric, suffered from alcoholism and drug abuse, and died a suicide,(5) and yet the telling of her story adds to a collective understanding of the variability of the lives of women at the turn of the century.(6)The few photographic histories that have dealt with specific female photographers have described their subjects as idiosyncratic, rather than significant, transitional figures in women's history.(7) Irvine could also be dealt with as idiosyncratic, but the intent here is to place her life and contribution to photojournalism in context of the turn-of-the-century transition in women's professionalism. Irvine's work also provides insights into the photographer's role as interpreter of the culture from the point of view of gender, which Gover suggests, along with class, "affects women's pictorial interpretations of their world."(8) As Ohrn discovered when compiling the photographs by Dorothea Lange and Ansel Adams of the evacuation and internment of Japanese-Americans during World War II, stylistic approach and attitude of the photographer are reflected in the photographs they produce.(9) In this study, gender is considered for its contribution to the approach and attitude evidenced in photographs.Photography at the turn of the twentieth century was considered an appropriate activity for women, especially if they remained in a hand-maid role, as technicians. Indeed, photography opened a new employment area for women.(10) Some emerged as professionals and owned their own studios, often in their homes. Women had been involved in photography from its inception in 1839; most who took up photography seriously were portrait photographers. The major exception was Frances Benjamin Johnston, the "Mother of American Photojournalism."(11) She, too, had her own portrait studio and contributed some of the first photographs to the publishing business, but her particular significance to photographic history was as a photojournalist. Photographs of presidents William McKinley and Theodore Roosevelt, and feminist Susan B. Anthony, along with her photo-chronicles of Pennsylvania coal mines and the 1892 Chicago World's Fair, established her credentials. Her self-portrait in a skirt hiked to her knees, petticoats showing, a cigarette in one hand, a beer stein in another, illustrates her Bohemian character, as well as the aggressive image she and many other women in journalism, photography, and other fields deemed necessary to gain acceptance in a man's world.(12)Twenty years younger than Johnston, Edith Irvine made her photographic contribution from 1902 to 1906. …


The scintillation properties of powders and single-crystals of BaFI doped with Eu2+ are presented. Single crystals were grown by the vertical Bridgman technique. Under optical and X-ray excitation, the samples exhibit a narrow Eu2+ 5d-4f transition emission centered at 405 nm. The scintillation light output is estimated to be 55,000±5,000 photons/MeV at 662 keV with 85% of the light decaying within 600 ns. An energy resolution of 8.5% full width at half maximum (FWHM) has been achieved using this scintillator for 662 keV excitation (137Cs source) at room temperature.


Previous experiments in this laboratory have demonstrated that ischemic cardioplegia results in depression of subsequent ventricular performance, the severity of which is a function of the duration of aortic occlusion. Contractility progressively improves with time, however, and if the period of occlusion is not longer than 30 minutes the contractile state of the myocardium frequently returns to near normal levels. 1 These findings, in addition to the clinical observation that many patients appear to tolerate relatively prolonged periods of normothermic ischemic cardioplegia, suggest that adaptive mechanisms protect the myocardium during a period of aortic occlusion. The roles of spontaneous cardiac hypothermia and the bronchial artery—coronary artery collateral circulation in protecting the myocardium during periods of normothermic ischemic cardioplegia were determined in the experiments described in the following report. Materials and Methods Mongrel dogs weighing 19 to 24 kg (42 to 53 lb) were anesthetized with intravenously administered pentobarbital sodium (35


It has been shown previously that methyl jasmonate (JA-Me) applied in lanolin paste on the bottom surface of intact tulip leaves causes a rapid and intense its senescence. The aim of this work was to study the effect of JA-Me on free and bound fatty acid and sterol contents during tulip leaf senescence. The main free and bound fatty acids of tulip leaf, in decreasing order of their abundance, were linolenic, linoleic, palmitic, oleic, stearic and myristic acids. Only the content of free linolenic acid decreased after treatment with JA-Me during visible stage of senescence. s-Sitosterol (highest concentration), campesterol, stigmasterol and cholesterol were identified in tulip leaf. Methyl jasmonate evidently increased the level of s-sitosterol, campesterol and stigmasterol during induced senescence. It is suggested that the increase in sterol concentrations under the influence of methyl jasmonate induced changes in membrane fluidity and permeability, which may be responsible for senescence.


Although family law is very much concerned with legal parentage and its attendant rights, children are much more concerned with maintaining relationships with those who care for them, regardless of whether that person is a legal parent or merely someone functioning as one. What happens though if the child's legal parent attempts to banish the quasi-parent from the child's life? Doing so can be extremely damaging to the child. Nonetheless, parents do possess a constitutional right to make decisions about how to rear their children, including who may have access to the child. Trying to strike a balance between protecting the child yet also safeguarding the parent's right is a daunting task. The Supreme Court has provided little guidance on this issue having issued only one opinion on the subject, Troxel v. Granville, and even it only obliquely deals with the subject of quasi-parenthood. Still, the states have relied on Troxel to craft a number of different approaches to the challenging question of quasi-parenthood. As Troxel nears its twentieth anniversary, however, a problem has emerged. Specifically, in implementing Troxel, the states have by and large treated the traditional nuclear family model as normative. This approach is problematic for two reasons. First, since Troxel was decided, the nuclear family has changed drastically. From the legalization of same-sex marriage, to the increase in divorce, cohabitation, and remarriage, fewer and fewer children are finding themselves raised by their two legal parents. Second, for a significant portion of the American population, including racial and ethnic minorities, the nuclear family model has never represented the way in which they typically structure their families, with children often being reared by members of the extended family. Thus, by premising the law of quasi-parenthood on the outdated and unrealistic nuclear family model, more and more children are unable to avail themselves to the protections the law of quasi-parenthood was intended to provide. This Article traces the history of quasi-parenthood, analyzing how the law has evolved into a current practice that is, much to the harm of American children, both short-sighted and under inclusive. The Article concludes with concrete suggestions for change—changes that will promote a legal standard that is less discriminatory and more reflective of the contemporary American family.


This review describes the present state of contemporary solid state hydrogen storage on the basis of research carried out during the last decade. The article focuses on the key aspects of materials based on the physical and chemical storage of hydrogen and emerging mechanisms for reversible storage. Among chemical storage materials, we consider metal hydrides (both light and complex), nitrides-imides-amides and other multi-component systems and discuss the emergence of coordination polymers (metal organic frameworks; MOFs) among solids exhibiting physical storage. Significant challenges remain if we are to meet the practical demands required of a solid state storage system, namely high storage density together with favourable sorption thermodynamics and kinetics and prolonged cycleability and lifetime. This review emphasises both how our understanding of the storage mechanism (as a process or phenomenon during hydrogen cycling) is evolving and how this understanding impacts on future materials design. The prospect of high capacity storage and fast kinetics in nanostructured materials is highlighted as is the role of complex, multi-component, composite systems in future hydrogen storage research.


BACKGROUND
Sickle cell disease is a genetic chronic haemolytic and pro-inflammatory disorder. The clinical manifestations of sickle cell disease result from the presence of mutations on the beta globin genes that generate an abnormal haemoglobin product (called haemoglobin S) within the red blood cell. Sickle cell disease can lead to many complications such as acute chest syndrome, stroke, acute and chronic bone complications (including painful vaso-occlusive crisis, osteomyelitis, osteonecrosis and osteoporosis). With increased catabolism and deficits in energy and nutrient intake, individuals with sickle cell disease suffer multiple macro- and micro-nutritional deficiencies, including vitamin D deficiency. Since vitamin D maintains calcium homeostasis and is essential for bone mineralisation, its deficiency may worsen musculoskeletal health problems encountered in sickle cell disease. Therefore, there is a need to review the effects and the safety of vitamin D supplementation in sickle cell disease.

OBJECTIVES
To investigate the hypothesis that vitamin D supplementation increases serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D level in children and adults with sickle cell disease.To determine the effects of vitamin D supplementation on general health such as growth status and health-related quality of life; on musculoskeletal health including bone mineral density, pain crises, bone fracture and muscle health; on respiratory health which includes lung function tests, acute chest syndrome, acute exacerbation of asthma and respiratory infections; and the safety of vitamin D supplementation in children and adults with sickle cell disease.

SEARCH METHODS
We searched the Cochrane Haemoglobinopathies Trials Register, compiled from electronic database searches and handsearching of journals and conference abstract books. We also searched database such as PubMed, clinical trial registries and the reference lists of relevant articles and reviews.Date of last search: 15 December 2016.

SELECTION CRITERIA
Randomised controlled studies and quasi-randomised controlled studies (controlled clinical studies) comparing oral administration of any form of vitamin D supplementation to another type of vitamin D or placebo or no supplementation at any dose and for any duration, in people with sickle cell disease, of all ages, gender, and phenotypes including sickle cell anaemia, haemoglobin sickle cell disease and sickle beta-thalassaemia diseases.

DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS
Two authors independently extracted the data and assessed the risk of bias of the included study. They used the GRADE guidelines to assess the quality of the evidence.

MAIN RESULTS
One double-blind randomised controlled study including 46 people with sickle cell disease (HbSS, HbSC, HbSβ+thal and HbSβ0thal) was eligible for inclusion in this review. Of the 46 enrolled participants, seven withdrew before randomisation leaving 39 participants who were randomised. Only 25 participants completed the full six months of follow up. Participants were randomised to receive oral vitamin D3 (cholecalciferol) (n = 20) or placebo (n = 19) for six weeks and were followed up to six months. Two participants from the treatment group have missing values of baseline serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D, therefore the number of samples analysed was 37 (vitamin D n = 18, placebo n = 19).The included study had a high risk of bias with regards to incomplete outcome data (high dropout rate in the placebo group), but a low risk of bias for other domains such as random sequence generation, allocation concealment, blinding of participants, personnel and outcome assessors, selective outcome reporting; and an unclear risk of other biases.Compared to the placebo group, the vitamin D group had significantly higher serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D) levels at eight weeks, mean difference 29.79 (95% confidence interval 26.63 to 32.95); at 16 weeks, mean difference 12.67 (95% confidence interval 10.43 to 14.90); and at 24 weeks, mean difference 15.52 (95% confidence interval 13.50 to 17.54). We determined the quality of the evidence for this outcome to be moderate. There was no significant difference of adverse events (tingling of lips or hands) between the vitamin D and placebo groups, risk ratio 3.16 (95% confidence interval 0.14 to 72.84), but the quality of the evidence was low. Regarding the frequency of pain, the vitamin D group had significantly fewer pain days compared to the placebo group, mean difference -10.00 (95% confidence interval -16.47 to -3.53), but again the quality of the evidence was low. Furthermore, the review included physical functioning PedsQL scores which was reported as absolute change from baseline. The vitamin D group had a lower (worse) health-related quality of life score than the placebo group but this was not significant at eight weeks, mean difference -2.02 (95% confidence interval -6.34 to 2.30). However, the difference was significant at both 16 weeks, mean difference -12.56 (95% confidence interval -16.44 to -8.69) and 24 weeks, mean difference -12.59 (95% confidence interval -17.43 to -7.76). We determined the quality of evidence for this outcome to be low.

AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS
We included only one low-quality clinical study which had a high risk of bias with regards to incomplete outcome data. Therefore, we consider that the evidence is not of sufficient quality to guide clinical practice. Until further evidence becomes available, clinicians should consider the relevant existing guidelines for vitamin D supplementation (e.g. the Endocrine Society Clinical Practice Guidelines) and dietary reference intakes for calcium and vitamin D (e.g. from the USA Institute of Medicine). Evidence of vitamin D supplementation in sickle cell disease from high quality studies is needed. Well-designed, randomised, placebo-controlled studies of parallel design, are required to determine the effects and the safety of vitamin D supplementation in children and adults with sickle cell disease.


The Luria-Nebraska Neuropsychological Battery is a relatively new neurodiagnostic test, and there is a growing demand for material on the more advanced aspects of its interpretation. This book, organized around the theoretical meaning of items, the empirical correlations between items, and the factor structure of the individual scales, is a first response to that demand. It will serve to give greater understanding of the psychological skills that underlie each item on the Luria-Nebraska battery--an understanding prerequisite to the techniques of "syndrome analysis" described in the writings of A. R. Luria--and it will be particularly useful to those who have limited experience with actual case material.The major part of the book is an analysis of each Luria-Nebraska scale, either item by item or as a unit. For each scale the authors examine the theoretical intent of the items and the underlying skills according to Luria's theory. They then present the results of item interrelations analysis to determine whether the items tap common skills. Finally they describe the factor structure of the various scales, exploring the interrelations of items within each scale.In addition to analyzing the behavioral scales of the Luria-Nebraska battery, the book reviews a number of other empirical scales that further aid interpretation--particularly the experimental localization scales that tap focal deficits in specific areas of the brain. Also included are case histories that illustrate the process of diagnosis in patients who receive a series of Luria-Nebraska batteries over the course of their treatment. Finally, the authors briefly discuss subcortical disorders--an issue often ignored in clinical neuropsychological testing.


Quenching and tempering are processes that strengthen and harden materials like steel and other iron-based alloys. Conventional heat treatment procedures for producing martensitic steels generally involve continuous and rapid cooling of an austenitized specimen in some types of quenching media such as water, oil, or air, in which the properties of steel quenched depends largely on the properties of these quenching media. Four vegetable oils: Cotton seed oil, Neem seed oil, Shea butter oil and Palm kernel oil, were  blended into two different samples, namely Blend A: Cotton seed oil and Neem seed oil and Blend B: Cotton seed oil, Neem seed oil, Palm kernel oil and Shear butter oil. These were mixed in different ratios.  Samples of Medium Carbon Steel were heated to 850°C and soaked for 10 minutes inside a Muffle Furnace before quenching in the prepared quenching media. The Microstructure and mechanical properties of the samples were investigated to determine the quenching performance of the Vegetable Oil Blends. The results showed that Blend A1 produced best properties for the Impact Strength and Yield Strength with values of 0.82 J/mm² and 429.71N/mm² respectively. On the other hands, Blend A2 quenched Steel had best properties for the Hardness and Tensile Strength with 52.8 HRA and 892 N/mm² respectively. Microstructure analysis also confirms improved hardness and toughness exhibiting more martensite for blend containing the four oils than blend with only two oils.


Abstract. Volcanic ash is commonly observed by infrared detectors on board Earth-orbiting satellites. In the presence of ice and/or liquid-water clouds, the detected volcanic ash signature may be altered. In this paper the sensitivity of detection and retrieval of volcanic ash to the presence of ice and liquid-water clouds was quantified by simulating synthetic equivalents to satellite infrared images with a 3-D radiative transfer model. The sensitivity study was made for the two recent eruptions of Eyjafjallajokull (2010) and Grimsvotn (2011) using realistic water and ice clouds and volcanic ash clouds. The water and ice clouds were taken from European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecast (ECMWF) analysis data and the volcanic ash cloud fields from simulations by the Lagrangian particle dispersion model FLEXPART. The radiative transfer simulations were made both with and without ice and liquid-water clouds for the geometry and channels of the Spinning Enhanced Visible and Infrared Imager (SEVIRI). The synthetic SEVIRI images were used as input to standard reverse absorption ash detection and retrieval methods. Ice and liquid-water clouds were on average found to reduce the number of detected ash-affected pixels by 6–12%. However, the effect was highly variable and for individual scenes up to 40% of pixels with mass loading >0.2 g m−2 could not be detected due to the presence of water and ice clouds. For coincident pixels, i.e. pixels where ash was both present in the FLEXPART (hereafter referred to as "Flexpart") simulation and detected by the algorithm, the presence of clouds overall increased the retrieved mean mass loading for the Eyjafjallajokull (2010) eruption by about 13%, while for the Grimsvotn (2011) eruption ash-mass loadings the effect was a 4% decrease of the retrieved ash-mass loading. However, larger differences were seen between scenes (standard deviations of ±30 and ±20% for Eyjafjallajokull and Grimsvotn, respectively) and even larger ones within scenes. The impact of ice and liquid-water clouds on the detection and retrieval of volcanic ash, implies that to fully appreciate the location and amount of ash, hyperspectral and spectral band measurements by satellite instruments should be combined with ash dispersion modelling.


Abstract This paper considers the role of eportfolios as an online tool intended to foster greater engagement between parent, teacher and child in early education settings. Drawing on New Zealand based research, I will critically examine the introduction of this technology as more than an addition into already existing ECEC services. Rather, I will highlight the generative impact it has in facilitating new kinds of relations between parents, teachers and managers, within what I term an emergent 'virtual landscape of ECEC'. Ultimately I argue that this landscape is shaped by asymmetries of power, which allow for processes of subjectification and governing in ECEC to occur in new ways.


[1] New U-series results indicate that Guatemalan volcanic rocks display both 238U and 230Th excesses. 230Th excess is restricted to volcanoes in central Guatemala, both along and behind the front. 230Th excess correlates with a number of incompatible element ratios, such as Th/Nb and Ba/Th. It also shows a negative correlation with MgO. Guatemalan volcanic rocks have (230Th/232Th) ratios that overlap those of Costa Rican volcanics and are therefore considerably lower than the unusually high ratios characterizing volcanic rocks from Nicaragua. Along-arc variations in (230Th/232Th) therefore mirror those of a number of diagnostic geochemical parameters, such as Ba/La, which are symmetrical about a peak in west central Nicaragua. The one siliceous lava analyzed, from the Cerro Quemado dome complex, has a recognizable crustal imprint, distinguished, for instance, by high Th/Nb and low Ba/Th. In mafic samples, 238U excess is attributed to addition of a U-enriched fluid component from the subducting Cocos plate. Our preferred explanation for 230Th excess in Guatemalan mafic samples, on the other hand, is crustal contamination, consistent with the relatively high Th/Nb and low Ba/Th ratios in these samples. We suspect, however, that crustal contamination only exerts a sizable control over the U-series disequilibrium of mafic magmas in Guatemala, and not elsewhere along the Central American volcanic front. This agrees with previously published trace element and isotopic evidence that throughout Central America, with the exception of Guatemala, mafic magmas are largely uncontaminated by crustal material.


Family farm management is often transferred separately from farm ownership. This article determines the impact of variables affecting management transfer decisions. Agricultural Resource Management Survey data are used to investigate variable impacts. Results indicate operator demographics, business planning practices, and value of farm and non-farm assets impact management transfer decisions.


Adaptive optics (AO) is a powerful technique for correcting extrinsic aberrations, such as those caused by atmospheric turbulence or biological sample thickness variations, by using measured phase information and a wavefront-correcting element. To extend AO techniques to systems with diffractive surfaces, considerations need to be made for additional components of the measured phase that are attributable to diffraction from the object and are not a part of the extrinsic aberration. For example, light reflected from a diffractive surface of an optical storage disk contains an additional phase due to the diffracted orders from the grating-like structure of the data tracks. In this work, a modified Gerchberg algorithm is presented as a viable method of phase retrieval to detect the total aberration, and correction for extrinsic aberrations is shown for light reflected from a grating. An experimental microscope system demonstrates successful AO correction, thus verifying simulation results.


A novel electrochemical immunosensor based on liposome signal amplification and immunochromatography has been developed for the determination of theoghylline, a therapeutic drug, as a model analyte. The immunosensor is composed of two major parts; a disposable screen-printed electrode and a nitrocellulose strip. The nitrocellulose strip contains a sample loading zone, an immobilized antibody competition zone, and a signal generation zone containing ferrocyanide-loaded liposomes in an ascending sequence. Upon loading a liquid sample to the immunosensor, capillary action causes the theophylline and theophylline-melittin conjugate to migrate through an anti-theophylline antibody zone, where competition occurs. The unbound theophylline-melittin conjugates further migrate into the signal generation zone, where liposomes are disrupted to release the electroactive ferrocyanides which are amperometrically detected by the screen-printed electrode. The current produced is directly proportional to the amount of free theophylline in the sample. The lowest detection limit obtained with this immunosensor is 5 /spl mu/g/ml.


Collagen was extracted from human adult bone by limited pepsin digestion and collagen types were purified by consecutive salt precipitation first under neutral and then under acid conditions. In SDS/PAGE, all collagen type I preparations showed a protein band [alpha 1s(I)] migrating between alpha 1(I) and alpha 2(I) as well as a band [alpha 2s(I)] migrating in front of alpha 2(I). The collagenous nature of the pepsin-stable alpha 1s(I) protein was clearly demonstrated by digestion with human-leucocyte-derived collagenase, immunoblotting with antibodies against collagen type I and amino acid analysis. Partial amino acid sequencing of alpha 1(I) and alpha 1s(I) identified alpha 1s(I) as a shortened alpha 1(I) chain due to a specific cleavage site between residues Leu95 and Asp96 which is in close vicinity to the hydroxylysine-derived crosslink at position 87. In circular dichroism, the proportion of thermally labile collagen molecules was proportional to the amount of shortened alpha 1(I) and alpha 2(I) chains, respectively. The melting temperature was found to be 36 +/- 0.5 degrees C as judged from circular dichroism and susceptibility to proteolysis. Our data provide clear evidence that a shortened alpha 1-derived collagen chain can be extracted from human adult bone whereas it is hardly found in human skin. The unique cleavage site might provide important information about the collagen I molecule embedded in the calcified matrix of human bone.


Highly anisotropic interfaces play an important role in the development of material microstructure. Using the diffusive atomistic phase-field crystal (PFC) formalism, we determine the capability of the model to quantitatively describe these interfaces. Specifically, we coarse grain the PFC model to attain both its complex amplitude formulation and its corresponding phase-field limit. Using this latter formulation, in one-dimensional calculations, we determine the surface energy and the properties of the Wulff shape. We find that the model can yield Wulff shapes with missing orientations, the transition to missing orientations, and facet formation. We show that the corresponding phase-field limit of the complex amplitude model yields a self-consistent description of highly anisotropic surface properties that are a function of the surface orientation with respect to the underlying crystal lattice. The phase-field model is also capable of describing missing orientations on equilibrium shapes of crystals and naturally includes a regularizing contribution. We demonstrate, in two dimensions, how the resultant model can be used to study growth of crystals with varying degrees of anisotropy in the phase-field limit.


The wind energy is one of the most significant alternative clean energy source and rapidly developing renewable energy sources in the world. For the evaluation of wind energy potential, probability density functions (pdfs) are usually used to model wind speed distributions. The selection of the appropriate pdf reduces the wind power estimation error and also allow to achieve characteristics. In the literature, different pdfs used to model wind speed data for wind energy applications. In this study, we propose a new probability distribution to model the wind speed data. Firstly, we defined the new probability distribution named Poisson-Gamma (PG) distribution and we analyzed a wind speed data sets which are about five pressure degree for the station. We obtained the data sets from Turkish State Meteorological Service. Then, we modelled the data sets with Exponential, Weibull, Lomax, 3 parameters Burr, Gumbel, Gamma, Rayleigh which are used to model wind speed data, and PG distributions. Finally, we compare...


The research focused on exploring the various reasons for political interest and apathy among university students in order to understand why some youngsters are interested whereas others are apathetic towards our political system. Purposive sampling strategy was used to select the sample. The sample (N = 16) including men (n = 12) and women (n = 4) consisted of students from various departments of Government College University, Lahore. Age range of the sample was from 18 to 26 years. Focus group technique was used to collect data (indicators and responses). Grounded theory was applied for the purpose of analysis and themes were identified. Results indicated various reasons for political interest and apathy and their ramifications. The analysis revealed that although all participants unanimously agreed that there are flaws in the political system but participants who were interested in politics held an optimistic point of view regarding the situation and believed that through their involvement in politics they can bring about a change. People who were apathetic mostly had a pessimistic point of view and as a result had developed the feelings of learned helplessness and believed that no matter what they do all their efforts will be fruitless. This research serves as a resource for those who have an interest in increasing knowledge in the subject of politics and for those who are attracted to the idea of politics but are repelled by the partisanship and sophistries represented by most of the political establishments without realizing that their alienation would further worsen the situation.Keywords: political interest, apathy, students, grounded theoryWhen we hear the word politics the images that come to mind are of government, politicians, and political parties or so to say the idea of corruption and dirty tricks. rOiese images have obscured the true meaning of the word politics which originated from a Greek word "polis", meaning the state or community as a whole. The idea of "Polis" emerged from the writings of Plato and Aristotle and referred to the development of an ideal state. According to them, politics referred to the use of various techniques and strategies to create a better society than the one already exist (Aristotle, 1996).Politics is the process whereby groups of individuals make collective decisions. Politics is observed in all human group interactions including corporate, academic, and religious institutions. Politics help create laws that serve to protect human rights, such as freedom of thought, expression and action, justice for all and aims to achieve economic prosperity to create better living for all citizens and protects them against any threats to their lives and possessions (Aristotle, 1996).Politics exists due to the broad spectrum of ideas and opinions within any society. Politics is thus used as a peacemaking strategy to provide solutions to conflict arising among groups and to facilitate the decision making process by involving all concerned parties. However, the most probable outcome might be a win-lose situation where one party will have to give in in order to reach a consensus. The mechanism however, may differ depending on the options that the parties are provided with. One such mechanism isthe use of votes to express one's opinion because the final decision depends on the amount of power that one group possesses and that comes from having a vast majority at their side. Power is enhanced by bringing more and more people over to one's side. Thus, by appealing to members of a society with solutions to their problems and promises to act in their interests, a group or individual can gain support and ultimately authority over other groups and individuals whether this be in an honest or dishonest way (Aristotle, 1996).Regardless of the above mentioned fact, one inescapable reality of today's world is that a lot of people do not have the tendency to develop comprehensive political ideas. …


Purpose of review Several new therapeutic modalities have recently become available to be used in patients with cystic fibrosis such as potentiators, modulators, and probiotics. Although the effects on pulmonary function have been well documented, gastrointestinal outcomes have been addressed only rarely. Recent findings Both the potentiator (ivacaftor) and the potentiator/modulator combination (ivacaftor/lumacaftor) that are currently on the market have a positive effect on BMI. Young patients (2–5 years of age) with a gating mutation may show improvement of exocrine pancreatic function on ivacaftor. In this specific patient population this agent also seems to improve intestinal pH and reflux. The effect of these medications on other gastrointestinal outcomes, such as intestinal inflammation and cystic fibrosis liver disease, has not been described so far. Furthermore, the results of several trials suggest that probiotics might reduce intestinal inflammation. Finally, organoids might be used to predict in vitro the clinical effect of potentiators and modulators. Summary The effect of new interventions on the gastrointestinal outcomes studied so far is favourable. Future studies should address the effect on other gastrointestinal parameters.


Various applications in signal processing and machine learning give rise to highly structured spectral optimization problems characterized by low-rank solutions. Two important examples that motivate this work are optimization problems from phase retrieval and from blind deconvolution, which are designed to yield rank-1 solutions. An algorithm is described based solving a certain constrained eigenvalue optimization problem that corresponds to the gauge dual. Numerical examples on a range of problems illustrate the eectiveness of the approach.


The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate that the Japanese economy has fumbled their chance to reap the benefits of investment in information technology due to a reluctance to carry out drastic corporate reforms in business processes and human resource management associated with the introduction of new technology. For this purpose, we first review Solow's productivity paradox and the new economy in the U.S., and then we compare these with the Japanese economy based on growth accounting analysis and an estimation of production function models. On top of that, we illustrate a series of firm-level questionnaire surveys to examine the decisive role of investment in intangibles, i.e., reforming organizational structures and human resource management, in line with IT investment. These analyses yield two observations. First, Japan's investment in IT has been stagnant over the last two decades in spite of its potential to contribute to productivity improvement and consequent economic growth. Second, there is a strong complementary relationship between drastic corporate reforms and positive outcomes from IT investment, which Japanese firms have been fumbling. The results of this research suggest that the inertia of Japan's integrated corporate system persists in the midst of innovation in information technology. Therefore, the Japanese private business sector needs to make an intense effort into investing in intangibles, i.e., a drastic redesign of business processes and human resource management in order to achieve the maximum effect of investments in information technology.


Sunflower nitrogen fertilization recommendations in South Africa are based on yield goals. In this approach, soil nitrogen supply is not taken into account with the result that nitrogen fertilization recommendations from different institutions are in disagreement. Delta yield, the difference between a well fertilized crop and a zero nitrogen fertilized control, was found to be a more reliable indicator of the economic optimum nitrogen rate for maize than the yield goal, in three different countries. In seeking improved accuracy, this study was done with the aim to compare delta yield with yield goal as estimators of the economical optimum nitrogen fertilization rate for sunflower. Reported results of fifty fertilization trials, each representing a specific year and locality, were collected, the nitrogen response curves fitted and the optimum nitrogen rates, corresponding yields and delta yields calculated. Grain yield responded to applied nitrogen significantly at only twenty-five of these trials and with the calculated optimum nitrogen rate within the limits of the applied nitrogen. Only 27% of the variation in the optimum nitrogen fertilization rate was explained by yield goal compared with 87% by delta yield, making it a far more reliable indicator of the optimum nitrogen rate. The relationship between delta yield and the optimum nitrogen rate is best described by a power function: Y=X0.669 with Y the optimum nitrogen rate and X the delta yield, both measured in kg per ha.


A method for fabricating an achromatic, athermalized quarter-wave retarder is presented that involves monitoring retardance during polishing. A design specified by thicknesses alone is unlikely to meet specification due to uncertainties in birefringence. This method facilitates successful fabrication to a retardance specification despite these uncertainties. A retarder made from sapphire, MgF(2), and quartz was designed, fabricated, and its performance validated for the 0.470 to 0.865 μm wavelength region. Its specifications are as follows: at wavebands centered at 0.470, 0.660, and 0.865 μm, the band-averaged retardance should be 90°±10° for all fields and retardance should change less than 0.1° for a 1° change in temperature. Retarder fabrication accommodated birefringence and thickness uncertainties via the following steps. The first plate was polished to a target thickness. The retardance spectrum of the first plate was then measured and used to determine a retardance target for the second plate. The retardance spectrum of the combined first and second plates was then used to specify a retardance target for the third plate. The retardance spectrum of the three plates in combination was then used to determine when the final thickness of the third plate was reached.


Ray Kurzweil and others have posited that the confluence of nanotechnology, artificial intelligence, robotics, and genetic engineering will soon produce posthuman beings that will far surpass us in power and intelligence. Just as black holes constitute a ldquo;singularityrdquo; from which no information can escape, posthumans will constitute a ldquo;singularity:rdquo; whose aims and capacities lie beyond our ken. I argue that technological posthumanists, whether wittingly or unwittingly, draw upon the long-standing Christian discourse of ldquo;theosis,rdquo; according to which humans are capable of being God or god-like. From St. Paul and Luther to Hegel and Kurzweil, the idea of human self-deification plays a prominent role. Hegel in particular emphasizes that God becomes wholly actualized only in the process by which humanity achieves absolute consciousness. Kurzweil agrees that God becomes fully actual only through historical processes that illuminate and thus transform the entire universe. The difference is that for Kurzweil and many other posthumanists, our offspringmdash;the posthumansmdash;will carry out this extraordinary process. What will happen to Home sapiens in the meantime is a daunting question.br /br /


Biological activities of the thermostable direct hemolysin produced by Vibrio parahaemolyticus, such as its hemolytic activity and lethal activity, were inhibited by neuraminidase-sensitive gangliosides, of which GT1 ganglioside was the most inhibitory. Neuraminidase-resistant gangliosides did not affect the activities of the hemolysin. Results showed that horse erythrocytes, which are resistant to the hemolysin, do not contain the neuraminidase-sensitive gangliosides GT1 and GD1a. Therefore, we propose that neuraminidase-sensitive gangliosides, and especially GT1 ganglioside, may be the receptor sites on the membranes for the thermostable direct hemolysin of V. parahaemolyticus.


Correspondence: Roger Flores Ceccon – Rua São Manoel, No. 963, Rio Branco, Porto Alegre-RS, Brasil. CEP: 90620-110 E-mail: firstname.lastname@example.com Abstract Objective: to analyze the association between tuberculosis mortality and socio-demographics and health indicators in the capitals of Brazilian states and the Federal District. Methods: this is an ecological study whose outcome was the standardized coefficient of tuberculosis mortality in the 2008-2010 period; the independent variables comprised 16 indicators, grouped into three blocks; Pearson correlation test and multiple linear regression were applied for analysis. Results: 4,744 deaths from tuberculosis were registered in the 27 municipalities (2.7 deaths per 100,000 inhabitants); the following indicators were associated with tuberculosis mortality (p<0.10): income inequality (Gini index of monthly income of individuals over 10 years old: β=0.454; 95%CI 6.21;28.51), proportion of migrants in the municipality (β=0.537 95%CI 0.12;0.31), poor black-skinned individuals (β=0.302 95%CI 0.004;0.109) and coefficient of Tb/HIV coinfection (β=0.449 95%CI 0.05;0.28). Conclusion: tuberculosis mortality was higher in capitals with greater income inequality, migration, poverty among blackskinned individuals and occurrence of Tb/HIV coinfection.


The past 20 years, since the 1992 Treaty on European Union, have seen the gradual creation of both an "Area of Freedom, Security and Justice" and a "Common Foreign and Security Policy". More recent is the development of a "European Neighbourhood Policy" over the past 10 years. All three of these policies involved the navigation and negotiation of security, borders and governance in and by the European Union (EU). This article analyses these practices of bordering and governance through a five-fold security framework. The article argues that a richer understanding of EU security discourses can be achieved through bringing the five dimensions to the analysis and using them to study both the interlinking and the interweaving of security, bordering and governance. Overall, the analysis presented here suggests that the five dimensions of broadening, deepening, thickening, practice and being can all contribute to a more expansive understanding of how EU security in the 2000s has been related to bordering and governance processes, and how these have been increasingly interwoven within the EU.


It has been more than ten years since the Russian federal government announced
decentralisation as one of the main aims in the reform of the Russian higher education
(HE) system. However, to date there has been only limited research on the impact of
decentralisation on individual regions and HE institutions (HEIs) in Russia; therefore
this thesis sets to examine the ways in which the policy of decentralisation has been
formulated and implemented at the federal level and its impact on the geographically
largest region of the Russian Federation, the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia), especially its
oldest and largest HEI, Yakutsk State University. In view of the size of Russia with all
its diversity, any meaningful analysis of the post-1991 HE reform should include the
examination of the regional and institutional dimensions.
Decentralisation in this thesis is defined as a shift of decision-making authority over key
HE areas from the federal to the regional level, as well as the granting of autonomy to
individual HEIs. Drawing on documentary analysis, interview data and personal
observation, this thesis examines decentralisation in three key HE areas, namely general
aspects of governance and management, finance, and academic matters. It investigates
the extent to which the case-study region and university have received decision-making
authority from the federal level over these matters in the framework of decentralisation,
and how the relationships between various levels in the system have changed.
The findings show that immediately after the break-up of the Soviet Union in December
1991, the previously centralised control over key HE areas was transferred to the lower
levels, but due to political and economic uncertainty this transfer was ad hoc rather than
well planned. From 1996, the Russian federal authorities, whilst politically and
ideologically promoting decentralisation and university autonomy, started to recentralise
previously transferred powers. By 2003 the federal authorities had almost
fully reinstated their central control, leaving the lower levels in the system very limited
room for manoeuvre. Thus the thesis concludes that despite the rhetoric of
decentralisation over the last decade, centralisation of control at the federal level over
all three HE areas under consideration remains dominant in present-day Russian HE.
Reasons are offered for the divergence between the rhetoric and its actual
implementation.


Defined as the ratio of market value to replacement cost of tangible assets, Tobin's q is commonly used as a performance measure in research. Although the use of the q ratio is theoretically appealing, its empirical construction is subject to considerable measurement error. In this thesis, we compare and contrast five estimators of q, ranging from the simple q to the estimator based on the Lindenberg and Ross (LR) (1981) procedure. We examine the means, medians and variances of the q estimates and investigate how robust sorting and regression results are to changes in the construction of q. We find that the empirical results are sensitive to the estimation method used in obtaining the q value. The estimator calculated using the Hall (1990) method produces the highest means and variances and has the lowest correlation with the four other estimators. The simple q and the benchmark q are highly correlated, and results from tests for the equality of their coefficient estimates reveal no significant differences. We infer that the Hall estimates are theoretically superior, and the simple q which provides good estimates of the LR q's are satisfactory given the simplicity of their calculations. Finally, we find that the firm's attributes used in Morck, Shleifer and Vishny (1988) and Chung and Jo (1996) have an influence on the q value estimates.


This dissertation is concerned with the problem of determining the track or trajectory of a mobile device — for example, a sequence of road segments on an outdoor map, or a sequence of rooms visited inside a building — in an energy-efficient and accurate manner.
GPS, the dominant positioning technology today, has two major limitations. First, it consumes significant power on mobile phones, making it impractical for continuous monitoring. Second, it does not work indoors. This dissertation develops two ways to address these limitations: (a) sub-sampling GPS to save energy, and (b) using alternatives to GPS such as WiFi localization, cellular localization, and inertial sensing (with the accelerometer and gyroscope) that consume less energy and work indoors. The key challenge is to match a sequence of infrequent (from sub-sampling) and inaccurate (from WiFi, cellular or inertial sensing) position samples to an accurate output trajectory.
This dissertation presents three systems, all using probabilistic models, to accomplish this matching. The first, VTrack, uses Hidden Markov Models to match noisy or sparsely sampled geographic (lat, lon) coordinates to a sequence of road segments on a map. We evaluate VTrack on 800 drive hours of GPS and WiFi localization data collected from 25 taxicabs in Boston. We find that VTrack tolerates significant noise and outages in location estimates, and saves energy, while providing accurate enough trajectories for applications like travel-time aware route planning.
CTrack improves on VTrack with a Markov Model that uses "soft" information in the form of raw WiFi or cellular signal strengths, rather than geographic coordinates. It also uses movement and turn "hints" from the accelerometer and compass to improve accuracy. We implement CTrack on Android phones, and evaluate it on cellular signal data from over 126 (1,074 miles) hours of driving data. CTrack can retrieve over 75% of a user's drive accurately on average, even from highly inaccurate (175 metres raw position error) GSM data.
iTrack uses a particle filter to combine inertial sensing data from the accelerometer and gyroscope with WiFi signals and accurately track a mobile phone indoors. iTrack has been implemented on the iPhone, and can track a user to within less than a metre when walking with the phone in the hand or pants pocket, over 5× more accurately than existing WiFi localization approaches. iTrack also requires very little manual effort for training, unlike existing localization systems that require a user to visit hundreds or thousands of locations in a building and mark them on a map. (Copies available exclusively from MIT Libraries, Rm. 14-0551, Cambridge, MA 02139-4307. Ph. 617-253-5668; Fax 617-253-1690.)


As cancers progress, they produce a local environment that acts to redirect, paralyze, exhaust, or otherwise evade immune detection and destruction. The tumor microenvironment (TME) has long been characterized as a metabolic desert, depleted of essential nutrients such as glucose, oxygen, and amino acids, that starves infiltrating immune cells and renders them dysfunctional. While not incorrect, this perspective is only half the picture. The TME is not a metabolic vacuum, only consuming essential nutrients and never producing by-products. Rather, the by-products of depleted nutrients, "toxic" metabolites in the TME such as lactic acid, kynurenine, ROS, and adenosine, play an important role in shaping immune cell function and cannot be overlooked in cancer immunotherapy. Moreover, while the metabolic landscape is distinct, it is not unique, as these toxic metabolites are encountered in non-tumor tissues, where they evolutionarily shape immune cells and their response. In this Review, we discuss how depletion of essential nutrients and production of toxic metabolites shape the immune response within the TME and how toxic metabolites can be targeted to improve current cancer immunotherapies.


In liver tissue of rats, a conventional laboratory food of which was substituted for galactose-rich food, the galactokinase activity was increased, but the glucokinase was not affected. In the rats kept on a glucose-rich food the glucokinase (but not the galactokinase) was activated. Hydrocortisone injection induced an increase in tyrosine aminotransferase, but the galactokinase activity was not altered. The data obtained suggest that in rat liver tissue the galactokinase was specifically induced under the effect of galactose. Except for the liver tissue, galactose induced galactokinase in eye crystalline lens; the enzyme activity was not altered in spleen and kidney.


Mandarin Tone 3 (T3) sandhi is highly productive in novel words produced by native adult speakers. However, it is unclear when the sandhi pattern becomes productive in young children learning Mandarin Chinese as their mother tongue. To address this issue, this preliminary study examined the productivity of T3 sandhi in different age groups (children aged 3 to 6 and adults) in real words and two types pseudowords, real words that were actual occurring words (AO), semi-pseudowords that were non-occurring combinations of two real monosyllables (*AO) and pseudowords where the first syllable was an accidental gap (AG). Preliminary results showed that children's application of T3 sandhi might reach an adult level in real words as early as three years old. However, in the *AO condition, children may reach an adult-like application at five years old. In the AG condition even the 6-year-old children may not reach an adult-like application rate; besides, among the children, the 3-year-old children performed worse than the older children although none of them were adult-like. These preliminary results imply that children's learning of the tone sandhi words undergoes a gradual transformation from a rote-memory based lexical mechanism to a computation-based productive mechanism. Until six years of age, Mandarin-speaking children may not have developed the adult-like competence of computation mechanism.


Men are, as a sex, more aggressive than women. Evolutionary accounts of the sex difference in direct aggression focus on the differing costs and benefits of aggression for men and women, and posit that male aggression and female non-aggression are both part of a suite of adaptations to sex-specific selection pressures. However, greater male aggression is not evident in studies of intimate partner aggression conducted in Western cultures. The present thesis sought to integrate evolutionary accounts of the sex difference in direct aggression with research on intimate partner aggression showing gender symmetry in aggressive acts.
The proposed proximate mechanisms for the sex difference in direct aggression are myriad, but one of the most extensively investigated is impulsivity. The present thesis therefore sought to establish the presence or absence of sex differences in impulsivity, and identify the forms of impulsivity most likely to mediate the sex difference in aggression. Chapter Two presents a meta-analysis of sex differences in psychometric and behavioural measures of impulsivity. Sex differences are consistently present on those forms of impulsivity which are affective or motivational as opposed to cognitive in nature, and which incorporate some element of risk. Risky impulsivity, a personality trait reflecting a tendency to take risks without prior thought, was identified as a strong candidate for mediating the sex difference in aggression.
In Chapter Three, the role of risky impulsivity in same-sex aggression and sociosexuality, both of which are related to the pursuit of reproductive success in the face of risk, was examined. Results from this chapter indicate that risky impulsivity might represent a common proximate mechanism for individual differences in aggression and sociosexuality, but that explaining sex differences in direct aggression requires consideration of processes at the dyadic, as well as the intrapsychic, level.
Finally, the reasons for the absence of a sex difference in intimate partner aggression were examined more closely in Chapter Four. Participants were asked about hypothetical responses to provocation by same-sex friends, opposite-sex friends, and partners. Self-report data were also gathered on participants' actual aggressive behaviour towards partners, same-sex friends and strangers, and opposite-sex friends and strangers. There was good concordance between vignette responses and self-reports. Results indicated that men's aggression is inhibited towards all female targets relative to male ones, but that women's aggression is disinhibited specifically towards partners. In other words, men's lowered aggression towards intimate partners is an effect of target sex, while women's raised aggression towards intimate partners is an effect of intimacy with the target.
It is argued that gender parity in intimate aggression is the result of sex-specific influences on rates of perpetration. It is further argued that any complete account of sex differences in aggression must be able to account for gender symmetry in aggression towards intimate partners. To this end, due consideration should be given to sex differences in low-level emotional and motivational processes, particularly fear, as well as the effects of sex differences in styles of anger expression. Specifically, men's reduction in intimate partner aggression might be best explained by the effects of Western social norms which proscribe aggression towards all women, while women's raised intimate partner aggression might be best explained by an oxytocin-mediated reduction in fear which is specific to intimate partners.


Optimizing the performance of a basketball offense may be viewed as a network problem, wherein each play represents a "pathway" through which the ball and players may move from origin (the in-bounds pass) to goal (the basket). Effective field goal percentages from the resulting shot attempts can be used to characterize the efficiency of each pathway. Inspired by recent discussions of the "price of anarchy" in traffic networks, this paper makes a formal analogy between a basketball offense and a simplified traffic network. The analysis suggests that there may be a significant difference between taking the highest-percentage shot each time down the court and playing the most efficient possible game. There may also be an analogue of Braess's Paradox in basketball, such that removing a key player from a team can result in the improvement of the team's offensive efficiency.


We report a rare case of laryngeal tuberculosis in Oman Tuberculous affection of larynx is uncommon in Oman and is rarely been reported. Tuberculosis is a chronic illness, acute clinical presentation is unusual. We report the case of a thirty One year old lady, post renal transplant with tuberculous involvement of the larynx, who presented with symptoms and clinical signs of acute epiglottitis. ENT examination showed initially a severely swollen epiglottis which turned nodular in about two weeks. The patient had been on immunosuppressive medications and glucocorticoids post renal transplant. Tuberculosis still presents sporadically in countries where the overall incidence of tuberculosis is much lower as compared to developing countries. A strong index of suspicion is needed in immunocompromised patients with suboptimal response to routine medications. Diagnostic difficulty in this peculiar situation with differential diagnosis and management of laryngeal tuberculosis is discussed along with review of literature.


Author(s): Roberts, Eric | Advisor(s): Sindi, Suzanne; Mitchell, Kevin | Abstract: From the stirring of dye in viscous fluids to the availability of essential nutrients spreading over the surface of a pond, nature is rife with examples of mixing in two-dimensional fluids. The long-time exponential growth rate of a thin filament of dye stretched by the fluid is a well-known proxy for the quality of mixing in two dimensions. This growth rate in turn gives a lower bound on the flow's topological entropy, a measure quantifying the complexity of chaotic dynamics. In the real-world study of mixing, topological entropy may be hard to compute; the velocity field may not be known or may be expensive to recover or approximate, thus limiting our knowledge of the governing system and underlying mechanics driving the mixing. Central to this study are two questions: \emph{How can stretching rates in two-dimensional planar flows best be computed using only trajectory data?}, and \emph{Can a method for computing stretching rates in higher dimensions from only trajectory data be developed?}. In this spirit, we introduce the Ensemble-based Topological Entropy Calculation (E-tec), a method to derive a lower-bound on topological entropy that requires only finite number of system trajectories, like those obtained from ocean drifters, and no detailed knowledge of the velocity field. E-tec is demonstrated to be computationally more efficient than other competing methods in two dimensions that accommodate trajectory data. This is accomplished by considering the evolution of a ``rubber band" wrapped around the data points and evolving with their trajectories. E-tec records the growth of this band as the collective motion of trajectories strike, deform, and stretch it. This exponential growth rate acts as a lower bound on the topological entropy. In this manuscript, I demonstrate convergence of E-tec's approximation with respect to both the number of trajectories (ensemble size) and the duration of trajectories in time. Driving the efficiency of E-tec in two dimensions is the use of computational geometry tools. Not only this, by computing stretching rates in this new computational geometry framework, I extend E-tec to three dimensions using two methods. First, I consider a two-dimensional rubber sheet stretched around a collection of points in a three-dimensional flow. Similar to the band-stretching component of two-dimensional E-tec, a three-dimensional triangulation is used to record the growth of the sheet as it is stretched and deformed by points evolving in time. Second, I calculate the growth rates of one-dimensional rubber strings as they are stretched by the edges of this dynamic, moving triangulation.


In Nihon University, Conform continuous extrusion and new extrusion processes which are called multi-billet extrusion have been investigated last ten years. Conclad extrusion which was developed from Conform continuous extrusion[1], is applied to manufacturing trolley wire for train in Japan. The trolley wire which is copper covered steel wire has shorter life cycle than expected one because of corrosion for acid rain. The quality of welding part of copper must be improved. In this paper, it is investigated how to decrease involving oxide films in welding part by experimental method. On the other hand, the multi-billet extrusion[2] is applied to manufacturing automotive frames, especially impact attenuators. The developed extrusion process has been done under experimental condition. However, it is capable to vary geometries of rib which is in the inside of closed profile extruded products by this process.


This is the first book which makes a detailed analysis of private aid organizations in Europe, their historical background and current position in six European countries - Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Ireland, the Netherlands and Spain. The authors investigate the relation between governments and private aid organizations in terms of how both partners look at each other, what kind of agreements they have and how these have developed over the years. They analyze the subsidy arrangements between governments and private aid organizations, looking at evaluation systems (or the absence of evaluation) and the way subsidy arrangements try to promote or organize systematical evaluation.


Obesity and sarcopenia are major causes of morbidity and mortality among seniors. Vitamin D deficiency is very common especially among seniors and has been associated with both muscle health and obesity. This study investigated if 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D) status is associated with body composition and insulin resistance using baseline data of a completed RCT among relatively healthy community-dwelling seniors (271 seniors age 60+ years undergoing elective surgery for unilateral total knee replacement due to osteoarthritis). Cross-sectional analysis compared appendicular lean mass index (ALMI: lean mass kg/height m2) and fat mass index (FMI: fat mass kg/height m2) assessed by DXA and insulin resistance between quartiles of serum 25(OH)D concentration using multivariable linear regression adjusted for age, sex, smoking status, physical activity, and body mass index (BMI). Participants in the lowest serum 25(OH)D quartile (4.7–17.5 ng/mL) had a higher fat mass (9.3 kg/m2) compared with participants in the third (8.40 kg/m2; Q3 = 26.1–34.8 ng/mL) and highest (8.37 kg/m2; Q4 = 34.9–62.5 ng/mL) quartile (poverall = 0.03). Higher serum 25(OH)D quartile status was associated with higher insulin sensitivity (poverall = 0.03) and better beta cell function (p = 0.004). Prevalence of insulin resistance tended to be higher in the second compared with the highest serum 25(OH)D quartile (14.6% vs. 4.8%, p = 0.06). Our findings suggest that lower serum 25(OH)D status may be associated with greater fat mass and impaired glucose metabolism, independent of BMI and other risk factors for diabetes.


The midship section in oil tankers has become a major concern for the maximum bending moment during operational conditions. The section is assembled by a top deck structure, side structure, and bottom structure, which is usually supported by a stiffened panel, that is, a panel with an attached stiffener. This study elaborated on the conventional tee stiffener profile on the midship section of an oil tanker structure. Ultimate strength analysis was carried out using the finite element method for all the stiffeners with various geometrical dimensions according to the International Association of Classification Societies. This included the calculation of the section's modulus and mass as related variables, using an analytical approach. The results showed that the ultimate strength, section modulus, and mass were influenced by the alteration of web length and plate thickness. For example, an increase of 10 mm in web length gave an additional value of 2.22% for the ultimate strength, 2.8% for the section modulus, and 0.61% for the mass. In contrast, 1 mm of additional plate thickness increased the ultimate strength by 48.57%, section modulus by 6.91%, and mass by 3.68%.


Finite rate of innovation (FRI) is a powerful reconstruction framework enabling the recovery of sparse Dirac streams from uniform low-pass filtered samples. An extension of this framework, called generalised FRI (genFRI), has been recently proposed for handling cases with arbitrary linear measurement models. In this context, signal reconstruction amounts to solving a joint constrained optimisation problem, yielding estimates of both the Fourier series coefficients of the Dirac stream and its so-called annihilating filter, involved in the regularisation term. This optimisation problem is however highly non convex and non linear in the data. Moreover, the proposed numerical solver is computationally intensive and without convergence guarantee.
In this work, we propose an implicit formulation of the genFRI problem. To this end, we leverage a novel regularisation term which does not depend explicitly on the unknown annihilating filter yet enforces sufficient structure in the solution for stable recovery. The resulting optimisation problem is still non convex, but simpler since linear in the data and with less unknowns. We solve it by means of a provably convergent proximal gradient descent (PGD) method. Since the proximal step does not admit a simple closed-form expression, we propose an inexact PGD method, coined as Cadzow plug-and-play gradient descent (CPGD). The latter approximates the proximal steps by means of Cadzow denoising, a well-known denoising algorithm in FRI. We provide local fixed-point convergence guarantees for CPGD. Through extensive numerical simulations, we demonstrate the superiority of CPGD against the state-of-the-art in the case of non uniform time samples.


There is now compelling evidence for the presence of a few million solar masses of dark matter within 0.015 pc of the nonthermal radio source Sgr A*. Recent Chandra observations suggest that the X-ray emission from this source is partially diffuse. This result provides an important clue that can be used to set some constraints on the mass distribution surrounding the black hole, and we here develop a simple model in which the diffuse emission is produced by a halo of neutron stars accreting from the gas falling toward the center. We discuss the various accretion mechanisms that are likely to contribute significantly to the X-ray flux and show that a highly magnetized fraction of old neutron stars may account for the diffuse high-energy source. If this picture is correct, the upper bound to the mass of the central black hole is ≈2.2 × 106 M☉. The core radius of the dark cluster must then be ≈0.06 pc. We also discuss the sensitivity of our results to the various assumptions made in our calculations.


sources of potential protective antigens from the sheep blowfly Lucilia cuprina . Their importance in the screwworm fly Chrysomya bezziana has now been investigated. Purified serine proteases from Chrysomya bezziana were tested for their potential as vaccine antigens in sheep, efficacy being assessed by in vitro and in vivo assays with larval Chrysomya bezziana . No effect of vaccination was observed by the in vitro assay. However, in the in vivo challenge, larval weights were diminished in the vaccinated sheep, although larval recoveries increased marginally. Vaccination with Chrysomya bezziana peritrophic membrane does induce an effective immune response against the parasite resulting in a significant reduction in larval growth and considerable larval mortality in the in vitro assay. Sequential fractionation of the peritrophic membrane with various surfactants and chaotrophic agents of increasing solubilisation capacity resulted in the separation of discrete groups of proteins. The groups  of fractionated proteins were tested in a vaccination trial in sheep with vaccine efficacy assessed by in vitro assays. The urea extract, guanidine-HCl extract and SDS soluble fraction each induced significant levels of protection against Chrysomya bezziana larvae but the effects were poorer than those obtained from vaccination with whole, native peritrophic membrane. Several major proteins selected from the three most protective fractions were purified by SDS polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. Since insufficient quantities of these proteins were available for vaccination trials, they were either sequenced directly from the N-terminus or subjected to endoproteinase Lys-C digestion, followed by peptide purification and amino acid sequencing. This gave the information necessary for the expression of several of these  roteins as recombinants in a form suitable for vaccination studies. Key words: Chrysomya bezziana, peritrophic membrane, vaccination, amino acid sequence, serine protease


Dermosols (24%) and Organosols (14.8%) are the dominant soil orders in Tasmania, with the mapped occurrence of >985 000 ha of Organosols in Tasmania being the greatest in any Australian State. Tenosols and Rudosols are well represented in all 3 natural resource management (NRM) regions and Kurosols are more prevalent in the NRM North and South Regions. Tasmania has a greater proportion of Ferrosols (8.4%) than the whole of Australia (0.8%) and these soils are some of the most productive in Tasmania with >25 000 ha used for cropping. Hydrosols (3.7%) are probably underestimated. Chromosols (5.3%) and Sodosols (1.6%) are relatively minor soils in Tasmania, occurring predominantly in lower rainfall areas with <800 mm average annual rainfall. Parent material is a strong determinant of soil distribution in Tasmania but many Soil Orders occur on a wide range of parent materials. Brown suborders are predominant in several Soil Orders. A large part of Tasmania (2 658 000 ha) is mapped as being used for conservation, with one-third of this area being mapped as Organosols. The mean surface horizon soil carbon content (4.3%) is relatively high, likely due to Tasmania's relatively high annual rainfall and cool temperatures. Most Soil Orders have moderately acid surface horizons but soils on calcareous parent materials are neutral to strongly alkaline (Tenosols and Calcarosols). The dataset covers the mainland extent of Tasmania, as well as all large islands around Tasmania's coastline including King, Flinders, Hunter, Three Hummock, Robbins, Cape Barren, Clarke, and Maria Islands.


Introduction There is limited research into airway clearance techniques (ACT) and high dose hypertonic saline 7% (HS-7) tolerance and safety in adults with severe asthma. Clinical benefit of sputum eosinophils and microbiology in severe asthma is well established. Airway samples can be obtained via spontaneous production, using physiotherapy (ACT, sputum induction (0.9–4.5% traditionally) or via bronchoscope.1 There are concerns with regards to risk of asthma exacerbation with sputum induction and bronchoscopy. Objective assess and compare safety and efficacy of ACT, HS-7 and bronchoscopy in patients attending severe asthma clinic. Method We assessed consecutive patients attending a severe asthma service at a tertiary referral centre who had undergone ACT and or HS-7 challenge and or bronchoscopy during 2014–2016. In total, 330 procedures were performed by a chest physiotherapist (ACT/HS-7) and consultant respiratory physician (bronchoscopy). Data was gathered on procedure tolerance and sample yield. Indications for undergoing HS-7 included sample procurement or challenge test for home nebulisation. Bronchoscopy was performed for a variety of indications, not limited solely to sample procurement. Results 114 patients completed ACT, 109 underwent HS-7 and 99 had bronchoscopy (Table 1). 65 of 104 (62.5%) in the physiotherapy group had no prior spontaneous sputum samples. Of these, 46 (71%) had HS-7 induction and 19 (29%) had successful ACT. 25 of 77 (32%) patients in the physiotherapy group had positive bacterial culture, and 18 of 38 (47%) positive aspergillus PCR. ACT, HS-7 and bronchoscopy were well tolerated. All 114 (100%) patients tolerated ACT from an asthma perspective. 8 of 117 (7%) of HS-7 group and 8 of 99 (8%) of bronchoscopy group required rescue salbutamol nebulisation without further complications. Two patients had severe asthma exacerbations in the bronchoscopy group, 2 of 99 (2%), and required hospitalisation at ward level, This risk was similar to previously reported data. Abstract P128 Table 1 Safety comparison of respiratory interventions in patients attending a severe asthma service Airway clearance techniquesn (%) Hypertonic saline-7% challengen (%) Bronchoscopyn (%) No asthma symptoms 114 (100%) 109 (93%) 89 (90%) Bronchospasm requiring nebulised SABA1 0 (0%) 8 (7%) 8 (8%) Severe Asthma Exacerbation 0 (0%) 0 (0%) 2 (2%) Total 114 117 99 1 Short acting beta-agonist Conclusion In patients attending a severe asthma clinic physiotherapy techniques (ACT and HS-7) were safe and effective. Bronchoscopy had similar requirement for rescue salbutamol nebulisation compared to HS-7, but a higher risk (2%) of severe asthma exacerbation. Reference Brinke AT, et al. Sputum induction in severe asthma by standardised protocol. AJRCCM 2001;164(5):749–753.


Importance
Injury to the internal carotid artery (ICA) during endoscopic endonasal skull base surgery does not typically occur as an isolated circumstance but often is the result of multiple factors.

Objective
To assess the factors associated with ICA injury in an effort to reduce its occurrence.

Design, Setting, and Participants
This quality improvement study used a multicenter root cause analysis of ICA injuries sustained during endoscopic endonasal skull base surgery performed at 11 tertiary care centers across 4 continents (North America, South America, Europe, and Asia) from January 1, 1993, to December 31, 2018. A fishbone model was built to facilitate the root cause analysis. Patients who underwent an expanded endoscopic endonasal approach that carried a substantial potential risk of an ICA injury were included in the analysis. A questionnaire was completed by surgeons at the centers to assess relevant human, patient, process, technique, instrument, and environmental factors associated with the injury.

Main Outcomes and Measures
Root cause analysis of demographic, human, patient, process, technique, instrument, and environmental factors as well as mortality and morbidity data.

Results
Twenty-eight cases of ICA injury occurred during 7160 expanded endoscopic endonasal approach procedures (incidence of 0.4%). The mean age of the patients was 49 years, with a female to male predominance ratio of 1.8:1 (18 women to 10 men). Anatomical (23 [82%]), pathological (15 [54%]), and surgical resection (26 [93%]) factors were most frequently reported. The surgeon's mental or physical well-being was reported as inadequate in 4 cases (14%). Suboptimal imaging was reported in 6 cases (21%). The surgeon's experience level was not associated with ICA injury. The ICA injury was associated with use of powered or sharp instruments in 20 cases (71%), and use of new instruments or technology in 7 cases (25%). Two patients (7%) died in the operating room, and 3 (11%) were alive with neurological deficits. Overall, patient-related factors were the most frequently reported risk factors (in 27 of 28 cases [96%]). Factors associated with ICA injury catalyzed a list of preventive recommendations.

Conclusions and Relevance
This study found that human factors were associated with intraoperative ICA injuries; however, they were usually accompanied by other deficiencies. These findings suggest that identifying risk factors is crucial for preventing such injuries. Preoperative planning and minimizing the potential for ICA injury also appear to be essential.


We present measurements of the linear polarization amplitudes and the strong relative phases that describe the flavor-untagged decays Bd → J/ψK ∗ and Bs → J/ψφ in the transversity basis. We also measure the mean lifetime of the Bs mass eigenstates and the lifetime ratio. The analyses are based on approximately 2.8 fb −1 of data recorded with the D0 detector. From our measurements of the angular parameters we conclude that there is no evidence for a deviation from flavor SU(3) symmetry for these decays and that the factorization assumption is not valid for the Bd → J/ψK ∗ decay.


Spinocerebellar ataxia type 7 (SCA7) is an autosomal dominant inherited neurodegenerative disease for which there is no cure. SCA7 belongs to the group of polyglutamine disorders, which are all caused by the expansion of a polyglutamine tract in different disease proteins. Common toxic mechanisms have been proposed for polyglutamine diseases; however the exact pathological mechanism(s) are still unclear. The aim of this thesis was to identify and characterize the molecular mechanisms by which polyglutamine expansion in the ATXN7 protein cause SCA7 and how this can be counteracted. We found that mutant ATXN7 can be degraded by Ubiquitin proteasome system (UPS) and autophagy, the two main cellular degradation pathways. However aggregation stabilized the protein against degradation. Moreover, we found that mutant ATXN7 blocked the induction of autophagy by interfering with p53 and the ULK1ATG13-FIP200 complex. Pharmacological stimulation of autophagy ameliorated aggregation, as well as toxicity. We also found that oxidative stress plays an important role in mutant ATXN7 toxicity and that the oxidative stress is generated by activation of NADPH oxidase 1 (NOX1) complexes. Furthermore, we showed that the increased NOX1 activity, together with polyQ expanded ATXN7 mediated disruption of the transcription factor p53, results in metabolic alterations in SCA7 cells. The expression of key p53 regulated metabolic proteins like AIF, TIGAR and GLUT1 was altered in SCA7 cells and resulted in reduced mitochondrial respiration, a higher dependence on glycolysis and reduced ATP levels. In summary, our data indicate that mutant ATXN7 mediated dysregulation of p53, resulting in autophagic and metabolic alterations, could play a key role in SCA7 and possibly other polyglutamine diseases.


Advances of application of ionic liquids as solvents and catalysts in the catalytic oxidation reaction are summarized in this paper. Ionic liquids, as solvent, can provide an environment which is different from the traditional organic solvents for the chemical reactions, and make the catalytic activity and stability better, conversion and selectivity higher; Ionic liquids, as catalyst, not only play the function of promoting reaction, but also play a solvent/catalyst dual functions more directly. Currently ionic liquids in catalytic oxidation reaction are mostly used as solvent, Especially used widely in organic synthesis. The designability of ionic liquids provides a broad space for ionic liquids as catalyst.


Insomnia is one of the most frequently observed sleep disorders, affecting nearly 10% of the general population. It has multiple etiological factors. Recently, it has been reported that EEG abnormalities are associated with insomnia in patients previously diagnosed as idiopathic insomniacs. In addition, transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) has shown to be effective in the treatment of disorders characterized by neural hyper-excitability. Method: In the present study, patients with insomnia and EEG abnormalities were submitted to slow repetitive trans-cranial magnetic stimulation, for 15 minutes daily during 10 days. Polysomnographic recordings were performed before and after TMS. Results: The results indicate that the presence of EEG abnormalities significantly decreased after TMS. In addition, most of the sleep parameters showed significant improvement. Conclusions: These data support the notion that TMS is a reliable therapeutic tool for patients affected with abnormalities linked to neuronal hyper-excitability.


Music, as an aesthetic and symbolic medium, has the ability to dispel much of the fear and anxiety associated with facing the unknown alone. As such it is an ideal support for patients undergoing surgery where a non-general anaesthetic is administered. However, it is important to consider whether, from the patient's perspective, the inclusion of music in such a situation is considered to be helpful. A pilot study conducted at an acute hospital involved interviewing 25 patients who, through an attitudinal scale and their interview responses, revealed positive support for the music that they listened to during their operation. Their remarks focused on the ability of the music, as a familiar personal and cultural medium, to ease their anxiety, to act as a distractor and to increase their threshold of pain. From a nursing perspective, such an application of music as therapy to reduce fear and anxiety may be viewed as being highly relevant to the work of the anaesthetic nurse, with regard to a more individualized and holistic approach to patient care.


This project aims to create a new, pleasant and lively public space in St. Clara churchyard in the heart of Stockholm. It seems despite of crucial location and unique atmosphere that the church has, the churchyard is not properly used. Therefore, through a consensus approach, public opinions about the project were obtained. According to these opinions and by the help of theoretical resources, new interventions were proposed. Despite of high percentage of negative opinions against the project before beginning of the project, high percentage of responders showed their satisfaction about the project at the end.


Abstract I investigate a new understanding of realism in science, referred to as 'interactive realism', and I suggest the 'evolutionary progressiveness' of a theory as novel criterion for this kind of realism. My basic claim is that we cannot be realists about anything except the progress affected by myriad science-reality interactions that are constantly moving on a continuum of increased 'fitness' determined according to empirical constraints. Moreover to reflect this movement accurately, there is a corresponding continuum of verdicts about the status of the knowledge conveyed by theories–ranging from stark in-strumentalism to full-blown realism. This view may sound like a pessimistic inductivist's dream, but actually this is so only if one evaluates it from within a traditional context where the 'truth' of a single theory is the exclusive criterion for realism. I, on the other hand, want to redefine the terms of realist debate in such a way that the units of assessment of realism are sequences of theories evaluated according to their 'evolutionary progressiveness'. I unpack 'interactive realism' by defining my notion of 'evolutionary progres-siveness', the notion of 'truth-as-historied reference' underpinning it, and the continuum of interaction between theories and aspects of reality it affects. I conclude that, although interactive realism is a radically non-standard kind of realism, it is at least more realistic about science as a fractured complex multi-faceted enterprise than most other kinds of realism on the block, because it shows coherence amidst fragmentation.


Objective: To examine the incremental cost effectiveness of the five first line pharmacological smoking cessation therapies in the Seychelles and other developing countries. Design: A Markov chain cohort simulation. Subjects: Two simulated cohorts of smokers: (1) a reference cohort given physician counselling only; (2) a treatment cohort given counselling plus cessation therapy. Intervention: Addition of each of the five pharmacological cessation therapies to physician provided smoking cessation counselling. Main outcome measures: Cost per life-year saved (LYS) associated with the five pharmacotherapies. Effectiveness expressed as odds ratios for quitting associated with pharmacotherapies. Costs based on the additional physician time required and retail prices of the medications. Results: Based on prices for currently available generic medications on the global market, the incremental cost per LYS for a 45 year old in the Seychelles was US$599 for gum and $227 for bupropion. Assuming US treatment prices as a conservative estimate, the incremental cost per LYS was significantly higher, though still favourable in comparison to other common medical interventions: $3712 for nicotine gum, $1982 for nicotine patch, $4597 for nicotine spray, $4291 for nicotine inhaler, and $1324 for bupropion. Cost per LYS increased significantly upon application of higher discount rates, which may be used to reflect relatively high opportunity costs for health expenditures in developing countries with highly constrained resources and high overall mortality. Conclusion: Pharmacological cessation therapy can be highly cost effective as compared to other common medical interventions in low mortality, middle income countries, particularly if medications can be procured at low prices.


Previous studies in positive psychology have indicated that work satisfaction is an important determinant of individual well-being. Research has suggested that people are most satisfied with their work when they are doing what they are drawn to naturally. We provide further evidence on this issue from a large representative data set, the German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP). The 2005 wave of the SOEP contains a battery of personality questions as well as detailed information on personal life and work life. We extract the Big Five personality factors and one character strength: vitality. The main results are based on regression analysis. The analysis supports the hypothesis that certain personality clusters are more predominant in some occupations than in others. Furthermore, an alignment between personal profile and occupational profile tends to be related positively to satisfaction. These results indicate that ignoring mental aspects of work has its price in terms of well-being. They also highlight the importance of studying the way we structure work and harness personality and individual strengths within positive psychology.    To find out what one is fitted to do and to secure an opportunity to do it is the key to happiness. John Dewey    The fixed person for the fixed duties who in older societies was such a godsend, in the future will be a public danger. Alfred North Whitehead


This paper presents a new high voltage boosting DC-DC converter topology intended for residential fuel cell power systems. The proposed system consists of a high voltage boosting dc–dc converter to boost the fuel cell voltage to 350 V dc and a pulse-width modulated inverter with filter to convert the dc voltage to 240V ac. The operating principle of the dc-dc converter is based on bootstrap capacitors or charge pumps and series boost inductors. Furthermore, although three switches are used, no isolated gate driver is needed instead one half-bridge gate driver and one low-side gate driver is used. Accordingly, the proposed converter is easy in analysis and simple in implementation. Simulation and experimental results are demonstrated. KeywordsFuel cell, Boost Converter, Bootstrap capacitor, Voltage Conversion Ratio.


Abstract : A sequence of images acquired by a moving sensor contains information about the three dimensional motion of the sensor and the shape of the imaged scene. Interesting research during the past few years has attempted to characterize the errors that arise in computing 3D motion (egomotion estimation) as well as the errors that result in the estimation of the scene's structure (structure from motion). Previous research is characterized by the use of optic flow or correspondence of features in the analysis as well as by the employment of particular algorithms and models of the scene in recovering expressions for the resulting errors. This paper presents a geometric framework that characterizes the relationship between 3D motion and shape when they are both corrupted by errors. We examine how the three dimensional space recovered by a moving monocular observer, whose 3D motion is estimated with some error, is distorted. We characterize the space of distortions by its level sets, that is, we characterize the systematic distortion via a family of isodistortion surfaces, each of which describes the locus over which the depths of points in the scene in view are distorted by the same multiplicative factor. The framework introduced in this way has a number of applications: Since the visible surfaces have positive depth (visibility constraint), by analyzing the geometry of the regions where the distortion factor is negative, that is, where the visibility constraint is violated, we make explicit situations which are likely to give rise to ambiguities in motion estimation, independent of the algorithm used. We provide a uniqueness analysis for 3D motion analysis from normal flow.


We report a case of an 80-year-old Caucasian woman on maintenance hemodialysis for almost three years through a right-tunneled jugular catheter. She presented with recurrent epistaxis for which she was periodically blood transfused despite erythropoietin therapy. She continued manifesting epistaxis, which was progressively emerging as a sign related to superior vena cava syndrome due to mediastinal mass. Laboratory investigations revealed active immunological abnormalities thereafter. Malignant superior vena syndrome remains an uncommon com-plication in this population related to a history of or ongoing central vein catheterization. Prolonged oozing from the vascular site was the first alerting sign of the existence of this syndrome. We conclude that sometimes the transformation of undifferentiated connective tissue disease in the presence of epidermoid carcinoma of the superior mediastinum may be revealed during the use of catheters in dialysis.


To compare the efficacy of allograft versus autograft replacement of the anterior cruciate ligament, 15 dogs had the ligament cut and replaced 1 month later: 11 dogs received a frozen bone-ligament-bone allograft cruciate ligament, while 4 dogs received a standard autogenous replacement with iliotibial band. Three of 11 allograft dogs developed postoperative infections and were removed from the study; and two of the remaining eight allograft ligaments were absent at autopsy. All the autograft ligaments were present. From serial clinical and radiographic examinations, there were no differences observed in the two groups. Autopsy studies at 4 months, however, showed an increased inflammatory, pannus-like reaction about the origins and insertions of the six allograft ligaments as compared with the four autografts. The ligament hydroxyproline uptake was lower in the allograft group, averaging 60 percent of the contralateral unoperated on control versus equal to the control in the autograft group. The tensile strength of the allografts reached only 17 percent of the control value versus 41 percent for the autografts. Lymphocytotoxicity testing at 1 month revealed a donor-specific antibody response in 4 of 8 allograft dogs; however, no histologic evidence of immune response was observed in the ligaments. The synovial fluid leukocyte count was elevated in the allograft group at 4 months. The increased synovial leukocyte counts and joint cartilage erosion, the decreased strength and metabolic activity of the grafts, and the evidence of an immune response in the allograft dogs do not support implantation of cadaver cruciate ligaments clinically at this time.


Accurate analysis of link performance including deterministic and random effects as well as advanced signal conditioning schemes is crucial in modern high-speed I/O design. In recent years, statistical link performance tools such as LinkLab and StatEye are introduced to efficiently analyze the overall link performance with both deterministic and random noise. The statistical-domain analysis has limitations in terms of its capability of accurately simulating system nonlinearity, jitter, as well as coding. In this paper, we present a new hybrid approach that combines statistical and time-domain techniques to efficiently overcome these limitations. The proposed method has several key contributions: 1) capture system nonlinearity; 2) separately simulate short-term deterministic jitter in the time domain and long-term deterministic and random jitter in the statistical domain; 3) co-simulate clock and data channels to capture jitter tracking; and 4) co-simulate signal and power integrity to include simultaneous switching output noise. We demonstrate this hybrid approach by studying the jitter tracking capability of a clock forwarding scheme and the effectiveness of coding in terms of system bit error rate.


This guide was created to help students in Prof. Smith's class find scholarly articles and other resources for their research papers


ABSTRACT We have reported that Mycobacterium tuberculosis residing within the phagosomes of human monocyte-derived macrophages (MDM) can acquire Fe from extracellular transferrin (TF) and sources within the MDM. In the lung, Fe is also bound to lactoferrin (LF) and low-molecular-weight chelates. We therefore investigated the ability of intraphagosomal M. tuberculosis to acquire Fe from these sources. M. tuberculosis acquired 30-fold and 3-fold more Fe from LF and citrate, respectively, compared to TF, in spite of similar MDM-associated Fe. M. tuberculosis infection decreased MDM-associated Fe relative to uninfected MDM as follows: TF (38.7%), citrate (21.1%), and LF (15.3%). M. tuberculosis Fe acquisition from extracellular chelates (exogenous source) and from endogenous MDM Fe initially acquired from the three chelates (endogenous source) was compared. M. tuberculosis Fe acquisition was similar from exogenous and endogenous sources supplied as Fe-TF. In contrast, there was much greater intracellular M. tuberculosis Fe uptake from LF and citrate from the exogenous than endogenous source. Gamma interferon (IFN-γ) reduced MDM Fe uptake from each chelate by ∼50% and augmented the M. tuberculosis-induced decrease in MDM Fe uptake from exogenous TF, but not from LF or citrate. IFN-γ minimally decreased intracellular M. tuberculosis Fe acquisition from exogenous Fe-TF but significantly increased Fe uptake from LF and citrate. Intraphagosomal M. tuberculosis Fe acquisition from both exogenous and endogenous MDM sources, and the effect of IFN-γ on this process, is influenced by the nature of the extracellular Fe chelate. M. tuberculosis has developed efficient mechanisms of acquiring Fe from a variety of Fe chelates that it likely encounters within the human lung.


As the quality of manufactured products as well as the quality of the used manufacturing processes has become more and more important for a company in order to stay competitive in the last decades, an integrated quality management leading towards intelligent manufacturing represents a key factor today. Therefore, new methods are required for considering quality information in all phases of the product life cycle. Feature technology and especially the use of so-called measurement and quality features represent an approach towards integrated quality management and the achievement of process-oriented and global quality control loops. Furthermore, feature technology in general also represents a high potential just within the area of sheet metal forming where it can be used to provide additional information for designing manufacturing processes and constructing tools and devices in manufacturing systems.