The author of this personal re£ection is a junior doctor from Somaliland, a country that has suiered from civil war. He studied medicine there, and became interested in mental health care.This aspect of heath care is among the most neglected in the horn of Africa. However, with the support of British psychiatrists, the author has established educational training in psychiatry. He has also subsequently initiated mental health services in his hometown of Borama.Within a few years, an inpatient psychiatric unit, an outpatient department and community mental health outreach were also created. Key to his success was intensive cooperation and collaboration with the community, resulting in broad support for mental health programmes. He has also attempted to collaborate with traditional healers, but remains hesitant of their role.


BACKGROUND
The issue of cardiovascular safety of calcium channel blockers (CCBs) has been widely debated in view of reflex increase in sympathetic activity induced by immediate release (IR) / short acting formulations. It is generally agreed that such CCBs should not be used alone in the management of hypertension.

AIMS
We have determined the extent to which primary care physicians prescribe CCBs as monotherapy, especially the immediate release formulations, in the management of uncomplicated hypertension and diabetic hypertension - with an emphasis upon the age of the patients. SETTING, DESIGN AND METHODS: A retrospective prescription-based study was carried out in seven out of 18 Health Centres in Bahrain. The study involved a registered population of 229,300 representing 46% of registered individuals, and 35 physicians representing 43% of all primary care physicians. The data was collected between November 1998 and January 1999 using chronic dispensing cards.

RESULTS
In all categories CCBs were the third commonly prescribed antihypertensive as monotherapy, with a prescription rate of 11.1% in uncomplicated hypertension, 18% in diabetic hypertension and 20.1% in elderly patients above 65 years of age. Nifedipine formulations were the most extensively prescribed CCBs. Almost half of the CCB-treated patients were on IR-nifedipine, whereas IR-diltiazem and IR-verapamil, and amlodipine were infrequently prescribed.

CONCLUSION
Prescription of IR-formulations of CCBs as monotherapy by primary care physicians does not conform with recommended guidelines. In view of concerns about the safety of such practice, measures to change the prescribing pattern are required.


A factor increasing monocytopoiesis (FIM) has been demonstrated during the onset of an acute inflammatory reaction caused by an intraperitoneal injection of polystyrene latex particles. It is protein in nature, does not contain a carbohydrate moiety essential for its function, and is very probably not a glycoprotein. The molecular weight of FIM lies between 18,000 and 24,000 daltons (determined with both ultrafiltration membranes and gel filtration on Sephadex G100). The monocytosis induced by FIM is dose dependent. FIM is thermolabile, having a half-time of about 20 min at 37 degrees C in serum; temperature inactivation can be delayed by the addition of epsilon-aminocaproic acid, the half-time at 37 degrees C then being about 45 min. In vitro treatment of normal murine blood with the inducers of the inflammatory reaction does not result in FIM activity in the serum. FIM dose not have chemotactic activity toward macrophages, is not a clotting factor, is not a biologically active fragment of the complement system, and has no colony-stimulating or-enhancing activity in the vitro bone marrow colony assay. On the basis of these results, a mechanism is postulated for the humoral regulation of monocytopoiesis.


Short-term (0 – 36 h ahead) wind power forecast is a central issue for the correct management of a grid connected wind farm. A combination of physical and statistical treatments to post-process Numerical Weather Predictions (NWP) outputs is needed for successful short-term wind power forecasts. One of the most promising and effective approaches for statistical treatment is the Model Output Statistics (MOS) technique. In this study a MOS based on multiple linear regression is proposed: the model screens the most relevant NWP forecast variables and selects best predictors in order to fit a regression equation that minimizes the forecast errors, utilizing wind farm power output measurements as input. The performance of the method is evaluated in two wind farms, located in different topographical areas and with different NWP grid spacing. Due to the high seasonal variability of NWP forecasts, it was considered appropriate to implement monthly stratified MOS. In both wind farms, first predictors were always wind speeds (at different heights) or friction velocity. When friction velocity is the first predictor, proposed MOS forecasts resulted to be highly dependent on the friction velocity – wind speed correlation. Negligible improvements were encountered when including more than 2 predictors in the regression equation. Proposed MOS performed well in both wind farms and its forecasts compare positively with actual operative model in use at Risø DTU and other MOS types, showing minimum BIAS and improving NWP power forecast of around 15% in terms of root mean square error. Further improvements could be obtained by the implementation of a more refined MOS stratification, e.g. fitting specific equations in different synoptic situations. 5 Index


Over the past decade, sound macroeconomic policies and an improved business environment have helped generate relatively strong GDP growth. Investments in infrastructure are improving connectivity and trade integration has been facilitated by lower tariffs. Simplification in opening of businesses, getting construction permits, registering property and payment of taxes improved the ease of doing business. Nevertheless, labour productivity remains low with large differences between firms and regions, and the contribution of technological progress to growth has been negative in recent years. Low productivity growth reflects poor educational and managerial quality, still large infrastructure gaps, low investment in innovation and R&D and stringent regulations in some sectors. To raise productivity growth Colombia should focus on some key areas. First, reverse the drop in public investment and reduce high transport and logistics costs. Second, intensify trade links and participation in GVCs, by further improving trade facilitation, to encourage firms to adopt the best technologies and know how. Third, create better incentives for firms to invest on R&D, and strengthen the links between the business sector and research institutions to foster innovation. Fourth, increase competition and reduce regulation in specific sectors to promote investment and facilitate the allocation of resources towards most productive firms. And fifth, upgrade the quality of education to develop better skills and professional management to enhance the creation and diffusion of new technologies. In 2016, the government established the National Policy for Productive Development to address the impediments to increased productivity. This Working Paper relates to the 2017 OECD Economic Survey of Colombia (www.oecd.org/eco/surveys/economic-survey-colombia.htm)


From the current status of psychopathology abolition, in behalf of a reductionist and non-satisfactory empiricism that has overwhelmed psychiatry in a sterile paralysis, we question its origin, discovering in Jaspers the methodological problems that made him unable to assume obstacles and led us to the present situation. Matching Heidegger's review on Psychology of the conceptions of the world, we are tracing the criticism to that methodology, in an attempt to approach the model of a new empiricism for psychopathology that solves the current situation. We use this occasion to pursue the tracks followed by one of the confronted attitudes or another that we consider a psychopathology crossroad. We are investigating the consequences and alternatives derived for that new task in present time, once these methodological positions have been assumed.


The performance of a prestressed concrete beam, subjected to bending moment M together with shear force V, has been the object of many studies and is an important aspect to take into account in the design. Some models, proposed by researchers and international codes, evaluate the shear strength of prestressed beams by modifying the truss model by Morsch, so as to account for the different slope of stress fields in the web due to the prestressing action. More recent approaches add a strut-and-tie model to the traditional truss model. This paper generalizes a model that was previously proposed for box and I-shaped reinforced concrete cross sections of structural elements. The model, that now includes the effect of prestressing tendons, considers variable-depth stress fields applied to the cross section, subdivided into layers, and allows evaluation of normalized m-v design domains depending both on the web and flange reinforcement and on the slope of the prestressing steel tendons. The reliability of the method has been validated by comparing its numerical results to the strength provided by tests on reinforced concrete beams and on thin-webbed prestressed concrete beams, referred to in the literature. Finally, it has been used in the design of a pretensioned bridge beam to evaluate the additional reinforcement necessary in the flanges, as a function of the reinforcement provided to the web.


Four types of drug nanoparticles (NPs) based on amphiphilic hyperbranched block copolymers were developed for the delivery of the chemotherapeutic doxorubicin (DOX) to breast cancer cells. These carriers have their hydrophobic interior layer composed of the hyperbranched aliphatic polyester, Boltorn (R) H30 or Boltorn (R) H40, that are polymers of poly 2,2-bis (methylol) propionic acid (bis-MPA), while the outer hydrophilic shell was composed of about 5 poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) segments of 5 or 10 kDa molecular weight. A chemotherapeutic drug DOX, was further encapsulated in the interior of these polymer micelles and was shown to exhibit a controlled release profile. Dynamic light scattering and transmission electron microscopy analysis confirmed that the NPs were uniformly sized with a mean hydrodynamic diameter around 110 nm. DOX-loaded H30-PEG10k NPs exhibited controlled release over longer periods of time and greater cytotoxicity compared with the other materials developed against our tested breast cancer cell lines. Additionally, flow cytometry and confocal scanning laser microscopy studies indicated that the cancer cells could internalize the DOX-loaded H30-PEG10k NPs, which contributed to the sustained drug release, and induced more apoptosis than free DOX did. These findings indicate that the H30-PEG10k NPs may offer a very promising approach for delivering drugs to cancer cells. (C) 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 50: 280-288, 2012


The present investigation examined the shape and variation of movement patterns associated with specific stress contexts. Movements of the lower lip were recorded using the Optotrak, a noninvasive system in which light emitting diodes are attached to the moving structure. Eight adult subjects produced versions of the utterance ''Buy Bobby a puppy'' that varied in stress. Initally, this utterance was produced with normal stress patterns. Then, a scenario was presented that elicited a contrastive stressed form (e.g., to stress ''Bobby,'' the subject responded to the utterances ''Don't buy Kathy a puppy. Buy Bobby a puppy.''). A standard technique in the analysis of kinematic data is to measure absolute values of peak velocity, displacement, and duration. Analyses revealed that, as expected, increased duration and amplitude occurred in stressed contexts. A second set of analysis procedures involved the evaluation of underlying movement patterns through time and amplitude normalization (i.e., collapsing absolute differences in duration and amplitude). Pattern recognition techniques were then applied, revealing that underlying patterning differed as a function of contrastive stress. [Work supported by NIDCD.]


Purpose – The aim of this study is to examine the impact of co-operative governance structures on citizen participation in public service provision.Methodology – Using a multiple case study-approach, we analyse and compare five examples of co-operative public–citizen partnerships in Austria and Germany.Findings – The study clearly shows that co-operatives can be a tool for both, (1) the bottom-up self-organization of citizens (co-operative as 'contested space') and (2) the top-down organization to canalize citizen participation (co-operative as 'invited space'). Co-operative public–citizen partnerships therefore represent a balancing act between dependency through public funding and autonomy through community-based decision making.Research implications and limitations – The chapter underlines the importance of context-sensitive qualitative research. Limitations might stem from the fact that municipal areas might differ in other countries than Germany and Austria, for example, due to legal prerequisites.Practical implications – If regional government representatives are supporting a bottom-up initiative, they are more inclined to provide crucial resources for the public–citizen partnership and tensions between different stakeholders involved are weakened.Social implications – Co-operative public–citizen partnerships might enhance participatory democracy and seem to strengthen solidarity and social cohesion on the neighbourhood level.Originality/value of chapter – In showing that co-operatives are a suitable governance structure for community organizations, which enhance democratic decision making and foster social innovation in public service delivery, we support the findings of other studies. The chapter suggests that in order to enhance our understanding of citizen participation, context-sensitive research that goes beyond merely descriptive governance analysis is needed, taking into account the historical trajectories of public–citizen partnerships.


The Mediterranean diet (MD) is a combination of foods mainly rich in antioxidants and anti-inflammatory nutrients that have been shown to have many health-enhancing effects. Extra-virgin olive oil (EVOO) is an important component of the MD. The importance of EVOO can be attributed to phenolic compounds, represented by phenolic alcohols, hydroxytyrosol, and tyrosol, and to secoiridoids, which include oleocanthal, oleacein, oleuropein, and ligstroside (along with the aglycone and glycosidic derivatives of the latter two). Each secoiridoid has been studied and characterized, and their effects on human health have been documented by several studies. Secoiridoids have antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and anti-proliferative properties and, therefore, exhibit anti-cancer activity. This review summarizes the most recent findings regarding the pharmacological properties, molecular targets, and action mechanisms of secoiridoids, focusing attention on their preventive and anti-cancer activities. It provides a critical analysis of preclinical, in vitro and in vivo, studies of these natural bioactive compounds used as agents against various human cancers. The prospects for their possible use in human cancer prevention and treatment is also discussed.


The Slogan holds that one situation cannot be worse (or better) than another unless there is someone for whom it is worse (or better). This principle appears to provide the basis for the levelling-down objection to teleological egalitarianism. Larry Temkin, however, argues that the Slogan is not a plausible moral ideal, since it stands against not just teleological egalitarianism, but also values such as freedom, rights, autonomy, virtue and desert. I argue that the Slogan is a plausible moral principle, one that provides a suitable moral basis for the levelling-down objection to teleological egalitarianism. Contrary to Temkin, freedom, autonomy, virtue, and rights can all be understood in person-affecting terms, while equality of outcome cannot. Moreover, the Slogan is open to a variety of different ideas about how we should weight or rank people's gains and losses. This flexibility allows the Slogan to accommodate ideals such as prioritarianism and desert.


field models at low degree (degree correlation above 0.8 for degrees n ≤ 133). Comparison with independent near-surface aeromagnetic data from Australia yields good agreement (coherence > 0.55) at horizontal wavelengths down to at least 250 km, corresponding to spherical harmonic degree n ≈ 160. The LCS-1 vertical component and field intensity anomaly maps at Earth's surface show similar features to those exhibited by the WDMAM2 and EMM2015 lithospheric field models truncated at degree 185 in regions where they include near-surface data and provide unprecedented detail where they do not. Example regions of improvement include the Bangui anomaly region in central Africa, the west African cratons, the East African Rift region, the Bay of Bengal, the southern 90 ◦ E ridge, the Cretaceous quiet zone south of the Walvis Ridge and the younger parts of the South Atlantic.


This remarkable little book deals with the many aspects of normal and abnormal physiology in the surgical patient. Although somewhat limited in depth, its scope is commendable, and there is little that it fails to touch upon. Although I found myself disagreeing with Dr. Stahl on occasional specific issues, it was surprising how seldom this occurred. The book is remarkably up to date, easy to read, and expresses the many concepts in a clear, concise, semioutline form. Dr. Stahl has evaluated many controversial issues in a fair and unbiased way. The bibliography is selectively extensive and well organized. The chapter on emotional factors is excellent and reminds the surgeon of his own frequent failings in dealing adequately with this important aspect of patient care. A book of this general type is often reviewed with a final comment by the reviewer that it is recommended for medical students. I asked one


Wireless positioning systems based on passive ranging, such as Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS), are very attractive and represent the most pragmatic and efficient solution to offer ranging capabilities to billions of users worldwide with medium earth orbit satellites. However, they are based on the fundamental assumption that the observed propagation delay relates to the geometric range. Rather than operating on the principles of time-of-arrival ranging, a two-way ranging (TWR) technique can form ranging estimates based on infrastructure interrogation, using cryptographic techniques asserting the validity of the channel estimates.

This paper presents a system architecture and node design providing Secure Time Transfer (STT), Authenticated Ranging (AR), and Verifiable Multilateration (VM) involving two-way ranging. STT and AR functions are used as a source of trustworthy additional information supporting the GNSS receiver, which can exploit this information to extend its level of resilience against intentional attacks and unintentional interferences. This concept is further demonstrated into the security augmented GNSS receiver, along with an Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU).

The implemented hardware and software solutions were validated in laboratory environment as well as in field tests. The field tests were conducted outdoors in static, pedestrian, and vehicular scenarios. The results proved that the implemented system using UWB can provide time accuracy in the order of a few microseconds, and distance accuracy of a few tens of centimeters with maximum distance around 40 meters. With Wi-Fi, the achievable time accuracy was a few tens of microseconds, and distance accuracy was a few meters with maximum distance around 500 meters.


Students who possess both a disability and characteristics of giftedness are referred to as students with dual exceptionalities. This paradoxical relationship of disability and giftedness creates a challenge for teachers and students, particularly in schools that do not have a specific program for students with dual exceptionalities. Most of these students typically receive the majority of their instruction either within a special education program, or a gifted education program. Students with perceived dual exceptionalities are often able to mask their disabilities with strengths in other major areas. The students in this investigation have all demonstrated strong talent in mathematics. They each have a unique view of the world and their learning experiences are filtered through the lenses of both their disabilities and their talents. In this qualitative case study, the researcher will explore the learning experiences of students with perceived dual exceptionalities through the perspective of parents, teachers, and the students themselves. While it may be subjective to ask middle schoolers what they think, perception is reality, and however they feel about their experiences is their current reality. The conceptual framework that undergirds this study is the Constructivist Theory offered by Piaget (1952) and elaborated by Vygotsky's (1978) socio-cultural theory. Building upon these is the theoretical framework of the Stage-Environment Fit Theory which attempts to explain the fit between adolescent developmental needs and the educational environment. Student participants generated drawings in order to express their perceptions of their learning experiences. Other data sources included semi-structured interviews, observations, and a document review. All data was triangulated and analyzed using three analysis strategies offered by Creswell and Poth (2018), consisting of (1) data preparation and organization (i.e., transcribing data for analysis, or preparing student drawings/image data for analysis), (2) development of themes through a process of coding, and ADOLESCENTS WITH PERCEIVED DUAL EXCEPTIONALITIES vii (3) writing up the results of the study and representing the data in tables and figures. Themes that emerged from the data became larger categories of note. Findings suggest that (1) Students perceived to have dual exceptionalities who receive instruction primarily within gifted educational settings may use their giftedness to mask their disability; (2) Conversely, students perceived to have dual exceptionalities who receive instruction primarily within special educational settings may use have the tools or opportunity to leverage their giftedness to mask their disability; (3) Academic and/or Social/Emotional difficulties that begin early in the educational careers of students perceived to possess dual exceptionalities can become exacerbated by time they reach the middle-school level (Stage Environment Fit Theory); and (4) Students who are perceived to have dual exceptionalities and who suffer from feelings of isolation, may experience these feelings regardless of the setting in which they receive the majority of their instruction. ADOLESCENTS WITH PERCEIVED DUAL EXCEPTIONALITIES viii Table of


: The results of 295 reconstructive operations on the major vessels of lower extremities were analyzed. The patients were divided into 4 groups depending on the scheme of anticoagulation therapy in the postoperative period. Under investigation was the state of hemostasis and hemorheology. The frequency of thrombohemorrhagic complications was assessed. It was found that the regimen based on the administration of low molecular weight heparins during the nearest 5 days after the intervention was the most rational regimen of anticoagulation therapy after reconstructive operations on the major arteries of lower extremities.


By introducing high randomness with reduced computational cost, physical layer (PHY) key generation is one of the candidate tools that can be used for the security of the Internet of Things applications. Nonidentical secret keys are one of the main problems of the physical layer (PHY) key generation schemes. In order to address this problem, key verification schemes, which are based on information reconciliation, are used in this article. In the current key verification techniques, the legitimate nodes reveal some information related to their secret keys to eliminate nonidentical bits. In this article, by jointly using PHY key generation with an embedded key, we propose a hybrid key generation and key verification scheme, where the revealed information during the key verification process is negligible, and the verified keys are identical. Numerical results and software-defined radio-based tests show that the proposed verification scheme achieves the requirements of the Industrial Internet of Things systems.


PURPOSE
This study was to investigate the factors influencing quality of life of middle-aged women in rural area, to provide the basic data for health promoting intervention in order to improve quality of life.

METHOD
The subjects were 469 middle-aged women by 40-64 from 7 rural areas in Gyeonggi-do, Jeolla-do and Gyeongsang-do. Data collection was conducted by using 6 questionnaires.

RESULT
There were significant differences in the quality of life by age, educational level, marital status, religion, family pattern, and economic level. There were positive relationships between quality of life and health perception, social support, and negative relationships between quality of life and depression and stress. Stepwise Multiple Regression Analysis for quality of life revealed that the most powerful predictor was depression. Depression, health perception, social support, stress and economic level explained 51.5% of the variance.

CONCLUSION
Depression, health perception, social support, stress and economic level were related with quality of life of middle-aged women in rural area. Therefore, it is necessary to develop the nursing intervention these psycho-social aspects to increase the quality of life.


Although depression is common among alcoholics, its determinants are poorly understood. Among 339 alcoholics, 111 (33%) had a history of major depression. Depressed, compared with never-depressed alcoholics, had a higher daily alcohol intake, more lifetime diagnoses of other anxiety and affective disorders and drug abuse, more had attempted suicide, and more reported alcoholism in both parents. Depressed alcoholics also had significantly lower cerebrospinal fluid levels of the dopamine metabolite homovanillic acid and of gamma-aminobutyric acid. Among subgroups of depressed alcoholics, secondary compared with primary depressives were more often divorced, of lower social status, with an earlier onset of alcoholism, and higher Michigan Alcohol Screening Test scores. Secondary depressives also had significantly lower cerebrospinal fluid concentrations of homovanillic acid than never depressed alcoholics. These results suggest that certain psychosocial variables, alcohol consumption, and neurochemical variables may be specifically associated with depression in alcoholics.


taught in the classroom. Means need to be found to introduce practical realities alongside the development of academic potential. On the other hand, the generally favourable scores achieved by caregivers of all ages, indicates a fairly high level of knowledge amongst participants. Baby shows provide a useful and community-friendly way of assessing the status of health knowledge amongst some mothers. 1 D COUPER MBBCh MFamMed Medical Superintendent Manguzi Hospital. Private Bag X301 KwaNgwanase, 3973, South Africa


Number of connected devices is steadily increasing and these devices continuously generate data streams. These data streams are often high dimensional and contain concept drift. Real-time processing of data streams is arousing interest despite many challenges. Clustering is a method that does not need labeled instances (it is unsupervised) and it can be applied with less prior information about the data. These properties make clustering one of the most suitable methods for real-time data stream processing. Moreover, data embedding is a process that may simplify clustering and makes visualization of high dimensional data possible. There exist several data stream clustering algorithms in the literature, however no data stream embedding method exists. UMAP is a data embedding algorithm that is suitable to be applied on data streams, but it cannot adopt concept drift. In this study, we have developed a new method to apply UMAP on data streams, adopt concept drift and cluster embedded data instances using any distance based clustering algorithms.


Decision makers are sometimes faced with aggregating advice from multiple advisers without knowing what information is driving each adviser's opinion. Following Budescu and Yu (2006, 2007), we conducted an experiment in which participants first learned to estimate the probability of a disease based on multiple test results. Next, subjects made the same judgments solely on the basis of probabilities given by multiple advisers who may have only received partial information. Experimental results confirm previous findings that decision makers give extreme estimates when advisers are in agreement and compromise estimates when advisors are in disagreement. Unlike previously proposed models that can only account for extreme or compromise estimates but not both, we develop a new Bayesian model that explains both types of judgments. This model provides a rational explanation of information aggregation by assuming that decision makers use the probability estimates of advisers to infer underlying data before making probability judgments.


This thesis presents sodium magnetic resonance as an in vivo means for non-invasively visualizing the changes in cell sodium ion homeostasis that occur in ischemic tissue during acute stroke. Single quantum sodium magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) was used to determine the time course of tissue sodium concentration (TSC) in a non-human primate model of reversible focal brain ischemia. In each animal, TSC increased slowly and linearly as a function of time after the onset of focal brain ischemia. Changes in the TSC accumulation were seen upon reperfusion. The results demonstrate that the increase in TSC in ischemic tissue is readily measurable using sodium MRI at clinical magnetic field strengths (3.0 T) in acceptable imaging times (5 minutes). The results also indicate that sodium MRI could predict the stroke onset time in patients that are unsure when their symptoms began, potentially extending the use of thrombolytic therapy to patients that would otherwise not receive treatment. Many studies have hypothesized that the best means for the in vivo study of the changes in cell sodium ion homeostasis that occur during brain ischemia is to use imaging schemes that isolate the sodium NMR signal from the intracellular compartment. This thesis investigates the contribution of the extracellular sodium pool to the brain's triple quantum (TQ) sodium MR signal in the rat using the thulium shift reagent, TmDOTP5-. Within the SNR of the experiment, there was no evidence of any contribution to the TQ sodium MR signal from the sodium in the extracellular brain, vascular, and muscle spaces in the head. Finally, TQ sodium MR images in the in vivo non-human primate are presented for the first time. Moreover, these images were obtained in clinically acceptable 18 minute data acquisition times. TQ sodium MRI during non-human primate focal brain ischemia identified large changes in the ischemic region as early as 34 minutes after the onset of ischemia. The increase in the TQ sodium MRI signal intensity observed in the ischemic hemisphere is hypothesized to be due to an increase in the intracellular sodium concentration as a result of impaired ion homeostasis during evolving brain ischemia.


Abstract Low back pain (LBP) is associated with both axial discomfort and radiating leg pain. Although intervertebral discs are suspected as the source of pain in some individuals, the relationship between disc degeneration and back pain remains controversial. The goals of this study were to investigate the long-term impact of L4/L5 disc puncture on disc degeneration and the subsequent emergence, persistence, and underlying mechanisms of axial and radiating LBP in mice. L4 to L5 discs were punctured on the ventral aspect with a 30 gauge needle in 3-month old female CD1 mice, and the development of behavioral signs of axial discomfort (tail suspension and grip force), radiating hypersensitivity (von Frey and acetone), and motor impairment (rotarod) were monitored. Disc degeneration was assessed using X-ray, T2–magnetic resonance imaging, and histology, and persisted for up to 1 year. Innervation was quantified by immunohistochemistry using the pan-neuronal marker PGP9.5. Behavioural signs of axial discomfort peaked 3 to 9 months after injury. During the peak, local nerve density was increased. A transient increase in hypersensitivity to cold, suggestive of radiating pain, was observed 2 weeks after injury. Radiating pain then reemerged 9 to 12 months after injury in half the animals and correlated with increased dorsal innervation and reduced disc height at these late time points. In summary, a single-level disc injury is sufficient to induce prolonged disc degeneration and delayed axial and radiating pain. This model will be useful to investigate underlying mechanisms and potential therapeutic strategies for discogenic LBP.


We develop an algorithm that mimics the relative performance evaluation ("RPE") peer selection process used for CEOs' incentive plans. Our algorithm constructs the portfolio of peer firms that exhibits the highest in-sample stock performance correlation with the focal firm, which we then use as a counterfactual to better understand firms' actual RPE choices. We find that most firms use RPE in a manner consistent with optimal risk-sharing; firms are more likely to use RPE when a viable peer group is available, and they construct peer groups that are about as effective as possible at shielding CEOs from outcome risk. However, some firms choose not to use RPE even when an effective peer group is available; non-reliance on RPE in these cases appears to be related to competitive sabotage concerns. Other firms choose to use RPE, but benchmark against a peer group that is not effective from a risk-sharing perspective; reliance on RPE in these cases appears to be related to rent-extraction. Collectively, our study improves the understanding of firms' ex ante ability to construct an effective peer group, and thereby sheds new light on why firms do—and perhaps more importantly, why some firms do not—use relative performance evaluation in their CEOs' incentive plans.


Background: Accurate diagnosis of the cause is crucial in the management of obstructive jaundice. Multidetector computed tomography (MDCT) and magnetic resonance cholangiopancreatography (MRCP) play the pivotal roles in the diagnosis. Objective: The objective of this study is to evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of MDCT in determining the level and cause of biliary obstruction in patients with obstructive jaundice and correlates MDCT findings with that of MRCP. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted in the Department of Radiodiagnosis of a tertiary hospital in Manipur after obtaining the Institutional Ethical Committee approval. Fifty-seven patients with obstructive jaundice, age ranging 20–80 years, were subjected to MDCT and MRCP. Final definite diagnosis was made from operative or histopathological findings. Data and findings of MDCT and MRCP were correlated and statistically analyzed. Results: Maximum numbers of cases were seen to occur in the fourth to sixth decades. The female-to-male ratio was 1.4:1. Both MDCT and MRCP could correctly determine the level of obstruction in all the cases. The most common level of obstruction was at the suprapancreatic level. The most common cause of obstruction was choledocholithiasis (45.61%). Benign causes constituted 68% and malignant causes constituted 32%. MDCT could correctly determine the cause in 85.96% of cases, compared to 75.44% by MRCP. Kappa statistics showed fair agreement between MDCT and MRCP in diagnosing the cause of biliary obstruction. MDCT showed comparable sensitivity, specificity, and positive and negative predictive value, in diagnosing the causes of obstruction. Conclusion: Overall performance of the MDCT was comparable or better than that of MRCP.


A farm study was carried out to evaluate the inclusion of safflower seeds supplemented with molasses on broiler chicks performance and carcass traits. A total of one hundred and eight Cobb strain unsexed one day old broiler chicks were distributed into six isocaloric and isonitrogenous diets and each contained three replicates (6birds/replicate) in a complete randomized design. Dietary treatments were a no additives as control (A) and diets containing 5% safflower seeds without molasses (B), 10% safflower seeds without molasses (C), 5% safflower seeds with 3% molasses (D), 10% safflower seeds with 3% molasses (E) and 3% molasses without safflower seeds (F). Feed and water were provided ad libitum till the termination of the trial after 42 days. Parameters measured were feed intake, body weight gain, feed conversion ratio (FCR), relative weights of internal organs (dressing percentage, liver, gizzard, abdominal fat, heart and shrink percentage) and meat proximate analysis. The results revealed that birds fed on diets containing 5% safflower seeds with 3% molasses consumed higher feed. However, no significant (P > 0.05) differences were observed between dietary treatment groups for body weight gain, feed conversion ratio (FCR), pre slaughter weight, hot carcass, cold carcass and relative weights of liver, abdominal fat, gizzard and heart. Inclusion of 10% safflower seeds without molasses and 5% safflower seeds with 3% molasses decreased shrink relative weight. Birds fed control diet and those received diets C, E and F recorded significantly (P < 0.05) higher protein content. Moreover, non significant (P > 0.05) difference was observed for moisture content, ash content, ether extract and fiber content of meat.


Distributionally robust optimization is a popular modeling paradigm in which the underlying distribution of the random parameters in a stochastic optimization model is unknown. Therefore, hedging against a range of distributions, properly characterized in an ambiguity set, is of interest. We study two-stage stochastic programs with linear recourse in the context of distributional ambiguity, and formulate several distributionally robust models that vary in how the ambiguity set is built. We focus on the Wasserstein distance under a p-norm, and an extension, an optimal quadratic transport distance, as mechanisms to construct the set of probability distributions, allowing the support of the random variables to be a continuous space. We study both unbounded and bounded support sets, and provide guidance regarding which models are meaningful in the sense of yielding robust first-stage decisions. We develop cutting-plane algorithms to solve two classes of problems, and test them on a supply-allocation problem. Our numerical experiments provide further evidence as to what type of problems benefit the most from a distributionally robust solution.


It is widely known that corrective switching, including transmission line switching, bus-bar switching, and shunt element switching, may change the states of the power systems, and consequently, affect the distribution of power flows, transmission losses, short circuit currents, voltage profiles as well as transient stability of power systems. In this paper, a new algorithm is developed to find the best line and bus-bar switching action for relieving overloads and voltage violations caused by system contingencies based on a sparse inverse technique and fast decoupled power flow with limited iteration count. A general model of bus-bar switching action is also presented such that the new algorithm can simulate any kind of complicated bus-bar switching action. Furthermore, on the basis of a newly proposed voltage distribution factor by multiple iterations in power flow calculation, a novel algorithm for corrective voltage control by shunt switching is developed. These two algorithms are then integrated into a corrective switching algorithm. Simulation results on the WECC 179-bus system indicate that the new corrective switching algorithm proposed in this paper can effectively solve certain problems of line overloads and voltage violations. The computation time required is also satisfactory.


The non-relativistic electronic Hamiltonian, Hkin+Hne+aHee, is linear in coupling strength parameter (a), but its eigenvalues (electronic energies) have only quasi-linear dependence on it. Detailed analysis is given on the participation of electron-electron repulsion energy (Vee) in total electronic energy (Etotal electr,k) in addition to the wellknown virial theorem and standard algorithm for vee(a=1)=Vee calculated during the standard- and post HF-SCF routines. Using a particular modification in the SCF part of the Gaussian package, we have analyzed the ground state solutions via the parameter "a". Technically, with a single line in the SCF algorithm, operator was changed as 1/rij-> a/rij with input "a". The most important findings are, 1, vee(a) is quasi-linear function of "a", 2, the extension of 1st Hohenberg-Kohn theorem (PSI0(a=1) <=> Hne <=> Y0(a=0)) and its consequences in relation to "a". The latter allows an algebraic transfer from the simpler solution of case a=0 (where the single Slater determinant Y0 is the accurate form) to the physical case a=1. Moreover, we have generalized the emblematic Hund's rule, virial-, Hohenberg-Kohn- and Koopmans theorems in relation to the coupling strength parameter.


The incidence of Fungi on Post Harvest Cocoyam cultivars in three zones within Rivers and Bayelsa states namely, Coastal Plain Sands (Igbo and Baen), Warri Sombreic Deltaic Plain (Obrikom and Ahoada) and Meander Belt (Agudama and Kaiama) was studied. Four cocoyam cultivars were used for the study namely, Xanthosoma mafaffa (Ede uhie and Ede ocha) cultivars and a(Cocoindia and Ede nwachukwu) cultivars. The following micro-organisms of rot of the roots and corms (Cocoyam Decline Disease) were isolated. From X.mafaffaEde uhie, Mucor sp, Rhizopus stolonifer, Fusarium spand Aspergillus niger.Aspergillus flavus, Rhizopus stolonifer, Fusarium spand Aspergillus flavus were isolated from X.mafaffac.v Ede ocha. From C.esculentac.v (Coco India),Aspergillus flavus, Aspergillus niger, Rhizopus stolonifer and Mucor sp, while Mucor sp, Rhizopus stoloniferand Aspergillus niger were isolated from Colocasia esculentac.v. Ede nwachukwu.Most of the fungi isolated from the corms were present in the soil. Susceptibility of the cocoyam cultivars, X.mafaffa (Ede uhie and Ede ocha) and C.esculenta (Cocoindia and Ede nwachukwu) to the isolates of the corm rot pathogens was tested. The severity of the rot was highest in C.esculenta (coco india),X.mafaffa(Ede ocha),X.mafaffa (Ede uhie) and C.esculenta (Ede nwachukwu),X.mafaffa(Ede uhie and Ede ocha) and C.esculenta (coco india) were most susceptible to Aspergillus niger while C.esculenta (Ede nwachukwu) was most susceptible to Mucor sp.


BACKGROUND
Damage control laparotomy (DCL) provides effective management in carefully selected, exsanguinating trauma patients. However, the effectiveness of this approach has not been examined in the elderly. The purpose of this study was to characterize elderly DCL patients.

METHODS
The National Trauma Registry of the American College of Surgeons was queried for patients admitted to our Level I trauma center between January 2003 and June 2008. Patients who underwent a DCL were included in the study. Elderly (55 years or older) and young (16-54 years) patients were compared for demographics, injury severity, intraoperative transfusion volume, complications, and mortality.

RESULTS
During the study period, 62 patients met inclusion criteria. Elderly and young cohorts were similar in gender (male, 78.6% vs. 75.0%, p = 0.78), Injury Severity Score (25.1 ± 2.1 vs. 23.8 ± 1.7, p = 0.49), packed red blood cell transfusion volume (3036 mL ± 2760 mL vs. 2654 mL ± 2194 mL, p = 0.51), and number of complications (3.21 ± 0.48 vs. 3.33 ± 0.38, p = 0.96). Mortality was greater in the elderly cohort (42.9% vs. 12.5%, p = 0.02). The mean time to death for the elderly was 9.8 days ± 10.2 days and 26 days ± 21.5 days in the young (p = 0.485).

CONCLUSIONS
Despite the severity of injury, the outcome of elderly DCL patients is better than what might be predicted. They succumb to their injuries more frequently and earlier in the hospital course compared with the young, but the majority of these patients survive. DCL in the elderly is not a futile endeavor.


To understand the corporate performance of Japanese firms in the twentieth century, we have constructed a comprehensive database that includes asset, capital composition, profitability, and other variables relating to corporate governance structure. In this paper, we briefly introduce our project and report preliminary results of research on corporate performance and its determinants. We surveyed the long-term transition of ROA (defined as the ratio of profit after tax reduction to total assets) and its standard deviation using micro data of Japanese firms through the twentieth century, and investigate the effect of corporate governance structure (large shareholder and main bank) and the role of corporate groups (zaibatsu and keiretsu) on ROA and its volatility. Preliminary results show that high ROA with high volatility characterized the performance of large firms in the prewar period, while relatively low profitability with less volatility characterized the post-war era. In the 1990s, however, Japanese corporations showed extraordinarily low levels of performance with high volatility. The large shareholder enhanced firm performance in the prewar period. In contrast, zaibatsu did not enhance their affiliates' performance, nor did keiretsu and the main bank in the postwar period. Keiretsu group affiliation increased growth at the expense of profitability in the postwar period. Finally, zaibatsu in the prewar, and the main bank and keiretsu system in the postwar period both reduced the volatility of performance. This stabilizing effect was partly brought about by risk or profit sharing, and partly by strict monitoring (zaibatsu) and rent extraction (main bank). The main bank system and keiretsu systems lost the ability to reduce the volatility of performance in the 1990s.


Abstract: A pilot study was carried out involving 193 market traders randomly selected from the three markets in the Port Harcourt metropolis, of Rivers State, Nigeria. A questionnaire was administered to investigate the HIV/AIDS awareness of these traders. Fifty (50%) percent of the respondents were in the age range of 21 to 30 years, 69% were single and 95% were Christians. The results indicate that the traders were knowledgeable about HIV/AIDS. However, there were some misconceptions. Though highly sexually active, only 18% considered themselves at risk of contracting or having contracted the virus. The news media scored highest as a source of HIV/AIDS information. A high percentage (56%) of the respondents claimed that their sexual behaviours have not been altered as a result of the HIV/AIDS awareness but 73% will now advise/ use a condom. It appears that these traders will now exercise caution in negotiating new sexual relationships. It is recommended that awareness be scaled up, considering that majority of these traders are not literate, are making meager incomes and therefore might be tempted to consider sex, as a means of augmenting these meager incomes.


In this paper, we propose a hierarchical transactive control architecture that combines market transactions at the higher levels with inter-area and unit-level control at the lower levels. A model of the overall grid is introduced, with dynamics at primary, secondary, and tertiary levels. With a goal of ensuring frequency regulation using optimal allocation of resources in the presence of uncertainties in renewables and load, a hierarchical control methodology is presented.


Global south cities, particularly those suffering a recent booming urbanization, have been in desperate need of urban interventions able to address their deeply rooted inequality. The traditional planning practices have shown their inadequacy of such realities and exposed the importance of an urban practice compromised with different ways of looking at informality within global south cities. The main question that this thesis explores is what are the other ways of addressing informality in global south cities' urban planning practices?
Delving deeply into this question, this study broadens the very term "informality". In order to do that, it reviews the literature associated with both the traditional modernist way of looking at informality as well as the one that critically assessed the structural nature of informality as a strategy of planning. In doing so, the theoretical framework of this thesis is depicted by identifying three critical elements of informality in global south cities, namely history, power and people's relation.
Framed by such critical elements and embedded in a social constructivist approach, this thesis, then, investigates two historical inhabited urban areas under the pressure of development located in two global south cities: Kuala Lumpur and Rio de Janeiro. The case studies of both cities offer, in turn, empirical confirmation of those three critical elements of informality, revealing the implication of modernist urban practices; single accounts of history; state power; market forces; traditional lifestyle handling and stakeholder participation, on the very production of global south cities' urban crisis. Following that and moving away from the idea of informality as an issue of poverty, this thesis proposes an analytical framework of informality in global south cities, particularly looking into informality in a fractal fashion. As a contribution to scholarship in urban planning, this thesis offers an analytical framework of informality in global south cities. This framework, in turn, supports the required diagnostic effort of planners involved in addressing global south cities' challenges, as well as provides more subsidies for the theoretical development of this growing field of knowledge.


Collected on a trip from Chudleigh to Mount Bischoff, made
by R. M. Johnston, Esq., T. R. Atkinson, Esq., and
the describer.
Helix antialba-
Shell umbilicated, concave on both sides, thin, covered with thread-like
riblets. Helix Bischoffensis.-C. E. Beddome.
Shell imperforate, flatly globose, whitish brown, very finely striated, the
striae crossed with very fine hues, giving the shell a granulated appearance and Helix, Gadensis.-C. E. Beddome.
Shell with a large perspective umbilicus, equalling one quater of its diameter,


Kronborg and Madsen' 50 58 22 High incidence of incomplete vagotomy; high incidence of recurrent ulceration. Wastell et al.S .. 16 28 13 Intermediate incidences both of incomplete vagotomy and of recurrent ulceration. Kennedy et al.' .. 50 4 2 Low incidence of incomplete vagotomy, low incidence of recurrnet ulceration. Johnston and Goligher (unpublished) .. 100 3 1 Low incidence of incomplete vagotomy, low incidence of recurrent ulceration.


Profit Power Economics is the first comprehensive manual of competitive strategy and value-investing for the economic realities of the 21st century, an age in which information costs are getting close to zero and everyone is connected. This book offers a new economic paradigm for our age-and the tools to make the most of it. Readers learn to apply these rules step-by-step to navigate today's new challenges: to choose among vastly expanded investment opportunities; exploit unprecedented freedom to structure and manage modern global enterprises; win in new 3-dimensional corporate competition; and tailor strategies to new powerlaw market dynamics. Profit Power Economics includes lively lessons from the author's experience and examples from other successful investors and enterprises-all in the context of cutting-edge economics. Visionary strategist, experienced corporate executive, banker, and economist Mia de Kuijper takes readers from first principles to practical applications. She offers new ideas and concepts, illustrated with lively lessons from her own experience and from other successful investors and organizations. Profit Power Economics gives readers a clear grasp of the underlying forces that are reshaping our world as well as a step-by-step approach to build (or find) exceptionally high-return enterprises and to navigate new-age market dynamics. She declares that it is high time that we update our ideas about competition, business models, market dynamics and risks, even about the nature of winning itself. The emergence of perfect information-fast-moving, very cheap, universally available information and unlimited connectivity-is transforming our fundamentals so dramatically that this is grounds for doubting many of the most familiar principles of mainstream economics. Corporate leaders, political leaders, entrepreneurs, investors, strategists, not-for-profit organizations, marketers, and students of modern economics will find an invaluable resource in Profit Power Economics. Available in OSO: http://www.oxfordscholarship.com/oso/public/content/economicsfinance/9780195171631/toc.html


In the face of the housing market downturn of the late 2000s, policymakers promoted third-party mortgage default counseling as a way to help people at risk of losing their homes to avoid foreclosure. Using a unique data set of monthly loan payments remitted to investors combined with administrative data from a national counseling agency, this study estimates the effects of default counseling on the probability that troubled mortgage borrowers will lose their homes to foreclosure. Borrowers are actually more likely to miss loan payments after receiving counseling, but the probability of losing a home to foreclosure drops after counseling, suggesting that counseling policies may be beneficial during housing crises. C � 2012 by the Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management.


AIMS
Early statin treatment has beneficial effects on prognosis after acute coronary syndrome. The no-reflow phenomenon determines the prognosis after acute myocardial infarction. We investigated the effects of statin treatment before admission on the development of the no-reflow after infarction.

METHODS AND RESULTS
We performed intracoronary myocardial contrast echocardiography in 293 consecutive patients with acute myocardial infarction undergoing successful primary percutaneous coronary intervention. There were no significant differences in the incidence of the no-reflow between the patients with and without hypercholesterolaemia. The 33 patients receiving chronic statin treatment before admission had lower incidence of the no-reflow than those without it (9.1 and 34.6%, P=0.003). They also showed better wall motion, smaller left ventricular dimensions, and better ejection fraction at 4.9+/-2.2 months later. Multivariable logistic regression analysis revealed that statin pre-treatment was a significant predictor of the no-reflow along with anterior wall infarction, ejection fraction on admission, and additional ST-elevation after reperfusion, whereas total cholesterol was not.

CONCLUSION
Chronic pre-treatment with statins could preserve the microvascular integrity after acute myocardial infarction independent of lipid lowering, leading to better functional recovery.


Highway geometric design and traffic operations are based in part on consideration of vehicle characteristics. However, many of the current highway design and operational criteria are based on passenger car characteristics, even though truck characteristics may be more critical. This report reviews existing data for the truck characteristics that need to be considered in highway design, including truck dimensions, braking distance, driver eye height, acceleration capabilities, speed-maintenance capabilities on grades, turning radius and offtracking characteristics, suspension characteristics, and rollover threshold. The report also includes these truck characteristics. The highway design and operational criteria evaluated include sight distances, vertical curve length, intersection design, critical length of grade, lane width, horizontal curve design, vehicle change intervals at traffic signals, sign placement, and highway capacity. An assessment has been made of the need to change the current highway design and operational criteria to accommodate trucks. The cost effectiveness of proposed changes in design and operational criteria has been evaluated. This volume, Volume I, of the report presents the main findings of the study including recommended changes in highway geometric design and operational criteria to accommodate trucks. Volume II of the report contains appendixes documenting the detailed data collection and analysis activities.


Aims: To assess visual acuity (VA) objectively using visual evoked potentials (VEPs), avoiding subjective trace evaluation and providing an acuity estimate with associated confidence limits. Methods: 40 normal subjects and 24 patients (with corneal and retinal diseases, decimal VA range 0.15–1.1 ( = 0.8logMAR to −0.04logMAR)) participated in the study. Checkerboard stimuli with six check sizes covering 0.05–0.4° (or 0.09–0.8° for visual acuities below 0.35 ( = 0.46logMAR) were presented in brief-onset mode (40 ms on, 93 ms off) at 7.5 Hz. In normal subjects, the stimuli were also optically degraded by frosted occluders resulting in a decimal VA range of 0.13–2.8 ( = 0.9logMAR to −0.45logMAR). Altogether, 108 steady-state VEPs were recorded with a Laplacian montage (2×Oz−(RO+LO)). Fourier analysis yielded the magnitude (A) at the stimulus frequency, and the average of the two neighboring frequencies as noise estimate (N). A and N determine the significance level p of the response, and from their ratio the non-noise-contaminated response (A*) can be calculated. Tuning curves were obtained by plotting A* vs the dominant spatial frequency of the corresponding checkerboard. A fully automatic algorithm used the significance level (p<5%) and A* to automatically select an appropriate region in the high spatial-frequency range on which a linear regression was performed, yielding a zero-amplitude extrapolated spatial frequency SF0. Subjective VA was obtained with the automated "Freiburg Acuity Test". Results: The brief-onset presentation evoked high VEP amplitudes; however, many tuning curves displayed the well-known "notch" at intermediate check sizes. The fully automated analysis algorithm succeeded in 107 of 108 cases and effectively ignored the notch, if present. The relation between logVA and log(SF0) was a constant factor throughout the range tested: logVA = log(SF0)/17.6 cpd. In more than 95% of all cases, the acuity predicted from SF0 coincided within a factor of two (up and down, or ±0.3 logMAR) with subjective VA with a coefficient of correlation of 0.90. Conclusion: The fully automated analysis avoided subjective problems in peak-trough assessment. The results provide quantitative limits to assess patients with possible malingering.


This is a guide to the many resources and services available to Extension personnel and Educators in Michigan. It is intended for you to be able to easily locate and utilize electronic and print resources.


Discusses the long history of the sea journey as a symbol in religious and secular literature, and its use in the work of more recent fantasy and mainstream authors.


Purpose: To evaluate the neutron and photon dose equivalent (Hn,D and HG) at the outer maze entrance after the removal of the flattening filter of a Varian Clinac 23EX accelerator; and to evaluate the effectiveness of semiempirical calculations for a flattening filter free (FFF) accelerator. Methods: A Varian Clinac 23EX accelerator was used to produce 18 MV photons without the flattening filter. The Hn,D was measured using an Andersson‐Braun neutron Rem meter, and the HG was measured using a Geiger Muller gamma‐ray survey meter at the outer maze entrance. The measurements were compared with semiempirical calculations such as the Kersey method, the modified Kersey method and a newly proposed method by Falcao et al. Results: With the gantry head tilted close to the inner maze entrance and with the jaws closed, the neutron dose equivalent reached its maximum. The FFF dose equivalent per monitor unit (MU) is 14 –41% lower than that of a flattened beam under different field size and gantry angle settings. The calculation to measurement ratio of the Hn,D was 4.6 for the Kersey method and 16.7 for the Falcao method. The modified Kersey method has a calculation to measurement ratio about 0.8. The total photon dose equivalent calculation using formulae in NCRP report No. 151 is about 1.5 times of the measurement. Conclusions: This work indicates that the neutron production per MU from a flattening filter free accelerator is reduced at the maze entrance. The Kersey method and the Falcao method overestimate the neutron dose equivalent. The modified Kersey method gives the closest estimation of a Varian Clinac 23EX accelerator operated at 18 MV photon mode without flattening filter in a maze with a similar design as in our study. However, its tendency to underestimate the Hn,D need to be considered during shielding calculation.


Despite the wide application of the metaphor of 'the tragedy of the commons', there is little historical literature that points to the weaknesses of its historical basis. There is, however, sufficient qualitative and quantitative evidence to prove that commons were well regulated and organized in order to achieve a sustainable management, that also took into account the needs and wishes of its commoners. This case study of a common in Flanders looks at the evidence for this in the eighteenth century, examining bookkeeping and other archival sources. A model that incorporates the different functions of the commons (sustainability, efficiency, and utility) is explained and applied.


With up to ∼45 km of slip, the Meade thrust fault in southeastern Idaho is one of the major thrusts in the Sevier thrust belt, yet its age of displacement has remained enigmatic because of the lack of a derivative synorogenic deposit. We propose that the synorogenic conglomerate produced by initial Meade thrusting crops out on Red Mountain, in southeastern Idaho, ∼1.5 km east of the present trace of the Meade thrust. This conglomerate historically has been considered part of the Ephraim Formation of the Lower Cretaceous Gannett Group, but we suggest that it is a conglomeratic facies of the Bechler Formation localized to the area of Red Mountain. Regional stratigraphic considerations and paleontological dates from underlying and overlying strata indicate that the Bechler conglomerate facies (BCF) is Aptian in age. The BCF is 850 m thick and consists of pebble- to boulder-conglomerate, sandstone, and mudrock deposited by fluvial and mass flow processes on medial to distal parts of an alluvial fan. Paleocurrent data indicate an eastward, fan-shaped dispersal pattern. The BCF contains clasts of micritic limestone, chert-pebble conglomerate, and cherty litharenite that were derived from the Ephraim Formation. In addition, the conglomerate contains abundant clasts of Ordovician, Carboniferous, and lower Mesozoic rocks that crop out on both the Meade thrust sheet and the Paris thrust sheet ∼25–30 km to the west. The base of the BCF is marked by a local 27° angular unconformity on top of the Ephraim Formation. The BCF contains intraformational, progressively rotated angular unconformities, internal growth folds, and minor dip discontinuities that were produced by simultaneous folding and sediment accumulation on the proximal footwall of the Meade thrust. Provenance modeling indicates that the BCF was derived from Mesozoic strata that were exposed along the frontal part of the Meade thrust sheet and from Paleozoic strata that were coevally exposed in the hindward located Paris thrust sheet. Topography on the Paris sheet was rejuvenated as it was carried passively over a major ramp in the Meade thrust. Provenance and structural data are combined to produce an incremental, bulk-rock retrodeformation of initial Meade displacement. Clasts of Jurassic Twin Creek Limestone with pressure-solution cleavage in the lower part of the BCF indicate that an episode of layer-parallel shortening occurred in the Meade hanging wall prior to Meade displacement; this may have been related to emplacement of the Paris thrust sheet. The BCF recorded ∼6 km of initial Meade-related shortening by thrust slip and fault-propagation folding during Aptian time. Illite crystallinity, systematic fracture sets in the Ephraim Formation and BCF, finite strain in Meade footwall and hanging wall rocks, and thermal models by previous workers indicate that the Meade thrust sheet ultimately overrode the BCF and other footwall rocks, probably during Albian-Cenomanian time. The BCF and the Meade thrust were folded during slip on thrust faults related to the northern Crawford thrust during Coniacian time. A revised interpretation of Gannett Group provenance throughout the thrust belt suggests that the Ephraim Formation was derived from both the Paris thrust sheet and an older, hindward located thrust sheet. The Bechler was derived from the Meade and Paris sheets.


SUMMARY: Changes in the structure of the myxamoebae involved in the formation of the stalk of the fruiting body, or sorocarp, of Dictyostelium discoideum were investigated. Observed changes in the ultrastructure relating to cell differentiation include: (1) food vacuoles disappear and autophagic vacuoles take their place after cell aggregation; (2) an inclusion in the mitochondria disappears during the vegetative feeding stages; (3) the decrease in number of an electron-clear vacuole is coincident with the appearance of the 'prespore' vacuole in cells of the hind portion of the migrating pseudoplasmodium; (4) while the prespore cells diminish in size and their cytoplasm becomes electron dense during culmination, the myxamoebae destined to form cellular elements of the stalk swell and their cytoplasm finally disintegrates.
The slime coat that encircles the entire pseudoplasmodium remains after fixation and dehydration as a triple-layered membrane resembling cell membranes. At the start of culmination, the initial core of unwalled stalk-forming cells descends through the then vertically oriented cell mass. The polarization of cytoplasm in the horizontally oriented prestalk cells of the apical papilla is described, as well as the formation of the two-layered sheath around the stalk. The mass of so-called rearguard cells of the migrating pseudoplasmodium separates during culmination and a fraction of them form the basal disc while the remainder rise on the stalk just below the prespore mass.


Richardson's concept of arms race dynamics is considered, with two objectives in mind. One is to examine the degree to which hostility, prior levels of armaments and changes in those levels by rivals facilitate the prediction of current arms, with specific attention to year-by-year changes in the quantity of United States military personnel. The second objective is to begin to evaluate the use of artificial neural networks as a way to model learning, not only in arms races, but in a broad range of social phenomena. The results show that Richardson's class of variables alone are insufficient to predict changes in U.S. military personnel. However, these variables do predict some major, seemingly discontinuous, shifts in military personnel that arise from demobilization following the end of war. Apparently, the neural network approach can learn to discern the end of war before any clear, overt action has taken place to signal it.


This study took systematic science as key researching angle, which took folk sports as a gradually evolution active system, and regarding disciplines development as the key motivation on folk sports system evolution. Through the distinguishment from internal and external negative factors of folk sports system, the author thought that the main factors of restraining folk sports disciplines system development existing in three areas: the first area is the developing strategic crisis of disciplines; the second one is the crisis of folk sports disciplines construction and disciplines system; and the last one is the local folk sports cultural development crisis. The study points out that only to construct sound disciplines system of folk sports in China, which can get sustainable development, if rather not, a great number of excellent traditional cultural folk sports programs face to be extincted, this manner is beneficial and great significance to reserve and pass down the traditional folk sports.


The paper describes the application of the project-based learning approach, one of the trends of Education 4.0, for increasing students' motivation for learning the material studied in the course "Coding in Telecommunication Systems" on the topic of Hamming codes by using different computer-based tools, such as MS Excel, Logisim, ISE Project Navigator, creating bilingual interactive multimedia testing exercises, etc. The applications are used in the educational process in the course "Coding in Telecommunication Systems" for Bachelors in the specialty "Internet and Mobile Communications" in our University.
Nowadays, the progress of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) and the educational innovations have provoked the university professors to develop more effective teaching and learning approaches for attracting students' attention and motivating them to learn the material. The university professors are trained to transform the "conventional teacher-centred approach" into the "innovative student-centred approach" using ICT and project-based learning approach. ICT in education are applied with the aim of providing more facilities to students to learn the issues. The use of ICT in learning will improve the efficiency, motivation, critical, logical and analytical thinking and facilitate the active, experimental and consistent learning [2].
The paper describes different approaches applied in the course "Coding in Telecommunication Systems" for increasing students' motivation using project-based learning on the topic of Hamming codes solving the following problems: 1) studying the theory of Hamming codes in advance based on the idea of flipped-classroom; 2) building MS Excel-based applications for illustrating the principle of operation of encoders and decoders of Hamming (7, 4) codes, 3) building the circuits of encoders and decoders of Hamming (7, 4) codes in Logisim; 4) creating bilingual multimedia interactive applications in English and Bulgarian, with various types of testing exercises, allowing students to learn basic concepts in the theory of Hamming codes.


Among the many somatic genome alterations present in cancer cells, changes in DNA methylation may represent reversible "epigenetic" lesions, rather than irreversible "genetic" alterations. Cancer cell DNA is typically characterized by increases in the methylation of CpG dinucleotides clustered into CpG islands, near the transcriptional regulatory regions of critical genes, and by an overall reduction in CpG dinucleotide methylation. The transcriptional "silencing" of gene expression associated with such CpG island DNA hypermethylation presents an attractive therapeutic target: restoration of "silenced" gene expression may be possible via therapeutic reversal of CpG island hypermethylation. 5-Aza-cytidine (5-aza-C) and 5-aza-deoxycytidine (5-aza-dC), nucleoside analogue inhibitors of DNA methyltransferases, have been widely used in attempts to reverse abnormal DNA hypermethylation in cancer cells and restore "silenced" gene expression. However, clinical utility of the nucleoside analogue DNA methyltransferase inhibitors has been limited somewhat by myelosuppression and other side effects. Many of these side effects are characteristic of nucleoside analogues that are not DNA methyltransferase inhibitors, offering the possibility that nonnucleoside analogue DNA methyltransferase inhibitors might not possess such side effects. Human prostate cancer (PCA) cells characteristically contain hypermethylated CpG island sequences encompassing the transcriptional regulatory region of GSTP1, the gene encoding the -class glutathione S-transferase (GSTP1), and fail to express GSTP1 as a consequence of transcriptional "silencing." Inactivation of GSTP1 by CpG island hypermethylation, the most common somatic genome alteration yet reported for human PCAs, occurs early during human prostatic carcinogenesis and results in a loss of GSTP1 "caretaker" function, leaving prostate cells with inadequate defenses against oxidant and electrophile carcinogens. We report here that the drug procainamide, a nonnucleoside inhibitor of DNA methyltransferases, reversed GSTP1 CpG island hypermethylation and restored GSTP1 expression in LNCaP human PCA cells propagated in vitro or in vivo as xenograft tumors in athymic nude mice.


The Pro-active Traffic Engineering Safety Study was undertaken to explore the opportunities to employ a predictive approach to improving safety through modifications to the road and traffic environment. This approach would operate alongside and complement the existing Accident Black Spot Program. Right-turn-against crashes at intersection signals, accounting for an estimated 700 casualty crashes in Victoria annually, was an aspect identified as potentially suited to a pro-active approach. The study involved the collection of selected information on the accident histories, and physical and traffic characteristics at 53 signalised intersections. Statistical analysis of the data was carried out to determine whether any of the physical and/or traffic variables were associated with higher accident occurrence and to develop one or more models to predict right-turn against crash occurrence for a given intersection approach. Right-turn-against accident occurrence was clearly associated with the volumes of conflicting vehicles. The analysis also led to the development of a seven-variable, regression model for predicting right-turn-against crash occurrence. The model explained 85% of the variance in accident occurrence, though validation is still required. As with existing techniques for capacity analysis, the model has considerable potential to be used in the design Of intersection signals to objectively determine the need for fully controlled right-turn phases, or other appropriate countermeasures, to reduce the likelihood of a serious accident record developing. Guidelines for signal designers and system operators are proposed.


Across the American West, stream flows are becoming more seasonal. Climate models predict that this trend will intensify for the foreseeable future. As a result, moist habitats and human water sources are likely to be diminished in dry seasons while flows will intensify in wet seasons. Through their dam/pond systems, beaver have been shown to increase water storage in ponds and surrounding floodplains, thus slowing winter flows, increasing riparian and meadow water availability, and extending stream flow up to six weeks into dry summer seasons. Thus, allowing an increase in historically low beaver populations could provide a low-cost means of addressing both habitat and seasonality concerns. Yet, in Oregon, beaver are absent from the official discourses on adapting human systems and habitats to climate change. Through forty key informant interviews and an analysis of official policy and publications, this study identifies and critically examines five institutional blockages to beaver recolonization. That analysis clarifies the imprint of political pragmatism and institutional sub-cultures upon beaver presence in Oregon today.


The present paper aims to determine the nutritional contribution of pollen from four cultivated species (Malus domestica Borkh., Eucalyptus globulus Labill., Brassica napus L. ssp. oleifera and Vaccinium corymbosum L.) pollinated by bees (Apis mellifera L.) in Southern Chile. The pollen was collected in helicoidal pollen traps installed in hives in farms located in different parts of the Region, and was subsequently analysed at the Bromatology Laboratory. The results obtained matched the values described in the literature, with ranges of phosphorus between 0.59 and 0.80%, crude protein between 33.27 and 39.04%, ethereal extract between 1.83 and 7.72%, carbohydrates between 19.62 and 39.18% and total polyphenols contents ranging between 2,643.69 and 4,773.28 mg 100 g -1 . Thus the species evaluated may be considered sources rich in proteins, carbohydrates and polyphenols; however it is important to determine the composition and concentration of amino acids, sugars and fatty acids present in the pollens.


Developmental neuropsychology is concerned with uncovering the underlying basis of developmental disorders such as specific language impairment (SLI), developmental dyslexia, and autistic disorder. Twin and family studies indicate that genetic influences play an important part in the aetiology of all of these disorders, yet progress in identifying genes has been slow. One way forward is to cut loose from conventional clinical criteria for diagnosing disorders and to focus instead on measures of underlying cognitive mechanisms. Psychology can inform genetics by clarifying what the key dimensions are for heritable phenotypes. However, it is not a one-way street. By using genetically informative designs, one can gain insights about causal relationships between different cognitive deficits. For instance, it has been suggested that low-level auditory deficits cause phonological problems in SLI. However, a twin study showed that, although both types of deficit occur in SLI, they have quite different origins, with environmental factors more important for auditory deficit, and genes more important for deficient phonological short-term memory. Another study found that morphosyntactic deficits in SLI are also highly heritable, but have different genetic origins from impairments of phonological short-term memory. A genetic perspective shows that a search for the underlying cause of developmental disorders may be misguided, because they are complex and heterogeneous and are associated with multiple risk factors that only cause serious disability when they occur in combination.


The eponymous hero of Wagner'sTannha« user treads a path of stark contrasts and rapid swings that culminate in the opera's central episode, the song contest at Wartburg. Instead of securing his reintegration within the court with a brilliant performance, Tannha« user spoils the event with insolent remarks and the exhibitionist disclosure of his Venusberg experience. His behaviour offends his peers, scandalizes the court, breaks Elisabeth's heart, and brings him to the edge of death. Why would he sacrifice everything for nothing? Existing interpretations of Wagner's Tannha« user blame either the hero's flaws or the young composer's unconvincing dramaturgy, and take for granted Tannha« user's hyper-emotional impulsive nature. This essay offers a radically new perspective on the opera by drawing on game theory, the dominant methodology in the social sciences. Through a detailed analysis of the hero's decision-making, it argues that his seemingly irrational behaviour is actually consistent with a strategy of redemption. Musical evidence in the score indeed suggests that Tannha« user may have consciously disrupted the contest, knowing that only a public disclosure of his sinful past can force him to make the pilgrimage to Rome and secure a permanent union with Elizabeth. 602 at V inna U niersity L irary on A uust 6, 2015 hp://m l.oxfournals.org/ D ow nladed from


ABSTRACT Some research suggests a crisis of public confidence in universities and colleges in the United States. But approaches to theorizing confidence in higher education do not examine how confidence varies across social contexts, while empirical efforts to document confidence are characteristically limited by weak construct validity. Drawing on a nationally-representative survey of 10,241 Americans, we develop a conceptual framework that examines how political ideology, religion, parental career encouragement, and demographic factors correlate with confidence in higher education. Only fourteen percent of the US public reports "a great deal" of confidence in higher education. Evangelical Protestants, Catholics, Jews, individuals who perceive a conflict between science and religion (and are on the side of religion), and political conservatives are significantly less likely to report confidence in higher education, while parents who report the strongest encouragement of professional career paths for their children are significantly more likely to report confidence in higher education.


CHRONIC painless sigmoid volvulus apparently has not been described previously. We recently encountered a patient who complained of chronic constipation without recurrent episodes of pain or bowel obstruction. Barium enema examination together with surgical exploration confirmed the presence of chronic sigmoid volvulus associated with megacolon and chronic constipation. We present this case to broaden the spectrum of symptoms that can occur in patients with sigmoid volvulus. Report of a Case A 59-year-old man was referred to the Mayo Clinic for evaluation of possible Hirschsprung's disease. He recalled having been constipated since childhood. The problem had been controlled with enemas, initially one each month but gradually progressing to two or three weekly. In the past five years, he had also taken cathartics with increasing frequency. At the time of his admission he was having one bowel movement each week with the aid of enemas and large doses of milk of magnesia.


ABSTRACT Crater disease (CD) of wheat is caused by a Rhizoctonia solani strain of ambiguous phylogeny. Anastomosis reactions confirmed placement of CD-causing R. solani in anastomosis group (AG) 6, with results indicating a closer affinity to AG-6 GV than to AG-6 HG. Cultures of CD isolates were initially white to cream, turning a yellowish light brown after 10 days. Concentric rings of dark and light mycelium were evident from an early stage. Mycelium generally was appressed to the agar surface, with sparse aerial growth. A few light-colored, irregularly shaped sclerotia could be discerned after 2 weeks. The mean hyphal diameter of CD-causing R. solani was 7.46 mum (ranging from 5.0 to 10.0 mum), and cells contained a mean number of four (ranging from two to eight) nuclei, compared to a mean hyphal diameter of 8.58 and 8.42 mum and a mean nuclear number of six and four for AG-6 HG and AG-6 GV, respectively. The CD isolates had a slower growth rate (15.3 mm/day) than AG-6 HG (29.1 mm/day) and AG-6 GV (22.6 mm/day) but, like AG-6, were thiamine prototrophic. Conspicuous nodulose swellings were produced by CD-causing R. solani on roots of wheat, and infection resulted in retarded shoot growth. Smaller nodules were evident on bean and soybean roots. Fingerprint patterns generated for the various isolates with four enzymes, HpaII, Sau3AI, TaqI, and CfoI, showed the presence of a unique 610-bp fragment in the pathogen. It is proposed that CD-causing R. solani isolates represent a distinct intersterility group within AG-6 that is more related to subgroup GV than to subgroup HG.


Heating and cooling consumes most of the energy in buildings. Faults and problems in HVAC systems waste up to 20% of heating and cooling energy. Identifying spaces with HVAC problems within a facility remains a major challenge for facility managers. This study aims to detect spaces with potential problems that causes energy overconsumption, human discomfort, or HVAC work overload. To achieve that, a Building Information Model (BIM)-based framework that combines the output data of building energy simulations, Building Energy Management Systems (BEMS), and Computerized Maintenance Management Systems (CMMS) is proposed. The framework enables BIM components to utilize data collected by the other systems to determine the intended energy performance and compare it with actual energy performance, as well as to provide access to maintenance history and BEMS alarms occurred in the building at element level. The framework was tested using data collected from an educational building over one-month period when the building was unoccupied to prevent users from manipulating the results. Experimental results show that the framework enabled identification of building spaces with abnormal or malfunctioning behavior that was not detected by the BEMS. This study supplements the body of knowledge in facilities energy management by providing a BIM-based framework that utilizes output data of energy simulation, BEMS and CMMS to locate and detect building spaces with potential problems that need maintenance. Furthermore, it enables facility managers to collect and view relevant data from various systems in one central platform; BIM. It also allows them to adjust their maintenance plans based on the poor behavior of specific spaces within their building.


Background and Aim: Oxidative stress plays a key role in the etiopathogenesis of several disease conditions and most commonly pulmonary diseases. Pulmonary tissues are susceptible to oxidative stress from ambient air pollution. Serum Malondialdehyde is a sensitive biomarker of oxidative stress. Oxidants also enhance proteinase mediated lung injury. In the current study we have aimed at correlating the serum Malondialdehyde levels with pulmonary functions and serum Matrix mettaloproteinase-9 levels in south Indian population. Methods: This was a cross sectional study conducted among healthy volunteers of age group 18 to 45 years. Pulmonary function tests of the subjects were recorded using computerised spirometry (SPIROLAB III). Serum malondialdehyde levels were estimated using Thiobarbituric acid Reactive Substances assay and serum Matrix metalloproteinase-9 levels were estimated by Enzyme linked Immunosorbent Assay. Results: Significant negative correlation was found between Malondialdehyde and FEV1/FVC ratio and significant positive correlation was found between serum malondialdehyde levels and Matrix metalloproteinase-9 levels. Individual link of Malondialdehyde levels and FEV1/FVC ratio, malondialdehyde levels and Matrix metalloproteinase-9 levels were established by linear regression analysis. Conclusion: Our results state that increased oxidative stress directly affects pulmonary functions and it also increases MMP-9 levels, which again lead to decline in pulmonary functions.


The present study was conducted to determine the relationship between milk urea nitrogen (MUN) and milk yield, fat and protein contents, breed and season effects, parity and days in milk in dairy cows from Parana State, Brazil. A total of 127,428 test-days from 16,013 dairy cows belonging to 96 herds enrolled in an official milk recording program were analyzed. Multivariate mixed model methodology was used to determine the relationship between MUN and the fixed effects and the covariable milk production. Milk urea nitrogen averaged 14.45±4.60 mg/dL. Positive and intermediate association between MUN and milk yield (r = 0.34) were found. Holstein cows showed lower MUN adjusted means than crossbred, Jersey, and Brown Swiss cows: 14.18 vs. 15.49, 16.12, and 17.62 mg/dL, respectively. First-lactation cows showed higher MUN values than second-lactation and older cows: 16.16 vs. 15.95, and 15.45 mg/dL, respectively. MUN test-days collected during the winter were higher than those collected in the other seasons. The effects of the lactation stage on MUN were significant, with the highest MUN values observed in the sixth month of lactation. High-producing dairy cows showed higher milk urea concentrations but several environmental factors may contribute to reduce this important parameter of diet utilization efficiency.


(3+1)D topological phases of matter can host a broad class of non-trivial topological defects of codimension-1, 2, and 3, of which the well-known point charges and flux loops are special cases. The complete algebraic structure of these defects defines a higher category, and can be viewed as an emergent higher symmetry. This plays a crucial role both in the classification of phases of matter and the possible fault-tolerant logical operations in topological quantum error-correcting codes. In this paper, we study several examples of such higher codimension defects from distinct perspectives. We mainly study a class of invertible codimension-2 topological defects, which we refer to as twist strings. We provide a number of general constructions for twist strings, in terms of gauging lower dimensional invertible phases, layer constructions, and condensation defects. We study some special examples in the context of \mathbb{Z}_2ℤ2 gauge theory with fermionic charges, in \mathbb{Z}_2 \times \mathbb{Z}_2ℤ2×ℤ2 gauge theory with bosonic charges, and also in non-Abelian discrete gauge theories based on dihedral (D_nDn) and alternating (A_6A6) groups. The intersection between twist strings and Abelian flux loops sources Abelian point charges, which defines an H^4H4 cohomology class that characterizes part of an underlying 3-group symmetry of the topological order. The equations involving background gauge fields for the 3-group symmetry have been explicitly written down for various cases. We also study examples of twist strings interacting with non-Abelian flux loops (defining part of a non-invertible higher symmetry), examples of non-invertible codimension-2 defects, and examples of the interplay of codimension-2 defects with codimension-1 defects. We also find an example of geometric, not fully topological, twist strings in (3+1)D A_6A6 gauge theory.


Since its inception, colonoscopy has evolved to become the cornerstone for colorectal imaging. The increasing indications for endoscopic evaluation and potential therapeutic intervention parallels technological advances and the expanding diagnostic and thera‐ peutic capabilities of colonoscopy. The diagnostic and therapeutic yield of colonoscopy is highly user dependent. Thus, it is essential for the clinical endoscopist to perform a thor‐ ough endoscopic evaluation and be cognizant of normal and pathologic findings. This re‐ view details normal and pathologic endoscopic findings in a variety of disease states that are often encountered by the clinical endoscopist including colon polyps, inflammatory bowel disease, and infectious and non-infectious colitides. In addition, we review the di‐ agnostic and therapeutic role of colonoscopy in the evaluation of an acute lower gastroin‐ testinal bleed.


The paper examines the existence, intensity and the direction of the relationship between the confessional belonging, the degree of subjective religiosity and inter-ethnic distance two years before the violent breakup of the former Yugoslavia. Empirical foundation of the research is the data base of the Consortium of Yugoslav social sciences' institutes from 1989-1990. The main finding of the paper is that the ethnic distance between the members of three most numerous confessions in the Balkans, Orthodox, Catholic and Islamic, that is between the members of respective nationalities, Serbs, Croats and Muslims, was notable two years before the outbreak of the war. Even when the Catholic and Orthodox respondents verbally denied the significance of the spouse's national belonging in two fifths of the cases, and the respondents belonging to all confessions negated the importance of the work colleague's national belonging in somewhat lesser percentage, they themselves were rarely in mixed marriages and have only scarcely preferred the members of some other nationality for the work place colleague. Respondents Yugoslavs, who in the three fifths of the cases asserted not having an confession, proved to be the most open toward all other nationalities and were the most popular as spouses and work colleagues, immediately after the members of locally majority nation and confession. Albanians, who identified themselves as members of Islamic confession in more than 90% of the cases, were the most closed toward members of other nationalities and confessions and were the least preferred among others. Two additional facts testify to the significant degree of uncertainly and mistrust among the members of three confessions two years before the war. First, members of all three confessions have in more than two fifths of the cases partially and completely agreed that safety was possible only in the milieu in which live the majority of the members of one's own nation. Second, alongside with almost three fifths of the three main confessions' members, more than two fifths of those without confession accepted the statement that cooperation can exist between nations, but never the full trust, as well. The rule is noticed, along with several significant and indicative deviations, that respondents reporting that they were convinced believers or that they believed but not in everything that their faith taught, belonging mostly to working layers, attached greater significance to national belonging of the spouse and of the work colleague in one fifth of the cases more often than the respondents that reported that they were indifferent toward religion, that they were not religious or that they were against religion, preponderantly members of middle and upper social layers. The difference in the attitudes of respondents that reported opposite degrees of their religiosity, however, proved to be much smaller (only around ten percentages) when it was the question of the safety and trust between members of different nationalities. The social sources of widely diffused lack of confidence, violent breakup of the former Yugoslavia and the formation of mutually unfriendly independent national states, should therefore be searched for not only in religious contents, but also in the real living situation of believers and not believers alike. In the paper is examined in detail the noticed phenomenon of significant differences existing in the degree of subjective religiosity and the attitudes of the members of the same confession, depending on their status of local majority or minority in respective republic or province.


There is a need to analyze locomotive wheels for flank cracks in a non-destructive manner in order to prevent catastrophic failures. Flaw, shape, and size are desired parameters in establishing the quality of commercial tires. A variety of defects such as voids, inclusions, surface and internal cracks, or the like, must be discerned in order to prevent failure. This paper exhibits and compares the benefits of a number of different techniques used for flaw detection. Non-destructive evaluation (NDE) techniques used are magnetic particle inspection, dye penetrant, eddy current, electro-magnetic acoustic transducer (EMAT). The techniques vary in their ability to ascertain the flaw characteristics. Using a non-contact sensor such as the EMAT, to scan the wheels in an automated manner offers greater inspection speed at lower manpower. This paper reviews the basic concept of EMATs, introduces a recently developed technique for simulating EMAT performance by Finite Element calculation and features bench top results of waveform acquisition and signal-to-noise ratio dependence on lift-off. Next presented are calibration results for spark-eroded flaws in wheel sections for a variety of locations and sizes. Finally data are on flaw detection in a railroad service facility on several locomotives with wheels spinning at speeds up to 40 meters/minute. Results for both artificial and actual flaws are shown.Copyright © 2004 by ASME


In this paper, a zero-dimensional two zone model is developed to investigate the effects of variable valve timing on combustion process in SI engine. The simulation results show that the predicted data has good agreement with experimental ones. The useful information of combustion process such like residual gas fraction, cylinder pressure, cylinder temperature and NO concentration can be obtained and the effects of engine variables on combustion processes and performances can be evaluated.


The aim of this paper is to make a meta-theoretical contribution to conceptions of how power and governance operate in contemporary policy-making. Most approaches to governance generally brush aside the actual mechanics of how influence is wielded and social change effected. To fill this gap we argue that society is managed increasingly through epistemic governance, which works on actors' perceptions of the world and its current challenges. Our point is that regardless of which actors we assume to be influential in affecting public policies, they operate by utilizing a limited number of strategies, in broad paradigmatic as well as in focused practical dimensions. The epistemic work actors are engaged in focuses on three aspects of the social world: (1) ontology of the environment, (2) actor identifications, and (3) norms and ideals, or constructions of what the world is, who we are, and what is good or desirable. As such, we suggest ways to move beyond more or less structuralist explanations of sources an...