The Quedius mutilatus group, a very poorly known presumably monophyletic complex of wingless, possibly hypogean species confined to the Tien-Shan Mountains, is characterized as such for the first time. Newly available material clarified the identity of Q. mutilatus Eppelsheim, 1888 and Q. kalabi Smetana, 1995, each hitherto known from a handful of non-conspecific and vaguely georeferenced specimens only. Additional material is reported for Q. equus Smetana, 2014 and one species, Quedius kungeicus sp. nov., is described. All available data on the taxonomy, distribution and bionomics for all these four species of the group are summarized.


She did not know at the time, but when Mary Watkins embarked on a nursing career in the 1970s, her areas of interest would be among the most pressing priorities for the health service four decades later. And she believes that this career-long commitment to mental health, dementia care and services for children with drug and alcohol problems contributed to her recent appointment as baroness on the crossbenches. Professor Watkins – she will not use her new title until she is formallly received into the Lords in December or January – admits being 'excited yet daunted' by the role. The priorities she wants to address as a life peer include influencing policy to improve nurses' clinical career progression and better remuneration for carers. She also wants to ensure enough nurses are available in care homes and in the community to carry out assessments of people with dementia and support carers. Her commitment to dementia is personal as well as professional. In 2012 she retired from her post as deputy vice-chancellor at Plymouth University to care for her mother, who has the condition. 'I wanted to care for her at home for as long as possible,' she says. 'She is now in a home because she needed more support than I could give but I am very glad I did what I did.' Professor Watkins qualified as a nurse in 1976 and as a mental health nurse in 1979. She has worked in community, in-patient mental health and acute settings, The House of Lords' newest nurse member has high hopes for her role, reports Sophie Blakemore providing non-emergency and emergency health care. In 1989, as part of her PhD, she set up the UK's first night hospital for people with dementia, in Lambeth, to investigate whether the service enabled clients to stay in their own homes for longer. Retirement hasn't slowed Professor Watkins down. She is a non-executive director of a housing association, deputy chair at South West Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust, chair of governors at a local school, and on the board of a charity for young people with drug and alcohol problems. 'If you really want to promote good mental health you need sound housing and education, as well as health care,' she says. She believes her selection will 'bring balance' to the House of Lords, following the death of nurse peer Baroness Jean McFarlane in 2012. 'I have a broad background in healthcare education and I think my charitable work also played a role. It was a combination of these things that got the appointment, not me as such; being in the House of Lords isn't about individual power, it is about being collegiate and making a difference through networking and influence.' Professor Watkins agrees with the Lords' critics that more than 700 peers is excessive; she believes that appointments should be for a maximum of 15 years 'so there is movement and the House can slim down'. But she also believes that her peerage can make a difference, which is why she accepted the post. 'I am there for my nursing and higher education in health care expertise, and I hope to ensure that nursing has a continued strong voice in the shaping of social policy' NS


IN ORDER TO REPRESENT THE STATIC AND DYNAMIC ASPECTS OF A SYSTEM, ACCORDING TO THE REAL WORLD MEDELING NECESSITIES IN A SUITABLE WAY, IT IS IMPORTANT TO INCLUED A EMPORAL EXPRESSIVITY WHOSE SPECIFICATION ALLOWS TO OBTEIN AN APPLICATION THAT IS FINCIONALLY EQUIVALENT TO THE CONCEPTUAL MODEL. IN THE CONTEX OF THE IDEAS (INGENIERIA DE IDEAS SOFTWARE- SOFTWARE ENVIRANMENTS ENGINEERING) PROYECT, AND IN PARTICULAR IN ITS TASK TITLED "SPECIFICATION METHODS FOR TRANSACTION IN PHASE OF CONCEPTUAL MODELING IN 00 ENVIRONMENTS", THE RESEARCH GROUPS DSIC- UPV (VALENCIA, SPAIN) WORKS IN THE DEFINITION OF A AUTMATIC PRODUCTION SOFTWARE ENVIRONMENT BASED ON TEMPORAL CONCEPTUAL MODELS. THE WORK IS ORIENTED TO THE SPECIFICATION AND OF TRANSACTIONS FROM IT


A qualitative single-subject exploratory case study approach was used to examine the effectiveness of an intervention process to assist a 30-year-old female in reducing her fear of water. During the 18-week intervention, systematic desensitization was utilized in conjunction with multiple data sources to determine its success. Data sources included the Spielberger State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI), semi-structured interviews, swimming skills tests, collages, and participant and researcher journals. Data analysis examined changes in scores for the STAI and swimming skills tests while an inductive data analytic strategy was applied to organize and make sense of the interviews, collages, and participant journal entries. A researcher's journal was kept confirming major findings. Results showed a decrease in fear as documented by interviews, participant journal entries, and the post-collage. No differences in scores were noted for the STAI and swimming skills tests. These findings suggest that cognitive and psychological progress was made by the participant; however, more time was needed to transform this progress into performing physical skills in the water.


Osteoarthritis in the hip joint is a chronic degenerative condition, causing pain and disability. As the disease progresses, the individual's health deteriorates. This often results in one of the family members having to assume a carer role to assist the care receiver in personal and domestic activities of daily living. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether carers experienced stress from looking after individuals with osteoarthritis who were waiting for a total hip replacement. The survey was conducted with 23 carers using postal questionnaires before and 3 months after the care receivers had undergone a total hip replacement. It concluded that carers do experience stress from looking after people with osteoarthritis waiting for a total hip replacement and that the carers' stress level was not reduced significantly 3 months after the hip operation. The results of this study have implications for health care professionals who come into contact with this group of carers.


We developed a compact, high-peak-power picosecond pulse source based on a gain-switched laser diode with an emission wavelength of 980 nm and successfully demonstrated two-photon fluorescence imaging. The pulse source consisted of the gain-switched laser diode, a pulse compressor, a pulse reshaper, and optical amplifiers, all connected by single-mode fibers. The optical pulse generated by the pulse source had a pulse width of 3.5 ps, an average power of 35 mW, and kilowatt-level peak power at a repetition rate of 10 MHz. Alexa488-stained Glomeruli and convoluted tubules of a mouse kidney section were observed by two-photon imaging with the developed pulse source.


The growth of transverse ply cracks in composite laminates has been investigated both theoretically and experimentally. Some of the closed-form strain energy release rate based analyses of this problem in the literature have been compared and extensions to these approaches are presented. These models have been shown to be consistent with an alternative approach based on an approximate expression for the stress intensity factor at the tip of a growing transverse ply crack. An experimental study of transverse ply crack growth has been carried out using a simple model array of transverse ply cracks in a glass/epoxy laminate. By making the transverse ply sufficiently thick, the specimen compliance was found to change measurably as individual cracks grow. Hence, the strain energy release rate could be determined experimentally (via the compliance relationship) and compared with analytical predictions. Agreement was found to be satisfactory.


Instituto Nacional de Ciencias Agricolas (INCA), gaveta postal 1, San Jose de las Lajas, Mayabeque, Cuba, CP 32700. ) firstname.lastname@example.com ABSTRACT. In this work the study of 897,22 ha in the region Murgas, Havana province is performed to characterize soils in relation to agricultural use for planting herbs (Moringa oleifera). In conjunction with this analysis of some of the physical and chemical properties as drainage conditions, pH and organic matter content, to assess the agricultural productive soil limiting factors under study. This region its characterize by various terrains of high plains and cumulative denudation lowlands with karst phenomena of sinkholes in the lowlands; under a subhumid tropical climate with 1400 mm annual rainfall and average annual temperature of 24-25 oC, which shows that the soil limitations are given by drainage problems, which is insufficient in the lower parts of the relief and much of the area.


As a large and long-lived species with high economic value, restricted spawning areas and short spawning periods, the Atlantic bluefin tuna (BFT; Thunnus thynnus) is particularly susceptible to over-exploitation. Although BFT have been targeted by fisheries in the Mediterranean Sea for thousands of years, it has only been in these last decades that the exploitation rate has reached far beyond sustainable levels. An understanding of the population structure, spatial dynamics, exploitation rates and the environmental variables that affect BFT is crucial for the conservation of the species. The aims of this PhD project were 1) to assess the accuracy of larval identification methods, 2) determine the genetic structure of modern BFT populations, 3) assess the self-recruitment rate in the Gulf of Mexico and Mediterranean spawning areas, 4) estimate the immigration rate of BFT to feeding aggregations from the various spawning areas, and 5) develop tools capable of investigating the temporal stability of population structuring in the Mediterranean Sea. Several weaknesses in modern morphology-based taxonomy including demographic decline of expert taxonomists, flawed identification keys, reluctance of the taxonomic community to embrace advances in digital communications and a general scarcity of modern user-friendly materials are reviewed. Barcoding of scombrid larvae revealed important differences in the accuracy of the taxonomic identifications carried out by different ichthyoplanktologists following morphology-based methods. Using a Genotyping-by-Sequencing a panel of 95 SNPs was developed and used to characterize the population structuring of BFT and composition of adult feeding aggregations. Using novel molecular techniques, DNA was extracted from bluefin tuna vertebrae excavated from late iron age, ancient roman settlements Byzantine-era Constantinople and a 20th century collection. A second panel of 96 SNPs was developed to genotype historical and modern samples in order to elucidate changes in population structuring and allele frequencies of loci associated with selective traits.


We applied fifteen microsatellite markers for molecular identification of cocoa (Theobroma cacao L.) varieties and their beans in the production chain, and for distinguishing 'fine or flavour' cocoa from bulk varieties. Thirteen markers were from Lanaud et al. (1999) and listed in the International Cocoa Germplasm Database. All of these mTcCIR markers are dinucleotide repeat markers, which means that the amplification of stutter bands alone may make the genotyping less reliable. We added two markers developed on a triand a pentanucleotide repeat. The advantage of these is that the alleles are at least three or five nucleotides apart, which facilitates scoring. In our set of varieties tested, the most polymorphic markers were mTcCIR6, mTcCIR12, mTcCIR15, mTcCIR18, mTcCIR33 and mTcCIR37, which had an effective number of alleles of 4 or more. Among representative varieties of the Nacional, Trinitario and Criollo types, most varieties were clearly differentiated, while duplicate samples from different countries had identical patterns, although some mislabelling occurred. Bulk and 'fine or flavour' varieties were clearly distinguished, but they did not form two genetically distinct groups. The genotypes of ICS 1 beans from different plantations indicated various numbers of pollinators and proportions of self-pollination. The bean genotypes enabled reconstruction of the genotype of the maternal parent, and they contained information on the number and type of pollen donors of each plantation. If plantations have unique genotypes or combinations of genotypes, it may be possible to distinguish them based on the combined genotypes of a set of beans.


Although profitability of reverse logistics can have its roots
in rather diverse areas, most of them can be attached to how
and how well reverse flows are managed. Specific character of
reverse flows requires planning and innovative approach as well
as some level of managers´ understanding and commitment, there
are also several drivers for companies which make them to be
involved in reverse logistics management. These drivers can be
placed on the continuum from the pure economic and/or financial
ones to the non-economic. Although it can be very individual,
some presumptions may be formulated that link some typical
drivers to some industries based on characteristics of the
environmental forces (drivers). This idea stands as the
background for the survey presented in the paper. Analysis of
responses from 32 companies from metal industry compared to 147
companies from other industries revealed some expected and some
surprising differences in perceived drivers of reverse
logistics management linked to the profitability and some other
managerial issues. Although the findings cannot be generalized
due to the small number of companies in the sample, results
show several points for food for thought and further research.


The performance of a forced convection grain dryer may be evaluated based on different criteria, such as drying rate, moisture removal rate and efficiency. This performance is dependent upon various drying parameters, such drying air velocity and temperature as well as grain layer thickness. It is necessary to apply an optimal combination of levels of the various parameters in order to achieve improved performance of such a dryer. This study developed an experimental grain dryer and investigated its performance under different drying conditions. The Taguchi approach was used to determine the optimal combination of drying air velocity, temperature and grain layer thickness that could be used to ensure greatest drying efficiency and moisture removal rate (MRR). ANOVA and LSD tests were used to determine whether change of air velocity and grain layer thicknesses significantly affected drying efficiency as well as MRR.The experimental grain dryer developed was of dimensions 0.5 m x 0.5 m x 1.0 m and was equipped with a 0.7 kW centrifugal fan. It was found that the optimal combination of grain layer thickness and air velocity were 0.04 m and 0.34 m/s respectively for solar drying, if drying efficiency was the determining criterion. When drying was done under laboratory conditions, a combination of 0.41 m/s air velocity, 45°C air temperature and 0.02m layer thickness resulted in greatest MRR and drying efficiency. These findings are useful because use of combination enable the design and use of such a dryer in a manner that ensures minimal energy wastage. Appropriate time management is also facilitated as drying can be undertaken at the shortest possible time.


Abstract. Governance Assessment Frameworks allow the identification of implementation bottlenecks and they can propose answers to the identified challenges. However, no assessment framework has been developed to 1) understand how governance factors can affect the development and use of geospatial data (GD) and 2) to allow comparison across different governance contexts. Previous research proved that GD and governance are highly interrelated. Understanding the relevance of policy coherence, and aiming to address the aforementioned gap, we propose the Coherence Assessment Framework for Geospatial Data (CAFGD). CAFGD objective is to contribute to the GD governance literature from an implementation perspective. CAFGD is based on two existing frameworks: 1) the Framework to Support Institutional Arrangements in Geospatial Information Management (FSIAGIM) (Crompvoets and Ho, 2017, 2019) and 2) the Governance Assessment Tool (GAT) (Bressers et al., 2016a). CAFGD uses as governance dimensions the seven structural instruments of FSIAGIM, classified under the hierarchy, market and network governance approach and uses as evaluative quality coherence from GAT. In order to demonstrate the application of CAFGD, we have selected the region of Flanders in Belgium to analyze its GD policy coherence. Our results conclude that coherence is higher in the instruments related to hierarchy. Therefore, coherence is higher among the public sector actors when comparing with the private sector actors. The relation to this sector corresponds to the market and network instruments.


: The concepts of infectious emergency, the microbial virulence stimulatory factors, the genetic basis (pathogenicity islands and type III secretion factors) of the microbial variation and adaptation, the interest of animal reservoirs in the infection and transmission cycles, and the reemergence of human and animal tuberculosis are reviewed. In reference to the tuberculosis, the finding of a new species or subspecies of mycobacteria isolated by the authors laboratory from goats and belonging to the important M. tuberculosis group is reported.


In addition to MRI for use in diagnostic imaging we now also have functional MRI (fMRI) at our disposal. This can be used to map activity in different areas of the brain. Since its introduction, this technique has been used extensively in preoperative analysis of brain tumours. Emotional centres can also be mapped. Various applications and limitations of fMRI for studying emotions are discussed in this article.


A new movement to plan and design monitorable green stormwater infrastructure is beginning to emerge. Faced with the imminent effects of climate change, "sustainability" is becoming a more important part of municipal long-term planning and design strategies. Accumulating evidence demonstrating the myriad of environmental and aesthetic of green stormwater infrastructure (GSI) has given rise to programs that offer sustainability guidelines such as the Sustainable Sites Initiative (SITES) guidelines. SITES encourages resilient landscapes that are designed to: maximize ecosystem service benefits, be monitored for benefits or lack thereof, provide educational opportunities, and improve human health and well-being. In using these wholistic guidelines on a range of projects at multiple scales, municipalities may develop resilient and responsive sustainable landscape practices, in which the ecological management of stormwater plays a critical role. This master's project proposes that the University of Massachusetts Amherst pilot an ecosystem-service based green stormwater infrastructure demonstration site and educational platform in front of the Fine Arts Center, utilizing the SITES guidelines to explore monitoring methods that could provide useful data for future campus GSI planning initiatives.


Philosophy students often struggle to master the complex skills needed to succeed in their work, especially in writing thesis-driven essays. Research over the past forty years on instructional scaffolding, both generally and as applied in philosophy, has helped teachers to refine both instruction and assignment design to improve students' performance on complex philosophical tasks. This essay reviews the fundamentals of scaffolding in order to motivate and support some innovative in-class exercises and writing assignments that can help students develop even finer-grained skills. These skills are useful both intrinsically and for their transfer to longer-form essays, to other philosophical work, and to the general academic and intellectual development of our students.


The focus of this chapter is on dynamic spectrum sharing in hybrid satellite-terrestrial systems. We start by classifying the scenarios for these systems. The most important dynamic spectrum-sharing techniques such as spectrum sensing, databases, beamforming, beam hopping, and adaptive frequency and power allocation are discussed and their applicability in different scenarios is analysed. Interference analysis shows how Ka band sharing between satellite and terrestrial systems can be enabled. Autonomous ships are defined as an interesting emerging application area for hybrid satellite-terrestrial systems. In order to make them operate reliably and safely both close to shoreline and in deep sea, multiple communication technologies are needed. Interference management and spectrum-sharing techniques could be used, e.g. to prevent blocking or hijacking of the control signalling of a ship. In addition, we discuss shortly the citizens broadband radio service (CBRS) concept in the 3.5-GHz band. Ideas to use CBRS and other database techniques in millimetre wave bands to enable spectrum sharing between satellite and terrestrial components of a future 5G system are given.


Employing qualitative methods and drawing from an intersectional framework which focusses on the multiple identities we all embody, this paper focusses on oppressions experienced by women of color in Xbox Live, an online gaming community. Ethnographic observations and narrative interviewing reveal that women of color, as outsiders failing to conform to the white male norm, face intersecting oppressions in main stream gaming. They are linguistically profiled within the space based on how they sound. Specifically, Latina women within the space experience nativism, racism, sexism, and even heterosexism as many identify as sexual minorities. African-American women experience racialized sexism stemming from the duality of their ascribed identities. The women within the study have responded by segregating from the larger gaming community and have created their own clans (similar to guilds) and game with other women. The purpose of the clans depends on the type of oppressions experienced by the women within the space. This article analyzes this behavior in the context of linguistic profiling showcasing that this type of behavior can only occur within the setting of anonymity and disinhibition. With the diffusion of advanced technologies in video gaming, there has been a displacement of real world inequalities into virtuality.


ABSTRACT Uncalcified and calcified algae grow on and color walls of cavities that occur in karst breccia, which fills pockets in the Tertiary Bluff Formation of Grand Cayman Island. The calcified algae are important because the calcification has been achieved through the formation of dendritic calcite crystals. Although common in metals, such branching crystals have not been widely recognized in naturally occurring calcite. The dendritic calcite crystals are exactly like most dendritic crystals in that they have a primary needle or stem with secondary and tertiary branches. Most dendritic calcite crystals have an open, treelike form and are easy to recognize. As calcification proceeds, the dendritic crystals become progressively filled in and are increasingly difficult to recognize as dendritic crystals. Filling of the dendritic crystals can result in two-dimensional sheets or three-dimensional columns. Assuming the three-dimensional columnar dendritic crystals developed planar and/or curving smooth surfaces, then, lacking other evidence, they would be indistinguishable from normal columnar calcite crystals, and their dendritic origin would be hidden. Variables thought to control dendrite crystal formation include a) creation of localized, highly supersaturated solutions leading to rapid rates of nucleation and crystal growth, and b) "impurities" in the form of organic molecules and other substances. Algae are excellent candidates for controlling a via their metabolism and contributing to b via their decay. Combining these ideas with the results of this study and with the known common occurrence of algae in many speleothemic environments provides an impetus for a reexamination of the origin of subaerially formed calcite crystals.


In terms of scattering parameters, the equation transducer power gain is shown to be capable of representation as a family of circles of constant gain from which the design of load and source terminations to achieve a restricted bandwidth can be obtained. This is an extension of an earlier approach which only allowed either load reflection coefficient or source reflection coefficient to be considered in a given design. Through the use of a specification statement of VSWR, it is shown how a marginal stability factor can be derived. From the study of the interaction between the input and output reflection coefficients, a detuning factor is analytically derived to correlate the interaction between the input and output reflection coefficients. Either of these factors can be chosen and used to select optimum input and output reflection coefficients which provide stable operation for an amplifying stage that is to employ a conditionally stable active element. An example using these factors is given.


Background and Aims: When excisional biopsy or lumpectomy is performed without margin assessment in early breast cancer, further surgery are required if positive margins exist. We evaluated the role of the intraoperative frozen section in breast conserving surgery (BCS). Clinicopathologic factors associated with re-excision were searched. Material and Methods: 190 tumors in 186 patients with early invasive breast cancer treated by BCS. Breast tumor was excised with 2 cm macroscopic margin, and microscopic margins examined by intraoperative frozen section. Results: After frozen section, 160 cases had negative margins (no re-excision), but 30 patients (16%) underwent re-excision because of close/positive margins. Negative margins were obtained in 24 patients but six patients underwent mastectomy due to persistent involved margins. Local recurrence was 2.1% and systemic recurrence was 2.6% with mean 62 months follow-up. Tumor type, tumor size, extranodal extension and extensive intraductal component were significant predictors of re-excision by multivariate analysis. Re-excision procedures haven't an impact on local recurrence. Conclusions: Intraoperative frozen section is an effective procedure in reducing the need of second operation. We have observed lower recurrence rates than other studies because of our 2 cm macroscopic margin width and > 2 mm microscopic negative margin which obtained by intraoperative frozen section.


It has been 8 years since an astonishing observation persuaded many scientists that the misfolded protein implicated in Parkinson's disease spreads from brain cell to brain cell, like an infection. Last week, findings presented at the huge annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience further buttressed the theory that spread of the rogue protein, called α-synuclein, is responsible for the progressive disease, which is marked by tremor, stiff movements, depression, and, ultimately, dementia. Scientists at the San Diego, California, conference also described their discovery that an obscure protein carried on the cell membranes of neurons and other brain cells blocks the uptake of the α-synuclein into cells. Little is known about TM9SF2, but it is part of a family of proteins that span the cell membrane and indications are that it may work to transport specific molecules from the outside to the inside of the cell. It is made in abundance in the brain, especially in regions where damage to dopamine-producing neurons is known to give rise to Parkinson's. If it emerges that it is indeed a "catcher's mitt" for α-synuclein, it could provide a drug target for a disease whose 10 million sufferers are sorely in need of new medicines. The same goes for another cell membrane protein, LAG-3, which is present in neurons and which was recently described in Science as binding tightly to the rogue Parkinson's protein.


Alkyl-arenes are important industry feedstock chemicals that are used as solvents, pharmaceutical precursors, and polymer monomer units. One alkyl-arene, ethylbenzene, is the main focus of this dissertation, and is produced in the million ton a year scale. As alkyl-arenes are important commodity chemicals, catalytic olefin hydroarylation is a lucrative alternative for their production rather than Friedel-Crafts alkylation or various coupling reactions that have lower atom economy, require strong acids, or are energetically demanding. Currently catalytic olefin hydroarylation still suffers from decomposition pathways of the active catalytic complexes, side reactions that lead to waste products, and unfavorable activation barriers, which represent high temperature and pressure. Modifications to the catalytically active system bipyridine platinum(II) (bpyPtII), through computational methods, are explored herein. The work presented here investigates catalytic olefin hydroarylation in order to mitigate the aforementioned difficulties. Included in this study are changes to the electronic profile of the supporting ligand, bpy, through the addition of electron withdrawing or electron donating R groups (methoxy, nitro), definite ligand replacements such as bpy to hydridotris(pyrazolyl)borate (Tp), changes in metal oxidation (II to IV), and replacing the metal center from Pt to Ni. Nickel was selected as a possible alternative to platinum as it is more Earth abundant reducing the monetary requirement for the catalyst. In addition to having a different catalytic energetic profile from platinum. Ni as expected could only facilitate single step hydrogen atom transfers due to its inability to access higher oxidations states.


This chapter describes the evolution of the history of the case concerning application of the convention on the prevention and punishment of the crime of genocide (Croatia V. Serbia) and advisory opinions that has been dealt by the International Court of Justice (ICJ). The case is systematically organised with the final question by the parties, basis of jurisdiction, proceedings, orders rendered by the Court, headnotes and operative paragraphs of the judgments, orders and advisory opinions, names of judges and ad hoc judges who have appended declaration individually with other judges. The analysis section covers patterns of analysis: duration of cases and advisory opinions of the Permanent Court of International Justice (PCIJ) and the ICJ; records of states as applicant(s) and/ or respondent(s); records of states and authorised organisations on written and oral statements; and records of declarations and opinions of judges and judge ad hoc . Keywords: Croatia; genocide; International Court of Justice (ICJ); Permanent Court of International Justice (PCIJ); Serbia


Rubral axons can grow around a lesion of their pathway in the thoracic spinal cord of developing opossums and a critical period exists for that plasticity. The critical period probably begins when rubral axons first grow into the thoracic cord, and it extends until approximately postnatal day 30. We previously noted that most rubrospinal neurons die after transection of their axon during the critical period, suggesting that plasticity results primarily from growth of axons not damaged by the lesion (Xu and Martin, J. Comp. Neurol. 279, 368-381, 1989). That observation led us to study the response of rubrospinal neurons to axotomy in more detail and at additional stages of development, using a prelabeling paradigm. We first injected fast blue (FB) into the caudal thoracic or rostral lumbar spinal cord in animals ranging from estimated postnatal day 9 to 50 and, about 4 days later, lesioned the rubrospinal tract several segments rostral to the injection. Approximately 30 days later, the animals were killed so that the red nucleus could be searched for labeled neurons. During the critical period for plasticity, rubrospinal neurons showed signs of degeneration 1 week after their axon was cut. When animals were killed 2-3 weeks after lesioning, there was an obvious decrease in axotomized neurons within the red nucleus, and by 4 weeks, more than 75% of them had degenerated. The marked susceptibility of rubrospinal neurons to axotomy during the critical period for plasticity is consistent with the hypothesis that developmental plasticity of the rubrospinal tract results primarily from growth of axons that were not damaged by the lesion. Our results also suggest that survival of axotomized rubrospinal neurons increases with age.


We propose a parsimonious general equilibrium extension of the Black-Scholes economy that helps clarify how options' prices, expected returns, risk exposure, and optimal exercise policies respond to variations in the risk exposure of the underlying asset. The model allows one to separate the effects from changes in idiosyncratic versus systematic risk. Among the new insights we establish are that i) call prices typically respond negatively to increases in systematic risk, ii) the magnitude of call and put options' expected returns are monotonically decreasing in idiosyncratic risk, and iii) the optimal exercise date of an American put can be pushed backwards in time in response to an increase in systematic risk---decreasing the value of waiting. The effects of a change in risk on options are generally ambiguous because it affects their prices through two key channels---the volatility channel and the price channel---and a change in systematic risk causes a repricing of the underlying asset that may dominate the volatility channel. The comparative statics are robust to the presence of stochastic volatility, and thus yield internally consistent implications not only for the cross-section of options but also for the time-series of a particular option.


Ozonetherapy is on the agenda and figures attest to its growing importance. The ozonetherapy is increasingly practiced in different parts of the world. The existence of more than 30 associations of ozonetherapy and more than 26 000 ozonetherapists confirm it. However, while ozone was discovered in 1785 by Dutch physicist Martinus Van Marum (1750-1837) and had been synthesized in May 1840 by the German chemist Friedrich Schonbein Christian (1799-1868), history has shown that it has been difficult to have a significant presence in the world's medical agendas. Only Russia, Cuba, Spain and Italy have provisions from the authorities that specify the criteria to be met so that they can practice. These provisions are analyzed in this study, to rule in favor of working for the regularization of ozonetherapy, with reference to the measures taken by these countries. Specific points are proposed and a methodology that should be taken into account when developing a strategy that can lead to the regularization of ozonetherapy in countries where it is still widely practiced ozone legislation ozonetherapy regulation


This paper studied some kinds of realization modes of speed chain compute, load distribution and operation aimed at the realization of paper machine driving system. The frequency conversion control system based on PLC cooperating with digital manipulator was brought forward. It was mainly made up of three parts: PLC, frequency converter and digital manipulator. It used PLC to realize digital speed chain and load distribution. And it exchanged data and parameters by communication through field bus network. The results indicate that the problems of speed chain compute, load distribution and operation were solved effectively by data gathering and computing with PLC, so it is a driving system of high performance.


The newly discovered Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) has been globally spreading and causing hundreds of thousands of deaths around the world as of its first emergence in late 2019. The rapid outbreak of this disease has overwhelmed health care infrastructures and arises the need to allocate medical equipment and resources more efficiently. The early diagnosis of this disease will lead to the rapid separation of COVID-19 and non-COVID cases, which will be helpful for health care authorities to optimize resource allocation plans and early prevention of the disease. In this regard, a growing number of studies are investigating the capability of deep learning for early diagnosis of COVID-19. Computed tomography (CT) scans have shown distinctive features and higher sensitivity compared to other diagnostic tests, in particular the current gold standard, i.e., the Reverse Transcription Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR) test. Current deep learning-based algorithms are mainly developed based on Convolutional Neural Networks (CNNs) to identify COVID-19 pneumonia cases. CNNs, however, require extensive data augmentation and large datasets to identify detailed spatial relations between image instances. Furthermore, existing algorithms utilizing CT scans, either extend slice-level predictions to patient-level ones using a simple thresholding mechanism or rely on a sophisticated infection segmentation to identify the disease. In this paper, we propose a two-stage fully automated CT-based framework for identification of COVID-19 positive cases referred to as the "COVID-FACT". COVID-FACT utilizes Capsule Networks, as its main building blocks and is, therefore, capable of capturing spatial information. In particular, to make the proposed COVID-FACT independent from sophisticated segmentations of the area of infection, slices demonstrating infection are detected at the first stage and the second stage is responsible for classifying patients into COVID and non-COVID cases. COVID-FACT detects slices with infection, and identifies positive COVID-19 cases using an in-house CT scan dataset, containing COVID-19, community acquired pneumonia, and normal cases. Based on our experiments, COVID-FACT achieves an accuracy of 90.82 % , a sensitivity of 94.55 % , a specificity of 86.04 % , and an Area Under the Curve (AUC) of 0.98, while depending on far less supervision and annotation, in comparison to its counterparts.


This report describes research on an In-Vehicle Safety Advisory and Warning System (IVSAWS). A system of this type could receive radio signals from beacons on hazards and display in-vehicle warning messages to drivers. Possible hazards include accidents, new traffic signals, police cars, and school buses. Appropriate hazards were identified from the literature. Based on drawings from 10 UMTRI employees, candidate hazard warnings were developed for 30 hazards. Next, 75 drivers at a driver licensing office ranked these warning symbols from best to worst, leading to recommended symbols in many cases. Text messages were slightly preferred over graphical messages. Symbols based on signs in the standard set (MUTCD) were not always preferred. Finally, in an understandability experiment, 20 drivers were shown warnings and location cues while either driving a test route or parked. Ten hazard location symbol designs were tested: 2 text, 4 arrow, 3 overview, and 1 inside-out. Each driver identified 10 hazard symbols shown individually, a single hazard symbol combined with a location cue, and 40 combinations of warning and location cues. Of the location cues, text ("on right", "behind", "ahead to left", etc.) was best understood.


Background: The efficacy of infliximab for endoscopic recurrence after resection of Crohn's disease (CD) has not yet been reported. The aim of this prospective study was to investigate the impact of infliximab on early endoscopic lesions after resection for CD. Methods: Twenty‐six patients maintaining clinical remission (CD activity index [CDAI] score <150) with mesalamine (3 g/day) after resection showed endoscopic recurrence in the neoterminal ileum at 6 months postoperatively (=baseline). Over the following 6 months, 10 patients were treated with continuous mesalamine (3 g/day), 8 patients were treated with azathioprine therapy (50 mg/day), and the other 8 patients were treated with infliximab therapy (5 mg/kg, every 8 weeks). During ileocolonoscopy at baseline and 6 months later, mucosal biopsies were taken for cytokine assays. Results: During 6‐month observation, no patients in the infliximab group, 3 (38%) in the azathioprine group, and 7 (70%) in the mesalamine group developed clinical recurrence (CDAI ≥150) (P = 0.01). At 6 months, endoscopic inflammation was improved in 75% of patients in the infliximab group, 38% in the azathioprine group, and 0% in the mesalamine group (P = 0.006). The mucosal interleukin (IL)‐1&bgr;, IL‐6, and tumor necrosis factor‐&agr; levels significantly decreased in the infliximab group, while they significantly increased in the mesalamine group, and they did not change significantly in the azathioprine group. Conclusions: Infliximab therapy showed clear suppressive effects on clinical and endoscopic disease activity, and mucosal cytokine production in patients with early endoscopic lesions after resection. To confirm our conclusions, randomized controlled trials with a larger number of patients are necessary.


The replicative properties of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) isolates from asymptomatic carriers (asymptomatic isolates) and AIDS patients (AIDS isolates) were examined in the human T lymphocyte cell line H9. In agreement with earlier reports the replication of asymptomatic isolates was restricted whereas AIDS isolates replicate well in H9 cells. PCR analysis of H9 cells infected with asymptomatic isolates showed transient gag DNA synthesis for up to 48 h post-infection. This transient DNA synthesis was much lower than the amount of DNA synthesized by the AIDS isolates. The reduction in DNA synthesis reflects a restriction during virus entry. We further analysed transient DNA synthesis by the asymptomatic isolates to investigate possible post-entry restriction mechanisms. The transiently synthesized DNA was present only in the unintegrated form and was not transported in to the nucleus, suggesting an additional restriction mechanism for asymptomatic isolates in H9 cell lines at a step post-DNA synthesis and prior to or during nuclear translocation of newly synthesized viral DNA.


To achieve a robust system the variation seen for different speaking styles must be handled. An investigation of standard automatic speech recognition techniques for different speaking styles showed that lexical modelling using general-purpose variants gave small improvements, but the errors differed compared with using only one canonical pronunciation per word. Modelling the variation using the acoustic models (using context dependency and/or speaker dependent adaptation) gave a significant improvement, but the resulting performance for non-native and spontaneous speech was still far from read speech.In this dissertation a complete data-driven approach to rule-based lexicon adaptation is presented, where the effect of the acoustic models is incorporated in the rule pruning metric. Reference and alternative transcriptions were aligned by dynamic programming, but with a data-driven method to derive the phone-to-phone substitution costs. The costs were based on the statistical co-occurrence of phones, association strength. Rules for pronunciation variation were derived from this alignment. The rules were pruned using a new metric based on acoustic log likelihood. Well trained acoustic models are capable of modelling much of the variation seen, and using the acoustic log likelihood to assess the pronunciation rules prevents the lexical modelling from adding variation already accounted for as shown for direct pronunciation variation modelling.For the non-native task data-driven pronunciation modelling by learning pronunciation rules gave a significant performance gain. Acoustic log likelihood rule pruning performed better than rule probability pruning.For spontaneous dictation the pronunciation variation experiments did not improve the performance. The answer to how to better model the variation for spontaneous speech seems to lie neither in the acoustical nor the lexical modelling. The main differences between read and spontaneous speech are the grammar used and disfluencies like restarts and long pauses. The language model may thus be the best starting point for more research to achieve better performance for this speaking style.


This paper aimed at enlightening the emergence of multi-stakeholder initiatives in Vietnam that enable individuals, businesses, and civic societies to undertake the complex sustainability issues in the international business environment. Currently, the philosophy of involving multi-stakeholder initiatives groups in Vietnam for resource management seems overwhelming. Equally, the motive for studying a phenomenon like multi-stakeholder dialogue is a novel outlook that did not catch various researchers' eye earlier. Nowadays, the European multi-stakeholder innovation platform tries to address the European societal challenges and policies due to their roles in the upcoming new program of Horizon 2020. National policy makers using them as building blocks for implementing different strategies such as research and development and regional policies. The approach of multi-stakeholder initiatives in Vietnam is to respond to the limited capacity and resources of individuals, societal sectors, governments, businesses, and civic societies. Thus, this study was conducted to demonstrate the significance of multi-stakeholder initiatives in Vietnam that create a broad multi-stakeholder (science, policy, business, society, including SMEs, public and private investors) and multi-level (local, regional, national, and Europe) innovation platforms to meet a range of societal challenges through Horizon 2020 in order to facilitate the development of committed innovation partnerships and identify how different types of firms, people, and knowledge at national and international levels making civil society organizations, nongovernmental organizations, and individuals and institutions more innovative and competitive. Finally, this paper proposed some recommendations based on assumptions underlying research questions that added value to promote dialogue and collaboration across levels and with key international partners.


sesgo Summary Two strategies to understand and document causality are: 1) clinical reasoning (CR) and 2) clinical trial (CT). CR identifies: basal state, maneuver and outcome. These components show us the complex of causality, its identification and control allows us to avoid systematic errors, such as: at baseline-improper assembly and susceptibility bias, during the application of the maneuver-performance bias, and at measurement of outcomedetection and transfer bias. In the CT tactics attempt to separate the effect of the main maneuver from the effect of other components that participate in causality previously described in CR. CT takes advantage of its characteristics: the opportunity to manipulate the maneuver and the temporality into the causal relationship. Some features to highlight are: the allocation of the maneuver, blinding of the maneuver, the feasibility of early interruption of the maneuver, the analysis according to maneuver adherence, the groups to compare, the timing of comparative maneuver, and the informed consent. Each occasion the clinician applies all this knowledge and skills, in a conscious way and structured, he improves his efficiency and align medical practice with clinical research.


It is commonly believed that expressions visually signal rich diagnostic information to human observers. We studied how observers interpret the dynamic expressions that people spontaneously produced during a real-life high-stakes televised game. We find that human observers are remarkably poor at recovering what events elicited others' facial and bodily expressions. Beyond simple inaccuracy, people's causal reasoning exhibits systematic model-based patterns of errors. We show that latent emotion representations can explain people's reasoning about the unseen causes of expressions. A hierarchical Bayesian model simulates which events people infer to be the cause of others' expressions by comparing the emotions inferred from the expressions against the emotions people were predicted to experience in various situations. This causal model provides a close, parameter-free fit to human causal judgments, suggesting that humans interpret expressions in the context of emotion predictions generated by a causally-structured mental model of other minds.


9.1 Introduction The principles of diffraction, interferometry, and image formation are based on the wave nature of light. The first experiments to offer a glimpse into the wave nature of light were done in the early 17th century by Francesco Grimaldi (1613-1663). He recorded his observation that when he illuminated a human hair, its
shadow showed a periodicity. Today, we explain this phenomenon as a property of the wave nature of light and call it the diffraction of light waves around an object, in this case, a human hair. Thomas Young (1803) was the first scientist to perform an experiment that demonstrated the wave nature of light. Both diffraction and interferometry are based on the wave nature of light discovered by Young. [This is the same Thomas Young who developed the theory of
elasticity (Young's modulus) and first deciphered the ancient Rosetta stone]. Diffraction theory provides the mathematical framework for describing the wavelike propagation of light. For our purposes here, we choose to apply scalar diffraction theory to two practical problems in astronomical telescopes and instruments: image formation and spectrometer design. Analysis of diffraction using scalar wave theory is adequate to describe the general properties of imageforming
systems and grating spectrometers. Scalar theory is used for image
quality assessment, design and performance evaluation of holograms,
holographic optical elements, diffraction-grating spectrometers, diffractive-optics imaging systems, and propagation of wavefronts through atmospheric turbulence. Vector theory, discussed in Chapter 8, provides an additional level of understanding of image formation, grating spectrometer and optical thin film design, and the interaction of light and matter. Solar astronomy requires an understanding of the vector theory of light to explain magnetic fields on the sun and narrowband imaging spectrometer instruments such as the Lyot filter.


Artificial neural networks are often proposed as an alternative approach for formalizing various quantitative and qualitative aspects of complex systems. This paper examines the robustness of using neural networks as a simulation metamodel to estimate manufacturing system performances. Simulation models of a job shop system are developed for various configurations to train neural network metamodels. Extensive computational tests are carried out with the proposed models at various factor levels (study horizon, system load, initial system status, stochasticity, system size and error assessment methods) to see the metamodel accuracy. The results indicate that simulation metamodels with neural networks can be effectively used to estimate the system performances.


The present work investigated the mass transfer process during osmotic dehydration of carambola fruit slice using binary solution of salt and sugar. The dehydration performance was improved by optimizing the time and temperature of dehydration, salt concentration and fruit to syrup ratio. Response Surface Methodology (RSM) was used to infer about the effects of these parameters on the rate of mass transfer such as water loss, solute gain, weight reduction and water activity of dehydrated carambola slice. A four factorial central composite rotatable design (CCD)adopting multiple regression technique was used to develop polynomial models of response variables and the adequacy of fit was ascertained by observing the correlation coefficients (R2 values). All the independent variables significantly affected the response parameters within the selected range. Adopting desirability function, the optimized values of process variables were, salt concentration 15g/100ml, temperature 45.08oC, time 240 min and fruit to syrup ratio 1:10. The validation of the optimised parameters confirms invariability between the predicted and experimental results.


This portfolio and commentary documents an approach to audiovisual composition that utilises sound and photographic images in an effort to create immersive, affective art which I call audio-photographic art. When presented in an immersive context, I contend that the temporal dissonance between still image and sound opens up a space between the materials. I draw upon Gernot Bohme's writings on the aesthetic of 'atmosphere', as well as the the theoretical writings of Roland Barthes, Paul Ricoeur and Eleni Ikoniadou among others to illustrate how this experience is constituted. This space between is an affective conceptual space in which the participant enters into a relationship with the materials of the piece, transcending their usual perception of time as they are immersed in the internal times of the artwork, their own memories and atmosphere. Through the use of maximal aesthetics and atmosphere as compositional tool, these themes are explored and developed throughout the creative portfolio. In the written submission I study the practical and theoretical concerns of the space between from three perspectives: 'The Temporal Space', 'The Memorial Space' and 'The Atmospheric Space'.


Cox regression is a well-known approach for modeling censored survival data. However, the model has an assumption of proportional hazards which requires an attention. In this study, we examine weighted estimation in Cox regression model under nonproportional hazards. Our aim is to propose various weighting functions that are more appropriate than existing ones. The proposed and existing weighting functions are applied to a data set in breast cancer in order to analyze their effects on the analysis results. In order to analyze the performance and effect of proposed and existing weighting functions, a wide simulation study, covering different censoring rates and tied observations, is carried out.


By the renal threshold for dextrose is generally understood that concentration of sugar in the blood above which sugar appears in the urine. In man this phenomenon has long been of interest, especially in relation to diabetes. It has been frequently studied, but current opinion1is not in agreement as to the concept comprised in the term threshold for dextrose. The view of a fixed, unalterable concentration of dextrose in the plasma above which dextrose uniformly appears in the urine seems to be untenable. It is certain that by the ordinary methods of measurement there are many factors which cause the concentration to vary and that it not only is different in various persons but is not characteristic for a single subject. It is the purpose of the investigation reported here to examine some of the factors which it seemed might be largely responsible for a possibly apparent inconstancy


Abstract. It is well known that output from climate models cannot be used to force hydrological simulations without some form of preprocessing to remove the existing biases. In principle, statistical bias correction methodologies act on model output so the statistical properties of the corrected data match those of the observations. However, the improvements to the statistical properties of the data are limited to the specific timescale of the fluctuations that are considered. For example, a statistical bias correction methodology for mean daily temperature values might be detrimental to monthly statistics. Also, in applying bias corrections derived from present day to scenario simulations, an assumption is made on the stationarity of the bias over the largest timescales. First, we point out several conditions that have to be fulfilled by model data to make the application of a statistical bias correction meaningful. We then examine the effects of mixing fluctuations on different timescales and suggest an alternative statistical methodology, referred to here as a cascade bias correction method, that eliminates, or greatly reduces, the negative effects.


Background:Early goal-directed therapy (EGDT) has become an important therapeutic management in early salvage stage of septic shock. However, splenic organs possibly remained hypoperfused and hypoxic despite fluid resuscitation. This study aimed to evaluate the effect of EGDT on hepatic perfusion in septic shock patients. Methods:A prospective observational study was carried out in early septic shock patients who were admitted to Intensive Care Unit within 24 h after onset and who met all four elements of the EGDT criteria after treatment with the standard EGDT procedure within 6 h between December 1, 2012 and November 30, 2013. The hemodynamic data were recorded, and oxygen metabolism and hepatic functions were monitored. An indocyanine green clearance test was applied to detect the hepatic perfusion. The patients' characteristics were compared before treatment (T0), immediately after EGDT (T1), and 24 h after EGDT (T2). This study is registered at ClinicalTrials.org, NCT02060773. Results:Twenty-one patients were included in the study; however, the hepatic perfusion data were not included in the analysis for two patients; therefore, 19 patients were eligible for the study. Hemodynamics data, as monitored by pulse-indicator continuous cardiac output, were obtained from 16 patients. There were no significant differences in indocyanine green plasma disappearance rate (ICG-PDR) and 15-min retention rate (R15) at T0 (11.9 ± 5.0%/min and 20.0 ± 13.2%), T1 (11.4 ± 5.1%/min and 23.6 ± 14.9%), and T2 (11.0 ± 4.5%/min and 23.7 ± 15.3%) (all P > 0.05). Both of the alterations of ICG-PDR and R15 showed no differences at T0, T1, and T2 in the patients of different subgroups that achieved different resuscitation goal numbers when elected (P > 0.05). Conclusion:There were no hepatic perfusion improvements after EGDT in the early phase of patients with septic shock. Trial Registration:Clinicaltrials.gov NCT02060773 (https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT02060773).


Old growth forests, i.e. forests which have achieved a remarkable age without or with a very lim-ited disturbance, are nowadays subject of detailed studies in order to understand their characters and capacity of ecosystems services providing. In Sicily only few wooded areas are classified as old growth forest, following the heavy land use change toward agriculture during the centuries. This paper reports the results of a study carried out to characterize the vegetation of a little crater on the Mount Etna, where a residual open wood of Quercus congesta (an endemic oak of Southern Italy) survived the year 1651 lava flows surrounding the crater. About 35 years ago inside the crater some areas were planted with Calabrian Black Pine. As a consequence today there is a remarkable com-petition between trees of the two species. An integrated approach monitoring was adopted, tak-ing into account both trees and understory (herbs, shrubs and tree regeneration) characters as well as bird fauna, in order to describe the current situation and monitor the effect of pine plantation thinning aimed at favouring oak regeneration and reducing pine-oak competition.


The nucleotide composition of 4s RNA from livers of rats fed with a diet containing 0.3% D-ethionine was found to be identical with that from untreated animals. In contrast, one single modified nucleotide was absent in 4s RNA from livers of rats fed with a 0.3% L-ethionine diet. The minor nucleo=tide was also absent in liver 4s RNA from rats fed with a 0.3% L-ethionine diet followed by ten days of normal food. It was identified after dephosphorylation by ultraviolet absorption spectra, cochromatography with authentic material and mass spectra as N(6)-dimethyladenosine. It is concluded that S-adenosylethionine, the primary product of L-ethionine in the liver, causes strong and selective inhibition of the specific RNA-methylase responsible for adenosine to N(6)-dimethyl=adenosine methylation in rat liver 4s RNA. Compared to the strong inhibition of N(6)-dimethyladenosine formation described here, L-ethionine-dependent ethylation of liver 4s RNA is far less efficient. The quantitation of l-methyladenosine, ribothymidine and 3'-terminal adenosine in this 4s RNA as well as its aminoacid acceptor activity is typical for tRNA; hence it may be concluded that N(6)-dimethyladenosine is a component of rat liver tRNA. This may demonstrate the first evidence for the existence of specifically methyl-deficient mammalian tRNA. A possible correlation between the activity of L-ethionine as a liver carcinogen and its ability to induce the formation of methyl-deficient tRNA by selectively inhibiting the synthesis of N(6)-dimethyladenosine on the tRNA level in the same organ is discussed.


Agriculture in India has directly or indirectly continued to be the source of livelihood to majority of the population. Indian agriculture has seen a lot of changes in its structure. India, predominantly an agricultural economy, has healthy signs of transformation in agriculture and allied activities. India has seen agriculture as a precious tool of economic development as other sectors of production depend on it. Efficient backward and forward integration with agriculture has led to globally competitive production system in terms of cost and quality. Cooperatives seem to be well positioned to coordinate product differentiation at the farm level and to integrate forward into value added processing activities. Indian agriculture can be balanced and made efficient through proper and better management practices. The present study brings out past and present scenario of agricultural marketing prevailing in India, its challenges and future recommendations. Moreover the opportunities provide by agricultural marketing should be tapped effectively by the marketers.


To facilitate regular assessment of the microcirculation in-vivo, non-invasive imaging techniques such as nailfold capillaroscopy are required in clinics. Recently a correlation mapping technique has been applied to Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT) which extends the capabilities of OCT to microcirculation morphology imaging. This technique, known as cmOCT has been shown to extract parameters such as capillary density and vessel diameter, key clinical markers associated with early changes in microvascular diseases. However, OCT has limited spatial resolution in both the transverse and depth directions. Here, we extend this correlation mapping technique to other microscopy modalities, including confocal microscopy and take advantage of the higher spatial resolution offered by these modalities. The technique is achieved as a processing step on microscopy images and does not require any modification to the microscope hardware. Results are presented which show that this correlation mapping microscopy technique can extend the capabilities of conventional microscopy to enable mapping of vascular networks in-vivo with high spatial resolution in both the transverse and depth directions.


In this paper we estimate, for the 1989-93 period in Belgium, the effect of vocational classroom training on the rate of transition from unemployment. We propose a "control function" estimator accounting for variable treatment effects. In the absence of interaction effects between explanatory variables this estimator identifies treatment effects free from selection bias. A natural experiment induces exogenous sub-regional variation in the training supply. This provides over-identifying restrictions that cannot be rejected. During participation, the transition rate decreases by 23% to 30%. Afterwards it increases by 47% to 73%. Making training available for a broader population would, however, reduce the


Multifunctional graphene oxide/reduced graphene oxide (GO/RGO) composites were prepared through electrostatic interaction using biocompatible ingredients. Different functionalities were added to GO/RGO by anchoring materials such as native lactoferrin (NLf), NLf protected Au clusters (designated as Au@NLf), chitosan (Ch) and combinations thereof. Anchoring of Ch and NLf enhances the antibacterial property of RGO/GO. The addition of Ch to RGO/GO not only helped in forming stable dispersions but also helped in fabricating large (cm(2)) area films through a simple solvent evaporation technique. Functionalities such as photoluminescence were added to Ch-RGO/GO composites by anchoring Au@NLf on it. The composites thus formed showed stable luminescence in presence of various metal ions in the solid state. The composite showed reasonable stability against pH and temperature variations as well. The as-prepared films were transparent and the transparency could be modulated by controlling the concentration of RGO/GO in the composite. The antibacterial property and ability to form stable thin films may provide an opportunity to use such composites for medical and environmental remediation applications as well. Erasable patterns were fabricated on the film by stamping required patterns under compressive pressure. Luminescent patterns can be inscribed on the film and can be erased by simply wetting it. Such films with erasable information may be useful for security applications.


The present work presents a general theoretical framework for the study of operators which merge  partial  probabilistic knowledge from different sources which are individually consistent, but may be collectively inconsistent. We consider a number of principles for such an operator to satisfy including a set of principles derived from those of Konieczny and Pino Perez [14] which were formulated for the different context of propositional merging. Finally we investigate two specific such merging operators derived from the Kullback-Leibler notion of informational distance: the social entropy operator, and its dual, the linear entropy operator. The first of these is strongly related to both the multi-agent normalised geometric mean pooling operator and the single agent maximum entropy inference process,  ME . By contrast the linear entropy operator is similarly related to both the arithmetic mean pooling operator and the limit centre of mass inference process,  CM ∞ .


In everyday behavior there are multiple competing demands for gaze; for instance, walking along a sidewalk requires paying attention to the path while avoiding other pedestrians. Therefore, humans make numerous fixations to satisfy their behavioral goals. One attempt to explore suitable strategies of gaze allocation for natural situations was made by Sprague, Ballard and Robinson (2007), whose computational model predicts human visuo-motor behavior based on intrinsic reward and uncertainty. Their model presupposes that specific visual information is acquired from the currently fixated object only. However, evidence that peripheral objects affect gaze position by drawing it towards the center of gravity of target ensembles (Findlay, 1982; Vishwanath & Kowler, 2003) challenges this premise. Since the influence of peripheral information for natural vision remains largely unexplored, we investigated whether gaze targeting is biased towards peripheral objects in naturalistic tasks. Using a Virtual Reality environment, the fixations of 12 participants were examined while they walked through a virtual room with objects of two different colors that were designated targets or obstacles. The subjects were instructed to either collect targets, to avoid obstacles or to do both tasks simultaneously. For situations in which one of two visible objects was fixated, subjects' gaze positions were biased more often towards the non-fixated object (72.6%) than away from it (27.4%). Moreover, the gaze position tended to be drawn more frequently towards the neighboring object when this neighbor was relevant to the current task than when it was task-irrelevant. These results indicate that information from peripheral objects affect human gaze targeting in natural vision. Furthermore, the effect of the neighbor's task-relevance - and therefore of intrinsic reward - suggests that in a given fixation subjects might gather information from the peripheral visual field to accomplish a current set of goals at once. Meeting abstract presented at VSS 2015.


I really appreciated the Editor's kind invitation to write a comment about the papers of Ielpo and colleagues. Laparoscopic surgery is nowadays widespread all over the world and we have witnessed a frenetic race for the introduction of new instruments and devices that are able to help surgeons to perform laparoscopic operations. Consequently, this race has increased the costs of a single operation in a geometrical progression pushed by industries.


The quantification of total tooth structure derived from X-rays of Vietnamese, Southern Chinese, Mongolians, Western Eskimos, and Peruvian pre-Inca (Huari Empire) populations was used to examine dental divergence and the morphogenetics of change. Multivariate derived distances between the samples helped identify a quasicontinuous web of ethnic groups with two binary clusters ensconced within the web. One cluster was composed of Mongolians, Western Eskimos, and pre-Inca, and the other group consisted of the Southern Chinese and Vietnamese. Mongolians entered the quasicontinuum from a divergent angle (externally influenced) from that of the Southeast Asians. The Chinese and pre-Inca formed the polar samples of the distance superstructure. The pre-Inca sample was the most isolated, its closest neighbor being the Western Eskimos. Univariate and multivariate analyses suggested that the pre-Inca, whose ancestors arrived in America perhaps approximately 30,000 years ago, was the least derived sample. Clearly, microevolutionary change occurred among the samples, but the dental phenotype was resistant to environmental developmental perturbations. An assessment of dental divergence and developmental biology suggested that the overall dental phenotype is a complex multigenic morphological character, and that the observed variation evolved through total genomic drift. The quantified dental phenotype is greater than its highly multigenic algorithm and its development homeostasis is tightly controlled, or canalized, by the deterministic organization of a complex nonlinear epigenetic milieu. The overall dental phenotype quantified here was selectively neutral and a good character to help reconstruct the sequence of human evolution, but if the outlying homeostatic threshold was or will be exceeded in antecedents and descendants, respectively, evolutionary saltation occurs.


The aim of this work is to study the influence of the sulphur source (elemental sulphur, thiourea and L-cysteine) in the solvothermal synthesis of Ag-CdS over its growth, structuration and state of Ag and how these changes influence on its photoactivity. The differences in the generation rate of the S2− from the sulphur sources during the solvothermal synthesis determine the nucleation and growth pathways of CdS affecting to the silver state and its incorporation into the CdS lattice. The hydrogen production on Ag-CdS photocatalysts decreases according the sequence: thiourea > elemental sulphur >> L-cysteine. The changes in the photoactivity of Ag-CdS samples are analysed in terms of the differences in the insertion of Ag+ into the CdS lattice, the formation of composites between CdS and Ag2S and the formation of CdS crystalline domains with strong confinement effect derived from the different sulphur source used in the solvothermal synthesis.


The concept of time is culturally dependent. During different periods in the history of Western culture, differing conceptions of times competed for primacy, sometimes contradicting one another, sometimes complementing each other. Modern Westerners, Iwill claim, live on two timelines – a linear, historical and cultural timeline directed to the "end of days" and a personal, authentic timeline.The Bible is a central cultural source for the linear conception of time: in the entrenched Judeo-Christian Western conception, time has a beginning, "In the beginning," and an end, "in the end of days". Time is directed in its entirety to this final event, to the establishment of God's kingdom. In our modern consumer society, which is wholly concerned with personal time, collective time has lost its purpose and its reason for being preserved. The relationship to time started to gradually change from the general conceptions of linear, collective time which is external to us to a more subjective, personal conception of time. In consumerist capitalism, time becomes personal. I demonstrate the representations of these two concepts of time in the paintings of Chaya Agur.


Titulo: Potential flight range of Snow Buntings Plectrophenax nivalis occurring in the Azores in late March : a first analysis.
Autor: Bolton, Mark
Medeiros, Renata
Fraga, Helder
Palavras-chave: Escrevedeira das Neves
Snow Buntings
Plectrophenax nivalis
Acores
Azores
Issue Date: 2001
Editora: Universidade dos Acores
Citacao: "ARQUIPELAGO. Ciencias Biologicas e Marinhas". ISSN 0873-4704. No 18A (2001): 93-95
Relatorio da Serie N.o: Ciencias Biologicas e Marinhas = Life and Marine Sciences;
Resumo: It has been known for many decades that Snow Buntings occur with some regularity in the Azores archipelago in winter, with flocks numbering up to 20 individuals on occasion. The majority of records are from the islands of Corvo and Faial. The origin and fate of these individuals is unknown and it is unclear whether the regular occurrence of such groups represents a wintering strategy, or rather, whether these birds have been blown off the course of their usual migration route. Seven individuals from a flock of ten Snow Buntings known to have been present on the island of Faial between 20th March and early May 2000 were trapped on March 30th 2000. Plumage characteristics indicated they were of the Greenland P.n. nivalis race. Measurements of body mass indicated that the fat reserves of these individuals were similar to those of Snow Buntings wintering in Scotland U.K. at the same time of year, just prior to departure to the breeding grounds. However the calculated potential flight range of the individuals from Faial varied from 500 km to 1.800 km, averaging 1.150 km for females and 1.640 km for males. Whilst these average ranges would be sufficient to make continental landfall if the birds followed an easterly route, such a heading is considered improbable, given their racial characteristics. The calculated energy reserves would be insufficient to sustain continuous flight on a northerly course to continental landfall. The presence of potentially suitable breeding habitat on the neighbouring island of Pico is highlighted.


The theory of generalized coherent states associated with the SU(2) and SU(1,1) Lie algebras is discussed and applied in an investigation of possible reductions of fluctuations. In the framework of a system of N two-level atoms the squeezing of angular-momentum [SU(2)] fluctuations is exhibited for optical coherent transients involving the photon echo. The SU(1,1) fluctuations are discussed and established for general two-photon processes involving dynamical variables different from the creation and annihilation operators.


The aim of this study is to provide a simple, yet effective and generally applicable technique for determining damping for parametric pendula. The proposed model is more representative of system dynamics because the numerical results describe the qualitative features of experimentally exhibited transient tumbling chaotic motions well. The assumption made is that the system is accurately modelled by a combination of viscous and Coulomb dampings; a parameter identification procedure is developed from this basis. The results of numerical and experimental time histories of free oscillations are compared with the model produced from the parameters identified by the classic logarithmic decrement technique. The merits of the present method are discussed before the model is verified against experimental results. Finally, emphasis is placed on a close corroboration between the experimental and theoretical transient tumbling chaotic trajectories.


This paper aims to develop an effective and widely applicable creative design method. First, the relationships of integration between systematic inventive thinking (SIT) and theory of constraints (TOC) were analyzed. According to the analysis, a new model of SIT based on TOC was constructed. Next, the detailed creative design steps of this method were explained and a strategy to upgrade an old system or develop new systems based on an existing one was proposed in terms of this creative method. Then, an example was demonstrated to validate the method. This proposed creative design method is different from conventional approaches, which uses the elements in the design environment, and introduction of new element is avoided.


AIM
To optimize diagnosis and treatment guidelines for this geographic region, a panel of gastroenterologists, epidemiologists, and basic scientists carried out a structured evaluation of available literature.

METHODS
Relevant questions were distributed among the experts, who generated draft statements for consideration by the entire panel. A modified three-round Delphi technique method was used to reach consensus. Critical input was also obtained from representatives of the concerned medical community. The quality of the evidence and level of recommendation supporting each statement was graded according to United States Preventive Services Task Force criteria.

RESULTS
A group of ten experts was established. The survey included 15 open-ended questions that were distributed among the experts, who assessed the articles associated with each question. The levels of agreement achieved by the panel were 50% in the first round, 73.3% in the second round and 100% in the third round. Main consensus recommendations included: (1) when available, urea breath and stool antigen test (HpSA) should be used for non-invasive diagnosis; (2) detect and eradicate Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) in all gastroscopy patients to decrease risk of peptic ulcer disease, prevent o retard progression in patients with preneoplastic lesions, and to prevent recurrence in patients treated for gastric cancer; (3) further investigate implementation issues and health outcomes of H. pylori eradication for primary prevention of gastric cancer in high-risk populations; (4) prescribe standard 14-d triple therapy or sequential therapy for first-line treatment; (5) routinely assess eradication success post-treatment in clinical settings; and (6) select second- and third-line therapies according to antibiotic susceptibility testing.

CONCLUSION
These achievable steps toward better region-specific management can be expected to improve clinical health outcomes.


In an attempt to combine the anti-HIV-inhibitory capacity of nucleoside reverse transcriptase (RT) inhibitors (NRTI) and non-nucleoside RT inhibitors (NNRTI), several heterodimer analogues of the previously reported [AZT]-(CH2)3-[TSAO-T] prototype have been prepared. In these novel series, other NRTIs, an expanded range of linkers with different conformational freedom and other attachment sites for these linkers on the base part of the NRTI analogue have been explored. Moreover, in order to circumvent the dependence of the NRTI moiety of the heterodimer on activation by cellular nucleoside kinases, novel heterodimers in which the NRTI is bearing a masked monophosphate group at the 5'-position are described. Among the novel heterodimers, several derivatives show a potent anti-HIV-1 activity, which proved comparable, or even superior, to that of the AZT heterodimer prototype. The nature of the NRTI was important for the eventual anti-HIV-1 activity. In particular, the d4T heterodimer derivative containing a...


A dammarane glycoside, designated compound Mx (C-Mx), was isolated from the hydrolysate of 20(S)-protopanaxadiol type ginsenosides containing G-Rb(3) from Panax notoginseng leaves with crude snailase. Its chemical structure was elucidated to be 20-O-beta-D-xylopyranosyl(1-->6)-beta-D-glucopyranosyl-20(S)-protopanaxadiol on the basis of spectral analysis. Its cytotoxicity against breast cancer cell line MCF-7 and effects on the sensitivity to doxocubicin of doxocubicin-resistant MCF-7 cells were also investigated. The new compound showed moderate cytotoxicity and partial reversal of doxocubicin resistance.


Abstract The rare earth elements (REEs) in the sediments of the Pichavaram mangrove of the Coleroon-Vellar estuarine complex in India were measured by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. The light rare earth elements (LREEs) were more enriched than the heavy rare earth elements (HREEs) and the Eu anomaly was relatively weak. No obvious differences were found among the different zones of the mangrove except for a few metals and very few REEs. Intense weathering of the surface crustal areas controls their distribution. The shale-normalized values indicate a similar pattern except for a few fluctuations in their distribution patterns. The variation in the enrichment of HREEs was controlled by the salinity gradient and inputs from estuarine zones. Correlation and factor analysis also explain the contribution from the continental weathering followed by other processes like salinity control, input from anthropogenic sources, etc. The enrichment factor substantiates that most of the REEs have weathering sources and are altered in the complex biogeochemical processes operating here. Few metals were derived from anthropogenic activities but were generally below the contamination levels. The Ce, Gd, and Eu ratios confirm the natural and anthropogenic source. In general, the interior channels and high-salinity zones were more enriched with HREEs than LREEs (i.e., HREEs seemed to be trapped more here). The mangroves contribute around 70%–80% of the LREEs (including middle rare earth elements) and 20%–30% of HREEs to the adjacent sea.


Separation of speech sources is fundamental for robust communication. In daily conversations, signals reaching our ears generally consist of target speech sources, interference signals from competing speakers and ambient noise. Take an example, talking with someone in a cocktail party and making a phone call in a train compartment. Fig. 1 shows a typical indoor environment having multiple sound sources, such as speech from different speakers, sounds from a television set and telephone ringing, etc. These sources are often overlapped in time and frequency. While human attends to individual sources without difficulty, most speech applications are vulnerable and resulted in degraded performance. This chapter focuses on speech separation for single microphone input, in particular, the use of prior knowledge in the form of speech models. Speech separation for single microphone input refers to the estimation of individual speech sources from the mixture observation. It remains important and beneficial to various applications, namely surveillance systems, auditory prostheses, speech and speaker recognition. Over the years, extensive effort has been devoted. Speech enhancement and separation are two popular approaches. Speech enhancement (Lim, 1983; Loizou, 2007) generally reduces the interference power, by assuming that certain characteristics of individual source signals are held. There is one speech source at most. In contrast, speech separation (Cichocki & Amari, 2002; van der Kouwe et al., 2001) extracts multiple target speech sources directly.


Online Social Networking (OSN) systems such as MySpace, Facebook and Friendster have achieved tremendous popularity. Little research has been done on factors motivating users to use and adopt OSN systems. The relationships between user characteristics and use/performance are not adequately addressed. This work examines how end user Computer Self-Efficacy (CSE) affects use of OSN systems. It investigates whether stronger computer skills relate to increased usage and participation in more complex OSN tasks, using a compilation of models. The concept of "fit" is used to determine whether there are user, task and/or systems characteristics that are associated with the best performance and usage levels. It is suggested that for some levels of selfefficacy in users of OSN systems, there may be a set of system conditions that combine to produce higher performance or use. It is anticipated that this analysis will increase the body of knowledge on usability and use of online systems, and will add value to developers of OSN and online systems.
The results support all research propositions. There are direct relationships between CSE, task and system characteristics measured by performance and use. Task and system characteristics moderate effects of CSE, performance and use. Congruence of CSE, task and system characteristics have an effect on performance and use.
Examination of the literature, qualitative and quantitative data suggests a viral model for adoption of OSN systems. The model proposes a limited number of users with high levels of CSE, combined with tenets of an epidemic model, may explain the rapid adoption of OSN systems.


Many types of innovative teaching strategies and materials have been created in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) disciplines over time, but only a limited number have been widely adapted. Most classes in undergraduate engineering are still taught via lectures or the "transmission" mode of teaching, which has been shown to be the least effective method for student learning. This is due, in part, to the fact that there are major problems related to "ease of implementation" of innovative teaching and learning strategies and materials in STEM, and particularly so for engineering. To begin to address this need, a collection of innovative materials, activities, and assessments across nine topics of an introductory materials class has been created as a "Teaching Tool Kit" available on the web at http://concept.asu.edu/. To increase the potential for instructors adapting tools, the tool kit was designed to modify, but still fit within, the framework of an already-existing publisher's book and slide set. As such, the primary component in the tool kit is the nine topic-based, multi-class module note sets developed by modifying an already-existing set of chapter slides. Additionally, the innovative individual tools, which are embedded and integrated into the class modules, have also been broken out as separate "tools" so they can be used with any book or any set of instructor notes. This is a critical aspect for promoting ease-of-implementation, because this modularized approach allows faculty to utilize the tool kit resources to whatever degree they deem desirable. The tools available include topic-based sets of: team-based classroom activities; pre-post topic assessments; and student learning aids of visual glossaries and concept-context maps. The development of the innovative teaching tools was based on major principles for effective learning described in the book, How People Learn, as well as the pedagogical content knowledge developed from longterm research on student learning in materials courses. Tools for assessing prior knowledge include the Materials Concept Inventory and Pre-post Topic Concept Quizzes. Eliciting such information is critical in informing creation of innovative teaching materials. Constructivist materials and activities to support conceptual framework development included: Mini-Lecture Misconception Informed Slide Sets, Concept-in-Context Class Activities, Concept-In-Context Homework, Concept-Context Maps, Concept-Context Quizzes, and Visual Glossaries. A tool created to promote metacognition was the Daily Reflection sheet which prompted students to describe their Most Interesting, Muddiest, and Learn-About-Learning Points. The tools were created to promote thoughtful and meaningful team dialogue, as well as awareness of both value and difficulties of learning content in a student-centered classroom. Overall, this tool kit is meant for any instructor of an introductory materials course, regardless of level of teaching expertise. By making innovative course tools accessible, such as found in the tool kit, we also hope to promote the development of pedagogical content knowledge in engineering educators. We also believe that the strategies and tools described have characteristics of a general model that could be adapted to other courses and potentially achieve broader impact. The specific data on the effect of these materials on student learning, along with detailed explanations of tool development methods are described and discussed in the paper.


Diarrheal disease is a leading cause of death in children under five,There are several factors that cause diarrhea one's behavior. Based on data from 18 health centers in Indragiri Hulu in 2016, one of the health centers with the highest incidence of diarrhea was obtained 110 health centers Lala River toddler has diarrhea of a total of 419 infants with the highest cases in Sungai Lala there were 36 cases. This study aims to determine the factors associated with the incidence of diarrhea in infants in Sungai Lala Lala River Region Public Health Center Indragiri Hulu. This type of quantitative research with cross sectional approach.The study was conducted in Sungai Lala,Mechanical sampling total sampling,Samples of this study amounted to 57 respondents. Data were analyzed by univariate and bivariate.The results showed 70.2% children did not experience diarrhea, as many as 80.7% were exclusively breastfed, the majority of the use of a bottle of milk for infants was 66.7%, more mothers who have poor hand washing habits 40.4% and the majority of clean water is contaminated with 68.4% of respondents. The results of chi square test found no relation of exclusive breastfeeding (p = 0.068) and using contaminated water (p = 0.481) and the incidence of diarrhea in infants. An association use of the bottle (p = 0.019) and handwashing (p = 0.006) and the incidence of diarrhea in infants. It is expected that the mother to be able to maintain the cleanliness of hands before touching food or before feeding infants and use hygienic milk bottles to prevent diarrhea in infants.


Abstract. High latitude wetlands play an important role for the surface-atmosphere exchange of carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) and methane (CH 4 ), but fluxes of biogenic volatile organic compounds (BVOC) in these ecosystems have to date not been extensively studied. This is despite BVOC representing a measurable proportion of the total gaseous C fluxes at northern locations and in the face of the high temperature sensitivity of these systems that requires a much improved process understanding to interpret and project possible changes in response to climate warming. We measured emission of isoprene and photosynthetic gas exchange over two growing seasons (2005–2006) in a subarctic wetland in northern Sweden with the objective to identify the physiological and environmental controls of these fluxes on the leaf scale. The sedge species Eriophorum angustifolium and Carex rostrata were both emitters of isoprene. Springtime emissions were first detected after an accumulated diurnal mean temperature above 0 ° C of about 100 degree days. Maximum measured growing season standardized (basal) emission rates (20 ° C, 1000 μmol m −2 s −1 ) were 1075 (2005) and 1118 (2006) μg C m −2 (leaf area) h −1 in E. angustifolium , and 489 (2005) and 396 (2006) μg C m −2 h −1 in C. rostrata . Over the growing season, basal isoprene emission varied in response to the temperature history of the last 48 h. Seasonal basal isoprene emission rates decreased with leaf nitrogen (N), which may be explained by the typical growth and resource allocation pattern of clonal sedges as the leaves age. The observations were used to model emissions over the growing season, accounting for effects of temperature history, links to leaf assimilation rate and the light and temperature dependencies of the cold-adapted sedges.


Gas hydrates consist of small molecules trapped in crystal lattices of water molecules in a form resembling to common ice. The hydrate forming components are abundant in subsea sediments at conditions inside the hydrate stability zone. The vast majority of natural gas hydrates is expected to be hosted at the subsea sedimentary geo-environment. Despite the fact that such hydrates are not exploitable under the current technology, they can pose an environmental risk in case of uncontrolled dissociation. In this work, the effect of gas hydrates dissociation on the mechanical properties of a muddy clayish sediment retrieved from the "Anaximander" subsea mud volcano area and on its ability to conduct flow, was studied. A marine sediment was reconstituted in vitro with in-situ retrieved mud, water and hydrocarbon gas mixtures of compositions similar to the ones measured just above the seabed and was brought at conditions favouring the formation of hydrates. Geomechanical tests were conducted on the sediment before and during the dissociation of the guest hydrates, by isobaric heating and by isothermal depressurization. Permeability was found to increase only moderately during hydrate dissociation, possibly due to the high effective stress. The consolidation of the formation was increased up to a maximum just before the hydrates start to decompose and then collapsed when the free gas was produced. The bulk sediment volume was reduced by around 15% when the liberated gas was released from the formation in sudden "bursts" which occurred sporadically. The experimental results presented in this study seem to support the possibility of subsea landslides and the hydrate gun hypothesis for such areas as a result of hydrate dissociation.


We have used the flow characteristics of an electrospinning jet to elongate and fix DNA molecules. We embedded and observed fluorescently labeled lambda bacteriophage DNA molecules in polyethylene oxide nanofibers. The embedded DNA molecules were imaged using fluorescence microscopy and found to be stretched to lengths approaching the full dyed contour length.


The deviation between the actual processed blade and the designed blade shape inevitably occurs in the process of compressor blade manufacturing. Rotor37 was used as the research object and a three-dimensional steady Reynolds averaged Navier-Stokes simulation method was adopted in order to study the influence mechanism of blade thickness deviation on blade performance. The blade was parameterized and the blade thicknesses were increased or decreased uniformly, with changes of 0.06mm and 0.1mm respectively. Results illustrate that the blade thickness deviation affects the total pressure ratio, isentropic efficiency and stability margin of the single-stage rotor. Increasing the blade thickness will inhibit the transport of low speed airflow from blade root area to blade tip area along the radial direction. In the peak efficiency condition, this inhibit will cause low speed airflow to converge in the middle of the blade and increase the flow separation loss; while in the reference near stall condition, the inhibition of low speed airflow transport will weaken the accumulation of low energy airflow in the tip area, reduce the loss in the corner area, and expand the stable working range of the blade. Further, increasing the blade thickness causes the shock wave position to move backward and the shock wave intensity will decrease.


We discuss the structure of the present Hellenic subduction zone. We show that the present Hellenic subduction zone was formed at about 15 Ma when it started to consume the Mediterranean lithosphere and to form the large accretionary wedge that covers a large part of the eastern Mediterranean. We establish that there is independent evidence that the very large Hellenic Trough that it created was formed simultaneously. Shortly before, an 8–10 km thick backstop that extends 200 km southward, where it presently abuts the African margin, was put into place. We reconstruct the northern margin of the eastern Mediterranean Sea prior to the Hellenic subduction in a new and independent way. The faults recently identified by Sachpazi et al. (2016a . Geophysical Research Letters, 43: 651–658) and Sachpazi et al. (2016b . Geophysical Research Letters, 43: 9619–9626) within the Hellenic seismic slab are a key element of our reconstruction. This is because the slab, which is part of the Nubia plate, is rigid and the faults within it coincide with the lines of slip congruent with the relative motion of the Aegean block over it. These faults demonstrate that about 400 to 500 kilometers of eastern Mediterranean lithosphere have been subducted with essentially the same southwestward direction of motion during the last 15 Myr. Our reconstruction shows that before the onset of the Hellenic subduction, the northern margin of the eastern Mediterranean Sea coincided with a major Jurassic transform fault that limited the eastern Mediterranean to the north during its formation in the Jurassic and Early Cretaceous as proposed in part 1. We discuss the implications of this reconstruction on the Neogene evolution of the Anatolia–Aegea block and its geodynamics.