Evolutionary biology has yet to reconcile the ubiquity of sex with its costs relative to asexual reproduction. Here, we test the hypothesis that coevolving parasites maintain sex in their hosts. Specifically, we examined the distributions of sexual reproduction and susceptibility to local parasites within a single population of freshwater snails (Potamopyrgus antipodarum). Susceptibility to local trematode parasites (Microphallus sp.) is a relative measure of the strength of coevolutionary selection in this system. Thus, if coevolving parasites maintain sex, sexual snails should be common where susceptibility is high. We tested this prediction in a mixed population of sexual and asexual snails by measuring the susceptibility of snails from multiple sites in a lake. Consistent with the prediction, the frequency of sexual snails was tightly and positively correlated with susceptibility to local parasites. Strikingly, in just two years, asexual females increased in frequency at sites where susceptibility declined. We also found that the frequency of sexual females covaries more strongly with susceptibility than with the prevalence of Microphallus infection in the field. In linking susceptibility to the frequency of sexual hosts, our results directly implicate spatial variation in coevolutionary selection in driving the geographic mosaic of sex.


My research engages in literature that discusses the relationship between precarious employment conditions, declines in mental health, and the way mental health issues are treated with pharmaceutical technologies – namely antidepressant medication. In this dissertation, I aim to contribute to this discussion by a) situating the relationship between precarious labour conditions and mental health within a specifically capitalist society, and b) investigating the pharmaceutical treatment of individual illness experiences and mental health issues that can be linked back to broader social structures. In doing so I provide an analysis of the process of medicalization, which locates mental health aetiology as primarily biochemical and focuses on medical, commodity-based interventions, specifically antidepressants, in response to illness experiences – where dis-ease becomes disease. My primary method is a theoretical analysis of capitalist commodity production, the social process of medical knowledge production, medicalization, and development of pharmaceutical technologies. The goal of my theoretical analysis is to achieve new insight regarding my research questions by bringing together existing bodies of literature. A narrative analysis of stories gathered through in-depth interviews and autoethnographic accounts complement the main theoretical analysis, and are used to explore personal experiences of precarious social conditions related to mental health and work. I pay particular attention to systems of oppression enabled and fed through capitalism, such as gender, ability, and class relations. I argue that a reliance on antidepressant medication in response to the distress of working people and the unemployed poor plays an important role in enabling the continuation of dysfunctional social conditions. I argue that classifying mental health issues as purely medical erases social structural factors in the development of illness, and removes the serious consideration of such factors from diagnosis and treatment. This erasure also limits people's capacity to act on pertinent questions they may have regarding their own emotional fulfillment and social wellbeing. Such disempowerment frustrates the radical imagination and pursuit of more sustainable and equitable ways of developing and maintaining genuine health.


Do children take into account their addressees' needs in spontaneous production? Developmental evidence for speaker adjustments is mixed. Some studies show that children are often under-informative when communicating with ignorant addressees but other studies demonstrate successes in children's ability to integrate another person's perspective. We asked whether children adapt their event descriptions depending on (a) the typicality of event components, and (b) the listener's visual access to the events. We found that children's ability to use information about the listener's visual perspective to make specific adjustments to event descriptions emerged only in highly interactive contexts, in which participants collaborated towards mutual goals.


Underground arch structure is an important structure form of civil air defense engineering, and its damage detection is an important link in safety evaluation of civil air defense engineering. In this study, a neural networks based damage detection method using the modal properties is presented. Based on the analysis of the dynamic properties of underground arch structure before and after damage, it was proved that the ratio of mode shape was insensitive to finite element model errors. The variation rate of mode shape was taken as the signature for damage detection, and it was proved that the variation of mode shape caused by multiple damage state was transformed into superposition of single damage state. It is not needed to constitute multiple location damage patterns when using the neural networks. A typical underground arch structure is analyzed to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method. When 10%'s modeling errors exists, the damage location and extent can be recognized well.


Ethno veterinary practices concern to animal healthcare is as old as the domestication of various livestock species. They comprise belief, knowledge, practices and skills pertaining to healthcare and management of livestock. The Indian subcontinent has rich ethno veterinary health traditions that are the products of decades of experiences. The traditional medicines that are commonly used for animal healthcare can cut down costs considerably. Moreover, they are readily available to the ordinary farmer. The key challenges are to find out the effectiveness and contemporary relevance of these practices. Before the introduction of western medicine, all livestock keepers relied on these traditional practices. This article deals in brief about the traditional ethno veterinary practice methods and its common applications.


We prove the correctness of a two-way sliding window protocol with piggybacking, where the acknowledgments of the latest received data are attached to the next data transmitted back into the channel. The window size of both parties are considered to be finite, though they can be of different sizes. We show that this protocol is equivalent (branching bisimilar) to a pair of FIFO queues of finite capacities. The protocol is first modeled and manually proved for its correctness in the process algebraic language of muCRL. We use the theorem prover PVS to formalize and to mechanically prove the correctness. This implies both safety and liveness (under the assumption of fairness).


Providing and utilization of web information on thermochemical data is described. Currently available thermochemical data such as heat of formation and coefficients for molar heat capacity, enthalpy and entropy calculation are analyzed. Their sources are NASA polynomials, Chemical Abstracts and literature data. The web service has a number of particular functions, which can be used in various client environments. It is available at http://omega.tuke.sk/wsdl/TermPropService.wsdl. For presentation web applications were created that enable the regime selection and specification of input parameters for the web service (http://omega.tuke.sk/tp/klienttermprop.php). Some other possibilities of the web service utilization are mentioned.


There has been worldwide changes in seasonal patterns, weather events, temperature ranges, and other related phenomena and all have been analyzed in partial, reported and attributed to global climate change. The negative impacts of climate change will become much more intense and frequent in the future—particularly if environmentally destructive human activities continue unabated, warned categorically by a number of experts in a wide range of scientific disciplines and interests. Medicinal and aromatic plants (MAPs) are not immune to the effects of climate change like all other living members of the biosphere. Clear signals are coming on climate change impact which is causing noticeable effects on the lifecycles and distributions of the world's vegetation, including wild MAPs across the world. This in turn causing some MAPs endemic to geographic regions or ecosystems which could put them at risk and are particularly vulnerable to climate change. Such serious issues and challenges are a continuous concern with regard to the survival and genetic integrity of some MAPs and are being discussed within various forum and platform. Further, such issues of climate change will definitely pose a more prominent or immediate threat to MAP species than other threats, however, scientists do not know whether climate change has the potential to exert increasing pressures  upon MAP species and populations. Climate change impact may have a tremendous possible effect on MAPs particularly significant due to their value within traditional systems of medicine and as economically useful plants. At this stage, the future effects of climate change are largely uncertain more so with MAPs, but current evidence suggests that these phenomena are having an impact on MAPs and that there are some potential threats worthy of concern and discussion.


Abstract Rationale: In recent years, the use of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) treatment for pediatric patients with cardiorespiratory failure has increased, with emphasis being given to the prevention of complications in ECMO-treated patients. Several studies have reported ECMO-related central nervous system complications, such as intracranial hemorrhage, cerebral infarction, and seizure. However, few cases of peripheral nerve injury have been reported in ECMO-treated adults; there have also been no reported cases of peripheral nerve injury in the pediatric population. Patient Concerns: Two pediatric patients aged 16 and 6 experienced motor weakness in the extremities after the insertion of ECMO equipment. Diagnoses: They were diagnosed with peripheral nerve injuries through an electrodiagnostic study that showed femoral/sciatic neuropathies and brachial plexopathy. Arteriography and doppler sonography was performed to find the cause of peripheral nerve injury, and this may be the results of vascular compromise and compressive injuries, respectively. Interventions: Surgical embolectomy was performed to remove thrombus in one patient. Two patients received orthosis, and physical therapy and occupational therapy were performed to prevent contracture and improve strength and functional use. Outcomes: Two pediatric patients showed a gradual improvement in motor power and function. Lessons: Through this case report, we present rare ECMO-related complications and emphasize the importance of early diagnosis and monitoring of peripheral nerve injury in ECMO-treated children.


Field studies were conducted in 1999 and 2000 at Belleville, IL, to compare herbicide efficacy and economic return on investment (EROI) for various herbicide systems in conventional, imidazolinone-resistant, glufosinate-resistant, and glyphosate-resistant corn hybrids. Corn injury 14 d after RPA 201772 preemergence (PRE) treatments ranged from 0 to 10%. Treatments with nicosulfuron + rimsulfuron + atrazine injured corn 5 to 24% at 7 d after treatment (DAT); however, no injury was visible at 14 DAT. Corn injury by all herbicide treatments dissipated by 28 DAT. All treatments controlled giant foxtail at least 88%. Common waterhemp was controlled at least 94% with all treatments, except for imazethapyr + imazapyr postemergence (POST), which did not control common waterhemp. All treatments controlled at least 92% of common cocklebur, giant ragweed, and ivyleaf morningglory, with the exception of the total PRE herbicide system of S-metolachlor + atrazine in 2000. Average grain yield ranged from 7,290 to 9,180 kg/ha in 1999, with the yield of the glyphosate-resistant hybrid lower than that of all other hybrids. In 2000, average grain yield ranged from 8,440 to 11,520 kg/ha, with the grain yield of the glyphosate-resistant hybrid greater than that of all other hybrids. There were no differences in economic return in 1999 because of the treatment, the herbicide system, or the hybrid. In 2000 EROI was greater with the glyphosate-resistant hybrid than with the other hybrids. EROI was influenced more by the grain yield of the corn hybrid than by the associated weed control costs. It has been demonstrated by this research that effective and economical weed control can be achieved in all hybrids, with minimal injury. Nomenclature: Atrazine; imazapyr; imazethapyr; imidazolinone; glufosinate; glyphosate; nicosulfuron; rimsulfuron; S-metolachlor; common cocklebur, Xanthium strumarium L. #3 XANST; common waterhemp, Amaranthus rudis S. # AMATA; giant foxtail, Setaria faberi Herrm. # SETFA; giant ragweed, Ambrosia trifida L. # AMBTR; ivyleaf morningglory, Ipomoea hederacea (L.) Jacq. # IPOHE; corn, Zea mays L. # ZEAMX 'Dekalb 626 RR', 'Garst 8342 IT', 'Pioneer 33G26', 'Pioneer 33G28 LL'. Additional index words: Glufosinate-resistant corn, glyphosate-resistant corn, imidazolinone-resistant corn. Abbreviations: ALS, acetolactate synthase; DAT, days after treatment; EROI, economic return on investment; fb, followed by; POST, postemergence; PRE, preemergence; PSII, photosystem II.


A Christianity Today 2004 Book of the Year In this masterful and innovative book Glen H. Stassen and David P. Gushee join profound ethical reflection with faith in Jesus Christ, a life of discipleship and the hope of the present and coming kingdom of God. The result is a challenging, comprehensive treatment of Christian ethics centered on the life and teachings of Jesus. Drawing on detailed studies of the Sermon on the Mount, Stassen and Gushee shed light on the whole of biblical ethical teaching as it relates to a wide range of issues, including peacemaking, just war, nonviolence, sexuality and gender roles, marriage and divorce, race, economics, care of creation, prayer and politics. Their work yields neither an impossible idealism, nor an abstract ethical system, nor a generic religious legalism. Rather Stassen and Gushee set forth a holistic ethic that motivates us and provides us with a practical basis for living under the lordship of Jesus Christ.


Several countries with large coal deposits but limited domestic oil reserves show high interest in coal-to-liquid (CtL) technologies, which could reduce crude oil imports by converting coal into liquid hydrocarbon fuels. After decades of successful large-scale operating experiences in South Africa, CtL activities in the United States, China and Germany have been fanned by the high oil price in the last years. However, CtL indicates negative techno-economic and resource-related features, such as high capital costs, high greenhouse gas discharges and high water consumption. Therefore, the technology's diffusion strongly depends on a favourable framework of policies and strong technology advocates. Daniel Vallentin analyses interdependencies between technical and non-technical parameters affecting the diffusion of CtL technologies in the United States, China and Germany. Applying the inter-disciplinary technological system approach, he identifies factors which determine the market prospects of CtL in these countries, including costs, the geographic distribution of coal reserves, actor constellations and technology, energy and climate policies. At the end of his study, he derives general conclusions with regard to driving forces and barriers for CtL diffusion. As the investigated countries are major consumers of energy and belong to the world's largest emitters of greenhouse gases, their strategies in substituting crude oil based fuels are of utmost global relevance. Therefore, Vallentin's study is recommended to experts, planners, decision-makers, and politicians in the field of climate and resource protection.


The growing popularity of machine learning (ML) has attracted more software developers to now want to adopt ML into their own practices, through tinkering with and learning from ML framework websites and online code examples. To investigate the motivations, hurdles, and desires of these software developers, we deployed a survey to the website of the TensorFlow.js ML framework. We found via 645 responses that many wanted to learn ML for aspirational reasons rather than for immediate job needs. Critically, developers faced hurdles due to a perceived lack of mathematical and theoretical background. They desired frameworks to provide more basic ML conceptual support, such as a curated corpus of best practices, conceptual tutorials, and a de-mystification of mathematical jargon into practical tips. These findings inform the design of ML frameworks and informal learning resources to broaden the base of people acquiring this increasingly important skill set.


A vibrational fingerprint: A Raman technique has been developed to retrieve spatiotemporal chemical information from millimeter-sized catalyst bodies under preparation. An incipient wetness impregnation of γ-Al2O3 catalysts with ammonium heptamolybdate was followed. Diagonal offset Raman spectroscopy was able to distinguish between surface, subsurface, and bulk phase of the catalyst bodies.


Notwithstanding the enormous development of glacial deposits in East Yorkshire, glaciated rock surfaces were until recently comparatively quite unknown. The chief reason for this is no doubt the lithological character of the Secondary strata, which constitute the solid geology of this part of the county. The soft shales and sandstones, of which the Jurassic rocks chiefly consist, could not be expected to stand sufficiently firm under the pressure of the ice-sheet to receive such markings, nor yet to preserve them if by any accident such impressions had been made. The same remarks apply to the Cretaceous rocks, although some of the indurated layers of the Chalk with flints might possibly have taken striae, had the local conditions of glaciation been favourable.

Almost the only rocks on which there was any probability of these markings being preserved are the harder limestones of the Middle Oolite, and the ironstone bands of the Lower Oolite and Lias; and it is precisely on these rocks that such markings have at length been found.

The first discovery was that recorded by Mr. G. W. Lamplugh in the "Proceedings" of this Society in 1891,* where he mentions that the highest bed of the Oolite series of Filey Brigg showed glacial striations having a direction N. 20°E. These markings occurred at the south side of the Carr Naze, at the spot where the solid rock disappears from the coast line under the drift, a few yards to the left of the section in plate LI.

In 1896 …


Various technologies have been developed to enhance flow mixing and heat transfer in order to develop an efficient compact heat exchanging devices. Vortex generators/turbulent promoters generate the vortices which reduce the boundary layer thickness and introduce the better mixing of the fluid to enhance the heat transfer. In this research experimental investigations have been carried out to study the effect of delta winglet vortex generator pairs on heat transfer and flow behavior.
 To generate longitudinal vortex flow, two pairs of the delta winglet vortex generators (DWVG) with the length of 10mm and winglet-pitch to tube-diameter ratio (PR = 4.8) are mounted on the inner wall of a circular tube. The DWVG pairs with two different winglet-height to tube-diameter ratios (Blockage ratio, BR = 0.1 and 0.2), three attack angles (α = 10°, 20°, 30°) and three spacings between leading edges (S = 10, 15 and 20mm) are studied. The experiments were conducted with DWVGs pairs for the air flow range of Reynolds numbers 5000–25000. The influence of the DWVGs on heat transfer and pressure drop was investigated in terms of the Nusselt number and friction factor. The experimental results indicate that DWVG pair in a tube results in a considerable enhancement in Nusselt number (Nu) with some pressure penalty. It is found that DWVG increases Nu up to 85% over the smooth tube. It is also observed that Nusselt number increases with Re, blockage ratio and attack angle. Friction factor decreases with Re but increases with blockage ratio, spacing and attack angle. And 30° DWVG pair with S = 20mm, BR = 0.2 gets the highest friction factor. The Highest thermal performance enhancement (TPE) was noticed for α = 10°, S = 20mm, BR = 0.2 for turbulent flows. To obtain qualitative information on the flow behavior and vortex structures, flow was visualized by laser sheet using smoke as a tracer supplied at the entrance of the test section. The generation and development of longitudinal vortices influenced by DWVG pairs were clearly observed.


We present a novel data-driven technique for radiometric self-calibration of video from an unknown camera. Our approach self-calibrates radiometric variations in video, and is applied as a post-process; there is no need to access the camera, and in particular it is applicable to internet videos. This technique builds on empirical evidence that in video the camera response function (CRF) should be regarded time variant, as it changes with scene content and exposure, instead of relying on a single camera response function. We show that a time-varying mixture of responses produces better accuracy and consistently reduces the error in mapping intensity to irradiance when compared to a single response model. Furthermore, our mixture model counteracts the effects of possible nonlinear exposure-dependent intensity perturbations and white-balance changes caused by proprietary camera firmware. We further show how radiometrically calibrated video improves the performance of other video analysis algorithms, enabling a video segmentation algorithm to be invariant to exposure and gain variations over the sequence. We validate our data-driven technique on videos from a variety of cameras and demonstrate the generality of our approach by applying it to internet video.


Although reactivation of latent infections has long been considered the primary explanation for PCP in immunosuppressed patients, over the years a steady flow of reports has described clusters of PCP cases (2). In addition, recent studies have suggested that the duration of latency is very limited, i.e., usually less than 1 year (3,4). Still other studies have demonstrated genetic variation in PCR-amplified P. carinii DNA from the lungs of patients during subsequent PCP episodes (5). Together, these observations provide strong circumstantial evidence of person-to-person transmission of P. carinii. Consequently, establishing the role that person-to-person transmission plays in the epidemiology of PCP is urgent. Another important area of PCP epidemiology is determining the predisposing factors for disease. The most frequently discussed predictor of disease is CD4+ cell count, specifically as it relates to care and management of AIDS patients (6); however, it has long been known that malnutrition can be an important contributor (7). The degree to which other factors such as viral infections or pneumonitis of other causes, may come into play, is yet to be shown. Much can also be learned regarding the epidemiology of PCP in HIV-infected infants. Recent studies report that primary infections in these infants often develop when the child is 3 to 6 months old (8,9). The source of these patients' P. carinii infections (i.e., the hospital setting, their mothers, other children, or an environmental source) is not known. Clinicians working with AIDS patients need a sensitive, reliable, and noninvasive tool for early detection and diagnosis of PCP infections (10,11). Besides the standard procedures of bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) and induced sputum (IS) sampling, recent studies indicate that it is possible to amplify P. carinii DNA sequences by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) directly from blood or serum samples and from nasopharyngeal aspirates of PCP patients (11,12). Further studies are needed to confirm that a PCR-based diagnostic tool superior to microscopy can be adapted for use in clinical settings. A serologic tool that will distinguish recent PCP infections from those past is also needed. Prophylaxis failures have been reported for both trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole (TMP-SMX) and pentamidine (13-16). Studies evaluating these cases, however, are frequently complicated by the difficulties in assessing and confirming patient compliance with the prophylaxis regimen. The only factor that has a significant correlation with failure in most cases, however, is the patient's CD4+ T lymphocyte count (14). Although this correlation would be expected because of the general increased risk for PCP associated with CD4+ cell depletion (6) and the increase in prophylaxis complications in HIV-infected patients (17), these drugs may not eliminate all organisms, and some degree of patient immunity may be required to clear or control the infection. What role, if any, specific antimicrobial resistance mechanisms play in the reported treatment failures has not been shown; however, the emergence of resistance is always a threat. Likewise, long-term TMP-SMX prophylaxis increases the possibility for the selection of antimicrobial resistance in bacterial pathogens, some of which are important potential causes of pneumonia in HIV-infected patients (18). Identifying potential antimicrobial resistance mechanisms in P. carinii is difficult because of the lack of an established culture system for human P. carinii that would allow traditional antimicrobial sensitivity testing. At least three separate lines of data suggest that P. carinii is a commonly encountered organism: the high seroprevalence rates reported in normal populations (19), the rapid rate at which infants acquire primary infections (8) and AIDS patients become reinfected after successful treatment (20), and the amplification of P. carinii-specific DNA from ambient air sampled from the environment (e.g., an apple orchard) (21) and from rooms of animals and patients with PCP (22). Airborne transmission has been demonstrated for PCP in rats (23-26) and is by far the most likely mechanism proposed for natural exposure to P. carinii in humans (2,22). Given the similarities Commentary


High speed time-division multiplexers and demultiplexers are important components of modern optical communication systems. They are needed to parallelize the data to allow most of the system to operate at much lower speeds. This paper describes a 16:1 multiplexer and a 1:16 demultiplexer implemented on one IC in a 1.2 /spl mu/m BiCMOS process. The IC combines fast ECL circuits with CMOS circuits, demonstrating that by utilizing the combination of bipolar and MOS transistors, a VLSI circuit with very high speed interface is feasible.<<ETX>>


ABSTRACT Three compact computerized tomography (CT) scanner prototypes are established and tested for acceptable reconstruction results. Performance of conventional iterative reconstruction algorithm is enhanced via incorporating a spatial filtering/masking step. Generally, these masking strategies incorporate an arbitrary (3 3 or 2 2) size of square averaging mask to subdue the ill-posedness. Three different spatial filtering schemes are tested in this work. The objective is to remove any dependency on a user for deciding an appropriate masking parameter. The outcome of the simulation study is successfully verified for three real data situations using three specimens with pre-assigned/known inner profile. Such austere scanning situations arise in real-time environment especially for undetachable/fixed small size objects situated in inaccessible locations. The present study encourages the development of low budget CT setups.


ABSTRACT As our world becomes increasingly urbanized, cities are often where we come into contact with the natural world—not just in parks and urban nature preserves, but in more familiar places like residential yards. We conducted bird surveys and social surveys in Chicago-area residential landscapes near forest preserves (primarily in middle- and high-income areas) to examine residents' perceptions of the birds that co-inhabit their neighborhoods and the relationship of those perceptions with characteristics of the bird community. We found that residents value many aspects of neighborhood birds, especially those related to aesthetics and birds' place in the ecosystem. Our results indicate that while birds were generally well liked and annoyances were minor, several common and visible urban species, such as the House Sparrow (Passer domesticus), European Starling (Sturnus vulgaris), and Blue Jay (Cyanocitta cristata), may attract attention for their negative qualities, such as their sounds and effects on personal property. The results also indicate that residents' valuations of ecosystem services are linked to their perceptions of bird species richness rather than the actual species richness, and people may perceive only a subset of the birds in their neighborhoods. Although birds provide many important ecosystem services, perhaps one of their most important roles in cities is as a relatable and likable connecting point between city dwellers and the broader environment.


The concern about the adverse effects of noise pollution is enhancing day by day due to fast industrialization. Hence a wide variety of active and passive noise controllers made of natural and synthetic materials are widely used for various types of inevitable noise reduction. The different types of passive noise controllers fabricated using various techniques vary in their microstructure and surface morphology. In turn, they cause a difference in the noise-controlling mechanisms happening inside it, leading to its unique acoustic absorption characteristics. This article uses five different fibers of different fiber diameters to fabricate passive acoustic absorbers of different textures. The frequency response of their acoustic absorption coefficient is tested with the help of impedance tube apparatus using the transfer matrix method. Acoustic properties of coir fiber, basalt fiber, glass fiber, graphene fiber, and carbon fiber are investigated and compared. The present investigation focused on the influence of fiber diameter, the porosity, and the difference in the texture of these passive absorbers on the acoustic characteristics, frequency response of acoustic absorption coefficient, and the frequency corresponding to maximum absorption. The investigation also focuses on fabricating the passive absorbers for low-frequency noise reduction where only the active absorbers are available.


There is an increasing number of studies in the area of Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) that bears witness to the importance of taking account of emotional factors in interactions with computer systems. By getting to know the emotions of the users, it is possible for artificial agents to have an influence on human feelings with a view to stimulating them in a particular or everyday activities. Thus, one of the great challenges of the HCI area is to enable computer systems to recognize and interpret the feelings of the users. This article sets out a functional Ensemble model for the classification of emotions based on the motor facial expressions of the users. The results described in this article show that the Ensemble Classification that is put forward, can achieve greater rates of accuracy in classifying feelings than what can be obtained by using a single classifier.


Abstract Background Oscillopsia can result from dysfunction involving the vestibuloocular reflex (VOR). Few studies have detailed the full spectrum of clinical characteristics and laboratory findings of this disabling condition. Objectives To review causes and clinical characteristics of oscillopsia. Methods Retrospective review of clinical records of a series of patients with oscillopsia from the University Health Network Multidisciplinary Neurotology Clinic. Results Review of 109 patients with oscillopsia showed near equal sex distribution and a mean age of 54.9 years (standard deviation 15.7). The most common peripheral vestibular causes were ototoxicity (19.3%) and Meniere's disease (10.1%). The most common central cause involved cerebellar degeneration (7.3%). Only 43.1% complained of vertigo at any time. Head impulse testing demonstrated bilateral refixation saccades in 70% of patients, while over 95% had a loss of dynamic visual acuity ≥5 lines on LogMAR chart testing. Some 38.8% of patients demonstrated normal caloric responses, whereas only 26.5% exhibited evidence of a bilateral caloric loss. Over 50% of patients maintained otolithic function as demonstrated by cervical vestibular evoked myogenic potential testing. Most patients demonstrated low VOR gains bilaterally on magnetic scleral search coil testing. Conclusions A wide spectrum of clinical characteristics was identified in patients with oscillopsia. It is important for the physician to perform a thorough history, physical examination (including head impulse and dynamic visual acuity), and laboratory investigations.


In the arsenic-contaminated Ganges-Brahmaputra-Meghna Delta in India and Bangladesh, small-scale piped water supply seems a promising way to provide safe drinking water to households in the region. The use of smartphone applications can support monitoring of the system and enhance local engagement and empowerment. In this paper the scope for mobile crowd participation as a research and monitoring tool for piped water supply systems in Bihar, India and in Khulna and Chittagong, Bangladesh is investigated. In these areas, the use of smartphones and internet access are growing rapidly and smartphone applications would enable real-time water quality monitoring, payment of water bills, awareness creation, and a dialogue between the end-user and the water supplier. To identify the relevance and acceptability of piped water supply and smartphone monitoring, four surveys with potential end-users were conducted. Based on these surveys we conclude that in the investigated areas there is a desire for piped water systems, that households already own smartphones with internet access, and that there is an interest in smartphone monitoring. The enabling environment to deploy mobile crowd participation for piped water system monitoring stimulates further research towards an investigation of potential functionalities and the actual development of such an application.


A cash flow statement is required as part of a complete set of financial statements prepared in conformity with Indian Accounting Standards. AS-3 lays down a formal structure for the cash flow statement. Cash flows should be classified under the following three standard headings: "Operating activities", "Investing activities", and "Financing activities". The classification of cash flows among operating, investing and financing activities is essential to the analysis of cash flow data. Net cash flow (the change in cash and equivalents during the period) has little informational content by itself; it is the classification and individual components that are informative. Although the classification of cash flows into the three main categories is important, it should be mentioned that classification guidelines are arbitrary. _____________________________________________________________________


With the enforcement of the General Data Protection Regulation and the compliance to specific privacyand security-related principles, the adoption of Privacy by Design and Security by Design principles can be considered as a legal obligation for all organisations keeping EU citizens' personal data. A formal way to support Data Controllers towards their compliance to the new regulation could be a Privacy Level Agreement (PLA), a mutual agreement of the privacy settings between a Data Controller and a Data Subject, that supports privacy management, by analysing privacy threats, vulnerabilities and Information Systems' trust relationships. However, the concept of PLA has only been proposed on a theoretical level. In this paper, we propose a novel reference architecture to enable PLA management in practice, and we report on the application and evaluation of PLA management within the context of real-life case studies from two different domains, the public administration and the healthcare, where sensitive data is kept. The results are rather positive, indicating that the adoption of such an agreement promotes the transparency of an organisation while enhances data subjects' trust.


BACKGROUND
Patients having malignant chest diseases sometimes suffer from vocal fold paralysis. Treatment for vocal fold paralysis is important for such patients, because vocal fold paralysis causes lack of the versatility of the human voice which is essential for our communication.

METHODS
Seventeen patients suffering from unilateral vocal fold paralysis were treated with vocal fold injections of collagen. Three patients received twice, and 20 treatments were conducted. A flexible bronchofiberscope was used under local anesthesia in order to observe the whole procedure of vocal fold injection. Using an injector and a long needle, collagen was injected with transcutaneous technique mainly through the cricothyroid membrane. The amount of collagen was determined with bronchoscopic findings.

RESULTS
During and after treatment, no complication was observed. Of 20 treatments, a marked improvement was observed in 8, and moderate improvement was observed in 9 treatments.

CONCLUSIONS
Vocal fold injection of collagen is a very useful and safe treatment for unilateral vocal fold paralysis caused by chest diseases.


African governments place high priority on developing their indigenous private sector to participate in and lead future growth. This goal is constrained, in part, by the absence of a diversified financial sector capable of meeting the full range of the private sector's legitimate demand for financial services, especially among small and informal businesses. A related and equally pressing issue is the ability of the self-employed and rural poor to sustain the economic activities essential to their survival. Internationally, a variety of financial institutions have found ways to make lending to the poor sustainable and profitable and to take advantage of the lesson that even the poor self-employed repay their loans and seek savings opportunities. The challenge in Africa is to build capacity in the financial sector drawing on the lessons learned from international best-practice institutions. This strategy is an integral part of the Africa Region Finance Strategy. The principal pillars of the Finance Strategy are an initial focus on achieving a healthy fundamental policy and regulatory environment and concentration on building sound institutions through human resource and systems development. These themes are reflected in this strategy statement, whose chief objective is to support deepening and diversification of financial markets to serve the broad spectrum of entrepreneurs found in African countries, including the self-employed poor.


As one of our highest expressions of thought and creativity, music has always been a difficult realm to capture, model, and understand. The connectionist paradigm, now beginning to provide insights into many realms of human behavior, offers a new and unified viewpoint from which to investigate the subtleties of musical experience. Music and Connectionism provides a fresh approach to both fields, using the techniques of connectionism and parallel distributed processing to look at a wide range of topics in music research, from pitch perception to chord fingering to composition.The contributors, leading researchers in both music psychology and neural networks, address the challenges and opportunities of musical applications of network models. The result is a current and thorough survey of the field that advances understanding of musical phenomena encompassing perception, cognition, composition, and performance, and in methods for network design and analysis.Peter M. Todd is a doctoral candidate in the PDP Research Group of the Psychology Department at Stanford University. Gareth Loy is an award-winning composer, a lecturer in the Music Department of the University of California, San Diego, and a member of the technical staff of Frox Inc.Contributors. Jamshed J. Bharucha. Peter Desain. Mark Dolson. Robert Gjerclingen. Henkjan Honing. B. Keith Jenkins. Jacqueline Jons. Douglas H. Keefe. Tuevo Kohonen. Bernice Laden. Pauli Laine. Otto Laske. Marc Leman. J. P. Lewis. Christoph Lischka. D. Gareth Loy. Ben Miller. Michael Mozer. Samir I. Sayegh. Hajime Sano. Todd Soukup. Don Scarborough. Kalev Tiits. Peter M. Todd. Kari Torkkola.


In silico virtual screening followed by in vitro biochemical, biophysical, and cellular screening resulted in the identification of distinctly different hTrkA kinase domain inhibitor scaffolds. X-ray structural analysis of representative inhibitors bound to hTrkA kinase domain defined the binding mode and rationalized the mechanism of action. Preliminary assessment of the sub-type selectivity against the closest hTrkB isoform, and early ADME guided the progression of select inhibitor leads in the screening cascade. The possibility of the actives sustaining to known hTrkA resistance mutations assessed in silico offers initial guidance into the required multiparametric lead optimization to arrive at a clinical candidate.


A high-strength, low-weight pressure vessel dome was designed specifically to house a high-pressure [2,000 psi (approx. = 13.8 MPa)] electrolyzer. In operation, the dome is filled with an inert gas pressurized to roughly 100 psi (approx. = 690 kPa) above the high, balanced pressure product oxygen and hydrogen gas streams. The inert gas acts to reduce the clamping load on electrolyzer stack tie bolts since the dome pressure acting axially inward helps offset the outward axial forces from the stack gas pressure. Likewise, radial and circumferential stresses on electrolyzer frames are minimized. Because the dome is operated at a higher pressure than the electrolyzer product gas, any external electrolyzer leak prevents oxygen or hydrogen from leaking into the dome. Instead the affected stack gas stream pressure rises detectably, thereby enabling a system shutdown. All electrical and fluid connections to the stack are made inside the pressure dome and require special plumbing and electrical dome interfaces for this to be accomplished. Further benefits of the dome are that it can act as a containment shield in the unlikely event of a catastrophic failure. Studies indicate that, for a given active area (and hence, cell ID), frame outside diameter must become ever larger to support stresses at higher operating pressures. This can lead to a large footprint and increased costs associated with thicker and/or larger diameter end-plates, tie-rods, and the frames themselves. One solution is to employ rings that fit snugly around the frame. This complicates stack assembly and is sometimes difficult to achieve in practice, as its success is strongly dependent on frame and ring tolerances, gas pressure, and operating temperature. A pressure dome permits an otherwise low-pressure stack to operate at higher pressures without growing the electrolyzer hardware. The pressure dome consists of two machined segments. An O-ring is placed in an O-ring groove in the flange of the bottom segment and is trapped by the flange on the top dome segment when these components are bolted together with high-strength bolts. The pressure dome has several unique features. It is made (to ASME Pressure Vessel guidelines) in a high-strength aluminum alloy with the strength of stainless steel and the weight benefits of aluminum. The flange of the upper dome portion contains specially machined flats for mounting the dome, and other flats dedicated to the special feedthroughs for electrical connections. A pressure dome can be increased in length to house larger stacks (more cells) of the same diameter with the simple addition of a cylindrical segment. To aid in dome assembly, two stainless steel rings are employed. One is used beneath the heads of the high-strength bolts in lieu of individual hardened washers, and another is used instead of individual nuts. Like electrolyzers could be operated at low or high pressures simply by operating the electrolyzer outside or inside a pressurized dome.


The proliferation of applied behaviour change science over the past decade has provided new ways of thinking about policy making. Policy makers now have a range of frameworks and methods to assist in formulating change for social and environmental benefits. However, the development of strategies for the identification and prioritisation of target behaviours has been less forthcoming. This paper outlines a tool to assist in behaviour selection. Behaviours are assessed for their potential impact on addressing a specific issue, the likelihood of adoption by the target audience and existing participation levels within the target audience. Each of these characteristics is scored, allowing behaviours to be mapped onto a meaningful, visual, matrix for prioritisation. Additional data on behaviour type and the key perceived barriers to participation in each behaviour are layered onto the matrix to provide direction for intervention design. An application of the prioritisation matrix is presented within an environmental context through a case study of water demand management behaviours for domestic consumers in Australia. The prioritisation matrix could provide a decision-making tool for policy makers to assist in the selection of target behaviours to address complex issues. © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.


A fast algorithm of the parallel computing load equilibrium MMET model has been designed: which made by exchanging every grid of the maximum executing time and the minimum executing time of the computational nodes, and we choose the minus least. Then the two grids which will be exchanged were found. Compared with the old MMET model, the computational time of this method are largely reduced. The efficiency of the fast algorithm improved significantly.


A novel multi-end-pumped nonplanar ring Nd:YAG laser with two-mirror cavity was demonstrated. A model was developed for attaining all beam loop modes of the laser cavity and calculating the mirror separation of each mode. With single-diode laser pumping, the operations of different modes at 1.064 /spl mu/m were performed and the experimental results are in excellent agreement with the model. Using three laser diodes as the pumping sources led to over threefold increase in output power.


The growing complexity of technical solutions, which encompass knowledge from different scientific fields, makes necessary, also for multi-disciplinary working teams, the consultation of information sources. Indeed, tacit knowledge is essential, but often not sufficient to achieve a proficient problem solving process. Besides, the most comprehensive tool of the TRIZ body of knowledge, i.e. ARIZ, requires, more or less explicitly, the retrieval of new knowledge in order to entirely exploit its potential to drive towards valuable solutions. A multitude of contributions from the literature support various common tasks encountered when using TRIZ and requiring additional information; most of them hold the objective of speeding up the generation of inventive solutions thanks to the capabilities of text mining techniques. Nevertheless, no global study has been conducted to fully disclose the effective knowledge requirements of ARIZ. With respect to this deficiency, the present paper illustrates an analysis of the algorithm with the specific objective of identifying the different types of information needs that can be satisfied by patents. The results of the investigation lay bare the most significant gaps of the research in the field. Further on, an initial proposal is advanced to structure the retrieval of relevant information from patent sources currently not supported by existing methodologies and software applications, so as to exploit the vast amount of technical knowledge contained in there. An illustrative experiment sheds light on the relevance of control parameters as input terms for the definition of search queries aimed at retrieving patents sharing the same physical contradiction of the problem to be treated.


The purpose of this study was to derive a multivariate, quantitative case definition of the fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS) facial phenotype from a dysmorphologist-derived gold standard and use it to develop an effective screening tool for identification of children at risk for FAS. The facial and physical features of a racially mixed group of children (0.2-10.0 years of age), evaluated by a single dysmorphologist in the University of Washington FAS Clinic, were used to determine which feature or set of features best differentiated between children with and without a diagnosis of FAS. The study population was divided into two groups balanced on gender, age at examination, race, diagnosis, and date of examination. Group 1 was used to identify the most differentiating feature(s), and group 2 was used to validate the differentiating capability of the feature(s). Group 1 included 97 children (20 with FAS and 77 without FAS). Group 2 included 97 children (19 with FAS and 78 without FAS). Discriminant analysis identified smooth philtrum, thin upper lip, and short palpebral fissures as the cluster of features that best differentiated children with and without FAS based on the discriminant function [D = 1.7953086 + 0.8116083 (thin upper lip) + 2.6411562 (smooth philtrum)-3.4073780 (% predicted right palpebral fissure length)]. Patients with a D-score > or = 1.5 were classified as at-risk for FAS (screen positive). Using this cut-off value for the D-score, children in group 1 were classified with 100% sensitivity (20 of 20 true positives) and 90.0% specificity (70 of 77 true negatives). The children in group 2 were classified with 100% sensitivity (19 of 19 true positives) and 87.3% specificity (68 of 78 true negatives). Across all 194 patients, sensitivity was 100% [95% confidence interval (97-100)] and specificity was 89% [95% confidence interval (85 to 93)]. Seventy-one percent (n = 12) of the 17 false-positives had a true classification of possible fetal alcohol effects. Sensitivity and specificity were unaffected by race, gender, and age through 10 years. The screening tool is effective at differentiating children with and without FAS as diagnosed by a single dysmorphologist (S.K.C) at the University of Washington FAS Clinic. Assessment of diagnostic interrater agreement between trained dysmorphologists and testing in other clinic populations will be needed to assess the tool's external validity.


Causal discovery aims to recover causal structures or models underlying the observed data. Despite its success in certain domains, most existing methods focus on causal relations between observed variables, while in many scenarios the observed ones may not be the underlying causal variables (e.g., image pixels), but are generated by latent causal variables or confounders that are causally related. To this end, in this paper, we consider Linear, Non-Gaussian Latent variable Models (LiNGLaMs), in which latent confounders are also causally related, and propose a Generalized Independent Noise (GIN) condition to estimate such latent variable graphs. Specifically, for two observed random vectors $\mathbf{Y}$ and $\mathbf{Z}$, GIN holds if and only if $\omega^{\intercal}\mathbf{Y}$ and $\mathbf{Z}$ are statistically independent, where $\omega$ is a parameter vector characterized from the cross-covariance between $\mathbf{Y}$ and $\mathbf{Z}$. From the graphical view, roughly speaking, GIN implies that causally earlier latent common causes of variables in $\mathbf{Y}$ d-separate $\mathbf{Y}$ from $\mathbf{Z}$. Interestingly, we find that the independent noise condition, i.e., if there is no confounder, causes are independent from the error of regressing the effect on the causes, can be seen as a special case of GIN. Moreover, we show that GIN helps locate latent variables and identify their causal structure, including causal directions. We further develop a recursive learning algorithm to achieve these goals. Experimental results on synthetic and real-world data demonstrate the effectiveness of our method.


Keyword spotting (KWS) has become an indispensable part of many intelligent devices surrounding us, as audio is one of the most efficient ways of interacting with these devices. The accuracy and performance of KWS solutions have been the main focus of the researchers, and thanks to deep learning, substantial progress has been made in this domain. However, as the use of KWS spreads into IoT devices, energy efficiency becomes a very critical requirement besides the performance. We believe KWS solutions that would seek power optimization both in the hardware and the neural network (NN) model architecture are advantageous over many solutions in the literature where mostly the architecture side of the problem is considered. In this work, we designed an optimized KWS CNN model by considering end-to-end energy efficiency for the deployment at MAX78000, an ultra-low-power CNN accelerator. With the combined hardware and model optimization approach, we achieve 96.3\% accuracy for 12 classes while only consuming 251 uJ per inference. We compare our results with other small-footprint neural network-based KWS solutions in the literature. Additionally, we share the energy consumption of our model in power-optimized ARM Cortex-M4F to depict the effectiveness of the chosen hardware for the sake of clarity.


The search-based reinforcement learning algorithm AlphaZero has been used as a general method for mastering two-player games Go, chess and Shogi. One crucial ingredient in AlphaZero (and its predecessor AlphaGo Zero) is the two-head network architecture that outputs two estimates — policy and value — for one input game state. The merit of such an architecture is that letting policy and value learning share the same representation substantially improved generalization of the neural net. A three-head network architecture has been recently proposed that can learn a third action-value head on a fixed dataset the same as for two-head net. Also, using the action-value head in Monte Carlo tree search (MCTS) improved the search efficiency. However, effectiveness of the three-head network has not been investigated in an AlphaZero style learning paradigm. In this paper, using the game of Hex as a test domain, we conduct an empirical study of the threehead network architecture in AlpahZero learning. We show that the architecture is also advantageous at the zero-style iterative learning. Specifically, we find that three-head network can induce the following benefits: (1) learning can become faster as search takes advantage of the additional action-value head; (2) better prediction results than two-head architecture can be achieved when using additional action-value learning as an auxiliary task.


Sunflower has great capacity for bridge the edible oil gap in Pakistan. It ranks second to soybean in worldwide vegetable oil production. A greenhouse experiment was performed in the research area of Department of Plant Breeding and Genetics, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad. Eleven (11) advanced lines along with Hysun-37 (Check) were evaluated under complete randomized design (CRD) replicated thrice for two water regimes and three harvestings at early developmental stage. Different morphological and physiological plant traits were recorded to find out genetic analysis of water stress tolerance in sunflower. Results for analysis of variance exhibited significantly differences among all sunflower genotypes for all the traits. Genotypes performed different under contrasting water regimes. Genotypes like A-25, A-50 and A-57 performed best under both normal and water stress condition due to increased shoot length, deep rooting pattern, increased number of root branches and possessing enormousmass of fresh and dry shoot and root traits. Presence of these enviable plant traits make them superior among all genotypes in comparison with hybrid variety. Correlation analysis indicated strong genotypic and phenotypic correlation between shoot length and shoot dry weight. Traits that possessed significant positive phenotypic correlation with shoot length were dry root weight and fresh root weight. Stress tolerant genotypes viz. A-25, A-50 and A-57 could be recommended for utilization in future sunflower breeding program and can be grown under water stress conditions for high yield.


Objective:  To show how the creation of a software tool and implementation of new processes improved the efficiency of syndromic surveillance onboarding at the Tennessee Department of Health. Introduction:  Syndromic surveillance is commonly supported by information generated from electronic health record (EHR) systems and sent to public health via standardized messaging. Before public health can receive syndromic surveillance information from an EHR, a healthcare provider must demonstrate reliable and timely generation of messages according to national standards. This process is known as onboarding. Onboarding at the Tennessee Department of Health (TDH) focused heavily on human review of HL7 messages. However, the visual inspection of messages was time-intensive and delayed efforts to provide constructive feedback to participating healthcare providers. To ease the quantity of manual review done during the onboarding process, TDH created an application to assist in the process of reviewing syndromic surveillance messages. Methods:  The application for reviewing syndromic surveillance messages was developed in Python 3.6, a general purpose programming language. Python was selected because of the strong libraries already developed in the language for data analysis, database interaction, and interacting with healthcare related data. To support TDH onboarding efforts, the application performed three tasks : file handling, HL7 processing, and database loading. File handling was completed using Python core libraries. Healthcare facilities participating in onboarding regularly uploaded test HL7 batch files containing all emergency department (ED) visits to a secure File Transfer Protocol (sFTP) server owned by the State of Tennessee. Files are then retrieved from the sFTP server and delivered to the TDH integration engine, Rhapsody. Rhapsody processes the incoming files and makes a copy available to the Python application. The copies are then loaded by the application into a database and backed up in an archive. After the application has finished handling the received files, the raw HL7 messages within the files are processed to extract relevant information needed to validate the message. The extraction was supported by the "python-hl7" library. The application referenced a CSV file with the names and locations of all of the PHIN 2.0 guide HL7 data elements to guide data processing. Processed HL7 fields and file metadata were then extracted into a relational database using the Python library SQL Alchemy. Conclusions:  The creation of this application has greatly assisted in the process of reviewing syndromic surveillance messages at TDH by automating data extraction and organization for all received HL7 messages. The database tables of extracted HL7 data elements allowed for easy analysis in any tool that can connect to a database (e.g., SAS, R, Python, Excel, Tableau) and faster, more manageable message validation. TDH has been able communicate better feedback to more healthcare providers because of the efficiencies gained after deploying the application.


Fatty acid hydroxylase-associated neurodegeneration (FAHN) is a rare disease that exhibits brain modifications and motor dysfunctions in early childhood. The condition is caused by a homozygous or compound heterozygous mutation in fatty acid 2 hydroxylase (FA2H), whose encoded protein synthesizes 2-hydroxysphingolipids and 2-hydroxyglycosphingolipids and is therefore involved in sphingolipid metabolism. A few FAHN model organisms have already been established and give the first insight into symptomatic effects. However, they fail to establish the underlying cellular mechanism of FAHN so far. Drosophila is an excellent model for many neurodegenerative disorders; hence, here, we have characterized and validated the first FAHN Drosophila model. The investigation of loss of dfa2h lines revealed behavioral abnormalities, including motor impairment and flying disability, in addition to a shortened lifespan. Furthermore, alterations in mitochondrial dynamics, and autophagy were identified. Analyses of patient-derived fibroblasts, and rescue experiments with human FA2H, indicated that these defects are evolutionarily conserved. We thus present a FAHN Drosophila model organism that provides new insights into the cellular mechanism of FAHN.


In this study, bovine serum albumin protein (BSA) was introduced to investigate the co-precipitation process of calcium phosphate and BSA on bioactivated Ti. Commercially pure titanium were bioactivated firstly, and then immersed in a highly supersaturated stable calcium phosphate (Ca-P) solution at three different conditions. The samples designated as Ti-C, Ti-C-CB, and Ti-C-B for control. The samples were evaluated by SEM with EDX, XRD and XPS. The co-precipitation of BSA protein and Ca-P influenced the morphology of the crystals of Ti-C-CB significantly. In terms of the immersion in the Ca-P solution containing BSA, the co-precipitation of Ca-P with BSA on the surface of Ti-C-CB was a chemical process rather than simple physical adsorption, which was most possibly achieved by the linkage of –COO− groups to Ca-P. Such coprecipitated interaction led to the formation of a tight, dense and uniform Ca-P coating.


Aneurysms are a disease that plagues mankind. Clinicians are in a difficult position when trying to gauge what action, if any, needs to be taken after a patient is found to have an aneurysm. Increasingly, doctors rely on computer simulations to determine the transient 3-D hemodynamics within the aneurysm sac. Specifically, ongoing research is being conducted to characterize aneurysms in order to develop criteria which predict high-risk factors leading to aneurysm rupture, using patient-specific geometries [1–4].Copyright © 2009 by ASME


The ability to detect potentially interacting agents in the surrounding environment is acknowledged to be one of the first perceptual tasks developed by humans, supported by the ability to recognise biological motion. The precocity of this ability suggests that it might be based on rather simple motion properties, and it can be interpreted as an atomic building block of more complex perception tasks typical of interacting scenarios, as the understanding of non-verbal communication cues based on motion or the anticipation of others' action goals. In this article, we propose a novel perspective for video analysis, bridging cognitive science and machine vision, which leverages the use of computational models of the perceptual primitives that are at the basis of biological motion perception in humans. Our work offers different contributions. In a first part, we propose an empirical formulation for the Two-Thirds Power Law, a well-known invariant law of human movement, and thoroughly discuss its readability in experimental settings of increasing complexity. In particular, we consider unconstrained video analysis scenarios, where, to the best of our knowledge, the invariant law has not found application so far. The achievements of this analysis pave the way for the second part of the work, in which we propose and evaluate a general representation scheme for biological motion characterisation to discriminate biological movements with respect to non-biological dynamic events in video sequences. The method is proposed as the first layer of a more complex architecture for behaviour analysis and human-machine interaction, providing in particular a new way to approach the problem of human action understanding.


A bioinspired approach for the syntheses of herqulines B and C is reported that takes advantage of an Ltyrosine-derived diketopiperazine, a mycocyclosin analog, as a synthetic precursor. The strategy relies on a series of consecutive reductions to adjust the mycocyclosin oxidation state to that observed in the herquline class of natural products. The strained and distorted L-tyrosine-based biaryl system characteristic for mycocyclosin is selectively converted to the 1,4-diketone structural motif common to the herqulines via initial hypervalent iodine-mediated dearomatization and a subsequent directed Birch reduction, enabled by an intramolecular H-source. The piperazine oxidation state is accessible in an iron-catalyzed reduction of the diketopiperazine precursor.


We study a novel class of non-singular time-symmetric cosmological bounces. In this class of four-dimensional models the bounce is induced by a perfect fluid with a negative energy density. Metric perturbations are solved in an analytic way all through the bounce. The conditions for generating a scale invariant spectrum of tensor and scalar metric perturbations are discussed.


Abstract An in situ high-temperature X-ray powder diffraction study of the thermal behavior of realgar (α-As4S4) has been carried out. Data, measured in transmission geometry on a non-hermetically sealed capillary, indicate that the realgar → β-As4S4 phase transition starts at 558 K and is completed at 573 K due to kinetics. Melting starts at 578 K and is completed at 588 K. Thermal expansion of realgar is significant and fairly isotropic. In fact, the a- and b-parameters expand almost at the same rate, whereas the c-parameter is slightly softer against heating. Moreover, the β-angle contracts as temperature is raised. The geometry of the As4S4 molecule is largely independent from heating. The lengthening of a few As-S and As-As contacts above or near the sum of the As,S van der Waals radii represents the driving force of the phase transition. In addition, the thermal behavior of arsenolite As2O3 and nonstoichiometric As8S8+x crystals produced from As4S4 melt recrystallization has been investigated. Two members located along the β-As4S4-alacranite (As8S9) series joint were identified at RT: a term close to the β-As4S4 end-member (As8S8+x+x: x = ca. 0.1) and one term of approximate As8S8.3 composition. The thermal expansion of β-As4S4 is significantly anisotropic following the αb > αa > αc relationship. This is clearly the result of the different packing scheme of the As4S4 cages in β-As4S4 with respect to realgar. The dependence of cell parameters and volume of As8S8.3 is more complicated. In fact, a strong discontinuity on the dependence of cell parameters and volume is observed in the 403-443 K thermal range, i.e., that at which As8S8.3 converts partly to realgar. A significant volume expansion is observed as a result of a change of composition to As8S8.7.


This paper aims to identify the factors enabling the bridging of digital divide and enhancing the quality of engineering research at Alfateh University through an effective ICT implementation. The authors study the global digital divide with emphasis on the Info-tech disparities between developed and African countries (including Libya) in relation to generalised rates of social and technological development. Also, investigate the relationship between the digital divide and Higher Education (HE) teaching and the current status of digital divide in Libya. It is obvious that an effective ICT implementation should focus on understanding individual faculty needs. Then a thorough investigation of the importance of implementation of electronic education at Libyan universities and the challenges and solutions of ICT implementation is performed. Stakeholders are advised to include faculty members in every step of the planning and implementation of up-to-date technologies.
This paper presents the factors that affect the Internet use by the staff members from Engineering Faculty at Alfateh Universit. A questionnaire is designed to find answers to the following research questions:
a. What are the patterns of internet use of faculty members?
b. What are the main purposes for using internet resources?
c. How does the internet affect research and teaching?


The Paleozoic stratigraphic succession in the Catalonian Coastal Ranges spans the interval from Cambrian(?) to Carboniferous, with only one break, separating the pre-Carboniferous part of the sequence from the Carboniferous. The oldest rocks exposed form a sequence of schists, fine grained sandstones, gneisses (laminar pre-Hercynian intrusions), marbles, ortoand para-amphibolites and calcsilicate rocks. comparison with other localities iuggests an Early Cambrian age (or perhaps in part older). Upwards the sequence becomes more monotonous andconsists only of schists (or slates where themetamorphic grade is lower) and thin fine-grained sandstone layers (CambrianOrdovician). Still higher in the sequence, an altemation of greywackes and slates is found, with interlayered mud-supported conglomerates at its lower part and acid volcanic rocks which occur throughout the whole sequence. This part of the sequence has provided the oldest faunas known in the Catalonian Coastal Ranges, which indicate the Caradoc. Finally, in its uppermost part, the Ordovician sequence contains some thin limestone layers that contain Ashgill faunas. The Silurian, from Llandovery to Lower Ludlow, consists of black graptolitic shales with dolerite sills, whilst the upper Ludlow, Pridolian and Devonian consist of nodular limestones and marls withpelagic and hemipelagic faunas. The youngest Devonian faunas found correspond in general to the Emsian. The existence of a gap at this point of the sequence suggests the possibility that part of the Devonian could have been eroded. The Carboniferous is characterized by a thick culm sequence (Visean to Westphalian?), resting on thin chert and limestone layers (Tournaisian and Visean). A comparison with neighbouring areas shows a similarity regarding succession and facies with other Paleozoic massifs around the Western Mediterranean.


We present findings of the first mesoscale study linking
larval fish assemblages and water masses along shelf
waters off south-eastern Australia (southern Queensland-
New South Wales), based on vertical, non-depth
discriminate data from surveys in October 2002 and
2003 (spring) and July 2004 (winter). Clustering and
ordination were employed to discriminate between
larval assemblages and, for the first time, to define
water masses from water column temperature frequencies.
Surveys yielded 18 128 larval fishes comprising
143 taxa from 96 identifiable families, with
small pelagics accounting for 53% of the total. Three
major recurrent larval assemblages were identified
during the study, each of which matched one of three
water masses, namely East Australian Current to the
north (EAC; 20.5–23.4C), Tasman Sea to the south
(TAS; 14.8–17.5C), and mixed EAC–TAS water in
between (MIX; 18.3–19.9C). All three assemblages
were present in spring, whereas only EAC and MIX
occurred in the more northerly constrained winter
survey. Furthermore, boundaries between the EAC,
MIX and TAS assemblages were found to be dynamic,
with locations shifting temporally and spatially
depending on EAC extent. Assemblage composition
differed significantly between water masses across
surveys, with EAC–TAS being most dissimilar. Such
contrast was due to the presence of tropical ⁄temperate
taxa in EAC, primarily temperate-associated taxa in
TAS, and a combination of EAC–TAS taxa within
MIX consistent with the convergence of both waters.
Results highlight the strength of employing larval
assemblages as indicators of water masses, particularly
in view of the potential effect of climate change on
spawning habitats of shelf fishes.


The overall aim of this study was to test the validity and the practical usefulness of the Stalking Assessment and Management checklist (SAM) within the police. Police officers in two police counties in Sweden were trained in using the Stalking Assessment and Management checklist (Kropp, Hart, & Lyon, 2007) in real-life cases of reported stalking during the period May 2005 to December 2006 (N = 230). Results showed that the SAM was easy to code for the police, since there were very few cases of missing information coded by the police. Most importantly, the validity of the SAM was found to be very strong in terms of a strong correlation between factors included in the SAM and the degree of risk assessed by the police officers. The more SAM risk factors coded by the police officers concerning the alleged perpetrators, the higher the risk assessed for repeated stalking and violence. The same results were found concerning victim vulnerability factors. Those victims that were assessed to be at higher risk than others generally had more of the SAM victim vulnerability factors. We conclude that the SAM seems to be a valid and useful tool for use by law enforcement professionals in cases of alleged stalking.


Sociocultural transformations brought about by indigenous leaders in Amazonia have been described as prophetic, millenaristic, or messianic and contrasted with modern reformism. This article addresses new ways of describing processes of change negotiated among indigenous actors. Although these processes are mostly absent from colonial or later sources, they should not remain foreign to ethnology, as the three empirical cases analyzed in this essay show. Methodologically, the essay asks why the regulatory image of Rousseau's small community, meeting face to face to express the general will, has never had the same impact in the anthropological imagination as that of the "noble savage." Thematically, these case studies raise the question of how peace is made and suggest that, while peacemaking demands "magic," the invocation of extrahuman powers, the social forms and values on which peace is based are contained as objective possibilities in the present. Making peace actual requires creative choices.


This is the report of the twenty-second of a series of workshops organised by the European Centre for the Validation of Alternative Methods (ECVAM). ECVAM's main goal, as defined in 1993 by its Scientific Advisory Committee, is to promote the scientific and regulatory acceptance of alternative methods which are of importance to the biosciences and which reduce, refine or replace the use of laboratory animals. One of the first priorities set by ECVAM was the implementation of procedures which would enable it to become well-informed about the state-of-the-art of non-animal test development and validation, and the potential for the possible incorporation of alternative tests into regulatory procedures. It was decided that this would be best achieved by the organisation of ECVAM workshops on specific topics, at which small groups of invited experts would review the current status of various types of in vitro tests and their potential uses, and make recommendations about the best ways forward (1). The workshop on Pharmacokinetics in Early Drug Research was held in Bath, UK, on 27–29 March 1996, under the co-chairmanship of David Leahy (ZENECA Pharmacokinetics in Early Drug Research


For more than a decade composite materials have been used by pipeline operators to repair damaged pipelines. To validate the performance of composite repair materials, numerous research programs have been conducted. The recent introduction of standards such as ASME PCC-2 and ISO 24817 have provided industry with guidance in using composite materials concerning factors such as the minimum required repair thickness, recommended performance tests, and qualification guidance. Up until now, operators have developed individual requirements for how composite materials can be used and under what circumstances their use is deemed acceptable. To compliment these internal guidance standards, several operators have elected to conduct independent investigations to evaluate the benefits derived in using composite materials for reinforcing specific anomalies such as gouges, dents, girth welds, and wrinkle bends. This paper provides insights that can be used by operators in evaluating the use of composite materials in repairing damaged pipelines with an emphasis on incorporating the current industry standards.© 2010 ASME


Background: Persons at risk for familial Alzheimer disease (FAD) provide a model in which biomarkers can be studied in presymptomatic disease. Methods: Twenty-one subjects at risk for presenilin-1 (n = 17) or amyloid precursor protein (n = 4) mutations underwent evaluation with the Clinical Dementia Rating (CDR) scale. We obtained plasma from all subjects and CSF from 11. Plasma (Aβ40, Aβ42, F2-isoprostanes) and CSF (F2-isoprostanes, t-tau, p-tau181, Aβ40, Aβ42, and Aβ42/Aβ40 ratio) levels were compared between FAD mutation carriers (MCs) and noncarriers (NCs). Results: Plasma Aβ42 levels (25.1 pM vs 15.5 pM, p = 0.031) and the ratio of Aβ42/Aβ40 (0.16 vs 0.11, p = 0.045) were higher in presymptomatic MCs. Among MCs, those with CDR scores of 0.5 had lower plasma Aβ42 levels than those with CDR scores of 0 (14.1 pM vs 25.1, p = 0.02). The ratio of Aβ42 to Aβ40 was also reduced in the CSF (0.08 vs 0.15, p = 0.046) of nondemented MCs compared to NCs. Total CSF tau and p-tau181 levels were elevated in presymptomatic FAD MCs. CSF levels of F2-isoprostanes were also elevated in MCs (n = 7, 48.6 pg/mL) compared to NCs (n = 4, 21.6 pg/mL, p = 0.031). Conclusions: Our data indicate that Aβ42 is elevated in plasma in familial Alzheimer disease (FAD) mutation carriers (MCs) and suggests that this level may decrease with disease progression prior to the development of overt dementia. We also demonstrated that the ratio of Aβ42 to Aβ40 was reduced in the CSF of nondemented MCs and that elevations of t-tau and p-tau181 are sensitive indicators of presymptomatic disease. Our finding of elevated F2-isoprostane levels in the CSF of preclinical FAD MCs suggests that oxidative stress occurs downstream to mismetabolism of amyloid precursor protein.


Fiber-reinforced polymer composite materials are fast gaining ground as preferred materials for construction of aircrafts and space crafts. In particular, their use as primary structural materials in recent years in several technology-demonstrator front-line aerospace projects world-wide has provided confidence leading to their acceptance as prime materials for aerospace vehicles. This paper gives a review of some of these developments with a discussion of the problems with the present generation composites and prospects for further developments. Although several applications in the aerospace vector are mentioned, the emphasis of the review is on applications of composites as structural materials where they have seen a significant growth in usage. A brief review of composites usage in aerospace sector is first given. The nature of composite materials behaviour and special problems in designing and working with them are then highlighted. The issues discussed relate to the impact damage and damage tolerance in general, environmental degradation and long-term durability.


Apart from the huge efforts made to develop an embryo in-vitro, the embryologist is faced with an even bigger task to choose an embryo from a cohort that will produce pregnancy. Selecting a single viable one is often a challenge to the embryologists and clinicians involved. This is because the one that is selected may determine outcome of the cycle. It is not in the embryologist interest to choose an unhealthy embryo that will allow patients suffer emotionally or financially. A responsible professional often seeks way to select embryo that will make a baby. There are several methods that have been introduced for this purpose since the birth of Louis Brown in 1978. These methods include the traditional embryo morphology grading system, newer technologies like time lapse monitoring, pre-implantation genetic screening metabolomics, proteomics and transcriptomics. There are conflicting claims that these newer technologies are superior to the morphology grading system. This paper however, advocates for a holistic system that is capable of analyzing all the pathways in an embryo to provide a general health picture. Newer technologies for embryo selection and the traditional embryo grading system in its present form have not achieved 100% accuracy in selecting a single embryo. Research into a holistic system capable of selecting a single embryo will be ideal and better driven by a translational research team that will provide an interdisciplinary and multifrontier approach. We have described here an elementary version of such a system with the hope that it simplicity, rapid turnaround time and cost effectiveness will encourage it application in IVF. This diagnostic platform may be developed for use in IVF laboratory in the future to select the most appropriate embryo.


A novel 2D position-sensitive semiconductor detector concept has been developed employing resistive electrodes in a single-sided silicon microstrip sensor. The resistive charge division method has been implemented reading out each strip at both ends, in order to get the second coordinate of an ionizing event along the strips length. Two generations of prototypes, with different layout, have been produced and characterized using a pulsed near infra-red laser. The feasibility of the resistive charge division method in silicon microstrip detectors has been demonstrated and the possibility of single-chip readout of the device has been investigated. Experimental data were compared with the theoretical expectations and the electrical simulation of the sensor equivalent circuit coupled to simple electronics readout circuits. The agreement between experimental and simulation results validates the developed simulation as a tool for the optimization of future sensor prototypes.


The fossil-related contents in 18 textbooks of Earth Science I, II published according to the sixth high school curriculum are investigated. For this study, the comments, drawings and scales, geologic ages, and explanations about fossils in the textbooks are analyzed. As the results of this study, there is much discrepancy in fossil-related terms and little explanation about fossils. There are also some errors on the geologic ages, explanations, drawings and scale of fossils in textbooks. The results of this study should be used as a reference for science textbook publishing, science curriculum developing, and effective teaching in the high school.


This paper describes a sensor-based middleware for performance monitoring and data integration in the grid that is capable of self-management. The middleware unifies both system and application monitoring in a single system, storing various types of monitoring and performance data in decentralized storages, and providing a uniform interface to access that data. We have developed event-driven and demand-driven sensors to support rule-based monitoring and data integration. Grid service-based operations and TCP-based data delivery are exploited to balance tradeoffs between interoperability, flexibility and performance. Peer-to-peer features have been integrated into the middleware, enabling self-managing capabilities, supporting group-based and automatic data discovery, data query and subscription of performance and monitoring data.


The system performance of electrostatic precipitator systems depends heavily on the type and properties of the high voltage power supply. Switched mode type power supplies like IGBT inverters have been proven very beneficial for that purpose during the last decade in many applications. It has even been possible to increase the electrical power significantly, in many applications a factor of 2 can be achieved, which leads to a significant improvement of the dust collection performance. Additionally, the energy efficiency of the precipitation process becomes more important. With the switched mode power supply technology both, collection, and energy efficiency can be improved. Unfortunately, it is very difficult and unreliable to estimate the potential of improvement in advance of the equipment modernization. There are a high number of relevant process variables and uncertainties which cause the theoretical results to being unreliable. Therefore, the practical and reliable determination of the possible improvements requires a trial installation of the entire high voltage power supply equipment on site and accurate analysis of the measured data. The proposed solution suggests a mobile self contained trial unit, which can be connected easily to any existing electrostatic precipitator installations to run the tests and prove efficiencies in a real environment


The immunohistological evaluation of kidney biopsies is essential for the diagnosis of inflammatory lesions caused by immunological processes. It enables the differentiation between glomerulonephritis caused by the action of antibodies against glomerular basement membrane (autoimmune-glomerulonephritis) and glomerulonephritis caused by deposition of circulating immune complexeses. The larger group of immunecomplex-glomerulonephritides can further be differentiated behalf of the topography of immunoglobulin and complement deposits within the glomerulus. Some immunohistological findings correlate with histologically characterized glomerulonephritides (acute postinfectious, perimembranous, membrano-proliferative glomerulonephritis, dense deposits disease). Morphologically similar glomerular lesions e.g. autoimmune-glomerulonephritis, immune-complex-glomerulonephritis or IgA-nephropathy can be characterized according to their underlying immunopathogenesis. Since immunopathological lesions may occur at a time when histologically no or only minimal lesions are evident, as e.g. in perimembranous glomerulonephritis or in early stages of lupus nephritis immunohistological examinations should be performed as early as possible. Later in the course of glomerulonephritis secondary phenomena like nonspecific insudations of immunoglobulins or complement factors make interpretations difficult. Besides the definition of immunopathogenesis immunohistological examinations may lead to answer etiological and therefore therapeutical questions by the detection of antigens within immune complexes.


Singularities of robot manipulators have been intensely studied in the last
decades by researchers of many fields. Serial singularities produce some local loss of
dexterity of the manipulator, therefore it might be desirable to search for singularityfree
trajectories in the jointspace. On the other hand, parallel singularities are very
dangerous for parallel manipulators, for they may provoke the local loss of platform
control, and jeopardize the structural integrity of links or actuators. It is therefore
utterly important to avoid parallel singularities, while operating a parallel machine.
Furthermore, there might be some configurations of a parallel manipulators that are
allowed by the constraints, but nevertheless are unreachable by any feasible path.
The present work proposes a numerical procedure based upon Morse theory,
an important branch of differential topology. Such procedure counts and identify the
singularity-free regions that are cut by the singularity locus out of the configuration
space, and the disjoint regions composing the configuration space of a parallel
manipulator. Moreover, given any two configurations of a manipulator, a feasible or
a singularity-free path connecting them can always be found, or it can be proved that
none exists.
Examples of applications to 3R and 6R serial manipulators, to 3UPS and
3UPU parallel wrists, to 3UPU parallel translational manipulators, and to 3RRR
planar manipulators are reported in the work.


Background/introduction While sexual activity, including partner change, is known to continue throughout the life course, there is a paucity of qualitative evidence on how adults over 45 years engage with risk for sexually transmitted infections (STIs), limiting the scope for effective health promotion among this age group. Aims/objectives The research aimed to explore older adults' sexual risk-taking behaviour within the context of sexuality in later life. Methods A qualitative in-depth study involving 31 interviews with middle aged heterosexual men and women aged 45 to 65, recruited from sexual health clinic and community settings. Results Vulnerability to STI risk emerged around key life course transitions, including following divorce, separation and bereavement. Some spoke enthusiastically of embracing sexual freedom and pleasure within a perceived changed culture, resulting in frequent partner change; however, many found themselves 're-engaging' with their sexual careers within an unfamiliar gendered landscape. Lacking an (ageing) body confidence led to the prioritisation of intimacy over STI risk; condoms were viewed as being for birth control and therefore mostly unnecessary, or linked with casual sex and lack of trust. STIs were commonly considered to be a young person's concern. Discussion/conclusions Information provision alone will not be enough to counter the complexities of navigating the dramatically different sexual landscape these older adults find themselves within compared to their youth, particularly those who have emerged from long-term relationships. A separately focussed approach to STI prevention taking account of life course experience, ageing and cultural change is advocated.


Cancer cell-derived exosomes have recently been implicated in contributing to metastasis. It is expectable that specific membrane trafficking factors would participate in the regulation of exosome formation, transport and release from cells. Recent investigations have revealed certain members belonging to the SNARE, sorting factor and Rab GTPase protein families as being crucial in governing the exosome life cycle. These trafficking components have therefore been primed as new targets potentially modulating cancer progression. This mini-review is focused on the involvement of membrane trafficking components in regulating exosome-related transport and signaling, and in turn influencing clinical outcomes in cancer.


PURPOSE
To analyze whether plasma rich in growth factors (PRGFs) eye drops preserve their activity and biological properties after storage for 9 and 12 months at -20°C, and at 4°C, and at room temperature (RT) for 3 and 7 days in comparison to fresh samples (t0).

METHODS
PRGF eye drops were obtained from 6 healthy donors. Then, they were stored for 9 and 12 months at -20°C. At each time, different PRGF eye drops samples were thawed and maintained at RT or at 4°C for 3 and 7 days. Platelet-derived growth factor-AB, epidermal growth factor, transforming growth factor-β1, vascular endothelial growth factor, angiopoietin-1, and thrombospondin-1 were analyzed at each time and temperature of storage. In addition, the pH level, the microbial contamination, and the proliferative potential on primary human corneal stromal fibroblasts human keratocytes of each obtained PRGF eye drops were also evaluated.

RESULTS
All growth factor levels were preserved at each time and storage condition. No differences were observed on the human keratocytes proliferation after treatment with PRGF eye drops at any studied time or temperature. No microbial contamination was observed in any of the PRGF eye drops. Finally, the pH levels increased significantly after 9 and 12 months of storage at -20°C compared with t0.

CONCLUSIONS
PRGF eye drops can be stored for up to 12 months without reduction of the main growth factors and proteins and without any microbial contamination. Furthermore, the biological activity of the PRGF eye drops is maintained after storing for 3 and 7 days at 4°C or at RT.


Human nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (nAChR) α7 subunits were stably and heterologously expressed in native nAChR-null SH-EP1 human epithelial cells. Immunofluorescence staining shows α7 subunit protein expression in virtually every transfected cell. Microautoradiographic analysis identifies 125I-labeled α-bungarotoxin (I-Bgt) binding sites corresponding to human α7 (hα7)-nAChRs on the surface of most cells. I-Bgt binds to hα7-nAChRs in membrane fractions with a typical apparent KD value of ∼5 nM and Bmax value of ∼1 pmol/mg membrane protein, and 62% of these sites are expressed on the cell surface. Function of heterologously expressed hα7-nAChRs is evident as rapid, transient inward current responses to (–)-nicotine. Nicotine treatment of transfected cells produces dose- and time-dependent increases (up to ∼100%) in numbers of I-Bgt binding sites. Epibatidine is a useful ligand for studies of nAChRs containing α3 or α4 subunits (KD values of about 100 or 10 pM, respectively). hα7-nAChRs expressed in transfected SH-EP1 cells also exhibit picomolar affinity binding of 3H-labeled epibatidine (KD value of ∼0.6 nM). Studies of several forms of native or heterologously expressed rat or human α7-nAChRs confirm high-affinity and mutually exclusive interaction with both epibatidine and α-bungarotoxin. Rank order potencies for drugs acting to compete for binding of either radioligand are similar (methyllycaconitine > dimethylphenyl-piperazinium > nicotine ∼ cytisine > carbamylcholine ∼ d-tubocurarine). These results demonstrate that transfected SH-EP1 cells are excellent models for studies of heterologously expressed, human α7-nAChRs that exhibit ligand binding and functional properties like native α7-nAChRs and that epibatdine is useful as a probe for human α7-nAChRs.


In this paper, a new three-dimensional time-domain method for solving vector Maxwell's equations, called the precise-integration time-domain (PITD) algorithm, is proposed in order to eliminate the Courant-Friedrich-Levy (CFL) condition restraint. The new algorithm is based on the precise-integration technique. It is shown that this method is quite stable even when the CFL condition is not satisfied. Although the memory requirement of the PITD method is much larger than that of the finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) method, this new algorithm is very appealing since the time step used in the simulation is no longer restricted by stability. As a result, computation speed can be improved. Therefore, if the minimum cell size in the computational domain is required to be much smaller than the wavelength, this new algorithm is more efficient than the FDTD scheme. Theoretical proof of the unconditional stability is shown and numerical results are presented to demonstrate the effectiveness and efficiency of the method. It is found that the accuracy of the PITD is independent of the time-step size.


This paper describes about cold plastic forming of ABS plastic pipe. Experiment and Finite element method (FEM) analysis of pipe expansion process were operated. The application of ABS plastic pipe for air conditioner is under consideration instead of metal pipe in Japan because of weight saving of air conditioner for lowering the gravity point against earthquake. The parts of ABS plastic pipe is generally produced by injection molding. The processes need the cooling time, and it takes much time. In addition, expensive mold die is needed for each application. Thus, cold plastic forming of ABS plastic pipe was proposed. The cold plastic forming of ABS plastic pipe chosen for this study is hardly studied by other authors. Product ability of cold plastic forming is higher than the injection molding or hot working. And the punch and die shape is simple comparing to these process. In this study, pipe expansion process was operated. The ABS plastic pipe has a 10 mm diameter and 8mm inner diameter and 1 mm thickness. At first, true stress and true strain curves at any strain rate were measured by ring compression test. Obtained flow stresses was used to FEM analysis. Experimental device for pipe expansion process was made by Dip Inc.. Objective inner diameter was 10 mm. FEM analysis was operated to clarify the deformation behavior such as load-stroke diagram. It was possible to produce the expanded ABS pipe. The whitening of worked pipe and strain recovery was observed. Analysis result was indicated the good agreement comparing to experimental result in load-stroke diagram.


Chinese women's writing is rich and abundant, although not well known in the West. Despite the brutal wars and political upheavals that ravaged twentieth-century China, the ranks of women in the literary world increased dramatically. This anthology introduces English language readers to a comprehensive selection of Chinese women poets from both the mainland and Taiwan. It spans the early 1920s and the era of Republican China's literary renaissance through the end of the twentieth century. The collection includes 245 poems by forty poets in elegant English translations, as well as an extensive introduction that surveys the history of contemporary Chinese women's poetry. Brief biographical headnotes introduce each poet, from Bin Xin, China's preeminent woman poet in the early Republican period, to Rongzi, a leading poet of modern Taiwan. The selections are startling, moving, and wide-ranging in mood and tone. Together they present an enticing palette of delightful, elegant, playful, lyric, and tragic poetry.


SETH GARFIELD: In Search of the Amazon: Brazil, the United States and the Nature of a Region. Durham: Duke University Press, 2013.


Political borders profoundly influence outcomes central to international politics. Accordingly, a growing literature shows that historical boundaries affect important macro-outcomes such as patterns of interstate disputes and trade. To explain these findings, existing theories posit that borders have persistent effects on individual-level behavior, but the literature lacks empirical evidence of such effects. Combining spatial data on centuries of border changes in Europe with a wide range of contemporary survey evidence, we show that historical border changes have persistent effects on two of the most politically significant aspects of behavior: individuals' political and social trust. We demonstrate that in areas where borders frequently changed, individuals are, on average, less trusting of others as well as their governments. We argue that this occurs because border changes disrupt historical state-building processes and limit the formation of interpersonal social networks, which leads to lower levels of trust.