To identify the barriers to social inclusion that Afghan youth encounter in Toronto, semi-structured interviews were conducted with six Afghan youth—three male and three female participants. The data revealed that participants shared (1) experiences of cultural and religious limitations, (2) language barriers, (3) being subjected to discriminatory attitudes, and (4) family responsibilities. Based on theories of Social Exclusion, Social Inclusion, and Social Identity, it was concluded that Afghan youth currently live as marginalized members of Canadian society where their participation in prominent fields such as education, employment, and recreation are limited.


Narrative therapy is a form of therapeutic intervention underpinned by a philosophy of language proposing that meaning is socially constructed through language. Power relations and social and personal contexts are understood as central to the construction of meaning. Narrative therapy represents an approach to therapeutic practice that assumes that people experience problems in their lives when the dominant stories, which they or others have constructed of their lives, do not sufficiently represent their lived experience. In this article we provide an exposition of narrative therapy, its philosophical influences and key processes. We demonstrate key tenets in action via a psychoeducational intervention attempting to facilitate positive body image with a team of 15 elite young women athletes. Anonymous, written, evaluative feedback of the seven-session program suggests a generally positive outcome. Narrative therapy can be a useful addition to the repertoire of clinical skills of sport psychologists.


The human concentrative nucleoside transporter 2 (CNT2) plays an important role in the absorption, disposition, and biological effects of endogenous nucleosides and nucleoside analog drugs. We identified genetic variation in the basal promoter region of CNT2 and characterized the function of the variants. We screened DNA from an ethnically diverse population and identified five basal promoter variants in CNT2. Three major haplotypes in the CNT2 basal promoter region were identified and were found at different allele frequencies in various ethnic groups. The common promoter variants and haplotypes were constructed and characterized for their promoter activity using luciferase reporter assays. One polymorphic variant, rs2413775 (-146T>A), with an allele frequency >20% in all populations, showed a gain of function in luciferase activity. Furthermore, in vivo mouse promoter assays of these nucleotide variants using the hydrodynamic tail vein injection, leading to their expression in the liver, demonstrated similar results. Transcription factor binding site (TFBS) analysis indicated this variant alters a hepatic nuclear factor (HNF) 1 TFBS. Electrophoretic mobility shift assay demonstrated stronger binding of HNF1α and weaker binding of HNF1β to the -146T and -146A regions, whereas the single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP), -146A, exhibited enhanced binding to both HNF1α and HNF1β, consistent with its greater activity in reporter assays. The data collectively suggest that the common variant, -146T>A, in the proximal promoter of CNT2 may result in an enhanced transcription rate of the gene and, thus, expression levels of CNT2. This SNP may play a role in variation in the pharmacokinetics and pharmacological effects of nucleoside analogs.


This thesis is an historical study of the development and the relationships between some aspects of colour printing in New Zealand from 1830 to 1914, including the practitioners, the technology and the products, in the context of printing in New Zealand beginning as a largely British inheritance, but within an Australasian setting. A review of the printing history literature has shown that there have been relatively few works in the English language devoted specifically to the history of colour printing. Much of the literature bearing on the topic in relation to British colour printing history deals with specialized aspects such as colour plate books or technical processes. There has been no previous specific scholarly study of New Zealand colour printing history. The research for this aspect of thesis has been in the nature of exploratory work. An historical methodology was employed to approach the gathering and analysis of data from a wide array of sources, both secondary and primary. A theoretical framework suitable to an academic historical study, of which history' of print culture is a part, has been developed using the new model proposed by Thomas R. Adams and Nicolas Barker (1993) as an appropriate foundation framework. This model shows the phases of the 'book cycle', publication, manufacture, distribution, reception and survival, as being central to the whole socio-economic conjuncture. The paradigm developed for the present study is based on the section of the framework relating to the manufacture or production phase, using themes that emerged from the literature to facilitate analysis and explanation of New Zealand patterns and relationships with comparison to British colour printing history. Within this setting more detailed study was made of some of the colour printers. Especially those of the lower North Island, including a case study of the Wanganui firm of A.D. Willis where colour printing was a specialty. A genre study of special numbers from the New Zealand weeklies has also been presented. Rather than attempting to provide a definitive colour printing history the research has provided an interpretive thematic study that has aimed to increase understanding of some aspects of New Zealand colour printing history, and accordingly, responses to research questions have been tentative. It was found that although colour printing practice continued with strong ties to the British craft' from the beginning, new relationships were being forged particularly with the neigbouring Australian colonies whence immigrant printers and lithographers were arriving. After local lithographic colour printing had begun to develop in New Zealand in the eighteen sixties, in the period to 1914 local printers were found to have used colour in diverse ways, especially in the context of jobbing printing, chiefly to produce letterpress and lithographic items. The later New Zealand photomechanical colour methods developed within these styles. By the end of the nineteenth century, New Zealand colour printers were following international trends, and more influence was arriving from America, but such trends were still chiefly coming to New Zealand via Britain and Australia, although in a technical sense, New Zealand was generally in a following position. After the eighteen sixties colour printers were found to have been in business in all the main centres of New Zealand, and in some of the smaller centres. It was apparent that many of the global and technological factors that had driven colour printing were common to both Britain and New Zealand, but that local conditions had also been important. Although print products tailored to local demand and often featuring local images had been produced using a variety of available technologies in each place, limiting factors present in New Zealand, particularly its isolation from the larger markets coupled with a small local population, had dictated that colour was appearing from colonial printers in a more circumscribed way than was the case in Britain. In the main, New Zealand colour printers appear to have responded to marketplace differences by choosing appropriate genre and cutting format costs.


In contrast to non-associating liquids such as oils or organic solvents, whose viscosity diverges when they are confined by solid surfaces to films thinner than about ten molecular diameters, recent studies reveal that salt-free water remains fluid, with a viscosity close to its bulk value, even when confined to films down to only one or two monolayers thick. For the case of high concentration aqueous salt solutions compressed down to subnanometre films between confining planar surfaces, the hydration sheaths about the ions (trapped between the oppositely charged surfaces) also remain extremely fluid: this behaviour is attributed to the tenacity of water molecules in the hydration layers together with their rapid relaxationlexchange time. Related experiments on highly compressed, polyelectrolyte brushes in aqueous media reveal a remarkable lubricity which is in large measure attributed to similar hydration layers about the charged segments: this water of hydration strongly resists being squeezed out, but at the same time it may rapidly exchange with adjacent water molecules, thereby remaining quite fluid and acting as a molecular lubricant.


A suite of complementary techniques was used to examine germanium (Ge), a byproduct critical element, and co-substituent trace elements in ZnS and mine wastes from four mineral districts where germanium is, or has been, produced within the United States. This contribution establishes a comprehensive workflow for characterizing Ge and other trace elements, which captures the full heterogeneity of samples through extensive pre-characterization. This process proceeded from optical microscopy, to scanning electron microscopy and cathodoluminescence (CL) imaging, to electron microprobe analysis, prior to synchrotron-based investigations. Utilizing non-destructive techniques enabled reanalysis, which proved essential for verifying observations and validating unexpected results. In cases where the Fe content was <0.3 wt% in ZnS, cathodoluminescence imaging proved to be an efficient means to qualitatively identify trace element zonation that could then be further explored by other micro-focused techniques. Micro-focused X-ray diffraction was used to map the distribution of the non-cubic ZnS polymorph, whereas micro-focused X-ray fluorescence (μ-XRF) phase mapping distinguished between Ge4+ hosted in primary ZnS and a weathering product, hemimorphite [Zn4Si2O7(OH)2·H2O]. Microprobe data and μ-XRF maps identified spatial relationships among trace elements in ZnS and implied substitutional mechanisms, which were further explored using Ge and copper (Cu) X-ray absorption near-edge spectroscopy (XANES). Both oxidation states of Ge (4+ and 2+) were identified in ZnS along with, almost exclusively, monovalent Cu. However, the relative abundance of Ge oxidation states varied among mineral districts and, sometimes, within samples. Further, bulk XANES measurements typically agreed with micro-focused XANES (μ-XANES) spectra, but unique micro-environments were detected, highlighting the importance of complementary bulk and micro-focused measurements. Some Ge μ-XANES utilized a high energy resolution fluorescence detector, which improved spectral resolution and spectral signal-to-noise ratio. This detector opens new opportunities for exploring byproduct critical elements in complex matrices. Overall, the non-destructive workflow employed here can be extended to other byproduct critical elements to more fully understand fundamental ore enrichment processes, which have practical implications for critical element exploration, resource quantification, and extraction.


What are the "cognitive after-effects" of making a similarity judgement? What, cognitively, is left behind and what effect might these residues have on subsequent processing? In this paper, we probe for such after-effects using a visual search task, performed after a task in which pictures of real-world objects were compared. So, target objects were first presented in a comparison task (e.g., rate the similarity of this object to another) thus, presumably, modifying some of their features before asking people to visually search for the same object in complex scenes (with distractors and camouflaged backgrounds). As visual search is known to be influenced by the features of target objects, then any aftereffects of the comparison task should be revealed in subsequent visual searches. Results showed that when people previously rated an object as being high on a scale (e.g., colour similarity or general similarity) then visual search is inhibited (slower RTs and more saccades in eyetracking) relative to an object being rated as low in the same scale. There was also some evidence that different comparison tasks (e.g., compare on colour or compare on general similarity) have differential effects on visual search.


An adaptive model algorithm for fire (flickering flame, in the infrared region) detection is presented. The model made use of a Pyro-electric infrared sensor (PIR)/Passive Infrared Detector (PID) for infrared fire detection. Sample analog signals (around flame flicker region) were generated and simulated within the framework of the modeled PIR sensor/PID. A Joint Time Frequency Analysis (JTFA) function, specifically the Discrete Wavelet Transform (DWT) was applied to model the Digital Signal Processing (DSP) of the generated signals. It was implemented as wavelet analyzer filters for "fire" and "non-fire" feature extraction. A Piecewise Modified Artificial Neural Network (PMANN) and the Intraclass Correlation Coefficient (ICC) were employed in the decision rule. The PMANN generated polynomials which analyzed and 'memorized' the signals from DSP. The ICC further categorized cases as 'fire' or 'non-fire' by comparing data from the PMANN analyzed. The results show that the model algorithm can be implemented in modern day fire detectors and be used to detect industrial hydrocarbon fires with fewer false alarms than smoke detectors or ultraviolet detectors.


The active development of nuclear power is an important strategic choice to achieve carbon peak and neutrality goals. It is an essential study to realize the economic operation of nuclear plants on the premise of ensuring the safety and reliability of nuclear power plants. Intelligent monitoring and maintenance technology is an important development tendency that can effectively improve the operation safety and maintenance economy of nuclear power plant. In this article, an intelligent monitoring and maintenance system of AP1000 significant equipment in Sanmen Nuclear Power Plant is developed based on the equipment operation mechanism and failure mode analysis by using advanced pattern recognition technologies including intelligent sensing, big data analysis, multidimensional spatio-temporal correlation condition monitoring and fault diagnosis technologies. It can realize online real-time equipment performance monitoring, automatic trend analysis, automatic health condition evaluation, early anomaly identification and automatic fault diagnosis of equipment in nuclear power plant and promote the transformation of maintenance mode from time-based maintenance to condition-based maintenance. The intelligent monitoring and maintenance system has been applied in various mechanical and electrical equipment of Sanmen Nuclear Power Plant such as reactor coolant pump, main steam turbine, main transformer, heat exchanger and achieved certain technical achievements and economic benefits. The construction of intelligent monitoring system has certain demonstration and popularization.


A thermo tolerant yeast Cryptococcus albidus was characterized for optimal production of liapse . The organism shown maximum production on 5th day of incubation. The optimum temperature for both production and activity was 500C and optimal pH was 6.5. Few metal ions like Ba2+, Ca2+, Mg2+ and Zn2+ enhanced the activity whereas Fe3+, Mn2+ and Zn2+ declined the enzyme action. The enzyme was characterized by some inhibitors and solvents; amongst inhibitors, β – mercapto ethanol and SDS had shown maximum inhibition where as amongst the solvents phenol and choloroform strongly repressed the activity. Different solid and liquid raw materials viz; oil cake, vegetable oils and ghee extraction waste were also studied for enzyme production.


Membranes are made by doping and modifying the Nafion117 with Nano-silica(SiO2). The penetration and the proton conductivity of composite membrane are studied through gas chromatograph and electrochemical workstation. With the help of cross-section spectrum, it shows that the SiO2 particles can penetrate the internal membrane and the weight percentage is greater than 0.1% after doping and modifying the membranes of Nafion117, so the SiO2 particles has a very good combination with the substrate. The membrane which is handled by Sol on 60°C has high proton conductivity and high water retention performance in high temperature. The permeability coefficient of membrane which is handled by Sol on 60°C and by the other ways are 4.07×10-4cm2/s and 8.13×10-4 cm2/s respectively. It shows that the permeability coefficient of ethanol membrane is reduced by half after the Nafion117 membrane is handled by Sol on 60°C.


Summary A technique for processing seismic data has been developed that provides a 'representative velocity' tomogram which may be interpreted in terms of the engineering properties of the subject rock mass. This transmission system is intended for use in cross-borehole surveys and has been successfully tested between sub-parallel mine roadways in a massive granite body. The velocities of compressional waves between numerous source and transducer locations are analysed, and the interactive character of the observations is used to build a two-dimensional array of computed 'representative velocities' appropriate to specific areas within the intervening rock mass. Evaluation of the processed data is undertaken using site-specific and more general rock mass classification systems. The processing is carried out on a CBM Pet microcomputer and the program is readily adaptable to most field configurations. The program also allows various mapping and influence parameters to be varied and optimized to obtain the best resolution of rock mass inhomogeneities. Fast Fourier transform routines for the calculation of the energy spectral density (and other frequency domain functions) of ground vibrations are also briefly discussed.


Firms' financial data vary considerably with the size of their operations. Such scale differences potentially confound several types of inferences, of which this paper analyzes three. This paper evaluates two potential solutions to these inference problems suggested by theory: (i) deflating the data by a proxy for scale; and (ii) including a scale proxy as an independent variable. First, simulations show that deflating the data more effectively mitigates coefficient bias than including that proxy as an independent variable. Reconciling this result with the opposing conclusion of Barth and Kallapur (1996, Contemporary Accounting Research) reveals that the prior results depend on assumptions that are both economically and statistically unreasonable. Second, deflation results in more accurate tests of incremental association in terms of mean squared error. Third, deflating by a scale proxy results in well-specified tests of relative association using Vuong's (1989) Z-statistic for non-nested models whereas including the scale proxy as an independent variable results in overstated significance. Given the additional advantages of deflation with respect to heteroscedasticity and the coefficient of determination (R) demonstrated in prior studies, researchers should generally deflate their models when scale differences exist in the data. JEL Classification: C51, G10, G38, M41


A novel bacterium, designated strain DL503T, was isolated from a Daqu sample and its taxonomic position determined using a polyphasic taxonomy. Strain DL503T was a Gram-stain-negative, facultatively anaerobic, non-sporulating, motile and coccoid-rod-shaped bacterium. Optimum growth occurred at 20-45 °C, pH 5.0-10.0 and 1.5 % (w/v) NaCl. Comparative analysis of the 16S rRNA gene sequence showed that the isolate belongs to the genus Franconibacter, showing highest levels of similarity with respect to Franconibacter pulveris JCM 16471T (98.94 %) and Franconibacter helveticus DSM 18396T (98.39 %). Cells contained the quinones Q-8 and MK-8, and the polar lipid profile consisted of a mixture of phosphatidylethanolamine, phosphatidylglycerol, diphosphatidylglycerol, three unidentified polar lipids and three unidentified amino lipids. The DNA G+C content was 53.3 mol% and the major fatty acids were C16 : 0, C17 : 0 cyclo, summed feature 3 (C16 : 1 ω7c and/or C16 : 1 ω6c), summed feature 4 (C17 : 1 iso I and/or C17 : 1 anteiso B) and summed feature 8 (C18 : 1 ω7c and/or C18 : 1 ω6c). The DNA-DNA relatedness values between strain DL503T and its close relatives, including F. pulveris JCM 16471T and F. helveticus DSM 18396T, were 51.5±0.5 % and 45.2±1.1 %, respectively. Based on phylogenetic analysis, phenotypic and genotypic data, it is concluded that the isolate represents a novel species of the genus Franconibacter, for which the name Franconibacter daqui sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is DL503T (=LMG 29914T=CGMCC 1.15944T).


SAE grade 5 U-bolts were used to fasten auxiliary dual wheels to the axles on a farm tractor. Under typical farm usage, the bolts are expected to have infinite life. However, several U-bolts made of 29 mm diam rod broke after less than 100 h of service. The bolt legs in which the failures occurred were all in the same position relative to the direction of wheel rotation. Visual examination showed the break was a fairly flat transverse fracture in the threaded section between the washer and the nut. The appearance of the fracture surfaces was characteristic of failure by low-cycle fatigue, with a smooth matte fatigue failure region showing beach marks and generally extending over about 40 to 60% of the fracture surface, which indicated severe overload. The point of initiation of fatigue was at the root of the last thread at the edge of the nut on the side toward this washer. The U-bolts fractured in fatigue because the bolt material had poor hardenability relative to the diam of the bolts. The bolt material was changed from 1045 steel to 1527 steel, a warm-finished low-alloy steel. The diameter of the bolts was reduced to 27.2 mm and the threads were rolled rather than cut.


Despite unmistakable evidence that incestuous parents rarely stop with one child, courts in the US and elsewhere routinely fail to protect an incest victim's siblings. Many courts simple deny that a parent's sex act with one child signals risk to others. But even those courts that acknowledge a sibling's risk reach wildly different results when confronting similar cases. Courts are split over whether a parent who molests his stepchild is equally likely to victimize biological offspring or whether a father who violates a daughter will also victimize sons. Courts reach such fundamentally different conclusions because they operate in a vacuum of sound evidence, without the benefit of expert testimony. This article argues that the substantial body of research about sexually exploited children and incestuous parents can aid courts to better gauge a sibling's risk. Because the first act of incest creates a corresponding risk of some - but not all - children in the family, this article argues in favor of a presumption of risk that offenders may rebut. It then examines whether a sibling's gender or genetic ties to the offender, or the offender's treatment, mitigate the threat and consequently should serve as a basis for rebutting the presumption. The article ultimately concludes the law can safeguard children from this threat of sexual exploitation only if guided by substantial evidence of how abusive families function.


This book investigates the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the health and well-being of Indigenous Peoples and assesses the policy responses taken by governments and Indigenous communities across the world. Bringing together innovative research and policy insights from a range of disciplines, this book investigates the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the health and well-being of Indigenous Peoples across the world, with coverage of North America, Central America, Africa, and Oceania. Further, it explores the actions taken by governments and Indigenous communities in addressing the challenges posed by this public health crisis. The book emphasises the social determinants of health and well-being, reflecting on issues such as self-governance, human rights law, housing, socioeconomic conditions, access to health care, culture, environmental deprivation, and resource extraction. Chapters also highlight the resilience and agency of Indigenous Peoples in combating the COVID-19 pandemic, despite the legacy of colonialism, patterns of systemic discrimination, and social exclusion. Providing concrete pathways for improving the conditions of Indigenous Peoples in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, this book is essential reading for researchers across indigenous studies, public health, and social policy. © 2023 selection and editorial matter, Nicholas D. Spence and Fatih Sekercioglu. All rights reserved.


The preparation and thermal, morphological, electrochemical and proton conducting properties analysis of new azolic copolymers based on 2-acrylamido-2-methyl-1-propanesulfonic acid (AMPS) and 5-(methacrylamido)tetrazole) (MTet) were performed throughout this work. MTet monomer, prepared by the reaction of methacryloyl chloride with 5-aminotetrazole, was copolymerized with AMPS via conventional free radical copolymerization at different monomer feed ratios to achieve poly(MTet-co-AMPS) copolymer membranes. The obtained copolymer membranes were analyzed by FTIR, 1H-NMR, thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), differantial scanning calorimetry (DSC), Elemental Analysis (EA), Cyclic Voltammetry (CV), and Impedance Spectroscopy. The composition of copolymers was determined via elemental analysis (EA). TGA demonstrated that the copolymer electrolyte membranes are thermally stable up to approximately 250°C. The appearance of a single Tg in the DSC curves verified the homogeneity of the membranes. CV curves demonstrated the oxidative stability of the samples in 3 V region. The methanol permeabilities of S1, S2 and S3 copolymers were determined as 1.60×10−9 mol cm−2 s−1, 2.71×10−9 mol cm−2 s−1 and 3.32×10−9 mol cm−2 s−1, respectively, which were comparable with that of Nafion 112 (1.89×10−9 mol cm−2 s−1). In the anhydrous conditions, the maximum proton conductivity was determined as 0.009 Scm−1 at 150°C for poly(MTet-co-AMPS) (S3). The proton conductivity and methanol permeability of poly(MTet-co-AMPS) copolymer membranes increased gradually with the increase of AMPS content. These results suggested that the poly(MTet-co-AMPS) copolymer membranes were particularly promising to be used as proton exchange membranes in PEMFCs.


This documentary and retrospective study aimed to analyze the profile of the clientele attended in the Psychosocial Care Center Alcohol and Other Drugs from Sobral, Ceará, Brazil in 2010, based on 300 records. Males predominated with 75% (n=225), with age ranging from 11 to 29 years old with 44.3% (n=133), single with 49% (n=147), and with elementary school 45.7% (n=137). The most commonly used drug among men was crack, 31.3% (n=94), and among women, tobacco, 12% (n=36). The losses associated with dependence, are mostly related to the family, with 31.3% (n=94). The highlight to crack requires changes in the care process implemented in institutions. One should remain alert to these new profiles related to chemical dependency, so that quality and integral care can be offered to this clientele.


Although new particle formation (NPF) events have been studied extensively for some decades, the mechanisms that drive their occurrence and development are yet to be fully elucidated. Laboratory studies have done much to elucidate the molecular processes involved in nucleation, but this knowledge has yet to be conclusively linked to NPF events in the atmosphere. There is great dif culty in successful application of the results from laboratory studies to real atmospheric conditions due to the diversity of atmospheric conditions and observations found, as NPF events occur almost everywhere in the world without always following a clearly de ned trend of frequency, seasonality, atmospheric conditions, or event development. The present study seeks common features in nucleation events by applying a binned linear regression over an extensive dataset from 16 sites of various types (combined dataset of 85 years from rural and urban backgrounds as well as roadside sites) in Europe. At most sites, a clear positive relation with the frequency of NPF events is found between the solar radiation intensity (up to R2 D 0:98), temperature (up to R2 D 0:98), and atmospheric pressure (up to R2 D 0:97), while relative humidity (RH) presents a negative relation (up to R2 D 0:95) with NPF event frequency, though exceptions were found among the sites for all the variables studied. Wind speed presents a less consistent relationship, which appears to be heavily affected by local conditions. While some meteorological variables (such as the solar radiation intensity Published by Copernicus Publications on behalf of the European Geosciences Union. 3346 D. Bousiotis et al.: Effect of meteorological conditions and atmospheric composition on NPF and RH) appear to have a crucial effect on the occurrence and characteristics of NPF events, especially at rural sites, it appears that their role becomes less marked at higher average values. The analysis of chemical composition data presents interesting results. Concentrations of almost all chemical compounds studied (apart from O3) and the condensation sink (CS) have a negative relationship with NPF event frequency, though areas with higher average concentrations of SO2 had higher NPF event frequency. Particulate organic carbon (OC), volatile organic compounds (VOCs), and particulatephase sulfate consistently had a positive relation with the growth rate of the newly formed particles. As with some meteorological variables, it appears that at increased concentrations of pollutants or the CS, their in uence upon NPF frequency is reduced.


Plane reinforced concrete (RC) elements are used in a large variety of structures. Their principal function is to carry forces that act in the plane of the element, but external actions and connections to other structural elements generally introduce additional out-of-plane forces. In practice, the design of such elements is often performed in a simplified manner, neglecting the interaction between these different internal forces. However, especially for existing structures the need for more precise and kinematically consistent analysis tools arises. This thesis provides novel tools based on the elastic-plastic stress field (EPSF) method to investigate the interaction between in-plane and out-of-plane forces in plane RC elements in general and the effect of transverse bending on the longitudinal shear resistance of beams in particular. A multi-layered (ML) EPSF approach is developed. Applied to a unitary web segment, in-plane shear-transverse bending interaction diagrams are established and compared to existing rigid-plastic (RP) interaction models. In general it is found that the influence on the shear resistance is less pronounced, especially in case of small transverse moments. The shear transfer actions admitted in RP models that consist in a shift of the compression field to the bending compression side and a rearrangement of the stirrup forces are confirmed. However, it is shown that the stress field is highly non-linear in the transverse directions (stress/strain distribution and inclination) and strongly depends on the intensity of the applied transverse moment. The concrete strength reduction factor I·Iµ is generally higher and high shear reinforcement ratios or asymmetric layouts allow equilibrating small moments without disturbing the stress field in the concrete. This increases the predicted shear resistance. The longitudinal deformation is shown to have a non-negligible effect on the overall interaction and ultimate resistance. A simplified verification method for beams in practice is proposed. Based on the EPSF finite element method (FEM), it considers the influence of the transverse moment by means of a reduced web width and an effective shear reinforcement ratio. Validation with tests from the literature gave safe but not overly conservative results and consistent predictions of the failure modes. The method provides enhanced lower-bound solutions. Plane EPSF analyses of experimental tests suggest that the influence of the transverse bending moment in beams is less pronounced than predicted by interaction models, especially if ductile failure modes occur. But more experimental data is required to validate this observation. A non-linear FEM based on the ML-EPSF is developed. It aims to extend the field of application of the EPSF FEM by accounting for in-plane (normal and shear) and out-of-plane (bending and shear) actions in plane RC elements. Concrete is modelled by ML in-plane elements that are combined with out-of-plane shear elements. Reinforcing steel is modelled separately by bar elements. Benchmark tests and validation with experimental data show that the proposed FEM is a promising tool for the design and assessment of plane reinforced concrete elements primarily subjected to combinations of in-plane forces and out-of-plane bending moments.


Geotagging, the process of tagging of documents with geographical information, is an important issue in geographical information retrieval systems. In this paper, we propose a novel approach for geotagging of textual web documents. Existing techniques disambiguate place names occurring in a document individually first and then find its focus. As opposed to this, the proposed approach, considers all the place names together without disambiguating them individually. It is a heuristic-based three step process. The first step is hierarchical, the second one is geometric technique, and last step reports the final focus. The approach requires only a gazetteer and a named entity recognition tool for processing. It reports the geographical focus of a web page as a tuple (latitude and longitude). We have tested our algorithm on two data sets, namely, the Wikipedia and Open Directory Project (ODP) data sets. The proposed approach reports the focus correctly up to continent level for 97.07% of the Wikipedia pages and correctly up to country level for 95.57% of them. Moreover, for more than 60% of the documents, the error in the distance between the actual focus, and the reported focus is within 15 km, i.e., less than 10 miles for this data set. In addition, the median error is 8.17 km. The technique also performs very well on huge data sets like ODP with sample size of around 600000 web pages. The proposed system can be used in any geographic information retrieval system where geographic meta-data of documents needs to be obtained for indexing and searching.


Surface texture has become the main element in reducing friction on any moving surface. Dimple structure, is a surface texture that is produced through various processes like electrochemistry, electric-term, electrolysis, laser and machining. Vibration-assisted machining technique is the latest technique in the dimple structure fabrication. It has been proven to impact the roughness of the surface machined. Its application in the dimple structure fabrication is still at an experimental level as compared to the vehicle component surface. In this review, the dimple structure fabrication process via (turning milling) and vibration assisted technique are discussed to help the researchers understand the suitable dimple structure fabrication process to be applied on the vehicle lubrication system


Photovoltaic systems have been a prominent option as an additional energy source for vehicles. Maximum power point trackers (MPPTs) should be used to increase efficiency and power output of solar panels under changing environmental factors. There are several different algorithms in the literature developed for maximum power point tracking. However, energy performances of MPPT algorithms are not clarified for vehicle applications that cause rapid changes of environmental factors. In this study, three popular MPPT algorithms, i.e. P&O, IC and OC, are compared at real ambient conditions by couples. For comparison, PV modules are mounted on a moving platform designed to simulate insulation received by solar systems on a moving vehicle. Experimental results obtained from comparison of algorithms by a motion loop are presented and discussed.


AIM
To investigate the genetic background of human defensin expression in type 1 and 2 diabetes.

METHODS
Associations between DEFA1/DEFA3 gene copy number polymorphism and diabetes as well as between the promoter polymorphisms of DEFB1 and diabetes were studied. The copy number variation of the DEFA1/DEFA3 genes was determined in 257 diabetic patients (117 patients with type 1 and 140 with type 2 diabetes). The control group consisted of 221 age- and gender-matched healthy blood donors. The cumulative copy numbers of the DEFA1/DEFA3 genes were detected by using quantitative PCR analysis. To evaluate the HNP 1-3 (human neutrophil peptide 1-3 or α-defensin) levels in the circulation, plasma HNP 1-3 concentrations were measured by ELISA. The expression of DEFA1/A3 in peripheral leukocytes of the diabetic patients was measured by quantitative RT PCR analysis. Three SNPs of the human DEFB1 (human defensin β-1) gene: DEFB1 G-20A (rs11362), DEFB1 C-44G (rs1800972) and DEFB1 G-52A (rs1799946) were genotyped by Custom TaqMan(®) Real Time PCR assay.

RESULTS
Significant differences were observed in HNP1-3 levels between the healthy subjects and both groups of diabetic patients. The mean ± SE was 28.78 ± 4.2 ng/mL in type 1 diabetes, and 29.82 ± 5.36 ng/mL in type 2 diabetes, vs 11.94 ± 2.96 ng/mL in controls; P < 0.01 respectively. There was no significant difference between patients with type 1 and type 2 diabetes in the high plasma concentrations of HNP1-3. The highest concentrations of α-defensin were found in diabetic patients with nephropathy (49.4 ± 4.8 ng/mL), neuropathy (38.7 ± 4.8 ng/mL) or cardiovascular complications (45.6 ± 1.45 ng/L). There was no significant difference in the cumulative copy numbers of DEFA1/DEFA3 genes between controls and patients, or between patients with the two types of diabetes. Comparisons of HNP 1-3 plasma level and DEFA1/A3 copy number of the same patient did not reveal significant relationship between defensin-α levels and the gene copy numbers (r (2) = 0.01). Similarly, no positive correlation was observed between the copy numbers and the mRNA expression levels of DEFA1/A3. Regarding the C-44G polymorphism of DEFB1, the GG "protective" genotype was much less frequent (1%-2%) among both groups of patients than among controls (9%).

CONCLUSION
Elevated HNP1-3 levels in diabetes are independent of DEFA1/DEFA3 copy numbers, but GG genotype of C-44G SNP in DEFB1 gene may result in decreased defensin β-1 production.


The superplastic deformation behavior of a fine-grained 7075 Al has been investigated to clarify the issue of threshold stress. A series of mechanical tests has been conducted at various temperatures for the specimens with various grain sizes. The quantitative constitutive parameters have been determined from load relaxation test by applying the internal variable theory of structural superplaticity (SSP) proposed by Chang et al. The GBS flow could be formulated as a viscosity-type equation, characterized by the Newtonian exponent of 1.0. The unresolved issue of threshold stress is clarified and identified as a critical stress required for the GBS. The micro-mechanical roll of grain size refinement has also been manifested in terms of proposed constitutive parameters.


: We have reviewed all patients in a critical care unit who required dialysis for acute renal failure during a five year period from 1981-5. There were 45 patients, all of whom were severely ill, the majority requiring mechanical ventilation. Twenty-five were classified as surgical, including trauma, eighteen medical and two obstetric. The overall mortality rate was 53%. A wide range of variables were reviewed and it was found that only the number of failed organs was a significant predictor of mortality. Progressive multiple organ failure in turn was associated with ineradicable sepsis in the majority, although in 25% of deaths with multiple organ failure, sepsis was not proven. Patients without sepsis or multiple organ failure had excellent survival. Further reductions in the acute renal failure mortality rate will depend on better methods of prevention, diagnosis, and management of sepsis.


Dr. Han Reichgelt was Dean of Southern Polytechnic State University's School of Computing and Software Engineering from 2007 to 2014. He earned a Ph.D. in Cognitive Science from the University of Edinburgh in 1985 and joined the faculty of the University of Nottingham as Assistant Professor of Psychology. After helping to develop the university's undergraduate program in Cognitive Science, Dr. Reichgelt accepted the position of Professor of Computer Science and Department Chair at the University of the West Indies, Mona, in Kingston, Jamaica, in 1992. In 2001 he joined the faculty at Georgia Southern University, where he was promoted to Chair of the Information Technology Department and then Associate Dean of the College of Information Technology. During his tenure as Dean of Southern Poly's School of Computing and Software Engineering, the number of students more than doubled. This increase was due in part to the creation of innovative programs such as Computer Game Design and Development. From 2014 to 2015, Dr. Reichgelt was Regional Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs at the University of South Florida, St. Petersburg.


We have demonstrated an intense plasma-based THz source using ∼5 TW femtosecond laser pulses to irradiate solid targets. The energy of a single THz pulse emitted in the laser specular direction increases with the laser energy. The maximum THz energy can be as high as tens µJ/sr. The polarization of the THz pulse is measured to be linear.


Introduction: Electrolytes measurement is a standard procedure in medical practice to diagnose diseases or disease-related complication. Recently, there is a various device used to analyze blood electrolytes, but the difference accuracy between devices is a problematic issue for clinicians. Thus, we evaluate the differences of sodium and potassium concentration reading by Blood Gas Analyzer (BGA) and Electrolyte Analyzer at Sanglah Hospital to assess whether the difference could be accepted according to Clinical Laboratories Improvement Amendments (CLIA). Methods: A cross-sectional analytic study was conducted in May 2017 at Clinical Pathology Laboratory of  Sanglah Hospital, Denpasar. 30 subjects were enrolled consecutively during the study period and the blood samples were analyzed by both BGA and electrolyte analyzer. The data were analyzed using paired T-Test, Bland-Altman Plot, and Linear Regression. Result: The mean of sodium and potassium measured by BGA were 133.76 ± 5.68 mmol/L and 3.14 ± 0,86 mmol/L, respectively while electrolyte analyzer was 136,43 ± 6,48 mmol/L and 3,51 ± 0,9 mmol/L, respectively. Mean difference between sodium and potassium were 2.67 mmol/L (P=0,000) and 0.36 mmol/L (P=0,000), respectively. Bland-Altman plot analysis in sodium and potassium showed that the limit of the agreement was at -9.9 to 4.56 mmol/L and -1.28 to 0.56 mmol/L, respectively. Conclusion: There was a significant difference between BGA and electrolyte analyzer reading with BGA has higher acceptance level compared to electrolyte analyzer. Keywords: Natrium, Kalium, Blood Gas Analyzer, Electrolyte Analyzer.


A chip shooter machine in printed circuit board (PCB) assembly has three movable mechanisms: a X-Y table carrying a PCB, a feeder carrier with several feeders holding components, and a rotary turret with multiple assembly heads to pick up and place components. In order to get the minimal placement or assembly time for a PCB on the machine, all the components on the board should be placed in a perfect sequence, and the components should be set up on a right feeder, or feeders since two feeders can hold the same type of components, and additionally, the assembly head should retrieve or pick up a component from a right feeder. The entire problem is very complicated, and this paper presents a genetic algorithm approach to tackle it.


Blockchain technology has attracted the attention of the public owing to its numerous strengths such as security, faster transactions, reduced costs, anonymity and data integrity. The success of Bitcoin has led to the adoption of this blockchain technology in many areas such as financial market, IOT, supply chain, voting, medical treatment and storage. Faster transactions are attributed to smart contracts, which represent automated execution of transactions where terms of the transactions are entrenched in computer code that are automatically fulfilled by the software upon acknowledgement of a particular input. A shared ledger contributes to cost savings since it operates without a trusted third party, hence eliminating intermediaries. Despite the success of the blockchain technology in the financial sector, there exists scanty information on how this technology can be utilized in delivering or securing learning materials so as to improve the quality of education materials delivered over the e-learning platforms. This research paper sought to develop a model based on the Funnel e-learning model that unraveled how the blockchain technology can boost quality of education and lifelong learning. It is expected that the implementation of the developed model in learning institutions can help boost the quality of learning over the electronic learning platforms, which is in line with the sustainable development goals.


The outbreak of COVID-19 has affected people all around the world. Governments had no choice but to put people in self-isolation to stop the spread of the virus. As a result, all companies and educational institutions switched to working or studying from home. The purpose of the study is to investigate the impact of COVID-19 on student teaching and learning in the context of Malmö university. Furthermore, the study proposes recommendations for sustainable post-pandemic education at Malmö University. The study includes ten semi-structured interviews with students followed by a workshop with ten senior lecturers teaching bachelor's and master's courses. The study uses snowball sampling to select students for the interviews and senior lecturers for the workshop. A qualitative data analysis technique, thematic analysis, is used for data analysis on the data collected from interviews with students and the workshop with senior lecturers. The results from the study suggested that online education leads to several benefits for students, such as better time management, higher lecture attendance, flexibility, and discipline in their studies. However, the shift to online education has caused a communication deterioration between students and teachers. Less social interaction with other students leads to depression, anxiety, and stress. The recommendations for post-pandemic education include the unified selection of digital learning tools across courses, a designated budget for digital learning tools, training support, and hybrid learning methods. In conclusion, the study proposes blended and hybrid learning to improve higher education at the university, requiring digital tools to minimize students' communication barriers.


This paper could not have been written without the financial and organizational support from Dieter Paulmann and Jo Hastie respectively. Thanks are also due to two anonymous reviewers, whose comments on an earlier version of the manuscript greatly improved the paper. The views expressed in this paper are those of the authors alone and do not represent those of Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary, the U.S. National Marine Sanctuary Program, Southwest Fisheries Science Center, the U.S. National Marine Fisheries Service, NOAA and/or any other institution or agency. Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Andrew Wright, Leviathan Sciences, U.S.A. (firstname.lastname@example.com). Sound travels much further than light in the marine environment. As a result, marine mammals, especially cetaceans, rely heavily on sound for many important life functions, including breeding and foraging. This reliance on sound means it is quite likely that exposure to noise will have some detrimental effects on these life functions. However, there has been little application to marine mammals of the knowledge available in other species of stress responses to noise and other stressors. In this paper we begin to integrate what is known about marine mammals with the current knowledge gained in terrestrial mammals about stress physiology, specifically considering physiological and psychological context and thus also cumulative and synergistic impacts. We determined that it is reasonable to extrapolate information regarding stress responses in other species to marine mammals, because these responses are highly conserved among all species in which they have been examined to date. As a result, we determined that noise acts as a stressor to marine mammals. Furthermore, given that marine mammals will likely respond in a manner consistent with other species studied, repeated and prolonged exposures to stressors (including or induced by noise) will be problematic for marine mammals of all ages. A range of issues may arise from the extended stress response including, but not limited to, suppression of reproduction (physiologically and behaviorally), accelerated aging and sickness-like symptoms. We also determined that interpretation of a reduction in behavioral responses to noise as acclimation will be a mistake in many situations, as alternative reasons for the observed results are much more likely. We recommend that research be conducted on both stress responses and life-history consequences of noise exposure in marine mammals, while emphasizing that very careful study designs will be required. We also recommend that managers incorporate the findings presented here in decisions regarding activities that expose marine mammals to noise. In particular, the effects of cumulative and synergistic responses to stressors can be very important and should not be dismissed lightly.


Abstract A sample was analyzed of 1,129 specimens of Chirostoma chapalae from Lake Chapala, Mexico obtained from catches of local fishers between October 2016 and September 2017. Size frequency, length-weight relationships (LWRs), growth, mortality, exploitation rate, survival rate, and relative condition index were estimated. The LWRs showed negative allometric growth in females (b = 2.735) and isometric growth in males (b = 3.000). The SL∞ was 9.20 cm in females and 8.94 cm in males, and the growth coefficient k ranged from 1.80 year−1 to 1.90 year−1, and the t0 from 0.119 to 0.113. Estimated total mortality (Z = 3.20 year−1), natural mortality (M = 1.56 year−1), and fishing mortality (F = 1.64 year−1) values were higher in females. C. chapalae is at optimum, underexploited levels according to the exploitation rate (E = 0.42 year−1). The SL at first capture (SLpc) was 65.8 mm and the SL at retention (SLpr) of the fishing gear was 62.4 mm. This indicates that more than 50% of the fish caught enter the fishery at a larger size. The condition factor (Kn) showed body robustness in fall and subsequent spawning from spring onwards. Our findings contribute to the future development of fisheries management strategies in the largest lake in Mexico.


Carefully piecing together the personal letters of Alice 'Liesel' Schwab, Escaping Nazi Germany tells the important story of one woman's emigration from Heilbronn to England. From the decision to leave her family and emigrate alone, to gaining her independence as a shop worker and surviving the Blitz, to the reunion with her brother and parents in England and shared grief as they learn about the fate of family members who died in the Holocaust, her story provides powerful insight into both the everyday realities of German-Jewish refugees in Britain and the ability of letters and life-writing to create transnational networks during times of trauma and separation. Elegantly written and deeply researched, Joachim Schlor's emphatic and unflinching re-telling of Alice Schwab's life sheds new light on the Jewish experience of persecution during the Holocaust and adds nuances to current debates on emigration, memory, and identity. This book is an essential primary resource for scholars of modern European history and Jewish studies, offering a compelling and intimate route into understanding what it meant to be a Jewish refugee caught up in the tragic and tumultuous events of World War II.


The problem of how cooperation can evolve between individuals or entities with conflicting interests is central to biology as many of the major evolutionary transitions, from the first replicating molecules to human societies, have required solving this problem. There are many routes to cooperation but humans seem to be distinct from other species as they have more complex and diverse mechanisms, often due to their higher cognitive skills, allowing them to reap the benefits from living in groups. Among those mechanisms, the use of reputation or past experience with others as well as sanctioning mechanisms both seem to be of major importance. They have often been considered separately but the interaction between the two might provide new insights as to how punishment could have appeared as a means to enforce cooperation in early humans. In this thesis, I firstly use theoretical approaches from evolutionary game theory to investigate the evolution of punishment and cooperation through a reputation system based on punitive actions, and compare the efficacy of this system, in terms of cooperation achieved, with one based on cooperative actions. On the other hand, I use empirical approaches from economics to test, in real life, predictions from theoretical models but also to explore further conditions such as environmental variation, constrained memory, or even the scale of competition between individuals. Both approaches have allowed contributing to the understanding of how these factors affect reputation and punishment use, and ultimately how cooperation is achieved.


Abstract Purpose: The article explores links between the attractiveness of regional labor markets and internal migration as a change in the usual place of residence in Ukraine. Methodology: Based on the migration theory of "push-pull" a study of the attractiveness of regional labor markets as determinants of the intensification of internal migration in 24 regions of Ukraine (2010–2020) was conducted with the use of integrated assessment and balance econometric modeling. Findings: The study found that the internal migration activity in Ukraine is of urbanistic nature because the development of rural-urban area migration vectors dominates in the country. The most attractive regions in the focus of internal emigration and immigration processes are defined based on the developed rankings of the regions' attractiveness by the system of labor market and employment development indicators. Research limitations: This article studies a specific country and its regions, along with the local labor market. One should be careful when generalizing the results to other regional labor markets. Originality/value: The level of regional labor markets' attractiveness correlated with internal migration activity. The attractive regional labor market, high IT market development level, and increasing innovative-technological capacity proved the main attraction factors of these regions.


: In many ways, the management of urethral stricture disease in children parallels that in adults, but striking differences exist. The technical demands made because of the small size of the strictures and the delicacy of the tissues involved certainly provide more of a challenge. Newer instrumentation, improved techniques, and increased experience in children are helping us to meet these challenges. Visual urethrotomy should be considered the initial treatment of choice for anterior urethral strictures, and urethroplasty should be reserved for treatment failures. Attention to technical detail and proper patient preparation will ensure optimum results from urethroplasty. Posterior urethral strictures as a result of pelvic injury can be influenced by proper initial management but remain an open surgical disease of considerable challenge. The fact that in children a large proportion of urethral stricture disease is iatrogenic provides us with a real opportunity for prevention. As with any disease state, prevention or minimization of complications of treatment is the ultimate goal. It is only through a careful, thoughtful approach that we can begin to achieve that end.


Multiple-input multiple-output orthogonal frequency division multiplexing with index modulation (MIMO-OFDM-IM), which provides a flexible trade-off between spectral efficiency and error performance, is recently proposed as a promising transmission technique for energy-efficient 5G wireless communications systems. However, due to the dependence of subcarrier symbols within each subblock and the strong interchannel interference, it is challenging to detect the transmitted data effectively while imposing low computational burden to the receiver. In this paper, we propose two types of low-complexity detectors based on the sequential Monte Carlo (SMC) theory for the detection of MIMO-OFDM-IM signals. The first detector draws samples independently at the subblock level, while the second detector draws samples at the subcarrier level with further reduced complexity. To meet the constraint of the subcarrier combinations within each subblock, the second detector is further coupled with a carefully designed legality examination method. Attributed to the effectiveness of legality examination and deterministic SMC sampling, both proposed detectors achieve near-optimal error performance for the MIMO-OFDM-IM system.


Warehouses play an active role in today's fast-paced and competitive global supply chains. They are utilized from collection of raw materials through to final dispatching of finished products. An efficient warehouse is necessary to achieve an efficient supply chain network with streamlined processes, quick response to market demands and overall high customer satisfaction. An inefficient warehouse on the other hand could result in high labour costs, duplicated and unnecessary processes, high inventory holding costs and even slow response to market demands compounding low customer satisfaction. This paper aims to develop a Warehouse Management Maturity Model (W3M) framework applicable to the South African environment that will assist warehouse managers in achieving greater warehouse efficiency through improved quality of the various warehousing processes from receiving to dispatching of goods. To develop the W3M framework, three maturity models are studied via a literature review and a Delphi Method survey is conducted with warehousing experts to finalise the features of the framework.


Convolutional Neural Networks (ConvNets or CNNs) have been candidly deployed in the scope of computer vision and related fields. Nevertheless, the dynamics of training of these neural networks lie still elusive: it is hard and computationally expensive to train them. A myriad of architectures and training strategies have been proposed to overcome this challenge and address several problems in image processing such as speech, image and action recognition as well as object detection. In this article, we propose a novel Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) based training for ConvNets. In such framework, the vector of weights of each ConvNet is typically cast as the position of a particle in phase space whereby PSO collaborative dynamics intertwines with Stochastic Gradient Descent (SGD) in order to boost training performance and generalization. Our approach goes as follows: $i$ ) [regular phase] each ConvNet is trained independently via SGD; $ii$ ) [collaborative phase] ConvNets share among themselves their current vector of weights (or particle-position) along with their gradient estimates of the Loss function. Distinct step sizes are coined by distinct ConvNets. By properly blending ConvNets with large (possibly random) step-sizes along with more conservative ones, we propose an algorithm with competitive performance with respect to other PSO-based approaches on Cifar-10 and Cifar-100 (accuracy of 98.31% and 87.48%). These accuracy levels are obtained by resorting to only four ConvNets– such results are expected to scale with the number of collaborative ConvNets accordingly. We make our source codes available for download https://github.com/leonlha/ PSO-ConvNet-Dynamics.


We consider the gap probability for the Pearcey and Airy processes; we set up a Riemann–Hilbert approach (different from the standard one) whereby the asymptotic analysis for large gap/large time of the Pearcey process is shown to factorize into two independent Airy processes using the Deift–Zhou steepest descent analysis. Additionally, we relate the theory of Fredholm determinants of integrable kernels and the theory of isomonodromic tau function. Using the Riemann–Hilbert problem mentioned above, we construct a suitable Lax pair formalism for the Pearcey gap probability and re-derive the two nonlinear PDEs recently found and additionally find a third one not reducible to those.


Surprisingly, translator training in distance learning is under-researched in Translation Studies and the scholars in the field have simply ignored the fundamental differences between distance and traditional modes of translator training. This study is a preliminary attempt to draw attention to this neglected area of research. Firstly, the study made an attempt to determine a set of criteria for educating functional and autonomous translation trainees in distance learning through a contrastive and critical review of the related literature. Taking a functionalist-communicative stance, ideas were borrowed from distance learning, second language teaching and translation theories for this purpose. The most important criteria must be learner-orientedness, process-orientedness and use of authentic real-life translation tasks. Later, the criteria were employed to evaluate a self-instructional translation textbook. The evaluation showed that these criteria could serve as a roadmap for assessing and/or designing self-instructional textbooks for distance learning mode. Finally, it was suggested to add translation training in distance mode to the applied branch of the so-called map of Translation Studies to promote further research in this area. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5755/j01.sal.0.24.5935


Aquaculture activities in the southern part of Iraq faced many problems. Local people are not well aware that aquaculture could be a good activity to improve their socioeconomic status. There are very few hatcheries to supply enough fingerlings. The water quality is changing and becoming more saline, which have negative impact on the growth rate of the cultured freshwater species. To improve aquaculture in the southern part of Iraq, all these parameters should be considered to plan an effective management. Making use of the naturally-occurred water impoundments in the southern marshes and turning them into productive fish ponds is a practical approach. The present study suggests various rearing techniques which are suitable for such water bodies. These include introduction of peripheral and transaction dikes to create extensive fish ponds. Fish cages and net enclosures represent also special profitable approaches. Rearing fish in fish rice fields can also be practiced in certain areas in the marshlands. Conducting steps, implementation techniques and advantages of various rearing methods have been discussed. Fry and fingerlings supply should be maintained through establishing local hatcheries, which produce fingerlings of all carp species (common, grass and silver carp) in addition to some native species such as Bunni (B. sharpey). Aquaculture activities in the marshes should include releasing fingerlings into the available open waters using big net enclosures. Few other developmental recommendations were also suggested, such as the introduction of new fish species that are more tolerable to the present water quality. The introduction of new types of culture methods such as cages and recirculation systems which are compatible with the freshwater shortage, quality and depths. There are big chances of success especially with the availability of sufficient amount of very productive water and cheap work power, but research for optimizing stocking and harvesting is essential.


Since its inception in 1862, the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) has experienced dramatic growth and change, as has the industry it was set up to serve. The expanding, and sometimes conflicting, interests inherent in current USDA mandates came to a head during the most recent farm bill debate and pushed off passage for more than a year. Food writers and activists have proposed new agendas for the department. This paper first takes a step back and documents the changes that have occurred over time to US agriculture in general and to the USDA in particular, showing a diverse mix of current activities brought about by mission creep. The paper then reviews the academic research on the effects of selected USDA policies on agricultural producers and food consumers. Conventional economic justifications for government intervention along with public-choice analyses of intervention are discussed in light of selected USDA programs and the changes witnessed in agriculture over the past century. The paper concludes by highlighting some of the challenges and conflicts that exist with the current USDA mandates and asks what changes might be justified on economic efficiency grounds.


Based on the operating characteristics of a micro HCCI (Homogeneous Charge Compress Ignition) free-piston engine, a multidimensional model which coupled CFD code, chemical dynamic model and piston dynamic model has been established. Using this model, an ignition and combustion process of the micro engine is simulated, the cylinder pressure and temperature profiles are obtained, and the influence of leakage and heat lost on micro engine combustion process is analyzed. Meanwhile, working characteristics of micro engine generator are evaluated by employing the simulation result. Power, combustion efficiency, etc of the micro engine are obtained. Lastly, the micro engine working characteristics with different load, fuel and piston mass are compared and effects of those varying conditions on engine performance are investigated. Simulation result provides essential requirements for micro free-piston engine control and design.


According to the demand of gas schedule management in the steel plant, Kirchhoff law in the power grid is used to build virtual network model for gas pipe network. Applying Newton-lafusen method, by solving nonlinear equations, the gas flow and pressure drop on the measurement points in the network are calculated. These data are compared with the real-time data in the database to monitor the operation status of entire network. When the production plans are changed, the schedule instruction are input to simulation calculation module. By analysing the operation status of entire network, after forecast instructions are issued, to adjust the forecast scheduling instructions.


ABSTRACT Adolescents have the highest rates of meningococcal carriage and transmission. Interrupting the adolescent habitat in order to reduce carriage and transmission within adolescents and to other age groups could help to control meningococcal disease at a population level. Compared to immunization strategies restricted to young children, a strategy focused on adolescents may have more profound and long-lasting indirect impacts, and may be more cost effective. Despite challenges in reaching this age-group, experience with other vaccines show that high vaccine coverage of adolescents is attainable.


It was established, that EDTA (1.0 mM) and formamide (100 mM) are inhibitors of methanol dehydrogenase in Methylobacter luteus 12b, Methylomonas rubra 15sh and Methylococcus thermophilus 111p. The investigated strains co-metabolised ethane with the use of formate as the co-substrate. The application of formamide (or EDTA) as inhibitors of methanol dehydrogenase prevented from further transformation of ethanol and resulted in accumulation of extracellular ethanol. It was shown, that M. rubra 15sh accumulated extracellular ethanol under cultivation in a chemostate. The carried out researches have shown a regulation path of co-metabolism process of hydrocarbons by methane utilizing bacteria. Using the specific inhibitors of methanol dehydrogenase and a source of reducing agent (energy) for methane monooxygenase with the help of the cells of methane-oxidizing bacteria it is possible to obtain from ethane or other hydrocarbons the products of their monooxygenation--alcohols.


The 2010–2011 Canterbury earthquake sequence provides a rare opportunity to study the performance of modern structures designed under well-enforced, evolving seismic code provisions and subjected to severe ground shaking. In particular, New Zealand makes widespread use of precast concrete seismic systems, including those that are designed to respond identically to cast-in-place concrete structures (emulative systems) and, in more recent years, those that take advantage of the unique jointed properties of precast construction. New Zealand building construction also makes extensive use of precast elements for gravity systems, floor systems, stairs, and cladding. Although not always classified as part of the primary seismic force-resisting system, these "secondary" elements must undergo the compatible displacements imposed in the earthquake. Damage evaluations for several of these structures subjected to strong shaking provide the ability to examine the differences in seismic performance for systems of distinct design intent and standards, including the performance of secondary elements.


Abstract Building mainly upon the resource-based theory, social exchange theory, and relational theory, this paper integrates three research streams that propose how human capital, affective commitment, and inter-team relational coordination relate to each other in the mediation between high-performance work systems (HPWSs) and team performance. Questionnaires were distributed to employees and supervisors in 189 teams from different companies in Chile to test a sequential mediation model of the HPWS–team performance relationship, using the mediation paths of human capital and affective commitment as antecedents of inter-team relational coordination. Structural Equation Modeling is used to assess whether data support the hypothesized pathways. Results support a mediated sequential path in which HPWSs influence human capital and affective commitment, which in turn affect inter-team relational coordination, while the three mediators influence team performance. Furthermore, post-hoc analyses suggest that the Opportunities component of the Ability–Motivation–Opportunity (AMO) model of human resource practices has a stronger and direct impact on the inter-team relational coordination mediation path than the abilities and motivation components of the AMO model. This study contributes to the understanding of how human capital, affective commitment and inter-team relational coordination relate to each other within the mediation of HPWSs–team performance relationship.


Starbursts are episodes of intense star formation in the central regions of galaxies, and are the sites of ca.25% of the high–mass star formation in the local Universe. In this contribution, I review the role that starbursts play in the formation and evolution of galaxies, the intergalactic medium (IGM), and active galactic nuclei. First, I point out the empirical similarities between local starbursts and the Lyman–break population at high redshift, and emphasize the implied similarities in their basic physical, dynamical and chemical properties. In the local Universe, more–massive galaxies host more–luminous, more–metal–rich, and dustier (IR–dominated) starbursts. This underscores the need for a pan–chromatic approach to documenting and understanding the cosmic history of star formation. Second, I review the systematic properties of starburst–driven galactic superwinds. These drive metal–rich dusty gas outward at a typical velocity of 400–800 km s-1 (independent of the galaxy rotation speed) and at several times the star–formation rate. They can be directly observed both in local starbursts and high–redshift galaxies. They are probably responsible for establishing the strong mass–metallicity relation in spheroids, and for the metal–enrichment and (pre)heating of the IGM. They may have also ejected cosmologically significant amounts of intergalactic dust. Third, I discuss UV observations of the nuclei of type 2 Seyfert galaxies. These show that compact (on a scale of a few hundred pc) heavily reddened starbursts are the source of most of the 'featureless continuum' in UV–bright Seyfert 2 nuclei, and are an energetically significant component in these objects. Finally, I discuss the evolution of the host galaxies of radio–quiet quasars. Rest-frame optical images imply that the hosts at z ∽ 2 are only as luminous as present–day L* galaxies, less massive than the hosts of similarly luminous low–z quasars, similar to the Lyman–break galaxies, and much less luminous than powerful radio galaxies at the same redshift. These results are consistent with the idea of hierarchical galaxy assembly, and suggest that super-massive black holes may be formed/fed before their host galaxy is fully assembled.


The zif268 gene, which encodes a protein with three typical zinc finger sequences, is induced in mouse 3T3 cells by serum, phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate platelet-derived growth factor, and fibroblast growth factor. The induction is coordinate with that of c-fos. The 5'-flanking region of zif268 contains sequences that resemble known regulatory elements, including four CC(A or T)6GG sequences similar to the core serum response elements (SREs) found upstream of c-fos and actin genes. To determine whether the zif268 SRE-like elements mediate induction, CAT (chloramphenicol acetyltransferase) plasmids with different lengths of zif268 upstream sequences were tested for inducibility in 3T3 cells by serum, platelet-derived growth factor, or phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate. In addition, double-stranded oligonucleotides corresponding to each of the four zif268 putative SREs were tested individually for responsiveness when placed upstream of a thymidine kinase gene promoter. Each of the four SREs conferred inducibility by the agents tested, and multiple SREs resulted in greater inducibility than did a single element. Each of the zif268 SREs also competed with the c-fos SRE for binding by serum response factor present in HeLa cell nuclear extract. We conclude that the zif268 SRE-like sequences are functional and probably account for the coordinate induction of zif268 and c-fos.


Only few studies so far have examined recovery from work during workday breaks. In this intervention study, based on the effort-recovery model and the conservation of resources theory, we examined how to enhance recovery during lunch breaks. More specifically, we examined the within-person effects of lunchtime park walks and relaxation exercises on employees' levels of concentration, strain, and fatigue experienced at the end of a working day. We moreover tested whether detachment from work and enjoyment experienced during lunch breaks transmitted the effects of these activities to well-being outcomes. Participants in the park walk (n = 51) and relaxation (n = 46) groups were asked to complete a 15-min exercise during their lunch break on 10 consecutive working days. Afternoon well-being, lunchtime detachment, and lunchtime enjoyment were assessed twice a week before, during, and after the intervention, altogether for 5 weeks. Multilevel analysis results showed that park walks at lunchtime were related to better concentration and less fatigue in the afternoon through enjoyment. Relaxation exercises were related to better concentration in the afternoon via detachment. In addition, relaxation exercises were directly linked to lower levels of strain and fatigue in the afternoon. Our study suggests that on days on which employees engage in recovering activities during lunch breaks, they experience higher levels of well-being at the end of a working day. These results add to the theory-based knowledge on recovery during workday breaks and highlight the importance of breaks for organizational practices.


The problem of optimal asymmetric Hopfield-type associative memory (HAM) design based on perceptron-type learning algorithms is considered. It is found that most of the existing methods considered the design problem as either 1) finding optimal hyperplanes according to normal distance from the prototype vectors to the hyperplane surface or 2) obtaining weight matrix W=[w/sub ij/] by solving a constraint optimization problem. In this paper, we show that since the state space of the HAM consists of only bipolar patterns, i.e., V=(v/sub 1/,v/sub 2/,...,v/sub N/)/sup T//spl isin/{-1,+1}/sup N/, the basins of attraction around each prototype (training) vector should be expanded by using Hamming distance measure. For this reason, in this paper, the design problem is considered from a different point of view. Our idea is to systematically increase the size of the training set according to the desired basin of attraction around each prototype vector. We name this concept the higher order Hamming stability and show that conventional minimum-overlap algorithm can be modified to incorporate this concept. Experimental results show that the recall capability as well as the number of spurious memories are all improved by using the proposed method. Moreover, it is well known that setting all self-connections w/sub ii//spl forall/i to zero has the effect of reducing the number of spurious memories in state space. From the experimental results, we find that the basin width around each prototype vector can be enlarged by allowing nonzero diagonal elements on learning of the weight matrix W. If the magnitude of w/sub ii/ is small for all i, then the condition w/sub ii/=0/spl forall/i can be relaxed without seriously affecting the number of spurious memories in the state space. Therefore, the method proposed in this paper can be used to increase the basin width around each prototype vector with the cost of slightly increasing the number of spurious memories in the state space.


Complex software systems are among most sophisticated human-made systems, yet only little is known about the actual structure of 'good' software. We here study different software systems developed in Java from the perspective of network science. The study reveals that network theory can provide a prominent set of techniques for the exploratory analysis of large complex software system. We further identify several applications in software engineering, and propose different network-based quality indicators that address software design, efficiency, reusability, vulnerability, controllability and other. We also highlight various interesting findings, e.g., software systems are highly vulnerable to processes like bug propagation, however, they are not easily controllable.


The impact fracture of a tough ductile material is examined by comparing the results of static and dynamic viscoplastic finite element computations with experimental observations of the crack tip opening displacement (CTOD) during static and dynamic (impact) fracture. Experiments measured the relative displacement of two small indents 100 μm behind a fatigue crack tip in a three-point bend specimen to determine the CTOD as a function of load (in static tests) or as a function of time (in dynamic tests). Static computations show that a two-dimensional simulation can capture both the overall structural response, as measured by boundary quantities (such as the applied load and the crack mouth opening displacement), and the near-tip CTOD when crack closure is accounted for. Dynamic finite element simulations also use a two-dimensional model of the three-point bend specimen, but must include the projectile and loading tup to account for the complex stress wave interactions generated during impact loading in order to simulate the CTOD versus time response. Since the finite element model correlates with the observed CTOD history, it can be used to determine relevant field quantities, such as the J-integral, as well as stresses and strains of interest. The finite element model shows that it is essential to include the effects of viscoplasticity in order to capture the correct CTOD response in the dynamic experiments. These calculations show that the rate of change of the stress intensity factor is K ∼ 5 X 10 6 MPa m/s in the impact fracture tests. The fracture initiation time has not been unambiguously determined; therefore a unique fracture toughness has not been established.


Students drop out of school for a variety of reasons, yet are "pushed out" when they exhibit traits that are deemed undesirable to school officials, such as misbehavior and academic failure. While much of the previous research on pushouts views the phenomenon as a discrete occurrence often attributed to either misbehavior or academic failure, we recognize the underlying relationships between punishment and achievement, and therefore conceptualize pushing out as a process of both disciplinary involvement and academic exclusion over time. Using structural equation modeling (SEM) with a nationally representative longitudinal study of high school students (HSLS-09), we find that significant relationships among punishment and math achievement (including math attitudes, ability, and course-taking) have the effect of pushing students out of high school over time. We note the importance of race and ethnicity within these relationships and close with a discussion of policy implications.


INTRODUCTION
In this study, we report the results of our experience of therapeutic plasma exchange (TPE) for neuroimmunologic disorders performed at our hospital over a seven-year period.

METHODS
We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of 91 patients (53 male, 38 female) who had been treated at our center with TPE.

RESULTS
60 patients with Guillain-Barrè syndrome (GBS), 23 with myasthenia gravis (MG), 4 with chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy (CIDP) and 1 patient each with polymyositis, septic encephalopathy, acute disseminated encephalomyelitis (ADEM) and Opsoclonus-Myoclonus syndrome (OMS) received TPE. 26.7% of GBS patient's made complete recovery, 61.7% had partial recovery and 11.7% patients died due to respiratory failure. Despite our best efforts and effective TPE treatments, 13.4% of MG patients deceased, however, 78% had full recovery. Three patients with CIDP were discharged with full and 1 patient with partial recovery. The patient with ADEM had partial recovery with TPE at first, but deceased 2 months later due to pneumonia-related respiratory insufficiency. While, patient with polymyositis had slight-partial recovery, we obtained full recovery with TPE in septic encephalopathy and OMS patients. The side effects and complications of treatments with TPE, which included hypotension, hypocalcaemia and anemia, were mild and manageable.

CONCLUSION
The improvement rates were encouraging and we concluded that significant benefit can be achieved with TPE for the treatment of neuroimmunological disorders.


Computational Thinking (CT) is recognised as one of the fundamental skills of all graduates. Nevertheless, some issues can emerge when trying to introduce CT into schools; for example, teachers might not be willing to add topics to their intensive syllabi. Therefore, out-of-school venues such as summer schools can be considered a great opportunity for exposure to CT. Moreover, summer schools allow students to meet first hand researchers and help them pursue their interest far from the regular school climate. High school students in general are very curious for the creation of mobile apps; however, most of them get discouraged because they perceive this activity as a very difficult task. Here we describe the MobileDev summer school, a one-week training and hands-on experience in current topics of software development for mobile devices. The curiosity of the students for developing mobile apps is used to introduce and train CT via programming mobile applications through exercises (also with "pen and paper'") of increasing difficulty. The school was repeated twice at our university and was targeted to a reduced class of students concluding the third and the fourth year of high school. Participants were in total 19 and coming from different types of schools. This paper describes the structure of MobileDev and discusses the results to provide directions for further research.


This paper examines the role of the various players in the port industry and their interactions, and determines the impact of their actions in port operations. A mathematical approach has been developed to assist port authorities in decision making for infrastructure investment. The model examines the port investment decisions within the context of a multimodal transportation system. Model results are used to answer questions regarding the optimal investment strategy of a port authority in order to maximize the net social benefit; the impact of this strategy to the terminal operators and users; the effect of competition or cooperation between carriers; and the shippers' behavior in terms of quantity and price of goods shipped over the intermodal network. The paper concludes with a practical interpretation of the results of the theoretical models. Further improvements that would capture real world issues that are not adequately treated by the current models are discussed.


Zinc Oxide (ZnO) nanoscale nanowires (NW) and pillars exhibit substantial size-effects in mechanical properties as a function of diameter D, which enables their exploitation for nanotechnology purposes. Both elastic (i.e. the Young's Modulus, E) and fracture properties of ZnO nanostructures are key and need to be characterized for the sake of designing MEMS and NEMS, such as nanogenerators based on NWs. Both size-effects in inelastic and inelastic properties were described by distinct power-laws, although less attention has gone to showing another important property in failure mode, which shift from brittle in bulk ZnO to ductile in ZnO nanoscale samples. This aspect is very important as it reinforce the concept of damage tolerance of an otherwise brittle materials system and could enable new fabrication route of MEMS/NEMS by plastic deformation. We report preliminary observations from controlled microcompression tests on pillars of unprecedented small size, with an emphasis on strategy and equipment used to perform such accurate miniaturized nanomechanical tests.


In this, the final paper of the Acoustofluidics series of tutorial articles, we discuss applications in which acoustic radiation forces are used in conjunction with competing or complementary force-fields. This may be in order to enable manipulation operations that would not be easily performed by either force-field alone, or may be used to effect separation based on the different physical principals underlying competing fields. Examples are given of a number of different applications in which acoustic forces are combined with gravitational fields, hydrodynamic forces, electric fields (including dielectrophoresis), magnetic forces and optical forces.


Automated persuasion systems (APS) aim to persuade a user to believe something by entering into a dialogue in which arguments and counterarguments are exchanged. To maximize the probability that an APS is successful in persuading a user, it can identify a global policy that will allow it to select the best arguments it presents at each stage of the dialogue whatever arguments the user presents. However, in real applications, such as for healthcare, it is unlikely the utility of the outcome of the dialogue will be the same, or the exact opposite, for the APS and user. In order to deal with this situation, games in extended form have been harnessed for argumentation in Bi-party Decision Theory. This opens new problems that we address in this paper: (1) How can we use Machine Learning (ML) methods to predict utility functions for different subpopulations of users? and (2) How can we identify for a new user the best utility function from amongst those that we have learned. To this extent, we develop two ML methods, EAI and EDS, that leverage information coming from the users to predict their utilities. EAI is restricted to a fixed amount of information, whereas EDS can choose the information that best detects the subpopulations of a user. We evaluate EAI and EDS in a simulation setting and in a realistic case study concerning healthy eating habits. Results are promising in both cases, but EDS is more effective at predicting useful utility functions.


The treatment of the aging face has evolved to increasingly incorporate minimally office-based procedures. The importance of recognizing and treating facial rhytids has always been recognized as important, but an increasing number of modalities have been developed for this purpose. Similarly, there has been an increase of emphasis in the recognition of dyschromias, solar keratoses, and other skin abnormalities. In this article, an overview of many of the minimally invasive office-based procedures that we favor in our practice will be briefly reviewed.


In this paper electronic control unit (ECU) used in vehicle-used compressed natural gas engine is developed independently. A series of start experiments are done with refitted JL465Q5 engine. Experimental monitoring system is developed as an interface connecting staff and single chip. Speed acquisition system is developed to record start process accurately in real time. The test results indicate that, more concentrated mixture is necessary when start speed is lower. Higher engine coolant temperature is conductive to cold start for natural gas engine. Multiple ignition control and ignition energy improvement is conductive to start successfully for natural gas engine. The results showed that electronic control unit (ECU) and speed acquisition system developed independently is practical and feasible.


In this position paper we investigate the role of decision making in uncertainty visualization. We introduce common decision making strategies identified by the cognitive science community [22]. These strategies are then used to reanalyze 21 design study papers that have previously been used as a foundation for defining visual parameter space analysis [26]. We found that current strategies in these tools relied mostly on one parameter at a time and are about filtering alternatives. Based on these results, we propose three questions for further discussion and research.


Abstract. Ultrasonic guided waves are gaining increasing attention for the inspection of platelike and rodlike structures. At the same time, inspection methods that do not require contact with the test piece are being developed for advanced applications. This paper capitalizes on recent advances in the areas of guided wave ultrasonics and noncontact ultrasonics to demonstrate a superior method for the nondestructive detection of thinning defects simulating hidden corrosion in thin aluminum plates. The proposed approach uses micromachined gas (air)-coupled capacitive transducers for the noncontact generation and detection of guided plate waves. Interesting features in the dispersive behavior of selected guided modes are used for the detection of plate thinning. It is shown that mode cutoff measurements provide a qualitative detection of thinning defects, while frequency shift measurements allow quantification of thinning depth. Measurement of the mode group velocity can be also used to quantify thinning depth. Similarly, thinning length can be determined by mode time-of-flight measurements.


Bone loss with large defects poses a complex and challenging problem in primary and revision knee arthroplasty. The defects are often irregular and difficult to quantify. One of the techniques available to restore bone in such cases is Knee Impaction Bone Grafting (KIBG); however, the clinical literature to support this technique is weak. Since 2006 we have used impaction bone grafting for contained and uncontained large tibial defects in primary and revision total knee arthroplasty. We have prospectively studied 11 patients with large tibial defects treated at the Exeter Knee Reconstruction Unit with KIBG using a short cemented stem following the Slooff-Ling philosophy. Average age was 66 years (41-86 years). Minimum follow-up was 2 years. The Knee Society Scores improved from 27.4 to 89.2 on average, with Knee Society Function score and WOMAC increasing by 263 and 23.2 points respectively. The mean post-operative flexion was 112 degrees. The average gain in motion over preoperative value was 20 degrees. At two years there were no mechanical failures. None of the patients have required secondary procedures or further revisions. All radiographs showed incorporation and remodelling of the graft. The only complication was a superficial dysaesthesia around the operative scar. Although being time consuming and technically demanding, KIBG for substantial tibial bone loss has shown excellent versatility and good short term results, providing a stable construct with immediate weight bearing post operatively. In view of previous concerns regarding early incorporation and stability of impaction bone grafting in the tibia, we present our early results at 2 years. This technique has become our preferred technique for treating substantial bone loss in tibial defects seen in primary and revision knee arthroplasty surgery.


The present case is of a patient undergoing radiofrequency‐assisted partial splenectomy. A 48‐year‐old man was found to have a hydatic cyst in the superior pole of the spleen. A six in‐line needle radiofrequency probe was applied to the spleen. The division of the splenic parenchyma was completed with a surgical scalpel through the midline of the ablated tissue. There was no bleeding. This procedure may reduce the number of splenectomies and the amount of blood transfusion required.


1. The heart of Palinurus lalandii and the ventricle of Octopus horridus maintain their normal rhythm for long periods in solutions containing only sodium and calcium chlorides.

2. The removal of calcium from the perfusion fluids causes systolic arrest in both hearts.

3. Both hearts are sensitive to very low concentration of potassium when perfused with potassium-free fluid.

4. Excess of magnesium and strontium produce the same effect as excess of calcium, but magnesium cannot be successfully substituted for calcium in the perfusing fluid.

5. The physiological range of H ion concentration is determined for the two preparations.

6. Both hearts have low temperature optima, and the high limit of their range is in the neighbourhood of 20° C.


Many machine learning projects for new application areas involve teams of humans who label data for a particular purpose, from hiring crowdworkers to the paper's authors labeling the data themselves. Such a task is quite similar to (or a form of) structured content analysis, which is a longstanding methodology in the social sciences and humanities, with many established best practices. In this paper, we investigate to what extent a sample of machine learning application papers in social computing --- specifically papers from ArXiv and traditional publications performing an ML classification task on Twitter data --- give specific details about whether such best practices were followed. Our team conducted multiple rounds of structured content analysis of each paper, making determinations such as: Does the paper report who the labelers were, what their qualifications were, whether they independently labeled the same items, whether inter-rater reliability metrics were disclosed, what level of training and/or instructions were given to labelers, whether compensation for crowdworkers is disclosed, and if the training data is publicly available. We find a wide divergence in whether such practices were followed and documented. Much of machine learning research and education focuses on what is done once a "gold standard" of training data is available, but we discuss issues around the equally-important aspect of whether such data is reliable in the first place.


It was found that fragment D derived from fibrinogen may be coupled with the fibrin monomer to produce complexes of unstable and stable types. The native fibrin monomer forms unstable complexes; the stable ones arise when the labile peripheral domains of the fibrin molecules are reversibly modified and their specific intermolecular affinity for the thrombin-activated central domains is lowered or eliminated. Fragment D, the free peripheral domain possessing polymerization centers, is strongly bound to the modified monomer occupying the polymerization sites of its central domain. The modification was induced by using acid pH (around 3.7) or by urea or NaBr taken at concentrations which caused no denaturation. In neutral media the acid-modified monomer passes to its normal state which is accompanied by simultaneous decrease of fragment D binding and restoration of codgulability. Fragment D presumably competes with the peripheral domain for the central one. Peripheral domains of the intact monomer are predominant competitors; fragment D only reduces the rate of polymerization due to temporary complex formation. However, modification results in a formation of stable complexes and thus decreases the accumulation of polymeric fibrin.