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Reaction Behaviors of Mixed Burdens Consisting of Pellets and Sintered Ores in an Experimental Blast Furnace. Low-MgO sintered ores have developed into dominant burden materials for large blast furnaces operating under high pulverized coal injection in Japan, because of their low gangue content and high strength. Mixing MgO-bearing burdens with low-MgO sintered ores is an effective approach to satisfy the MgO requirement of blast furnaces. Therefore, a basket-evaluation test was performed in an experimental blast furnace (EBF) to investigate the reduction behavior of olivine pellets mixed with low-MgO sintered ores. The reduction behavior with lime-fluxed pellets was also evaluated as a reference. Softening-melting tests were also conducted under the same mixing conditions as those in the EBF tests. Olivine pellets exhibited smaller pores and contained finer hematite grains before reduction. These microstructural features influenced their reduction behavior, with low size disintegration observed in the lumpy zone in the EBF. Numerous cohesive masses with slag formed at the interface between sintered ores and lime-fluxed pellets in the EBF, facilitating their melting. In contrast, a small amount of slag was found at the interface between sintered ores and olivine pellets. The results of the softening-melting tests also revealed the superiority of olivine pellets during melting. Despite the low temperature of the initial melt formation during reduction, olivine pellets exhibited lower liquid ratios at high temperatures, resulting in a decrease in exuded slag when mixed with low-MgO sintered ores. This work proposes a general mechanism for the melting behaviors of mixed burden materials for blast furnaces.
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Case report of eight pregnant women with syphilis. Congenital syphilis may lead to severe sequelae in affected infants. The prevalence of syphilis in women of childbearing age has increased worldwide. From 2015 to 2018, we encountered eight pregnant women with syphilis including six with late latent and two with early latent syphilis. Seven pregnant women with syphilis received antibiotic therapies of oral amoxicillin, intravenous penicillin G, or the both. The syphilotherapies in four cases were considered effective, because rapid plasma reagin titers decreased. None of the seven pregnant women who received syphilotherapies had congenital syphilis. The remaining one woman who did not undergo a maternity checkup or syphilotherapy delivered a stillbirth with congenital syphilis at 29 gestational weeks. (c) 2019 Japanese Society of Chemotherapy and The Japanese Association for Infectious Diseases. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
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Youth access to tobacco: Policies and politics. The late 1980s marked the beginning of a sea change in research and intervention on tobacco use by young people, when the first studies were published demonstrating the ease with which adolescents could purchase cigarettes. Since then concern with the commercial availability of tobacco products to youth has grown, becoming deeply entrenched in both research and policy efforts. This paper reviews the history of restrictions on youth access to tobacco, the evidence that commercial sources of tobacco are available and important to adolescents, and the rationale for various components of policies to restrict access. We also review the recent expansion of policies addressing youth access to tobacco at all levels of government, the tobacco industry response to this expansion, and issues that have arisen as this expansion has developed.
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Use of water stable isotopes for evaluation of surface water/groundwater interaction during a storm event at the Alder Creek watershed, Southern Ontario. A study of the interaction between groundwater and surface water was undertaken within a small agricultural watershed at Mannheim, southern Ontario, Canada. The study was conducted in a test site managed by the University of Waterloo. Groundwater contribution to the stream was measured along a section of Alder Creek during a rainfall event. After a general characterization by water stable isotopes, the hydrograph separation has been conducted using O-18/O-16 isotopic ratios before, during and after the rainfall event recorded the fourteenth of July 2015. The elaboration showed that pre-event water ( corresponding to groundwater contribution) dominated the streamflow, accounting for 82% of discharge, respect with 18% of event water ( precipitation) recorded during the storm flow peak.
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Isofuranodiene and germacrone from Smyrnium olusatrum essential oil as acaricides and oviposition inhibitors against Tetranychus urticae: impact of chemical stabilization of isofuranodiene by interaction with silver triflate. In this research, we isolated the sesquiterpenoids isofuranodiene and germacrone from the essential oil of Smyrnium olusatrum (Apiaceae), and evaluated their potential against Tetranychus urticae (Tetranychidae), an important agricultural pest, which attacks over two hundred species of plants. We evaluated both compounds for their acute and chronic toxicity via tarsal toxicity assays and oviposition inhibitory effects. Since isofuranodiene is a thermosensitive molecule undergoing Cope rearrangement giving the less active isomer curzerene, we achieved its chemical stabilization by interaction with a silver(I) ion (Ag triflate, AgCF3SO3), and the isofuranodiene adduct was tested for acaricidal activity and oviposition inhibitory potential. Results showed that isofuranodiene achieved the lowest LD50 values, both in acute (15.8 A mu g cm(-2)) and chronic toxicity assays (11.9 A mu g cm(-3)). The three tested products also led to significant oviposition inhibition, with IC50 of 4.1 (isofuranodiene), 17.8 (germacrone) and 19.3 A mu g cm(-3) (isofuranodiene + AgCF3SO3). Overall, the results from this study allowed us to candidate the oxygenated sesquiterpene isofuranodiene isolated from the S. olusatrum essential oil as novel molecule to develop effective acaricides. In addition, we pointed out the potential value of chemical stabilization by interaction with a silver(I) ion (Ag triflate, AgCF3SO3) for the production of mite oviposition inhibitors.
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The experimenters' regress reconsidered: Replication, tacit knowledge, and the dynamics of knowledge generation. This paper revisits the debate between Harry Collins and Allan Franklin, concerning the experimenters' regress. Focusing my attention on a case study from recent psychology (regarding experimental evidence for the existence of a Mozart Effect), I argue that Franklin is right to highlight the role of epistemological strategies in scientific practice, but that his account does not sufficiently appreciate Collins's point about the importance of tacit knowledge in experimental practice. In turn, Collins rightly highlights the epistemic uncertainty (and skepticism) surrounding much experimental research. However, I will argue that his analysis of tacit knowledge fails to elucidate the reasons why scientists often are (and should be) skeptical of other researchers' experimental results. I will present an analysis of tacit knowledge in experimental research that not only answers to this desideratum, but also shows how such skepticism can in fact be a vital enabling factor for the dynamic processes of experimental knowledge generation. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
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Insect resistance to transgenic Bt crops: Lessons from the laboratory and field. Transgenic crops that produce insecticidal toxins from the bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) grew on >62 million ha worldwide from 1996 to 2002. Despite expectations that pests would rapidly evolve resistance to such Bt crops, increases in the frequency of resistance caused by exposure to Bt crops in the field have not yet been documented. in laboratory and greenhouse tests, however, at least seven resistant laboratory strains of three pests (Plutella xylostella [L.], Pectinophora gossypiella [Saunders], and Helicoverpa armigera [Hubner]) have completed development on Bt crops. In contrast, several other laboratory strains with 70- to 10,100-fold resistance to Bt toxins in diet did not survive on Bt crops. Monitoring of field populations in regions with high adoption of Bt crops has not yet detected increases in resistance frequency. Resistance monitoring examples include Ostrinia nubilalis (Hubner) in the United States (6 yr), P. gossypiella in Arizona (5 yr), H. armigera in northern China (3 yr), and Helicoverpa zea (Boddie) in North Carolina (2 yr). Key factors delaying resistance to Bt crops are probably refuges of non-Bt host plants that enable survival of susceptible pests, low initial resistance allele frequencies, recessive inheritance of resistance to Bt crops, costs associated with resistance that reduce fitness of resistant individuals relative to susceptible individuals on non-Bt hosts (\\'fitness costs\\'), and disadvantages suffered by resistant strains on Bt hosts relative to their performance on non-Bt hosts (\\'incomplete resistance\\'). The relative importance of these factors varies among pest-Bt crop systems, and violations of key assumptions of the refuge strategy (low resistance allele frequency and recessive inheritance) may occur in some cases. The success of Bt crops exceeds expectations of many, but does not preclude resistance problems in the future.
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Structural Rationality and the Property of Coherence. What is structural rationality? Specifically, what is the distinctive feature of structural requirements of rationality? Some philosophers have argued, roughly, that the distinctive feature of structural requirements is coherence. But what does coherence mean, exactly? Or, at least, what do structuralists about rationality have in mind when they claim that structural rationality is coherence? This issue matters for making progress in various active debates concerning rationality. In this paper, I analyze three strategies for figuring out what coherence means in the debates on structural rationality. I argue that these strategies face problems.
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First record of beaching events for a calycophoran siphonophore: Abylopsis tetragona (Otto, 1823) at the Strait of Gibraltar. Two beaching events of the calycophoran siphonophore Abylopsis tetragona (Otto, 1823) were observed in two different areas of the Strait of Gibraltar during the cold season. The first was discovered on November 2014, on Getares Beach (Algeciras Bay, Mediterranean part of the Strait of Gibraltar), where more than 700 colonies were found deposited along the tideline. The second event was discovered on January 2015, on Paloma Baja Beach (Tarifa, Atlantic part of the Strait of Gibraltar) where an average density of 170 colonies m(-2) was spread along the seashore. Both events seemed to be promoted by strong easterly winds, preceded by upwelling episodes that may have concentrated high densities of the siphonophore in superficial layers. This study represents the first report of a calycophoran siphonophore mass stranding. The records were made thanks to citizen science and jellyfish outreach at secondary schools (PERSEUS@school initiative), illustrating the importance of citizen science projects in observing natural phenomena. We consider the monitoring and recording of cnidarian stranding events especially important in highly productive and biologically active areas such as the Strait of Gibraltar.
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The role of fimV and the importance of its tandem repeat copy number in twitching motility, pigment production, and morphology in Legionella pneumophila. Twitching motility, a flagella-independent type of translocation of bacteria over moist surfaces, requires an array of proteins, including FimV. To investigate the role of this protein in twitching motility in Legionella pneumophila, we have generated a knockout mutant of fimV and characterized its phenotypic effects. In addition to a major reduction in twitching motility, deletion of the fimV gene caused a number of other phenotypic effects including decreased protective pigment formation, and it also affected cell morphology. Since fimV contains a variable number of tandem repeats, which can vary according to the origin of a given strain, we have examined the importance of this variability found within the coding region of this gene. By complementing the knockout strain with constructs containing a different number of this tandem repeat, we have been able to also show that repeat copy number is important in the functioning of this gene.
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Tortfest. This Article argues that mass torts involving multiple tortfeasors can be welfare enhancing. It begins by investigating the role of \\'dilution of liability\\' a phenomenon that has been condemned for its role in. facilitating accidents. According to the literature, in alternative care situations where the damage to the victim is constant, dilution of liability leads to inefficient precaution. levels and consequently to more (bad) accidents. The Article deviates from this literature and shows that dilution of liability can be welfare enhancing. This is so even in the quintessential case where dilution of liability has been denounced. The Article further shows that an activity that is socially undesirable and should give rise to liability can become desirable as the number of tortfeasors increases. Put differently, it shows that in some situations an activity that would and should be condemned if conducted by one tortfeasor may become socially desirable if done by many. The Article analyzes the conditions under which such desirable \\'tortfests\\' occur, and it has important implications to the salience literature. After investigating the impact of tortfests on actors' precaution and activity levels, the Article examines mechanisms that would incentivize actors, in certain situations, to join a group wrongdoing or combine with others to initiate one. The result, it is argued, could increase societal welfare.
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Progress in the production and modification of PVDF membranes. This article provides a comprehensive overview of recent progress on the production and modification of poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) membranes for liquid-liquid or liquid-solid separation. The crystalline properties, thermal stability and chemical resistance were firstly considered in this review, followed by the production methods of PVDF membranes via phase inversion including immersion precipitation and thermally induced phase separation. Various hydrophilic modification approaches such as surface modification and blending modification for improving the fouling resistance of PVDF membranes were subsequently reviewed. Finally, in the light of the anticipated role of PVDF as a superior membrane material, future prospects on the production and modification of PVDF membranes were suggested. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
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Estimation of the Occurrence Probability of Extreme Geomagnetic Storms by Applying Extreme Value Theory to Aa Index. In this work, the occurrence probability of extreme geomagnetic storms is estimated by applying extreme value theory to the geomagnetic activity Aa index. The Aa index has 172 years observation time span, which is much longer than other geomagnetic indices, and thus is more suitable for analysis for rarely occurred extreme geomagnetic storms. We use two newly developed extreme value theory methods, block maxima method and peak over threshold, and find that the extreme geomagnetic storm that happened in March 1989 may happen once per century. This result implies that we should pay more attention to such extreme geomagnetic storms that can cause space weather hazards.
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Chemo- and regioselective synthesis of alkyl-3-thiazoline carboxylates. The synthesis of a series of allyl substituted 3-thiazoline-carboxylates was carried out from the corresponding thiazolidines, by a MnO2-mediated oxidation reaction under mild conditions. The reaction was chemoselective towards the amine-imine oxidation and was also regioselective, affording the unsaturation at the 3-position of the heterocycle. (C) 2001 Published by Elsevier Science Ltd.
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Scale-dependent trait correlations in a temperate tree community. Recent investigations of relationships among plant traits have generated important insights into plant form and function. However, relationships involving leaf area, leaf shape and plant height remain poorly resolved. Previous work has also focused on correlations between average trait values for individual species. It is unclear whether similar relationships occur within species. We searched for novel plant trait correlations by comparing leaf area, leaf circularity, specific leaf area (SLA) and plant height among 16 common woody plant species from a temperate forest in New Zealand. Analyses were conducted both within species (intra-specifically) and among species (inter-specifically) to determine whether trait correlations were scale dependent. Leaf area was unrelated to other leaf traits inter-specifically. However, leaf area declined with plant height and increased with SLA intra-specifically. Leaf circularity decreased with plant height inter-specifically, but increased with plant height intra-specifically. SLA increased with plant height both inter- and intra-specifically. Leaf circularity increased with SLA inter-specifically, but decreased with SLA intra-specifically. Overall results showed that leaf shape, SLA and plant height are interrelated. However, intra-specific relationships often differed substantially from inter-specific relationships, suggesting that the processes shaping relationships between this suite of plant traits are scale-dependent.
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Shallow volatile layer at Chryse Planitia, Mars. We have investigated size distribution of rampart craters in the east edge of Chryse Planitia on Mars by Viking high resolution images. Clear existence of the onset diameter of rampart crater, which defines the minimum size of the rampart crater, has been recognized. If this diameter corresponds to the depth to the top of the volatile layer, the converted depth ranges from similar to 20 m to 60 m. These values are systematically shallower than the previous estimates (Kuzmin, 1988). Martian volatile layer is thought as a main reservoir of the ancient fluvial processes and atmospheric water vapor. This shallow volatile layer gives us information of the inventory of Martian water and conditions of cryosphere.
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The role of big data in shaping ambidextrous business process management: Case studies from the service industry. Originality/value The deployment of big data in business processes has attracted a large amount of interest recently. However, these studies are mostly conceptual, so empirical research about this complex relationship is quite rare, especially research with specific arguments regarding exploitative and explorative activities. This paper aims to fill this gap by offering empirical evidence for big data-driven business processes.Findings The results of case studies offer some opportunities and challenges for service firms related to both the exploitative and the explorative aspects of BPM driven by big data.Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore how big data can shape ambidextrous business process management (BPM) in terms of exploitation and exploration.Design/methodology/approach A qualitative methodology involving case studies has been chosen to explore the impact of big data deployment on exploitative and explorative business processes.
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A Unified Framework for the Infection Dynamics of Zoonotic Spillover and Spread. A considerable amount of disease is transmitted from animals to humans and many of these zoonoses are neglected tropical diseases. As outbreaks of SARS, avian influenza and Ebola have demonstrated, however, zoonotic diseases are serious threats to global public health and are not just problems confined to remote regions. There are two fundamental, and poorly studied, stages of zoonotic disease emergence: 'spillover', i.e. transmission of pathogens from animals to humans, and 'stuttering transmission', i.e. when limited human-to-human infections occur, leading to self-limiting chains of transmission. We developed a transparent, theoretical framework, based on a generalization of Poisson processes with memory of past human infections, that unifies these stages. Once we have quantified pathogen dynamics in the reservoir, with some knowledge of the mechanism of contact, the approach provides a tool to estimate the likelihood of spillover events. Comparisons with independent agent-based models demonstrates the ability of the framework to correctly estimate the relative contributions of human-to-human vs animal transmission. As an illustrative example, we applied our model to Lassa fever, a rodent-borne, viral haemorrhagic disease common in West Africa, for which data on human outbreaks were available. The approach developed here is general and applicable to a range of zoonoses. This kind of methodology is of crucial importance for the scientific, medical and public health communities working at the interface between animal and human diseases to assess the risk associated with the disease and to plan intervention and appropriate control measures. The Lassa case study revealed important knowledge gaps, and opportunities, arising from limited knowledge of the temporal patterns in reporting, abundance of and infection prevalence in, the host reservoir.
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Symmetrical nitroxide synthesis: Meso versus d,l diastereomer formation. The syntheses of Ct-symmetrical isoindoline nitroxide 2a and meso-isoindoline nitroxide 2b have been achieved by two different routes. The chiral Ct-symmetric nitroxide derives from the addition of a Grignard reagent from the least hindered face opposite the large phenyl group in nitrone intermediate 21, whereas the isoindoline 3b precursor to the meso nitroxide is formed by the addition of a Grignard reagent from the face opposite the large magnesium oxide group of the tight ion pair of iminium 19. The assignment of these structures is confirmed by preparation of several derivatives as well as by X-ray crystallography.
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Relative contribution of trees and crops to soil carbon content in a parkland system in Burkina Faso using variations in natural C-13 abundance. The origin of organic matter was studied in the soils of a parkland of karite (Vitallaria paradoxa C.F. Gaertn) and nere (Parkia biglobosa (Jacq.) Benth.), which is extensively cultivated without the use of fertilisers. In such systems, fertility (physical, chemical and biological) gradients around trees have been attributed by some authors to a priori differences in fertility, allowing for better tree establishment on richer sites. In reverse, other workers believed that these gradients are due to the contribution of trees to the formation of soil organic matter through litter and decay of roots. Measurements of the variations in the C-13 isotopic composition allowed for a distinction between tree (C-3) derived C and crop and grass (C-4) derived C in the total soil organic C content. The organic carbon contents of the soils were recorded under the two species at two soil depths and at five distances going from tree trunk to the open area and their C isotopic signatures were analysed. The results showed that soil carbon contents under karite (6.43 +/- 0.45 g kg(-1)) and nere (5.65 +/- 0.27 g kg(-1)) were significantly higher (p < 0.01) than in the open area (4.09 +/- 0.26 g kg(-1)). The delta C-13 of soil C was significantly higher (p < 0.001) in the open area (-17.5 +/- 0.3 parts per thousand) compared with the values obtained on average with depth and distance from tree under karite (-20.2 +/- 0.4 parts per thousand) and nere (-20.1 +/- 0.4 parts per thousand). The C-4-derived soil C was approximately constant, and the differences in total soil C were fully explained by the C-3 (tree) contributions to soil carbon of 4.01 +/- 0.71, 3.02 +/- 0.53, 1.53 +/- 0.10 g kg(-1), respectively under karite, nere and in the open area. These results show that trees in parklands have a directly positive contribution to soil carbon content, justifying the need to encourage the maintenance of trees in these systems in semi-arid environments where the carbon content of soil appears to be the first limiting factor for crop growth.
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COMPARISON OF TEMPERATURE AND HUMIDITY IN THREE TYPES OF OUTDOOR FARROWING HUTS. This study examines the temperature susceptibility of outdoor swine farrowing (birthing) huts made of three types of materials: plastic [designated as green (G) hut], galvanized steel [silver (S) hut], and plywood [orange (O) hut]. Three huts made from each of the three materials for a total of nine test huts were used. Temperature data loggers were installed on the ceiling of each hut. A data logger, typically used in building structures, was installed to measure the temperature and humidity in the field. Data were collected every 15 min for 10 days in April (first trial), and for 14 days in January (second trial) and data for each I h period was pooled. The air temperature, relative humidity, and solar irradiation for 2 m above the ground level were obtained for modeling hut temperatures using an artificial neural network from State Climate Office of North Carolina. Data were analyzed using SAS 9.2 software, and PROC GLM software was used to obtain the least squares means of the temperatures and the humidity for each hut. Two parameters, type of hut and time of data collection, were included in the statistical model. The least squares means of the temperatures and the humidity for each hut differed significantly from each other and were estimated as 22.4 degrees C, 20.4 degrees C, 20.7 degrees C and 70.0%, 70.8%, 65.9% for types G, S, and O in the first trial, and 8.5 degrees C, 7.2 degrees C, 7.7 degrees C and 78.7%, 77.2%, 65.0% in the second trial, respectively In summary, the wooden (Smidley (R)) huts seemed to perform the best, the English type metal huts were acceptable for temperature but had higher humidity levels, and the plastic (Nesting Box (R)) type of hut, recommended for use inside a larger shelter such as an outdoor hoop structure, performed the poorest in this situation. A data-driven model based on a dynamic neural network was developed and validated for prediction of hut temperature as a function of solar irradiation and outdoor air temperature for other times throughout the year. Overall, these results may help small-scale pig producers choose the appropriate type of swine farrowing hut for outdoor environments.
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Assessing the reassessment: A panel analysis of the Lisbon Strategy. We assess the employment impact of the Lisbon Strategy, examining long-run growth in total, female and old-age employment rates from 1994 to 2009. The Strategy had some impact, especially for old-age workers, but no improvement ensued from its mid-term reassessment. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
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Efficient silencing of the gene coding for the epsilon subunit of DNA polymerase III in Escherichia coli is triggered by antisense RNAs featuring stability in vivo. The Escherichia coli gene dnaQ coding for the epsilon subunit of DNA polymerase III was suppressed in vivo via antisense RNAs. To this aim, different fragments of dnaQ were cloned in reverse orientation into the pBAD-HisB vector or into pT3T7, and the corresponding antisense RNAs were conditionally expressed in vivo. Antisense transcripts featuring fast hybridization in vitro with dnaQ mRNA but lacking stability in vivo did not suppress the target gene. Moreover, the in vivo concentration of an antisense transcript was positively correlated to its silencing effectiveness.
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Definition of animal breeding goals for sustainable production systems. What me do is determined by the way we \\'view\\' a complex issue and what sample of issues or events me choose to deal with. In this paper, a model based on a communal, cultural, or people-centered worldview, informed by a subjective epistemology and a holistic ontology, is considered. Definitions and interpretations of sustainable agriculture are reviewed. Common elements in published definitions of sustainable agriculture and animal production among those who seek long-term and equitable solutions for food production are resource efficiency, profitability, productivity, environmental soundness, biodiversity, social viability, and ethical aspects. Possible characteristics of future sustainable production systems and further development are presented. The impact of these characteristics on animal breeding goals is reviewed. The need for long-term biologically, ecologically, and sociologically sound breeding goals is emphasized, because animal breeding determined only by short-term market forces leads to unwanted side effects. Hence, a procedure for defining animal breeding goals with ethical priorities and weighing of market and non-market values is suggested. Implementation of non-market as well as market economic trait values in the aggregate genotype, as suggested, may allow for breeding programs that contribute to sustainable production systems. Examples of breeding goals in salmon, cattle, and pigs are given, and the resulting genetic responses are evaluated with respect to economic profit (or costs) and other criteria of sustainability. Important prerequisites for breeding programs for sustainable production are appropriate governmental policies, awareness of our way of thinking, and a more communal worldview informed by a subjective epistemology and a holistic ontology.
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Adherens and tight junctions: Structure, function and connections to the actin cytoskeleton. Adherens junctions and Tight junctions comprise two modes of cell-cell adhesion that provide different functions. Both junctional complexes are proposed to associate with the actin cytoskeleton, and formation and maturation of cell-cell contacts involves reorganization of the actin cytoskeleton. Adherens junctions initiate cell-cell contacts, and mediate the maturation and maintenance of the contact. Adherens junctions consist of the transmembrane protein E-cadherin, and intracellular components, p120-catenin, beta-catenin and alpha-catenin. Tight junctions regulate the paracellular pathway for the movement of ions and solutes in-between cells. Tight junctions consist of the transmembrane proteins occludin and claudin. and the cytoplasmic scaffolding proteins ZO-1, -2, and -3. This review discusses the binding interactions of the most studied proteins that occur within each of these two junctional complexes and possible modes of regulation of these interactions, and the different mechanisms that connect and regulate interactions with the actin cytoskeleton. (C) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
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Low genomic diversity of Legionella pneumophila within clinical specimens. Methods: Ten isolates of L. pneumophila were obtained from each of ten epidemiologically unrelated patients. SBT and WGS were undertaken, and single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were identified between isolates from the same patient.Results: The same sequence type (ST) was obtained for each set of ten isolates. Using genomic analysis, zero SNPs were identified between isolates from seven patients, a maximum of one SNP was found between isolates from two patients, and a maximum of two SNPs was found amongst isolates from one patient. Assuming that the full within-host diversity has been captured with ten isolates, statistical analyses showed that, on average, analysis of one isolate would yield a 70% chance of capturing all observed genotypes, and seven isolates would yield a 90% chance.Conclusions: SBT and WGS analyses of multiple colony picks obtained from ten patients showed no, or very low, within-host genomic diversity in L. pneumophila, suggesting that analysis of one colony pick per patient will often be sufficient to obtain reliable typing data to aid investigation of cases of Legionnaires' disease. (C) 2018 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd on behalf of European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases.Objectives: Legionella pneumophila is the leading cause of Legionnaires' disease, a severe form of pneumonia acquired from environmental sources. Investigations of both sporadic cases and outbreaks rely mostly on analysis of a single to a few colony pick(s) isolated from each patient. However, because of the lack of data describing diversity within single patients, the optimal number of picks is unknown. Here, we investigated diversity within individual patients using sequence-based typing (SBT) and wholegenome sequencing (WGS).
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Explicit inversion formulas for properly Hessenberg and Toeplitz-Hessenberg matrices. The nice inversion properties of Toeplitz-Hessenberg matrices from a Hessenbergian representation of Catalan's numbers encourage us to provide explicit inversion formulas (in terms of basic arithmetical operations involving entries from the original matrix) for the non-singular Toeplitz-Hessenberg matrices. Our approach is based on an elementary matrix inflation method, joint with the nested sums formulas. These explicit inversion formulas are then extended to apply to the entries of the inverse of every non-singular properly Hessenberg matrix.
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AIDA - A DYNAMIC ANALYZER FOR ADA PROGRAMS. This article presents a dynamic analyzer for Ada programs called AIDA. ln software engineering, previous dynamic analyzers have often incorporated first-order logic assertion languages. For dynamic testing of both sequential and concurrent programs, however, temporal logic may be advantageous because it deals with the development of situations over time. AIDA investigates the applicability of temporal logic in building a dynamic analyzer for Ada programs. AIDA is designed to test, debug, and specify programs written in the Ada language. It affects the instrumentation of programs as well as collecting, organizing, and reporting of results of the instrumented program. The instrumentation approach is based on the idea that the intended function of a program can often be specified in terms of assertions or values that must be assumed by variables at certain strategic points in the program. This article describes the design, implementation, and experimental evaluation of AIDA. The goal of this work is to apply AIDA as a comprehensive dynamic analyzer for Ada programs. AIDA can handle sequential processes and concurrent tasks, and it can understand fully all Ada statements.
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Evaluation of behavioral changes and subjective distress after exposure to coercive inpatient interventions. Background: There is a lack of evidence to underpin decisions on what constitutes the most effective and least restrictive form of coercive intervention when responding to violent behavior. Therefore we compared ratings of effectiveness and subjective distress by 125 inpatients across four types of coercive interventions.Results: Using univariate statistics, no significant differences in effectiveness and subjective distress were found between the groups, except that patients who were involuntarily medicated experienced significant less isolation during the measure than patients who underwent combined measures. However, when controlling for the effect of demographic and clinical characteristics, significant differences on subjective distress between the groups emerged: involuntary medication was experienced as the least distressing overall and least humiliating, caused less physical adverse effects and less sense of isolation. Combined coercive interventions, regardless of the type, caused significantly more physical adverse effects and feelings of isolation than individual interventions.Conclusions: In the absence of information on individual patient preferences, involuntary medication may be more justified than seclusion and mechanical restraint as a coercive intervention. Use of multiple interventions requires significant justification given their association with significant distress.Methods: Effectiveness was assessed through ratings of patient behavior immediately after exposure to a coercive measure and 24 h later. Subjective distress was examined using the Coercion Experience Scale at debriefing. Regression analyses were performed to compare these outcome variables across the four types of coercive interventions.
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Effects of dietary threonine on growth performance and carcass traits of Yangzhou geese. A dose-response experiment with 5 total dietary threonine (Thr) levels (0.54, 0.64, 0.74, 0.84 and 0.94%) was conducted to study the effect of dietary Thr on growth performance and carcass traits of Yangzhou geese from 0 to 8 weeks of age. Three hundred 1-day-old Yangzhou goslings were randomly allocated to 15 pens with 20 birds (10 males and 10 females) per pen according to similar pen weight. There were 5 dietary treatments, consisting of 3 replicate pens. Weight gain, feed intake and feed/gain of geese from each pen were measured at 2-week intervals from 0 to 8 weeks. At 56 days of age, four geese (2 males and 2 females) were selected randomly from each pen and slaughtered to evaluate the carcass quality. The results showed that an increase in dietary Thr resulted in an increase and then a decrease in daily weight gain in both periods. Peak daily weight gain responses appeared in geese fed the 0.74% Thr diet in both periods (36.120 and 61.96 g, respectively). Thr supplementation significantly affected feed/gain in the 0-4 week period (P <= 0.045) and daily feed intake in the 5-8 week period (P <= 0.012). No significant linear or quadratic responses from Thr supplementation were observed in growth performance and carcass traits of geese except for eviscerated carcass percentage (quadratic effect, P <= 0.016). The optimal Thr requirement of Yangzhou geese from 0 to 8 weeks of age was 0.726% for eviscerated carcass percentage. The results of our experiment reported herein would document that the Thr requirements suggested by NRC (1994) for geese up to 8 weeks of age are safe estimates; they may slightly overestimate the requirements but not by a large margin.
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[
0,
6
] |
Guarding against foreign insolvency proceedings: The importance of the centre of main interests in transaction planning. The concept of the centre of main interests (COMI) is familiar to lawyers who deal with cross-border insolvency. But to those whose work is primarily transactional, the term may still be alien, or at least arcane. That should not be so. To a significant degree, COMI determines the jurisdiction and effect of insolvency proceedings that can be opened in respect of a debtor. It is an important concept that can affect the rights of all of a company's stakeholders, including its contractual counterparties. An understanding of the meaning and effect of COMI, the means available to alter a COMI, and the availability and efficacy of means by which a counterparty's COMI might be controlled, is essential to those responsible for negotiating and implementing commercial transactions with companies that have the capacity and potential incentive to manipulate their COMIs. This article describes the COMI concept, the reasons why COMIs are manipulated, and the means by which such manipulation can occur. It describes the issues that can arise when steps are taken to manipulate COMI, and some means by which counterparties might mitigate against the risk of a shift in COMI undermining negotiated contractual rights. It then explores some of the complexities that might be raised by those mechanisms, and concludes that while it is uncertain that contractual prohibitions against COMI migration might be directly enforceable, they provide at least a deterrent to debtors and their advisers migrating COMI against the wishes of a counterparty in whose favour they have been drafted.
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ENOL LYMBOYAEYTIKON AND THE DISSOLUTION OF THE CONFLICT IN THE CLEMENT'S FIRST EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS. Clement's First Epistle to the Corinthians can be interpreted in the context of the relation between early Christian epistolography and rhetorics, especially deliberative rhetorics. This type of rhetorics aims at stimulating will and emotions of its audience and calling it to act in the direction of preserving unity and stability of political (or ecclesial) community and those ways of living that arc most loyal to paradigms established in the process of its formation. The influence on the audience in the state of conflict and call to action that leads to peace is achieved by the author through consistent arguments, emphasising the ethos and evoking memories of historical events and fig-tires with which the audience can identify itself Clement's Epistle possesses basic characteristics of deliberative rhetorics it contains directedness to the context of the future, points out advantages mid dangers of concrete activity, elaborates on catastrophic consequences that schismatic mindset can have in the community, and emphasises the paradigm of peace and unity as the way of overcoming the crisis.
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A New Generalized Empirical Correlation for Predicting Methane Hydrate Equilibrium Conditions in Pure Water. This work contributes to a new generalized empirical correlation for predicting methane (CH4) hydrate equilibrium conditions in pure water. Unlike the conventional thermodynamic approach that involves complex reckoning, the proposed empirical equation is developed by regressing 215 experimental data points from the literature and validating with 45 data points for predicting methane hydrate equilibrium conditions in pure water. The new correlation is proposed for a temperature and pressure range of 273.2-303.48 K and 2.63-72.26 MPa, respectively. The accuracy and performance of the proposed correlation is quantitatively evaluated using statistical error analysis. The proposed correlation was able to estimate CH4 hydrate equilibrium conditions satisfactorily with an R-2 of 0.99987. The overall error analysis for the proposed correlation shows fair agreement with the experimental data reported within the literature. Concurrently, the new correlation showed better performance in predicting equilibrium conditions compared to those calculated by other empirical correlations available in the literature within the investigated range. In addition, the proposed empirical equation is also checked to evaluate its efficacy in fitting each set of experimental binary/ternary methane hydrates (BTMH) and binary hydrogen hydrates (BHH) for an accurate representation of equilibrium data over a wide range of composition, pressure, and temperature conditions. A maximum percentage deviation of 0.58% and 0.24% was observed between experimental and calculated equilibrium conditions for BTMH and BHH, respectively.
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1,
16
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THE COMPLEXITY OF THE LANGUAGE OF TOURISM OLENKA MARIA MANESCU (DICU). It is well-known that tourism, in the attempt to persuade, has a discourse of its own. Through the use of pictures, brochures and other media, the language of tourism attempts to lure people and control their decisions. Tourists bring their contribution to the ever-changing. nature of this discourse through their travel experiences. This paper will attempt to analyse its complexity.
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25
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A loop enhancement strategy for network robustness. Many real systems are extremely vulnerable against attacks, since they are scale-free networks as commonly existing topological structure in them. Thus, in order to improve the robustness of connectivity, several edge rewiring methods have been so far proposed by enhancing degree-degree correlations. In fact, onion-like structures with positive degree-degree correlations are optimally robust against attacks. On the other hand, recent studies suggest that the robustness and loops are strongly related to each other. Therefore, we focus on enhancing loops as a new approach for improving the robustness. In this work, we propose edge rewiring methods and evaluate the effect on the robustness by applying to real networks. Our proposed methods are two types of rewirings in preserving degrees or not for investigating the effect of the degree modification on the robustness. Numerical results show that our proposed methods improve the robustness to the level as same or more than the state-of-the-art methods. Furthermore, our work shows that the following two points are more important for further improving the robustness. First, the robustness is strongly related to loops more than degree-degree correlations. Second, it significantly improves the robustness by reducing the gap between the maximum and minimum degrees.
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37
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THE OCCURRENCE OF CONTOGENYS-LIKE LIZARDS IN THE LATE CRETACEOUS AND EARLY TERTIARY OF THE WESTERN INTERIOR OF THE USA. Based on diagnostic jaw and dental material from the Cenomanian-middle Paleocene of the western U.S.A.. we erect a new fossil lizard taxon, Contogeniidae taxon nov., that contains the following species: Contogenys sloani Estes, 1969 (Maastrichtian-early Paleocene, Montana) Contogenys ekalakaensis sp. nov. (middle Paleocene. Montana): Palaeoscincosaurus middletoni Sullivan and Lucas, 1996 (early Paleocene, Colorado) Palaeoscincosaurus pharkidodon sp. nov. (Campanian, Utah) Utahgenys evansi gen. et sp. nov. (Turonian, Utah); and Utahgenys sp. indet. (Cenomanian, Utah). These taxa share unique characteristics of tooth and jaw morphologies (e.g., tooth crowns truncate and bearing longitudinal apical grooves; hypertrophied inferior alveolar canal), Phylogenetic analysis, indicates that among squamates. Contogeniidae taxon nov. is most closely related to Xantusiidae.
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36
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Development of prototype wireless transmission measurement for glucose in subcutaneous and brain striatum. Monitoring of glucose in subcutaneous and brain striatum have been extensively studied in the past. While biocompatibility was one of the limitations, others included the messy measuring equipments preclude monitoring in a complex environment. This study tried to establish an amperometric measurement of glucose in pre- and post-insulin-administration on diabetic and hyperglycemia rats via wireless. The results have indicated that the wireless sensing kit used was capable of monitoring glucose in both subcutaneous and brain. The physiological data have also shown a new insight on the fabrication of implantable glucose sensors.
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33
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Soybean (Glycine max) Tolerance to Timing Applications of Pyroxasulfone, Flumioxazin, and Pyroxasulfone plus Flumioxazin. Four field studies were conducted over a 3-yr period (2011 to 2013) to determine the tolerance of four soybean cultivars to pyroxasulfone (89 and 178 g ai ha(-1)), flumioxazin (71 and 142 g ai ha(-1)), and pyroxasulfone flumioxazin (160 and 320 g ai ha(-1)) applied either preplant incorporated (PPI), PRE, or at the soybean cotyledon stage (COT). When pyroxasulfone + flumioxazin was applied at 160 and 320 g ai ha(-1), at the cotyledon stage soybean yield was decreased by 9 and 14%, respectively. The only other treatment that decreased soybean yield was pyroxasulfone (178 g ai ha(-1)) applied PPI; yield was decreased by 6% despite minimal injury and dry biomass reductions observed during the season. Soybean tolerance to pyroxasulfone or flumioxazin applied alone was generally similar and injury was less than with pyroxasulfone + flumioxazin. Similarly, herbicides applied PPI and PRE were less injurious to soybean than the COT timing. Results suggest that soybean is tolerant to PPI and PRE applications of pyroxasulfone + flumioxazin but COT applications should be avoided.
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[
0,
7,
9
] |
A New Way to Lemmatize Adjectives in a User-friendly Zulu-English Dictionary. Traditionally, Zulu adjectives have been lemmatized under their stems only. In this research article, art in-depth analysis is undertaken to make a case for the lemmatization of all frequent adjectival forms with their adjective concords rather. It is shown that the supposed explosion in size of the dictionary may be contained within a corpus-driven Sinclairian framework. The advantages of such a word-like treatment far outnumber the generalizations that have hitherto characterized the lexicographic treatment of adjectives in Zulu. The Study is supported by ample dictionary extracts from a Zulu-English dictionary project aimed at junior users. Comparisons with existing dictionaries and textbook data are also made.
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3,
25
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Focus: On the new theory of photography. Dominic McIver Lopes' Four Arts of Photography and Diarmuid Costello's On Photography: A Philosophical Inquiry examine the state of the art in analytic philosophy of photography and present a new approach to the study of the medium. As opposed to the orthodox and prevalent view, which emphasizes its epistemic capacities, the new theory reconsiders the nature of photography, and redirects focus towards the aesthetic potential of the medium. This symposium comprises two papers that critically examine central questions addressed in the two books, with responses by the two authors in defence of their respective positions.
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29
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Federalism and New Party Insurgency in Australia. The multiple forums for electoral competition that characterize a federal system might be expected to provide opportunities for new parties to use regional support as a springboard for success in national elections. Yet, since the 1950s, this has not been the pattern for new parties in the Australian federation; three of the four substantial party insurgencies in this period have had national, protest-based, origins. The exception has been the emergence of the Australian Greens with the party's origins in locally based environmental groups and its state organization. This study suggests that a subnationally orientated structure enables a party to take advantage of its federal institutional context and enhances the prospect of a new party enjoying a lasting presence in the party system.
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Tsunami-induced traffic evacuation strategy optimization. An optimal traffic evacuation strategy is of practical importance to minimize potential devastating damages caused by tsunamis. In this study, we developed a tsunami-induced, network-wide traffic evacuation optimization strategy. A hierarchical evacuation structure is established to guide vehicle routing decisions. At the first stage of evacuation, the optimization objective is to minimize the maximum evacuation time for all the individual evacuees from affected areas to temporary shelter zones to satisfy their primary safety needs within the shortest time periods. At the second stage of evacuation, the optimization objective aims to minimize the total evacuation time of all the evacuees from temporary shelter zones to safe zones. The lexicographic minimax optimization and Tabu search techniques are adopted to obtain a unique solution. Numerical examples are conducted to demonstrate the effectiveness of the developed model based on a real transportation network in Honolulu, Hawaii. The proposed evacuation strategy contributes to the state of the art by innovatively balancing the evacuation safety priority and the evacuation efficiency in the hierarchical evacuation structure. The research findings are helpful for decision makers to develop optimal tsunami-induced, network-wide traffic evacuation strategies.
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5,
15,
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Genomics of the Proteorhodopsin-Containing Marine Flavobacterium Dokdonia sp Strain MED134. Proteorhodopsin phototrophy is expected to have considerable impact on the ecology and biogeochemical roles of marine bacteria. However, the genetic features contributing to the success of proteorhodopsin-containing bacteria remain largely unknown. We investigated the genome of Dokdonia sp. strain MED134 (Bacteroidetes) for features potentially explaining its ability to grow better in light than darkness. MED134 has a relatively high number of peptidases, suggesting that amino acids are the main carbon and nitrogen sources. In addition, MED134 shares with other environmental genomes a reduction in gene copies at the expense of important ones, like membrane transporters, which might be compensated by the presence of the proteorhodopsin gene. The genome analyses suggest Dokdonia sp. MED134 is able to respond to light at least partly due to the presence of a strong flavobacterial consensus promoter sequence for the proteorhodopsin gene. Moreover, Dokdonia sp. MED134 has a complete set of anaplerotic enzymes likely to play a role in the adaptation of the carbon anabolism to the different sources of energy it can use, including light or various organic matter compounds. In addition to promoting growth, proteorhodopsin phototrophy could provide energy for the degradation of complex or recalcitrant organic matter, survival during periods of low nutrients, or uptake of amino acids and peptides at low concentrations. Our analysis suggests that the ability to harness light potentially makes MED134 less dependent on the amount and quality of organic matter or other nutrients. The genomic features reported here may well be among the keys to a successful photoheterotrophic lifestyle.
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2,
4,
18,
40
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A time-varying wavelet extraction method using EMD and the relationship between wavelet amplitude and phase spectra. The propagation and attenuation law of seismic wavelets is analysed, and the relationship between the amplitude and phase spectra of time-varying wavelets is obtained by deriving the wave equation for a viscoelastic medium. We find that accurately estimating the amplitude spectrum at different time points and the initial phase spectrum is necessary to extract accurate time-varying wavelets. Based on this conclusion, to overcome the defects of the classical methods, we propose a time-varying wavelet extraction method that utilizes EMD (Empirical Mode Decomposition) and the relationship between the wavelet amplitude and phase spectra. According to the differences that the logarithm amplitude spectra of wavelets and reflection coefficient are smooth and oscillating respectively, the logarithm amplitude spectra of the seismogram at different time points are decomposed into multi-layer components with different oscillation scales by EMD, and the amplitude spectra of time-varying wavelets can be estimated by filtering the oscillating components and reconstructing the smooth components. Then the phase spectra of time-varying wavelets are estimated by applying the obtained relationship, so that time-varying wavelet extraction is achieved by combining the estimated amplitude and phase spectra of wavelets correspondingly. This method does not need to calculate the Q value and can be applied to the case of variable Q, exhibiting good anti-noise performance. The numerical simulation and real seismic data processing results demonstrate that the proposed method can improve the accuracy of time-varying wavelet extraction compared to the classical method.
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35
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Nitrogen-modified metal-organic framework-based carbon: An effective non-precious electrocatalyst for oxygen reduction reaction. Metal-organic framework (MOF) based composite materials have attracted significant research interest in the electrocatalytic field. In this study, a carbonized polypyrrole coated MOF composite electrocatalyst (C-MIL-101@PPy) is developed, which is a nitrogen-modified MOF-based carbon used as non-precious oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) electrocatalyst. Physical characterizations prove that the C-MIL-101@PPy electrocatalyst has high nitrogen doping (2.53 at.%) and effective graphite and pyridinium nitrogen doping (86.6%). When compared with commercial Pt/C, as-obtained C-MIL-101@PPy electrocatalyst shows good ORR performance (Delta E-1/2 = -22 mV) with good stability (87.8%) and methanol tolerance. All results indicate that MOF-based C-MIL-101@PPy electrocatalyst is an effective and promising electrocatalyst for ORR.
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Temporal dominance of sensations and sensory profiling: A comparative study. Temporal dominance of sensations (TDS) is a recent descriptive sensory method consisting in assessing repeatedly, until the sensations end, which sensation is dominant and in scoring its intensity. Compared to time-intensity, this method considers the multidimensionality of the perceptual space over time. The objectives of this study were first to compare description of gels containing different levels of odorants (peach and mint), citric acid, cooling agent and xanthan gum obtained with TDS and with a conventional descriptive method and then to explore the impact of mint and peach odorant on long lasting perception. TDS provided reliable information close to standard sensory profiling. in addition, TDS provided information on the dynamic of perception after product consumption that was not available using a conventional profiling method and that may be critical for the understanding of complex perceptions such as refreshing. (c) 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
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8
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SINGLE ROW ROUTING ON MULTILAYERS. A common problem in VLSI is automating the routing of wires between pins in a circuit. Several specifications of the routing problem exist. One class of these problems, known as the single row routing problem, involves routing wires when the pins are laid out along a straight line. To prevent electrical interference, the wires are laid out in tracks parallel to the row of pins and distinct wires are prohibited from crossing. Formally, the single row routing problem, known to be NP-complete, involves determining the feasibility of any wiring in the minimum number of tracks. When wires may be routed on more than one layer the problem of determining the feasibility of a wiring in a minimum number of layers but with an arbitrary number of parallel tracks is NP-complete. A long-standing open problem has been the complexity of the single row routing problem on multilayers when the number of parallel tracks per layer is fixed. We show that this version of the problem is also NP-complete. (C) 1995 Academic Press, Inc.
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The Limits of Anticolonialism: The British Labour Movement and the End of Empire in Guiana. The Labour Party's ambivalent attitude to anticolonial nationalism is well known but its place in the conflicts between the party's revisionists and the left has been less fully elaborated, while the influence of British trade unions in the formation of party policy on decolonization has been cast to the margins of the historiography. Events in British Guiana are representative of this tendency because, while the activities of the American Federation of Labor-Congress of Industrial Organizations have been detailed by a number of historians, including Stephen Rabe, Robert Waters, Gary Daniels and Lily Ramcharan, the impact of the British TUC has been largely ignored. The Labour Party's support for the suspension of the Guianese constitution by the Churchill government in 1953 and their willingness to implement Conservative plans for constitutional reform in 1964 demonstrate that the party's liberationist faction were unable to overturn the Cold War agenda espoused by the right wing of the parliamentary party and anti-communists in the trade union movement. A study of the international labour politics of the 1950s and 1960s suggests both that the fate of the Guianese left was inextricably tied to conflicts in the British Labour party and that trade union leaders in the metropolis offered powerful support to revisionists in making the case for prioritizing Atlanticism over colonial liberation.
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28
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Long-term inter-annual variability of a cyclonic gyre in the western Irish Sea. The western Irish Sea gyre (WISG) is a cyclonic baroclinic flow around a dome of stagnant water which develops each year during the heating season in the western Irish Sea. Research was carried out to determine long-term changes in the strength of stratification within WISG and associated changes in the gyre structure, circulation patterns and retentive properties. Model simulations were carried out for the 58-year period 1951-2008. The characteristics of the gyre were quantified by means of potential energy anomaly (PEA), measuring the strength of stratification, and total kinetic energy (ME), reflecting the strength of cyclonic circulation. Additionally, long-term changes in flushing rates within the gyre were assessed.Results show that stratification in the western Irish Sea consistently begins to develop in March, increases linearly from April till June, peaks at the beginning of July and remains at close to maximum level throughout the month of July, before a start of a sharp decline at the beginning of August. The strength of stratification is significantly correlated with averaged summer air temperatures and summer wind speeds. Trend analysis of PEA shows an increase in the stratification strength over the period considered; the increase of PEA peak value is accompanied by a shortening of the gyre duration and a delay in the timing of the peak value. There is also an increasing trend in the KE value, showing that the thermal stratification plays a crucial role in the hydrography of the region. Flushing analysis shows that the stronger the stratification the lower the residence time and thus the faster the removal of the material from the western Irish Sea. Residence time within WISG shortens on average by 8 days over the 58-year period. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
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The Impact of Monitoring in Infinitely Repeated Games: Perfect, Public, and Private. This paper uses a laboratory experiment to study the effect of the monitoring structure on the play of the infinitely repeated prisoner's dilemma. Keeping the strategic form of the stage game fixed, we examine the behavior of subjects when information about past actions is perfect (perfect monitoring), noisy but public (public monitoring), and noisy and private (private monitoring). We find that the subjects sustain cooperation in every treatment, but that their strategies differ across the three treatments. Specifically, the strategies under imperfect monitoring are both more complex and more lenient than those under perfect monitoring. The results show how the changes in strategies across monitoring structures mitigate the effect of noise in monitoring on efficiency.
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45
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Extemporaneous Coordination in Specialist Teams: The Familiarity Complementarity. Team production is ubiquitous in the economy, but managing teams effectively remains a challenge for many organizations. This paper studies how familiarity among teammates influences the performance of specialist teams, relative to nonspecialist teams. Applying theories of team production to contexts where team members coordinate interdependent activities extemporaneously, we develop predictions about factors that shift the marginal returns to specialization along two dimensions of familiarity: social familiarity and functional familiarity. We test our hypotheses in the context of Defence of the Ancients 2 (DOTA2), a major e-sports game where, in some formats, players are exogenously assigned to five-person teams. After analyzing nearly 6.5 million matches, we find that specialist teams are relatively more successful when members are more socially and functionally familiar with one another. The results suggest that the plug-and-play perspective on specialist teams is incomplete; rather, specialization and familiarity are complements in dynamic environments where team members coordinate extemporaneously.
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Design of lane-keeping control with steering torque input. This paper describes a procedure for the design of lane-keeping control that uses steering torque as the control input. The servo control system was designed on the basis of H-2 Control theory. Robustness against disturbances and parameter variation was confirmed by mu-analysis. The control performance of the system was first confirmed by simulations conducted under a variety of conditions, followed by driving tests with an actual vehicle which show that the desired performance was obtained. The method in this paper achieves an outstanding balance of excellent lane-keeping control, smooth steering motion and easy steering action by the driver. (C) 2002 Society of Automotive Engineers of Japan, Inc. and Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.
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Structure of the vertical and horizontal system neurons of the lobula plate in Drosophila. The lobula plate in the optic lobe of the fly brain is a high-order processing center for visual information. Within the lobula plate lie a small number of giant neurons that are responsible for the detection of wide field visual motion. Although the structure and motion sensitivity of these cells have been extensively described in large flies, the system has not been described systematically in Drosophila. Here, we use the mosaic analysis with a repressible cell marker (MARCM) system to analyze a subset of these cells, the horizontal and vertical systems. Our results suggest that the Drosophila horizontal system is similar to those described in larger flies, with three neurons fanning their dendrites over the lobula plate. We found that there are six neurons in the Drosophila vertical system, a figure that compares with 9-11 neurons in large flies. Even so, the Drosophila vertical system closely resembles the systems of larger flies, with each neuron in Drosophila having an approximate counterpart in large flies. This anatomical similarity implies that the inputs to the vertical system are similarly organized in these various fly species, and that it is likely that the Drosophila neurons respond to motions similar to those sensed by their specific structural counterparts in large flies. Additionally, the similar appearance of vertical system cells in multiple cell clones demonstrates that they share a common developmental lineage. Access to these cells in Drosophila should allow for the use of genetic tools in future studies of horizontal and vertical system function. (C) 2002 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
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Survey of canine babesiosis in South Africa. A questionnaire, designed to obtain qualitative information on a number of variables concerning canine babesiosis (biliary fever) in South Africa, was sent to 510 veterinary practices in late 1993. Of the 157 practices that responded, all were presented with cases of babesiosis and most were situated in Gauteng, the Western Cape and KwaZulu-Natal. Apart from the Western Cape, a winter-rainfall region, the prevalence of babesiosis cases in dogs was highest in summer. Most of the respondent practices treated between 1000 and 5000 sick dogs that included 100 to 500 babesiosis cases each year. Respondents identified cerebral babesiosis, enterorrhagia, 'red' or haemoconcentrated babesiosis, acute renal failure and pulmonary babesiosis or 'shock lung', amongst others, as the most prevalent forms of complicated ('atypical') babesiosis. Diminazene, imidocarb and trypan blue were the most popular antibabesials. Trypan blue was most often used in shocked patients, whereas diminazene and imidocarb were preferred when there was a high parasitaemia in the absence of shock. At least 19 antibabesial treatment regimens were used in practices. These comprised the use of single doses of antibabesial drugs; split doses with repeat injections, and combined drug variations, some of which are undesirable due to possible sterilisation of Babesia infection or potential toxicity. Side-effects were most commonly associated with imidocarb use. Ninety-six percent of respondents used supportive treatment (e.g. corticosteroids, vitamins and 'liver support') in all cases of babesiosis. The use of blood transfusion as supportive treatment varied according to practice and severity of the case. Most practices never cross-matched blood to be transfused, and transfusion reactions were rare. Diminazene was most frequently incriminated in cases where drug 'resistance' or relapses occurred. Cerebral and 'red' cases resulted in high mortality. Treatment of babesiosis costs the dog-owning public in South Africa more than R20 million each year. Information on the distribution and possible complicating role of Ehrlichia canis was obtained. Development of a vaccine was the first research priority identified.
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10
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The Family International: A Case Study in the Management of Change in New Religious Movements. This paper focuses on The Family International - a group that since its inception in the late 1960s (when it was known as The Children of God) has provoked intense public controversy and considerable social science attention as a result. Sociologists of religion have found it to be a particularly useful case study for contributing detailed insights as to how new religious movements (NRMs) may survive (and more rarely, flourish). NRM survival and possible success are viewed as occurring through certain adaptive changes and developments by the group in response to social environments that are often hostile to the groups' existence. We summarize portions of our own research to show how The Family International has coped with a number of problems common to most NRMs, but often in quite unique ways that expand sociological understanding of how religious adaptation processes may occur and what forms they may assume. A particular focus of our research has been on The Family's unique expansion of both personal and corporate prophecy to facilitate its functioning.
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An author co-citation analysis of 37 years of iMetrics. Purpose This research aims to examine the intellectual structure of iMetrics through author co-citation analysis.Originality/value Extracting the patterns embedded in the knowledge structure of iMetrics studies provides beneficial information for both researchers and policymakers. This research study is valuable that used an appropriate set of records regarding both recall and precision. Furthermore, this study helps us better understand the characteristics of iMetrics, its subject areas, and the prominent authors in those areas.Findings Findings indicated that researchers including Garfield, Egghe, Glanzel, Leydesdorff and Price have received many co-citations. The author co-citation analysis in iMetrics resulted in eight thematic clusters, including theoretical foundations and citation analysis, sociology of science, science mapping and visualization, network analysis, classic laws of bibliometrics, webometrics, technometrics and miscellaneous. Theoretical foundations and citation analysis is the biggest cluster which comprises 59 authors. The results suggest the crucial role of price medallists in shaping the intellectual structure of knowledge in iMetrics.Design/methodology/approach This research uses common techniques in bibliometrics and social network analysis. It analyses 5,944 records from the Web of Science in the field of iMetrics that are published between 1978 and 2014.
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Characterization of Fenoxaprop-P-Ethyl-Resistant Junglerice (Echinochloa colona) from Mississippi. A population of junglerice from Sunflower County, MS, exhibited resistance to fenoxaprop-P-ethyl. An 11-fold difference in ED50 (the effective dose needed to reduce growth by 50%) values was observed when comparing the resistant population (249 g ae ha(-1)) with susceptible plants (20 g ae ha(-1)) collected from a different field. The resistant population was controlled by clethodim and sethoxydim at the field rate. Sequencing of the acetyl coenzyme A carboxylase, which encodes the enzyme targeted by fenoxaprop-P-ethyl, did not reveal the presence of any known resistance-conferring point mutations. An enzyme assay confirmed that the acetyl coenzyme A carboxylase in the resistant population is herbicide sensitive. Further investigations with two cytochrome P450 inhibitors, malathion and piperonyl butoxide, and a glutathione-S-transferase inhibitor, 4-chloro-7-nitrobenzofurazan, did not indicate involvement of any metabolic enzymes inhibited by these compounds. The absence of a known target-site point mutation and the sensitivity of the ACCase enzyme to herbicide show that fenoxaprop-P-ethyl resistance in this population is due to a non-target-site mechanism or mechanisms.
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[
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7,
9
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Investigation into the acceptability and effectiveness of a new contact slip in the management of Chlamydia trachomatis at a London genitourinary medicine clinic. Conclusions: An infection specific contact slip was equally acceptable to patients as the standard contact slip, and it significantly increased the number of sexual contacts attending for treatment.Results: 121 patients were diagnosed with chlamydia and were seen by a health adviser in period one and 130 patients were diagnosed and seen in period two. There was no significant difference detected between the acceptability of CS1 and CS2 (one refusal per cohort). There was a significant increase in the number of sexual contacts attending for treatment after being given CS2 (160 attending of 190 contact slips issued (84%, 95% CI 79 to 89)), compared to CS1 (48 attending of 144 contact slips issued (33%, 95% CI 26 to 43)).Methods: For a 2 month period, all consecutive heterosexual patients diagnosed with chlamydia at the Mortimer Market Centre (MMC) were offered one or more coded contact slips (CS1) as per clinic protocol. During this time, and for 1 month afterwards, contacts presenting as a result of receiving these contact slips were recorded. This was compared to a subsequent 2 month period during which a contact slip naming chlamydia as the potential infection, with an information leaflet attached (CS2), was issued. Contacts attending as a result of receiving this augmented contact slip were recorded over a similar period. For both cohorts the number of patients refusing either contact slip, and contacts attending other GUM clinics, were recorded.Objectives: To improve contact tracing for chlamydia. To determine (i) the acceptability to patients of using a contact slip that named chlamydia as the sexually transmissible infection that the contact may have been at risk of acquiring, and (ii) whether an augmented contact slip issued for chlamydia significantly increased the number of sexual partners attending for treatment.
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Feedlot and carcass studies on Sirohi, Marwari and Kutchi kids with economics of production under intensive system of management. Data pertaining to 63 male kids belonging to Sirohi, Marwari and Kutchi goat breeds under feedlot experiment (for a period of 3-12 months of age), planned in intensive system of management during 1992-93 with a ration consisting of concentrate and roughage in a ratio of 60: 40 revealed that initial body weights (at 3 months of age) were 15.70+/-0.51 (Sirohi), 14.56+/-0.32 (Marwari) and 14.00+/-0.58 kg (Kutchi). The final live body weights (at 9 months) at slaughter age were 37.33+/-1.17 (Sirohi), 34.81+/-0.47 (Marwari) and 32.76+/-1.44 kg (Kutchi). The live body weights at 12 months of age for rest of the kids were 45.15+/-1.02 (Sirohi), 41.25+/-0.72 (Marwari) and 40.38+/-1.54 kg (Kutchi). The ranges for average daily gains during phase-1 (3-6 months), 2 (6-9 months) and 3 (9-12 months) were 106 (Kutchi) to 134.09 g (Marwari), 90.45 (Marwari) to 115.9 g (Sirohi) and 65.83 (Kutchi) to 80.7 g (Sirohi), respectively. Ranges for dry matter intake/kg live body weight gain during phases-1, 2, 3 and 4 were 6.19 (Marwari) to 7.29 kg (Kutchi); 9.36 (Kutchi) to 10.64 kg (Marwari); 14.41 (Sirohi) to 16.83 kg (Marwari) and 8.90 (Kutchi) to 9.52 kg (Marwari) respectively. Slaughter studies indicated that dressing percentages on the basis of pre-slaughter weights were 48.91 (Sirohi), 48.46 (Marwari) and 52.06% (Kutchi). Other carcass traits and economics of meat production were also studied and reported in the text.
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6
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The Origins of the British Welfare State. George Boyer's The Winding Road to the Welfare State, which traces the shift in Britain from the early nineteenth-century Poor Law to the post-1945 welfare state, is strongest and most useful in its analysis of the labor market in relation to poverty and insecurity and in its precise quantification of wages, poverty, insecurity, and public relief. It is much weaker when discussing how politics and public opinion shaped social policies; overlooking important areas of British state welfare, the book focuses upon unemployment and old-age policies. Nor is the book really about \\'Britain.\\' Most of the statistics and analyses refer to England and occasionally Wales. Scotland, with its different economic, administrative, and legal structures, though constitutionally in Britain, is barely mentioned. Notwithstanding Boyer's contributions to the picture of how the British welfare state emerged, his version of Britain's \\'winding road\\' falls short of the descriptions and analyses that many British publications have already provided within the past thirty years.
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Nocardiosis Cases and Risk Factors for Infection in a Tertiary Care Hospital. Conclusion: Nocardia spp. should always be taken into consideration in the case of pulmonary or central nervous system infections of patients with supressed cellular immunity or lymphopenia. In the case of newly defined CNS lesion in a patient with both malignancy and pulmonary nocardiosis, CNS nocardiosis should always be kept in mind in the differential diagnosis. Although chemotherapeutic agents have always been defined as risk factors for nocardiosis, temozolomide could be a stronger risk factor because of its ability to cause a deeper lymphopenia. If nocardiosis is always to be considered in the case of a compatible clinical situation in patients on temozolomide regime, the real incidence of nocardiosis and prophylactic strategies among those patients could be defined properly.Results: There were a total of 9 nocardiosis cases during the study period: 4 with disseminated (including pulmonary, brain, muscle, eye) nocardiosis, 4 with pulmonary nocardiosis and 1 case with skin nocardiosis. Corticosteroids, temozolomide, mycofenolate mofetil and cyclosoprin were used by patiensts as immunosupresive drugs in 6, 2 ,1 and 1 them, respectively. All of the patients were lymphopenic except one. Five strains identified at species level were N.cyriacigeorgica (2 strains), N.farcinicia, N.asteroides and N.abscessus, respectively. All of the 7 strains with available suceptibility test results were susceptible to co-trimoxazole.Materials and Methods: All adult patients with a culture-proven Nocardia spp. infection at our hospital from 2013 to 2019 were analyzed in the study retrospectively. Strains were identified by conventional methods and in the case of availability, by 16SrRNA gen analysis or MADI-TOF; antimicrobil susceptibilities were defined by gradient method.Introduction: Nocardiosis is an opportunistic infectious disease that involves the lungs, brain, eyes and skin and tends to occur in patients using immunosuppressive drugs (especially affecting cellular immunity) or chemotherapeutics, also in patients with diabetes mellitus, AIDS, lymphoreticular malignancies, solid cancers and architectural lung diseases such as bronchiectasis and cystic fibrosis. Here, it was aimed to present the clinical features and the risk factors of nocardiosis cases followed in a tertiary care hospital.
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Effect of nursing-calf implant timing on growth performance and carcass characteristics. The objective of this study was to compare pre-and postweaning growth performance, carcass characteristics, and meat quality attributes of calves that did not receive an implant or were implanted early or late in the nursing period. Crossbred steer calves (n = 135) were stratified by birth date and birth weight and randomly assigned to the following implant treatments: control (CON; no preweaning implant), 58 d (EARLY; 36 mg zeranol, administered at an average of 58 +/- 13 d of age), and 121 d (LATE; 36 mg zeranol, administered at an average 121 +/- 13 d of age). After weaning, steers were blocked by initial feed yard BW to 15 pens (5 pens/treatment and 9 steers/pen). All steers were implanted on d 21 after arrival at the feed yard and again on d 108 of finishing. Steer BW and ultrasound assessment of rib eye area (uREA), rib fat thickness (uRFT), and percent intramuscular fat (uIMF) were collected when implants were administered, at weaning, and on harvest day. Carcass measurements included HCW, rib eye area (REA), 12th-rib fat thickness (FT), and marbling score. Objective color (L*, a*, and b*) was recorded, and a 3.8-cm strip loin section was removed from both sides of each carcass and portioned into 2.54-cm steaks that were aged for 3 or 14 d for analysis of cook loss and Warner-Bratzler shear force (WBSF). The remaining portion of each sample was used for analysis of moisture and crude fat. Steer BW, ADG, and G: F did not differ among treatments (P > 0.05). Steers implanted in the EARLY treatment had a greater (P < 0.05) cumulative DMI than CON but were not different from steers implanted in the LATE treatment. Ultrasound REA and uRFT (averaged across all collection days) did not differ (P > 0.05); however, steers on the CON treatment had a greater (P = 0.05) percent uIMF than EARLY implanted steers, whereas steers receiving the LATE implant were intermediate and not different from the other treatments. Hot carcass weight, REA, FT, USDA yield grade, marbling score, and objective color did not differ (P > 0.05) among treatments. The proportion of steers in each USDA yield and quality grade was similar (P > 0.05) among treatments, and no differences were detected for total carcass value or price per 45.4 kg (hundredweight; P > 0.05). Treatment did not influence (P > 0.05) percent cook loss, crude fat, moisture, or WBSF. In conclusion, administering a nursing implant, regardless of timing, did not influence live performance, carcass characteristics, or meat quality of steers fed in this study.
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TGF-beta promotes stem-like T cells via enforcing their lymphoid tissue retention. Stem-like CD8(+) T cells sustain the antigen-specific CD8(+) T cell response during chronic antigen exposure. However, the signals that control the maintenance and differentiation of these cells are largely unknown. Here, we demonstrated that TGF-beta was essential for the optimal maintenance of these cells and inhibited their differentiation into migratory effectors during chronic viral infection. Mechanistically, stem-like CD8(+) T cells carried a unique expression pattern of alpha 4 integrins (i.e., alpha 4 beta 1(hi) and alpha 4 beta 7(lo)) controlled by TGF-beta. In the absence of TGF-beta signaling, greatly enhanced expression of migration-related markers, including altered expression of alpha 4 integrins, led to enhanced egress of stem-like CD8(+) T cells into circulation accompanied by further differentiation into transitional states. Blocking alpha 4 integrin significantly promoted their lymphoid tissue retention and therefore partially rescued the defective maintenance of Tcf-1(+) subset in the absence of TGF-beta signaling. Thus, TGF-beta promotes the maintenance and inhibits the further differentiation of stem-like T cells at least partially via enforcing their lymphoid tissue residency.The signals that control the differentiation of Tcf-1(+) CD8(+) T cells are not entirely known. Here, the authors find that TGF-beta promotes lymphoid residency and inhibits the effector differentiation of Tcf-1(+) T cells partially via controlling the expression of alpha 4 integrins.
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17
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The Transition to Adulthood: Events in the Life Course of Youth in Mexico. The fundamental thrust of this paper is to explore the transition from youth to adulthood in Mexico. To this end, the authors analyze the calendar and intensity of the characteristic events of this transition: leaving school, first job, leaving the parental home, first union and first live-born child. They also explore the interrelations between these events and focus on the factors that may accelerate or delay their occurrence. On the basis of the National Youth Survey 2000, the results of this article show that the transition from youth to adulthood in Mexico does not necessarily follow the normative sequence on the basis of which it has been defined. Young Mexicans do not finish their studies before starting work; instead, their first transition entails entering the job market. Likewise, although the majority leave the parental home to marry or to live with someone, some still live with their parents even though they are married and have children. There are also significant differences between the sexes and places of residence, not only as regards the age at which events occur but also in the time it takes young people to make the transition to adulthood. Finally, through the application of models for analyzing the history of events, the authors found that living in a restrictive environment accelerates the occurrence of these five events. Conversely, communication with one's parents and a better financial situation delay their occurrence.
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EFFECT OF BILAYER PHASE-TRANSITIONS ON VESICLE STRUCTURE AND ITS INFLUENCE ON THE KINETICS OF VIOLOGEN REDUCTION. Vesicles were prepared from pure phosphatidylcholines (PC), phosphatidic acids (PA), or dioctadecyldimethylamonium bromide (DODAB). The aggregate structure was examined above and below the gel-to-liquid crystalline transition temperature (T-m) by means of cryo-transmission electron microscopy. The redox reaction between a membrane bound viologen and dithionite was studied in the different lipid systems. It was found that the presence of faceted vesicles or open bilayer fragments, below T-m, lead to double-exponential reduction kinetics.
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Kenosis and its Discontents: Towards an Augustinian Account of Divine Humility. After many years of dormancy, the concept of kenosis has recently received widespread and lively attention from contemporary theologians. Yet, in the midst of this revival, there has emerged a steady stream of critique of the concept because of its apparently adverse doctrinal and ethical implications. Less remarked upon, but equally important, is an analogous and long-standing debate about the nature and pervasiveness that we should assign to humility in Christian teaching. Indeed, the interweaving of humility and kenosis in Philippians 2 arguably requires that the two rise or fall together; even if the concepts are not semantically equal, their meanings and their theological implications overlap in manifold and important ways. This article surveys the current state of the question, and argues that the works of Augustine yield valuable insights regarding the most knotty problems emerging from contemporary disputes about kenosis and humility. In the first part, I outline several recent perspectives on kenosis, aiming to bring clarity to the discussion. Along the way, I note the similarities between kenosis and humility as they function theologically, and I offer a summary of the qualities that a theologically sound account of those concepts would need to exhibit in order to address the valid concerns which have so far been raised. In the second part, I propose that closer attention to the theme of humility (both human and divine) may shed new and important light on kenosis debates, suggesting that Augustine is the ideal theologian on whom to test this theory. To this end, I explore Augustine's explanations of christology and language, suggesting that these are the loci through which Augustine's perspective on humility - both divine and human - is best expressed. In both cases, Augustinian humility strikes a noteworthy balance between restraint and empowerment and offers an instructive vantage point from which to address the complex and lively discussions about kenosis. While the African bishop may not offer a decisive resolution of these matters, his approach to them does hold significant promise for a depiction of humility and kenosis which incorporates the valid concerns of critics while simultaneously preserving an unavoidable and central aspect of Christian doctrine.
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Domestic Trials for International Crimes A Critical Analysis of Croatian War Crimes Sentencing Jurisprudence. This article will describe and critically reflect upon the sentencing practices of Croatian courts with respect to war crimes committed during the armed conflict in Croatia in the early 1990s. Over the past two and a half decades, more than 3,500 alleged war criminals have been put on trial, with some 600 finally being convicted. Yet many proceedings were initially commenced without sufficient evidence, in absentia and, arguably, with a bias towards ethnic Serbs. This article first seeks to determine - whether ethnicity has played a role in prosecuting and sentencing for war crimes and then to identify to what extent sentencing goals and principles, including aggravating and mitigating factors, proclaimed by Croatian courts reflect the extraordinary nature of international crimes. An attempt is made to compare these sentences and principles with sentencing practices at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY).
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Submodular financial markets with frictions. This paper studies arbitrage-free financial markets with bid-ask spreads whose super-hedging prices are submodular. The submodular assumption on the super-hedging price, or the supermodularity usually assumed on utility functions, is the formal expression of perfect complementarity, which dates back to Fisher, Pareto, and Edgeworth, according to Samuelson (J Econ Lit 12:1255-1289, 1974). Our main contribution provides several characterizations of financial markets with frictions that are submodular as a consequence of a more general study of submodular pricing rules. First, a market is submodular if and only if its super-hedging price is a Choquet integral and if and only if its set of risk-neutral probabilities is representable as the core of a submodular non-additive probability that is uniquely defined, called risk-neutral capacity. Second, a market is representable by its risk neutral capacity if and only if it is equivalent to a market, only composed of bid-ask event securities.
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Three new species of the genus Philopteroides Mey, 2004 (Phthiraptera, Ischnocera, Philopteridae) from New Zealand. We describe and illustrate three new species of chewing lice in the genus Philopteroides parasitic on passerines (Order Passeriformes, families Acanthizidae, Rhipiduridae and Petroicidae) from New Zealand. They are: Philopteroides pilgrimi sp. n. from Gerygone igata igata; Ph. fuliginosus sp. n. from Rhipidura fuliginosa placabilis and R. f. fuliginosa; and Ph. macrocephalus sp. n. from Petroica macrocephala macrocephala and P. m. dannefaerdi. The identity of Docophorus lineatus Giebel, 1874 is discussed based on its morphology and host association. We also transfer Tyranniphilopterus beckeri to the genus Philopteroides, and provide a key to identify adults of 12 of the 13 species now included in Philopteroides.
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ZONES MORE RELATED TO IMMORTAL SPLENDOR OF GLORY': ITALIAN WAR MEMORIALS AND COMMEMORATIVE PRACTICES IN VENEZIA GIULIA (1918-1922). The paper analyses war memorials and commemorative practices in Venezia Giulia from 1918 to 1922. In this regard Venezia Giulia offers an especially relevant case study, as, due to heavy fighting along the Isonzo front, various local settlements and territorial features became present in the Italian national consciousness. They thus became typical Italian sites of memory, a process which was stimulated by national commemorative policy. Furthermore, presence of the Slovene population in the region contributed to the fact, that monuments to fallen soldier did not represent only sites of memory and mourning for the Italian nation, but also sites of national demarcation. They served as a physical reminder of Italian claims over these lands, for which so much \\'Italian blood\\' had been spilled. Lastly, they also represented sites of mourning, where the suffering caused by the war was at least implicitly expressed.
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Adjustment on gibbsite and boehmite co-precipitation from supersaturated sodium aluminate solutions. Gibbsite is the usual precipitation product from alumina refineries with either Bayer or sintering process. However, the advantage of boehmite precipitation over gibbsite precipitation is the significant energy saving in the subsequent calcination step. The current investigation takes a pragmatic approach to measure precipitation ratios, determine product phase, morphology and particle size distribution, and assess the impacts and adjustment capability of main parameters such as seed, temperature, ethanol medium, and supersaturation on the precipitation kinetics and alumina hydrate type during co-precipitation process. The results clarify that gibbsite and boehmite both can be precipitated from supersaturated sodium aluminate solutions simultaneously, and the competitive formation between Al(OH)(3) and gamma-AlOOH determines the main precipitate phases from pregnant liquor. Boehmite seeds, high temperature and ethanol addition can promote the boehmite precipitation and improve the mass fraction of boehmite in products. Co-precipitation changes the multimodal distribution of seeds to a normal and well distribution of products, and the particle size is more than several times that of seeds.
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Aerobic degradation of dinitrotoluenes and pathway for bacterial degradation of 2,6-dinitrotoluene. An oxidative pathway for the mineralization of 2,4-dinitrotoluene (2,4-DNT) by Burkholderia sp, strain DNT has been reported previously. We report here the isolation of additional strains with the ability to mineralize 2,4-DNT by the same pathway and the isolation and characterization of bacterial strains that mineralize 2,6-dinitrotoluene (2,6-DNT) by a different pathway. Burkholderia cepacia strain JS850 and Hydrogenophaga palleronii strain JS863 grew on 2,6-DNT as the sole source of carbon and nitrogen. The initial steps in the pathway for degradation of 2,6-DNT were determined by simultaneous induction, enzyme assays, and identification of metabolites through mass spectroscopy and nuclear magnetic resonance, 2,6-DNT was converted to 3-methyl-4-nitrocatechol by a dioxygenation reaction accompanied by the release of nitrite, 3-Methyl-4-nitrocatechol was the substrate for extradiol ring cleavage yielding 2-hydroxy-5-nitro-6-oxohepta-2,4-dienoic acid, which was converted to 2-hydroxy-5-nitropenta-2,4-dienoic acid. 2,4-DNT-degrading strains also converted 2,6-DNT to 3-methyl-4-nitrocatechol but did not metabolize the 3-methyl-4-nitrocatechol. Although 2,6-DNT prevented the degradation of 2,4-DNT by 2,4-DNT-degrading strains, the effect was not the result of inhibition of 2,4-DNT dioxygenase by 2,6-DNT or of 4-methyl-5-nitrocatechol monooxygenase by 3-methyl-4-nitrocatechol.
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18,
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Behavioral responses of the parasitoid Psyllaephagus pistaciae (Hymenoptera : Encyrtidae) to host plant volatiles and honeydew. The behavioral responses of the parasitoid Psyllaephagus pistaciae, the major biocontrol agent of the common pistachio psylla, Agonoscena pistaciae, to volatiles emanating from its host plant and host honeydew, were examined using a four-arm airflow olfactometer. In addition, the arrestment behavior of this parasitoid on clean and honeydew-treated leaves of the pistachio, Pistacia vera, was monitored. The infested pistachio leaves were the most favored source of the volatile attracting the parasitoids. The parasitoid clearly distinguished and responded to infochemicals emitted by psyllid honeydew but at a lower level than to the volatiles from infested host plants. However, the searching time, locomotory behavior, antennal drumming and ovipositor probing were all affected when they encountered honeydew-contaminated zones on pistachio leaves. These findings suggest that the psyllid honeydew releases kairomones that stimulate the parasitoids to greater searching activity, as well as providing a directional cue. The intensive searching activities in the presence of the volatiles tested were very similar to responses by the parasitoid females when encountering patches treated with psyllid honeydew. Such behavior could retain the parasitoid in a favorable area, thereby increasing the probability of additional host encounters.
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The impact of guanxi, xinyong and buyer collaboration on the loyalty and financial performance of vegetable farmers in China. Originality/value - Despite its potential importance, relatively little is known about these two concepts especially with respect to supply chains of fresh produce.Research limitations/implications - This paper offers strategic insights into both academicians and practitioners associated with the vegetable industry regarding enhancement of inter-organisational relationships (loyalty) and financial performance of farmers in China through the embedded concepts of guanxi and xinyong.Design/methodology/approach - Data were collected using a validated survey instrument and 520 usable responses were obtained from vegetable farmers in three main vegetable producing provinces of China.Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of two Chinese cultural constructs, guanxi (networks) and xinyong (interpersonal trust) in the burgeoning vegetable supply chains.Findings - The findings revealed that farmers' guanxi promotes xinyong and collaboration of buyers. It was also determined that xinyong is the key mediator between guanxi and the two outcomes, loyalty and financial performance of farmers. Additionally, xinyong influences collaboration of the buyer.
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Experimental Study of the Effects of Installation of Sand Columns in Compressible Clay Using a Reduced Model. The present study focuses on the investigation of the behaviour of a reduced model of a reinforced soil massif by a sand column tested in the laboratory. These tests involved the installation of sand columns in clay specimens (kaolin) by different methods. The specimens thus obtained are subjected to the same oedometric loading program. The first part of this work aims to study the effect of the intensity of the compaction stress of the sand columns on the surrounding soil and the effect on the behaviour of the soil-column massif. The sand columns were installed with the soil replacement method and with compacting of the columns (WR_WC). Three different compaction stresses were used to install the columns. In the second part, a sand column 20 mm in diameter was installed by two methods: one with replacement of the soil (WR) and without compaction and the other with displacement of the soil (WD). A comparison between the two methods has been established. By determining the equivalent characteristics for the soil-column massif, this study made it possible to characterize the effect of the installation method of the columns on the settlements, the void ratioe of kaolin, the equivalent void ratio e(eq) of the massif soil-column and on the compressibility parameters of the massif (equivalent compression index C-ceq and swelling index C-seq), by comparing the results obtained with those of the unreinforced soils that constitute the reference case. The results obtained showed that the techniques used for the installation of columns have significant effects on the behaviour of reinforced massifs.
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RE-ESTIMATING GUN-POLICY EFFECTS ACCORDING TO A NATIONAL SCIENCE ACADEMY REPORT: WERE PREVIOUS REPORTS OF FAILURE PRE-MATURE?. Recent spree-killings and a controversial 2nd Amendment Supreme Court ruling have re-directed criminological research toward the critical question of how best to prevent gun related fatalities. However, a recent National Academy of Science report raises methodological concerns about many of the most commonly cited and reviewed gun policy research designs, which re-introduces scientifically the question of whether any existing gun-intervention actually prevents fatalities. The present study adjusts for those concerns to then re-estimate the effects three of the most common gun interventions in the U.S. may exert on homicide rates and gun homicide rates in 20 major cities over a 36-year period. The results suggest that the Brady Law and one specific type of sentencing enhancement for gun crimes detectably reduce both outcomes, but that the others are ineflective. Policy implications and suggestions for future research are also discussed
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Processing Italian Relative Clauses: Working Memory Span and Word Order Effects on RTs. In this study, the authors aim to clarify whether the subject-object asymmetry in relative clause comprehension is due to the use of parsing strategies (Active Filler Theory) or to a greater memory load generated by object sentences. Two experiments investigate how individual differences in working memory span may influence the reading times of relative sentences in Italian, a language characterized by a flexible structure. The results of Experiment I indicate that object extraction is more complex than subject extraction when sentences have a canonical structure. Furthermore, low-span participants have particular difficulties with object relative sentence comprehension. The results of Experiment 2 show that subject-relative clauses with uncanonical structures are more complex to understand than object-relative clauses, and low-span participants have more difficulties than high-span participants in elaborating both subject and object relative clauses. These data seem to be coherent with the Active Filler Theory.
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Estimating the generation interval for coronavirus disease (COVID-19) based on symptom onset data, March 2020. Background: Estimating key infectious disease parameters from the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak is essential for modelling studies and guiding intervention strategies. Aim: We estimate the generation interval, serial interval, proportion of presymptomatic transmission and effective reproduction number of COVID-19. We illustrate that reproduction numbers calculated based on serial interval estimates can be biased. Methods: We used outbreak data from clusters in Singapore and Tianjin, China to estimate the generation interval from symptom onset data while acknowledging uncertainty about the incubation period distribution and the underlying transmission network. From those estimates, we obtained the serial interval, proportions of pre-symptomatic transmission and reproduction numbers. Results: The mean generation interval was 5.20 days (95% credible interval (Crl): 3.78-6.78) for Singapore and 3.95 days (95% Crl: 3.01-4.91) for Tianjin. The proportion of pre-symptomatic transmission was 48% (95% Crl: 32-67) for Singapore and 62% (95% Crl: 50-76) for Tianjin. Reproduction number estimates based on the generation interval distribution were slightly higher than those based on the serial interval distribution. Sensitivity analyses showed that estimating these quantities from outbreak data requires detailed contact tracing information. Conclusion: High estimates of the proportion of pre-symptomatic transmission imply that case finding and contact tracing need to be supplemented by physical distancing measures in order to control the COVID-19 outbreak. Notably, quarantine and other containment measures were already in place at the time of data collection, which may inflate the proportion of infections from pre-symptomatic individuals.
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Market mechanisms for policy decisions: Tools for the European Union. The success of an enlarged European Union will require transparent and subtle mechanisms for policy coordination. A common policy is a public good, and economists have developed many schemes for the efficient provision of public goods. The European Union offers a promising soil for such schemes, but they must be simple and tailored to its specific needs. The paper discusses two possible examples: A system of tradable deficit permits implementing the fiscal constraints of the Maastricht treaty; and a rule allowing country representatives to shift their own votes intertemporally when deliberations are taken in periodic committee meetings. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B,V. All rights reserved.
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Shape of Evasive Prey Can Be an Important Cue That Triggers Learning in Avian Predators. Advertising escape ability could reduce predatory attacks. However, the effectiveness of certain phenotypic cues (e.g., color, shape, and size) in signaling evasiveness is still unknown. Understanding the role of such signals in driving predator learning is important to infer the evolutionary mechanisms leading to convergent evasiveness signals among prey species (i.e., evasive mimicry). We aim to understand the role of the color pattern (white patches on dark background) and morphology (extended butterfly hindwings) in driving learning and avoidance of escaping prey by surrogate avian predators, the European blue tit. These cues are common in butterflies and have been suspected to advertise escape ability in nature. We use dummy butterflies harboring shape and color patterns commonly found in skippers (family Hesperiidae). The prey models displayed the studied phenotypical cues (hindwing tails and white bands) in factorial combinations, and we tested whether those cues were learned as evasive signals and were generalised to different phenotypes. Our results suggest that hindwing tails and white bands can be associated with prey evasiveness. In addition, wild blue tits might learn and avoid attacking prey models bearing the studied phenotypic cues. Although blue tits seem to have an initial preference for the phenotype consisting of white patches and hindwing tails, the probability of attacking it was substantially reduced once the cues were associated with escaping ability. This suggests that the same morphological cues might be interchangeable as preference/avoidance signals. Further investigation of the salience of hindwing tails vs. white bands as cues for escaping ability, revealed that predators can associate both color pattern and shape to the difficulty of capture, and possibly generalize their aversion to other prey harboring those cues. More studies with larger sample sizes are needed to confirm this trend. Altogether, our results highlight the hitherto overlooked role of shape (butterfly hindwing tails) for signaling prey unprofitability.
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May we buy your love? psychological effects of incentives on writing likelihood and valence of online product reviews. Acknowledging the impact on their sales, companies strive to increase the number of positive online reviews of their products. A recently popular practice for stimulating online reviews is offering monetary rewards to customers in return for writing an online review. However, it is unclear whether such practices succeed in fulfilling two main objectives, namely, increasing the number and the valence of online reviews. With one pilot and two experimental studies, this research shows that offering incentives indeed increases the likelihood of review writing. However, the effect on review valence is mixed, due to contradictory psychological effects: Incentive recipients intend to reciprocate by writing favorable reviews but also perceive a need to resist marketers' influence, which negatively affects their review valence. Finally, recipients who are less satisfied with the product are particularly prone to psychological costs and decrease the positivity of their online reviews. Consequently, incentives should be applied carefully.
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Evaluation of peritoneal fluid from asinines. The peritoneal fluid from six female health donkeys was evaluated. In each animal, it was carried out eight abdominocentesis with 40x12 needles, at 72-hour intervals. All animals presented clinical changes, and there was higher frequency of yellow-tinged fluid with turbidity aspect. Means, and respective standard deviations, for cytology and protein concentration were: erythrocytes, 24.7 +/- 11.7x10(3)/mm(3); leukocytes, 15.8 +/- 6.79x10(3)/mm(3); mesothelial cells, 3.85 +/- 1.30x10(3)/mm(3); neutrophils, 10.9 +/- 4.51x10(3)/mm(3); lymphocytes, 1.41 +/- 0.51x10(3)/mm(3); macrophages, 0.98 +/- 0.55x10(3)/mm(3); eosinophils, 2.48 +/- 1.36x10(3)/mm(3), and total proteins, 1.97 +/- 0.31 g/dl.
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[
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A trans-fatty acid-rich diet promotes liver tumorigenesis in HCV core gene transgenic mice. Excess consumption of trans-fatty acid (TFA), an unsaturated fatty acid containing trans double bonds, is a major risk factor for cardiovascular disease and metabolic syndrome. However, little is known about the link between TFA and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) despite it being a frequent form of cancer in humans. In this study, the impact of excessive dietary TFA on hepatic tumorigenesis was assessed using hepatitis C virus (HCV) core gene transgenic mice that spontaneously developed HCC. Male transgenic mice were treated for 5 months with either a control diet or an isocaloric TFA-rich diet that replaced the majority of soybean oil with shortening. The prevalence of liver tumors was significantly higher in TFA-rich diet-fed transgenic mice compared with control diet-fed transgenic mice. The TFA-rich diet significantly increased the expression of pro-inflammatory cytokines, as well as oxidative and endoplasmic reticulum stress, and activated nuclear factor-kappa B (NF-kappa B) and nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2 (NRF2), leading to high p62/sequestosome 1 (SQSTM1) expression. Furthermore, the TFA diet activated extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) and stimulated the Wnt/beta-catenin signaling pathway, synergistically upregulating cyclin D1 and c-Myc, driving cell proliferation. Excess TFA intake also promoted fibrogenesis and ductular reaction, presumably contributing to accelerated liver tumorigenesis. In conclusion, these results demonstrate that a TFA-rich diet promotes hepatic tumorigenesis, mainly due to persistent activation of NF-kappa B and NRF2-p62/SQSTM1 signaling, ERK and Wnt/beta-catenin pathways and fibrogenesis. Therefore, HCV-infected patients should avoid a TFA-rich diet to prevent liver tumor development.
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21
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What makes the Boy from Oz good? Hugh Jackman and the pedagogy of excellence. With this paper we present the findings of a qualitative study providing baseline information on staff attitudes towards learning in a performing arts setting. The pedagogy for learning in performing arts courses has arisen, in part, from master-apprenticeship relationships between students and expert practitioners. This study is an exploration of how these traditional patterns of learning translate to a university environment and of the pedagogical expectations and processes of actors, singers and dancers. The location of this study is the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts at Edith Cowan University, Perth, Western Australia (WAAPA@ECU). It is an elite training school for students wishing to pursue careers on the screen and stage as actors, dancers, musicians or producers/directors. The study was prompted by a recognition that WAAPA@ECU produces nationally and internationally recognised 'excellent outcomes'. It is, therefore, informed by an interest in the pedagogy of excellence in a performing arts setting.
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[
5,
48
] |
Hydrological and oceanic excitations to polar motion and length-of-day variation. Water mass redistributions in the global hydrosphere, including continental water storage change and non-steric sea level change, introduce variations in the hydrological angular momentum (HAM) and the oceanic angular momentum (OAM). Under the conservation of angular momentum, HAM and OAM variations are significant excitation sources of the Earth rotational variations at a wide range of timescales. In this paper, we estimate HAM and OAM variations and their excitations to polar motion and length-of-day variation using soil moisture and snow estimates andnon-steric sea level change determined by TOPEX/Poseidon satellite radar altimeter observations and a simplified steric sea level change model. The results are compared with the variations of polar motion and LOD that are not accounted for by the atmosphere. This study indicates that seasonal continental water storage change provides significant contributions to both polar motion and LOD variation, especially to polar motion X, and the non-steric sea level change is responsible for a major part of the remaining excitations at both seasonal scale and high frequencies, particularly in polar motion Y and LOD. The good correlation between OAM contributions and the remaining excitations shows that large-scale non-tidal mass variation exists in the oceans and can be detected by TOPEX/Poseidon altimeter observations.
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[
4,
35
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Enhancement of Quicklime Dissolution in Steelmaking Slags by Utilizing Residual CO2 from Quicklime. In steelmaking processes, quicklime is generally used to produce CaO-based slags, and its dissolution rate is important for steel refining. The dissolution rate of quicklime is conventionally measured by the rotating cylinder method using dense and hard lime samples which gives rates that are slower than estimated rates from the actual operation. The authors established a new method to measure the dissolution rate of quicklime by measuring the variation of slag composition and reported that the quicklime used in the actual operation had a much higher dissolving rate than that of completely calcined quicklime. The significant increase of the dissolution rate was caused by gas formation from the quicklime due to the thermal decomposition of residual limestone existing in quicklime. In this study, the dissolution rate of quicklime with the accompanying gas formation is quantitatively investigated by using quicklimes with different CO2 contents produced by a rotary kiln process through the direct observation of the dissolution behavior of quicklime particles and the change of the CaO content in the slag. The results revealed that quicklime emits the gas in two steps, and the second occurrence of gas formation effectively enhances the quicklime dissolution. The weight of the CaCO3 core differed among particles from the same grade of quicklime, and the corresponding dissolution rates were different as well. The dissolution rates of quick lime during the second foaming, however, were 5-10 times higher than without foaming and were similar regardless of the CO2 content in a quicklime particle.
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[
1,
13
] |
Peasant movements in Ecuador: do they have environmental rationality?. Peasant protests against mega-mining projects have deployed a variety of strategies, including environmental discourses to protect their spaces and ways of life. The objective of this paper is to determine if the peasants who use this type of discourse have environmental rationality. For that purpose, a field research was carried out where, from semi-structured interviews, the discourses of the actors mobilized against the Loma Larga large-scale project, located in the province of Azuay, were analyzed. The results suggest that the environmental discourses used, contrary to their purposes of protecting the environment, have been strategies to prevent the interposition of other economic activities in their territory. it is concluded that anti-mining peasants do not have environmental rationality. Therefore, the local authorities and the inhabitants of this parish should think about the planning and execution of a sustainable territorial development project.
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[
5,
47
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Thinking with Bourdieu: thinking after Bourdieu. Using 'field' to consider in/equalities in the changing field of English higher education. This paper uses Bourdieu's concept of field' as a tool to examine higher education participation in England in the context of diversified and differentiated provision. Admissions practices for courses in two institutions offering tertiary and higher education demonstrate how the official rules of the game shape the experience of students moving into and through HE on vocational and alternative routes. These examples suggest that rules created for the selective' part of the HE field can have perverse effects on other parts of the field, creating barriers rather than bridges for students seeking to participate in HE via alternative routes. The paper concludes by considering the strengths and limitations of using Bourdieu's tools for understanding diversification in HE. Does using Bourdieu lead to the inevitable conclusion that diversity is a form of diversion, directing a proportion of the population through an easily accessible, but ultimately less rewarding path, or can Bourdieu's tools suggest possibilities for transformation and change?
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[
5,
48
] |
In This Same Shamble of Strewn Bone': Gods Go Begging and the Community of Loss. This article argues that Alfredo Vea's Gods Go Begging challenges traditional American models of traumatic community. By bringing together multiple minority perspectives from both the Vietnam War and 1990s San Francisco, Vea explores how individual losses can structure more inclusive communal identities. These communities of loss, I contend, hinge on comparative, multidirectional narrative methods that bring traumatic events togethernarratives that seek to do justice in the face of loss.
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[
3,
25
] |
Bioeconomic simulation analysis of hake and red mullet fisheries in the Gulf of Saronikos (Greece). Hake (Merluccius merluccius) and red mullet (Mullus barbatus) are two of the most important species in Greek fisheries due to their high commercial interest. Both have been reported to be overexploited and in need of management to preserve the continuity of their exploitation. Hake is exploited by trawlers and red mullet by both trawlers and beach seiners in Saronikos Gulf (Greece). The MEFISTO bioeconomic simulation model is applied in order to test the interaction between trawlers and beach seiners through the age-specific fishing mortality applied by each fleet to the red mullet stock. The effects of the withdrawal of some beach seiners in 2002 and the increase in trawl mesh size that has already been implemented (from 28 mm to 40 mm stretched mesh) are tested jointly with alternative management scenarios such as the complete withdrawal of beach seiners and effort reduction in trawler activity. The analysis of the simulation results is based on the evolution of biological and economic indicators through 15-year stochastic projections. It is shown that limiting fishing effort and improving selectivity patterns of the trawl fleet would be beneficial for the recovery of the populations and for the profitability of the fishery. In addition to the increase in trawl mesh size, a further fishing effort reduction of 12% is recommended for the trawling fleet. Conversely, limiting or completely removing the beach seiner fleet would protect red mullet juveniles but would not significantly increase the profitability of the trawling fleet, and it would cause unemployment.
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[
4,
42
] |
Developing Educational 3D Games With StarLogo: The Role of Backwards Fading in the Transfer of Programming Experience. The emergence of block-based environments aims to facilitate the problems caused by the abstractness of text-based languages. Recent studies generally focus on the effect of having block-based experience on programming education. This study is an attempt to observe the transfer of previous programming experiences (block-based vs. text-based) into a three-dimensional game-making environment through the use of backwards fading. In addition to observation of transfer, students' perceptions about the difficulty of practices were also investigated. Twenty-one senior university students participated in the study. They practiced through worked example, completion example, and full practice. Moreover, the comparison of the contribution of three examples, their perceived difficulty, and cognitive load has also been observed. There are four main findings that add value to the current literature. First, students having text-based programming experience had higher scores, which may be a sign of far transfer; second, completion example format was more efficient for students having block-based programming experience; third, full practice format was perceived as more difficult than either worked example or completion example; and fourth, based on the efficiency of example formats, completion example represented high efficiency for all students. However, average efficiency of all example formats has represented high efficiency for students, who had text-based programming experience.
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[
5,
48
] |
The antecedents and consequences of successful localization. Localization in the corporate setting is the extent to which expatriate managers are replaced by local employees originally held by expatriate managers. We sampled 229 multinational enterprises (MNEs) in the People's Republic of China and investigated the antecedents of localization success based on resource dependency theory. We developed a 40-item scale to measure human resource (HR) practices determined to contribute to successful localization. We also identified parent company support and top management's commitment as two sets of factors that predicted localization success. It was the first study that found a significant relationship between localization success and top management ratings of company performance. Journal of International Business Studies (2009) 40, 1359-1373. doi: 10.1057/jibs.2009.31
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[
5,
44,
46
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Executive Power and Economic Accountability. Do performance-based rewards and punishments vary with presidents' legislative powers? Are presidents who frequently rule by decree held more accountable for outcomes? In this paper we theorize that accountability varies systematically with the powers presidents enjoy and how they use them. We test our expectations with survey data from 18 Latin American countries. Results indicate that individuals' evaluations of the economy have more bearing on presidential approval where the president has strong legislative powers and where the president makes frequent use of decrees. These findings underscore how power and agency shape accountability and the psychological processes behind the actions of principals in this principal-agent relationship.
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[
5,
49
] |
Enhancing mechanistic models with neural differential equations to predict electrodialysis fouling. Fouling of the ion-exchange membranes by colloidal substances present in bio-based process streams is an important hurdle for electrodialysis. The development of a model is challenged by the limited availability of experimental data and the complexity of the underlying physics. This research addresses this challenge by combining a mechanistic description of the transport processes with a machine learning model to describe the complex phenomena of colloidal aggregation and attachment to the surface of ion-exchange membranes. After validation with fouling experiments using acrylamide as colloidal foulant, it was found that this hybrid model improves the predictive power of the model while reducing the need for experimental data. An analysis of both mechanistic and machine learning models showed that the attachment probability of anion polyacrylamide (APAM) is influenced by the current density and the size of the fouling layer in a non-linear manner. An increase in current density leads to an increase in the attachment probability while the opposite holds for the size of the fouling layer. This research shows that machine learning can complement mechanistic models where fundamental knowledge is lacking or computational resources are limiting. The combination maintains the interpretability and generalisability of mechanistic models while harnessing the accuracy of machine learning.
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[
1,
16
] |
A study on the relationship of frequency and deformation for viscoelastic material. Viscoelastic materials are used in automobiles and other products. However, because of theoretical complexity, it has not been easy to put all the energy exhausted into the automotive viscoelastic materials. Since time is the most important factor in the study of viscoelastic material, creep and stress relaxation functions are very important. In this study, a bushing was selected for special viscoelastic material. A bushing is a device used in automotive suspension systems to cushion the force transmitted from the wheel to the frame of the vehicle. A bushing is essentially a hollow cylinder which is bonded to a solid metal shaft at its inner surface and a metal sleeve at its outer surface. The shaft is connected to the suspension and the sleeve is connected to the frame. The cylinder provides the cushion when it deforms due to relative motion between the shaft and sleeve. The relation between the force applied to the shaft or sleeve and their deformation is nonlinear and exhibits features of viscoelasticity. A force-displacement relation for a bushing is important for multi-body dynamics numerical simulations. Hence, an explicit force-displacement relation has been introduced. The relation is expressed in terms of a force relaxation function. With Pipkin-Rogers model, the direct relation of force and displacement that has been derived from experiment and numerical simulation, the sinusoidal displacement was chosen and the relation of frequency and deformation for the viscoelastic material was studied.
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[
1,
11,
12
] |
Failure load prediction of single lap adhesive joints based on a new linear elastic criterion. In this study a new failure criterion has been proposed to predict the static strength of single lap adhesive joints under tensile loading. The criterion is based on a simple 2D linear elastic finite element analysis and two material and geometry parameters. According to this method, the longitudinal strain magnitude along the adhesive layer is used as a failure parameter. The criterion suggests that fracture occurs when the failure parameter along the adhesive mid-plane reaches a critical value at a critical distance. Failure loads are also determined experimentally for a series of single lap adhesive joints of different bonding lengths. It is shown that the predictions based on the proposed criterion have good agreements with the experimental data. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
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[
1,
15,
12
] |
Examining Mendeley: Designing Learning Opportunities for Digital Scholarship. Researchers have widely adopted computer programs for reference management, such as Mendeley, due to their ability to support a variety of research practices, including organization and storage of pdfs. These programs also afford participation and networking within new scholarly information landscapes. This paper uses a survey and semi-structured interviews to explore use of Mendeley at the University of Colorado and to provide an initial snapshot of scholars' adoption of new digital practices. Because these new practices call for different capacities, the authors then used the results to design meaningful learning opportunities for scholars and students.
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[
5,
47
] |
Mental disorder and long-term risk of mortality: 41 years of follow-up of a population sample in Stockholm, Sweden. Conclusions. This study confirms the increased risk of mortality for several psychiatric diagnoses in follow-up studies on American, Finnish and Swedish population-based samples. Only a small part of the increased mortality hazard was attributable to differences in somatic health or hazardous health behaviour measured at baseline.Background. An increased mortality risk associated with mental disorder has been reported for patients, but there are few studies are based on random samples with interview-based psychiatric diagnoses. Part of the increased mortality for those with mental disorder may be attributable to worse somatic health or hazardous health behaviour - consequences of the disorder - but somatic health information is commonly lacking in psychiatric samples. This study aims to examine long-term mortality risk for psychiatric diagnoses in a general population sample and to assess mediation by somatic ill health and hazardous health behaviour.Method. We used a double-phase stratified random sample of individuals aged 18-65 in Stockholm County 1970-1971 linked to vital records. First phase sample was 32 186 individuals screened with postal questionnaire and second phase was 1896 individuals (920 men and 976 women) that participated in a full-day examination (participation rate 88%). Baseline examination included both a semi-structured interview with a psychiatrist, with mental disorders set according to the 8th version of the International Classification of Disease (ICD-8), and clinical somatic examination, including measures of body composition (BMI), hypertension, fasting blood glucose, pulmonary function and self-reported tobacco smoking. Information on vital status was obtained from the Total Population Register for the years 1970-2011. Associations with mortality were studied with Cox proportional hazard analyses.Results. A total of 883 deaths occurred among the participants during the 41-year follow-up. Increased mortality rates were found for ICD-8 functional psychoses (hazard ratio, HR = 2.22, 95% confidence interval (95% CI): 1.15-4.30); psycho-organic symptoms (HR = 1.94, 95% CI: 1.31-2.87); depressive neuroses (HR = 1.71, 95% CI: 1.23-2.39); alcohol use disorder (HR = 1.91, 95% CI: 1.40-2.61); drug dependence (HR = 3.71, 95% CI: 1.80-7.65) and psychopathy (HR = 2.88, 95% CI: 1.02-8.16). Non-participants (n = 349) had mortality rates similar to participants (HR = 0.98, 95% CI: 0.81-1.18). In subgroup analyses of those with psychoses, depression or alcohol use disorder, adjusting for the potential mediators smoking and pulmonary function, showed only slight changes in the HRs.
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[
2,
22
] |
Daxx deletion mutant (amino acids 501-625)-induced apoptosis occurs through the JNK/p38-Bax-dependent mitochondrial pathway. Death-associated protein (Daxx) deletion mutant (aa 501-625) has been known to he an inducer of apoptosis. In this study, we observed that the Bax-dependent mitochondrial death signaling pathway plays an important role in Daxx501-625-induced apoptosis. Daxx fragment-induced activation of caspase-9 and -3 was mediated through the apoptosis signal-regulating kinase 1 (ASK1)-MEK-c-Jun-N-terminal kinase (JNK)/p38-Bax pathway. By over-expressing JNK-binding domain (JBD) of JIP1, a JNK-inhibitory protein, and treatment with SB203580, a specific p38 inhibitor, DU-145 cells were made resistant to Daxx501-625-induced apoptosis. Capase-3 deficiency, Bax deficiency, or overexpression of a dominant-negative caspase-9 mutant prevented apoptosis, even though the Daxx501-625 fragment still activated the ASK1-MEK-MAPK pathway; Interestingly, Daxx501-625-induced Bcl-2 interacting domain (Bid) cleavage was suppressed in the dominant-negative caspase-9 mutant cells, whereas Bim was still phosphorylated in these cells. These results suggest that cleavage of Bid occurs downstream of caspase-9 activation. In contrast, phosphorylation of Bim is upstream of caspase-9 activation. Taken together, our results suggest that Daxx501-625-induced apoptosis is mediated through the ASK1-MEK-JNK/p38-Bim-Bax-dependent caspase pathway.
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[
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CONFORMAL VECTOR FIELDS ON ALMOST CO-KAHLER MANIFOLDS. In this paper, we characterize almost co-Kahler manifolds with a conformal vector field. It is proven that if an almost co-Kahler manifold has a conformal vector field that is collinear with the Reeb vector field, then the manifold is a K-almost co-Kahler manifold. It is also shown that if a (kappa, mu)-almost co-Kahler manifold admits a Killing vector field V, then either the manifold is K-almost co-Kahler or the vector field V is an infinitesimal strict contact transformation, provided that the (1,1) tensor h remains invariant under the Killing vector field. (C) 2021 Mathematical Institute Slovak Academy of Sciences
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[
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