Search

Background: Various metropolitan areas have become key centres for logistics activities, leading to a significant increase in the number of warehouses. However, there is a gap in the literature regarding the locational patterns of warehouses of different sizes in Africa. Objectives: To analyse the locational patterns of warehouses of different sizes within the City of Cape Town municipality, South Africa. The analysis focuses on the main factors influencing the placement of warehouses: transport infrastructure, land availability, proximity to customers and land-use zoning. Method: The study categorised warehouses based on their building footprint sizes, using the classifications of xx-small, x-small, small, medium, x-large and mega. A total of 396 warehouses were categorised accordingly. Proportional symbol mapping was then conducted in ArcGIS 10.1, assigning each warehouse type a specific weighting. Results: The study found that the areas surrounding the Port of Cape Town predominantly accommodated x-small warehouses. A diverse concentration of warehouses was identified along the railway, near the junctions of regional and national roads and within the areas enclosed by these roads. In addition, warehouses of diverse sizes were primarily situated in the main industrial zones of the municipality. Conclusion: The City of Cape Town municipality is encouraged to promote the consolidation of particularly large warehouses in strategic locations. These include industrial areas not geographically near the Port of Cape Town but with railway access to the port. Contribution: The study will contribute towards enhancing the sustainability and efficiency of logistics processes within the City of Cape Town.

Physiological maturity impacts seed quality through various mechanisms including vigor, desiccation tolerance, dormancy induction, synthesis of raw materials (including seed storage proteins), and the reorganization of metabolisms. Peanut seed development can be classified into seven classes with four incremental stages per class. Based on the mesocarp color, the final three stages are commonly referred to as “orange”, “brown”, and “black”. In 2017, freshly harvested pods from one genotype of runner market-type peanuts grown under conventional practices were obtained from the University of Georgia research facility. The pods were removed from the plant material and ‘pod blasted’ to reveal the mesocarp. After separation, the remainder of the pod outer layer was removed, and the seeds were segregated for proteomic analysis. The raw peanuts were analyzed by bottom-up LC-MS/MS proteomics, which was conducted by the Proteomics Resource Center at the Rockefeller University, to identify the significant protein composition differences in each maturity class. The proteomic data revealed differentially expressed proteins as a function of maturity class with multiple functions including plant defense, metabolism, cell signaling, nutrient accumulation, and packaging. Understanding the processes needed for seed maturation will enable peanut scientists to evaluate the traits needed for robust germination, hardiness of the seed in response to disease, and nutrient quality.

The proliferation of globalisation and e-commerce has led to an increasing number of warehousing facilities in cities and regions, which may contribute to the negative externalities of air pollution, noise pollution, and traffic congestion. Despite the close relationship between logistics and different sectors of the economy, there is a paucity of literature on the connection between warehousing and different land-use categories. Focusing on the City of Cape Town municipality in South Africa, the article aims to analyse the locational patterns of warehousing facilities relative to the transport infrastructure and the industrial, retail, and office land use. The study was based on a descriptive quantitative design wherein kernel density was employed in ArcGIS to analyse the locational patterns of warehousing facilities across the municipality. Data on the floor area of the industrial, retail, and office land use were classified into several ranges to ascertain the intensity of the land use relative to the concentration of the warehousing facilities. It was discovered that warehousing facilities cluster in the highly accessible areas within the municipality, namely the port’s environs, in the vicinity of the main junctions, and adjacent to arterial roads, which provide connections to the national roads. The areas with the highest concentration of warehousing facilities also accommodated the most significant percentage of industrial and retail land use. It is recommended that the existing warehousing clusters be prioritised in future warehousing development or consolidation, and that the future increase of the industrial and retail land use within the City of Cape Town municipality include a commensurate increase of space for warehousing facilities or vice versa.

Visual analytics was introduced in 2004 as a “grand challenge” to build an interdisciplinary “science of analytical reasoning facilitated by interactive visual interfaces”. The goal of visual analytics was to develop ways of interactively visualizing data, information, and computational analysis methods that augment human expertise in analysis and decision-making. In this paper, we examine the role of human reasoning in data analysis and decision-making, focusing on issues of expertise and objectivity in interpreting data for purposes of decision-making. We do this by integrating the visual analytics perspective with Decision Intelligence, a cognitive framework that emphasizes the connection between computational data analyses, predictive models, actions that can be taken, and predicted outcomes of those actions. Because Decision Intelligence models factors of operational capabilities and stakeholder beliefs, it necessarily extends objective data analytics to include intuitive aspects of expert decision-making such as human judgment, values, and ethics. By combining these two perspectives we believe that researchers will be better able to generate actionable decisions that ideally effectively utilize human expertise, while eliminating bias. This paper aims to provide a framework of how Decision Intelligence leverages visual analytics tools and human reasoning to support the decision-making process.

Processes of logistics, which facilitate the flow of goods, are crucial in contemporary economies. Largely responsible for the physical distribution component of logistics, warehousing and distribution (W&D) facilities are pertinent to urban and regional planning because they are, inter alia, the most space-extensive component of logistics and supply chain. Despite the importance of logistics, the regulation of the location of logistics facilities has been insufficient because of the poor relationship between logistics planning and urban policy. Using the study area of the Cape functional region, the article aims to analyse the inclusion of W&D in the spatial plans. The study was based on qualitative interviews conducted with nine urban and regional planners as well as content analysis of the applicable spatial development frameworks (SDFs). It was discovered that the SDFs in the region do not sufficiently address W&D. It is, therefore, recommended that policymakers as well as urban and regional planners align policy documents to facilitate the development of W&D facilities. It is also recommended that policy documents be informed by the intricacies of W&D instead of merely being based on broad industrial land use.

Category: Ankle Arthritis; Ankle Introduction/Purpose: The utilization of total ankle arthroplasty (TAA) is increasing in treatment of end-stage ankle arthritis. Modern implants show improved survival at 10-year and greater follow-up with patient reported outcomes exceeding those obtained with arthrodesis.1-5 Other benefits include maintaining ankle range of motion and decreased rate of adjacent joint arthrosis. The Infinity (Stryker, Mahwah, NJ), Salto-Talaris (Salto) (Smith & Nephew, Memphis, TN), and Scandanavian Total Ankle Replacement (STAR) (DJO Global, Lewisville, TX) TAA have become highly utilized implants due to minimal bone resection to preserve both tibial and talar bone stock. The purpose of this study is to determine implant survival, reoperation rate, and patient reported outcomes of minimal-resection total ankle implants. Methods: After obtaining IRB approval, a retrospective review was performed of all patients who underwent TAA between January 1, 2007 - December 31, 2018. Inclusion criteria, including minimum 2 year follow-up, and exclusion criteria left ninety- eight (98) patients for review. Primary outcome measures included patient-reported outcome measure information systems (PROMIS) scores preoperatively, 1-year and last follow-up. Secondary outcomes measures included reoperation and need for revision surgery as well as radiographic analysis at 3-months, 1-year, 2-year, 5-years and last follow up to identify loosening and lucency. Demographics including age, gender, race, body mass index (BMI), smoking status and diabetes were tabulated. Student's T-test compared PROMIS outcomes between the Infinity and Other groups. Chi-squared test investigated differences in categorical variables and a repeated-measure analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to investigate differences between PROMIS scores for the Infinity group. Results: 75 Infinity and 23 STAR or Salto patients were identified, average follow up of 3.4 years (range of 5-months to 10.75- years). PROMIS scores for depression and anxiety were significantly lower at most recent follow-up for the Infinity group (p0.05). Infinity patients saw favorable improvements in anxiety, depression, physical function and pain interference scores postoperatively (p

Background: Contemporary economic systems are characterised by the increasing volumes and flow of goods. This attribute highlights the importance of logistics wherein one of the key focus areas pertains to the movement and storage of freight at different geographical scales. Objective: In the light of the importance of theory in research as well as the significance of geographical location in logistics processes, the objective of the paper is to analyse the extent, scope and gaps of theory utilisation in logistics-related research. Method: The paper is based on a systematic literature review approach that encompassed 243 sources. The searches were conducted on the Internet database platforms using keywords such as logistics, logistics activities, geography of logistics activities, supply chain management, logistics theories and freight models. Results: The relationship between logistics research and theory is ambiguous in that the majority of the research does not explicitly incorporate theory. Logistics particularly benefits from theory originating from other disciplines, such as economics, strategic management and marketing; however, the use of theories that originate from human geography has been limited in logistics research. Conclusion: The drive to understand the movement and storage of freight at different scales has relevance to human geography, particularly the subdisciplines of transport geography and economic geography. It is therefore recommended that logistics research consider the theoretical frameworks originating from human geography.

Advancements in extended reality (XR) have inspired new uses and users of advanced visualization interfaces, transforming geospatial data visualization and consumption by enabling interactive 3D geospatial data experiences in 3D. Conventional metrics (e.g., mental rotations test (MRT)) are often used to assess and predict the appropriateness of these visualizations without accounting for the effect the interface has on those metrics. We developed the Immersive MRT (IMRT) to evaluate the impact that virtual reality (VR) based visualizations and 3D virtual environments have on mental rotation performance. Consistent with previous work, the results of our pilot study suggest that mental rotation tasks are performed more accurately and rapidly with stereo 3D stimuli than with 2D images of those stimuli.

New therapeutic strategies are needed for pediatric acute myeloid leukemia (AML) to reduce disease recurrence and treatment-related morbidity. The Children’s Oncology Group Phase III AAML1031 trial tested whether the addition of bortezomib to standard chemotherapy improves survival in pediatric patients with newly diagnosed AML. AAML1031 randomized patients younger than 30 years of age with de novo AML to standard treatment with or without bortezomib. All patients received the identical chemotherapy backbone with either four intensive chemotherapy courses or three courses followed by allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation for high-risk patients. For those randomized to the intervention arm, bortezomib 1.3 mg/m2 was given on days 1, 4 and 8 of each chemotherapy course. For those randomized to the control arm, bortezomib was not administered. In total, 1,097 patients were randomized to standard chemotherapy (n=542) or standard chemotherapy with bortezomib (n=555). There was no difference in remission induction rate between the bortezomib and control treatment arms (89% vs. 91%, P=0.531). Bortezomib failed to improve 3-year event-free survival (44.8±4.5% vs. 47.0±4.5%, P=0.236) or overall survival (63.6±4.5 vs. 67.2±4.3, P=0.356) compared with the control arm. However, bortezomib was associated with significantly more peripheral neuropathy (P=0.006) and intensive care unit admissions (P=0.025) during the first course. The addition of bortezomib to standard chemotherapy increased toxicity but did not improve survival. These data do not support the addition of bortezomib to standard chemotherapy in children with de novo AML. (Trial registered at clinicaltrials.gov NCT01371981; https://www.cancer.gov/clinicaltrials/ NCT01371981).

Let $F$ be a distribution in $\mathcal{D'}$ and let $f$ be a locally summable function. The composition $F(f(x))$ of $F$ and $f$ is said to exist and be equal to the distribution $h(x)$ if the limit of the sequence $\{ F_{n}(f(x))\}$ is equal to $h(x)$, where $F_n(x) =F(x)*\delta _n(x)$ for $n=1,2, \ldots$ and $\{\delta_n(x)\}$ is a certain regular sequence converging to the Dirac delta function. It is proved that the neutrix composition $ \delta^{(s)}[\cosh^{-1} (x_+^{1/r}+1)] $ exists and \beqa \delta^{(s)}[\cosh^{-1} (x_+^{1/r}+1)] = - \sum _{k=0} ^{M-1} \sum_{i=0}^{kr+r} {k \choose i}{(-1)^{i+k}rc_{r,s,k} \over (kr+r)k!}\delta ^{(k)}(x), for $s =M-1,M, M+1,\ldots$ and $r=1,2,\ldots,$ where $$c_{r,s,k}=\sum _{j=0}^{i} {i \choose j}{ (-1)^{kr+r-i}(2j-i)^{s+1}\over 2^{s+i+1} },$$ $M$ is the smallest integer for which $s-2r+1 < 2Mr$ and $r\le s/(2M+2).$ Further results are also proved.

Here we describe the diversity of the Malagasy Nesomyrmex brevicornis-group as the final installment of series describing the complete Malagasy Nesomyrmex fauna. In the current paper introduce the N. brevicornis-group, a newly outlined species group. We split this group from one of the four former groups, N. madecassus-group (sensu Csősz and Fisher 2015). The relatively small number of individuals available within the N. brevicornis-group relative to the large number of OTUs hampers the use of sophisticated statistical techniques to evaluate the morphological data. Instead, we assess the diversity of the N. brevicornis-group via a conventional morphology-based approach relying upon non-numeric characters (shape, sculpture, color etc.) recorded by simple eye inspection. Morphometric data are used as secondary data to confirm the most probable boundaries between species, but without employing statistical analyses. We rejected prior species hypotheses imposed by the primary approach if a non-overlapping range of a single index calculated from continuous numeric traits was found between two hypothesized species. Our methods render every species in this revisionary work separable via both salient features and morphometric traits. Our approach reveals the existence of nine morphologically distinct species, Nesomyrmex brevicornis sp. n., N. brunneus sp. n., N. cingulatus sp. n., N. edentates sp. n., N. flavigaster sp. n., N. longiceps sp. n., N. minutus sp. n., N. punctaticeps sp. n., and N. sellaris sp. n.. Geographic maps showing the distribution of each species are provided, along with an updated key to workers of Malagasy Nesomyrmex species groups that includes the newly outlined N. brevicornis-group.

The logaritmic integral li(x) and its associated functions li+(x) and li-(x) are defined as locally summable functions on the real line. Some convolutions and neutrix convolutions of these functions and other functions are then found. .

Background: In the UK, 6% of the UK population have diabetes mellitus, 90% of whom have type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Diabetes mellitus accounts for 10% of NHS expenditure (£14B annually). Good self-management may improve health outcomes. NHS policy is to refer all people with T2DM to structured education, on diagnosis, to improve their self-management skills, with annual reinforcement thereafter. However, uptake remains low (5.6% in 2014–15). Almost all structured education is group based, which may not suit people who work, who have family or other caring commitments or who simply do not like group-based formats. Moreover, patient needs vary with time and a single education session at diagnosis is unlikely to meet these evolving needs. A web-based programme may increase uptake. Objectives: Our aim was to develop, evaluate and implement a web-based self-management programme for people with T2DM at any stage of their illness journey, with the goal of improving access to, and uptake of, self-management support, thereby improving health outcomes in a cost-effective manner. Specific objectives were to (1) develop an evidence-based theoretically informed programme that was acceptable to patients and health-care professionals (HCPs) and that could be readily implemented within routine NHS care, (2) determine the clinical effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of the programme compared with usual care and (3) determine how best to integrate the programme into routine care. Design: There were five linked work packages (WPs). WP A determined patient requirements and WP B determined HCP requirements for the self-management programme. WP C developed and user-tested the Healthy Living for People with type 2 Diabetes (HeLP-Diabetes) programme. WP D was an individually randomised controlled trial in primary care with a health economic analysis. WP E used a mixed-methods and case-study design to study the potential for implementing the HeLP-Diabetes programme within routine NHS practice. Setting: English primary care. Participants: People with T2DM (WPs A, D and E) or HCPs caring for people with T2DM (WPs B, C and E). Intervention: The HeLP-Diabetes programme; an evidence-based theoretically informed web-based self-management programme for people with T2DM at all stages of their illness journey, developed using participatory design principles. Main outcome measures: WPs A and B provided data on user ‘wants and needs’, including factors that would improve the uptake and accessibility of the HeLP-Diabetes programme. The outcome for WP C was the HeLP-Diabetes programme itself. The trial (WP D) had two outcomes measures: glycated haemoglobin (HbA1c) level and diabetes mellitus-related distress, as measured with the Problem Areas in Diabetes (PAID) scale. The implementation outcomes (WP E) were the adoption and uptake at clinical commissioning group, general practice and patient levels and the identification of key barriers and facilitators. Results: Data from WPs A and B supported our holistic approach and addressed all areas of self-management (medical, emotional and role management). HCPs voiced concerns about linkage with the electronic medical records (EMRs) and supporting patients to use the programme. The HeLP-Diabetes programme was developed and user-tested in WP C. The trial (WP D) recruited to target (n = 374), achieved follow-up rates of over 80% and the intention-to-treat analysis showed that there was an additional improvement in HbA1c levels at 12 months in the intervention group [mean difference –0.24%, 95% confidence interval (CI) –0.44% to –0.049%]. There was no difference in overall PAID score levels (mean difference –1.5 points, 95% CI –3.9 to 0.9 points). The within-trial health economic analysis found that incremental costs were lower in the intervention group than in the control group (mean difference –£111, 95% CI –£384 to £136) and the quality-adjusted life-years (QALYs) were higher (mean difference 0.02 QALYs, 95% CI 0.000 to 0.044 QALYs), meaning that the HeLP-Diabetes programme group dominated the control group. In WP E, we found that the HeLP-Diabetes programme could be successfully implemented in primary care. General practices that supported people in registering for the HeLP-Diabetes programme had better uptake and registered patients from a wider demographic than those relying on patient self-registration. Some HCPs were reluctant to do this, as they did not see it as part of their professional role. Limitations: We were unable to link the HeLP-Diabetes programme with the EMRs or to determine the effects of the HeLP-Diabetes programme on users in the implementation study. Conclusions: The HeLP-Diabetes programme is an effective self-management support programme that is implementable in primary care. Future work: The HeLP-Diabetes research team will explore the following in future work: research to determine how to improve patient uptake of self-management support; develop and evaluate a structured digital educational pathway for newly diagnosed people; develop and evaluate a digital T2DM prevention programme; and the national implementation of the HeLP-Diabetes programme. Trial registration: Research Ethics Committee reference number 10/H0722/86 for WPs A–C; Research Ethics Committee reference number 12/LO/1571 and UK Clinical Research Network/National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Portfolio 13563 for WP D; and Research Ethics Committee 13/EM/0033 for WP E. In addition, for WP D, the study was registered with the International Standard Randomised Controlled Trial Register as reference number ISRCTN02123133. Funding details: This project was funded by the NIHR Programme Grants for Applied Research programme and will be published in full in Programme Grants for Applied Research; Vol. 6, No. 5. See the NIHR Journals Library website for further project information.

In this study we provide an update to the taxonomy of the ant genus Tetramorium Mayr in Madagascar. We report the first record of the T. setigerum species group in Madagascar and describe the only Malagasy representative as T. cavernicola sp. n., which is known only from a cave in Ankarana. In addition, we provide an overview of the 19 proposed Malagasy species groups, and discuss their zoogeography and relationships to other groups and larger lineages within the hyper-diverse genus Tetramorium. At present, we recognise a highly unique Malagasy Tetramorium fauna with 113 species endemic to the island of Madagascar out of a total of 125 translating into an endemism rate of 93%. We hypothesise that this fauna is based on one or a few colonisation events from the Afrotropical region, with subsequent adaptive radiation in Madagascar. Furthermore, we present an updated and illustrated identification key to the Tetramorium species groups in the Malagasy region.

In this study we revise the taxonomy of the genus Prionopelta for the Malagasy region, treating seven species, six of which are newly described (P. laurae sp. n., P. seychelles sp. n., P. subtilis sp. n., P. talos sp. n., P. vampira sp. n., P. xerosilva sp. n.), and one redescribed (P. descarpentriesi Santschi). One species, P. seychelles, is restricted to Seychelles, while the six remaining species treated are endemic to Madagascar.

In this paper the genus Pheidologeton Mayr, 1862 is synonymized under Carebara Westwood, 1840 and the Carebara polita group is established and revised. This species group currently includes six species from the Afrotropical region (C. madibai, C. nicotianae, C. perpusilla, C. polita, C. silvestrii, and C. villiersi) and two species from the Neotropical region (C. brevipilosa and C. urichi). The polita group clearly links Carebara and Pheidologeton, and, due to a lack of autapomorphic characters for the latter, a separation of the two genera is no longer justified. As a result Carebara is presented as a monophyletic and better defined genus that can be separated from other genera with more confidence. We present an overview of the distribution and biology of Carebara as well as images from the various genera currently in synonymy under Carebara, and discuss the characters they share. The polymorphism present in Afrotropical and Malagasy Carebara is discussed and one new species from Africa, C. madibai sp. n., is described. The subspecies Carebara perpusilla arnoldiana syn. n., Carebara perpusilla concedens syn. n., and Carebara perpusilla spinosa syn. n. are new synonyms of Carebara perpusilla. Oligomyrmex politus nicotianae is re-elevated to species level and transferred into Carebara, C. nicotianae comb. n., stat. rev.; C. punctata is a new synonym of C. silvestrii comb. n. and C. pygmaea albipes comb. n., syn n., C. pygmaea bugnioni comb. n., syn. n., and C. simularensis syn. n. are new synonyms of C. pygmaea comb. n.. The following names are transferred from Pheidologeton to Carebara as new combinations (with the species epithets adjusted to female endings where necessary): aberrans, affinis, affinis javana, affinis minor, affinis spinosior, affinis sumatrensis, ceylonensis, dentiviris, diversa, diversa draco, diversa ficta, diversa laotina, diversa macgregori, diversa philippina, diversa standfussi, diversa taprobanae, diversa tenuirugosa, diversa williamsi, hammoniae, hostilis, kunensis, latinoda, maccus, mayri, melanocephala, melasolena, nana, nanningensis, obscura, petulens, pullata, pungens, pygmaea, rubra, rugiceps, rugosa, schossnicensis, silena, silvestrii, solitaria, transversalis, trechideros, varia, vespilla, volsellata, yanoi, and zengchengensis. Three new combinations are creating secondary junior homonyms and are here replaced with new names: C. mayri (Santschi, 1928) = C. gustavmayri nom. n., C. rugosa (Karavaiev, 1935) = C. rugoflabella nom. n., and C. silvestrii (Wheeler, 1929b) = C. luzonensis nom.n. Two new combinations are creating secondary junior homonyms among species already in Carebara: C. taprobanae (Forel, 1911a) = C. sinhala nom. n., and C. nana Santschi, 1919 = C. pumilia nom. n.

Sintunavarat and Kumam (W. Sintunavarat, P. Kumam, Gregus-type common fixed point theorems for tangential multi-valued mappings of integral type in metric spaces, Int. J. Math. Math. Sci. 2011 12 (Article ID 923458)) extended the tangential property to hybrid pair of mappings which generalizes the idea of tangential property due to Pathak and Shahzad (H.K. Pathak, N. Shahzad, Gregus type fixed point results for tangential mappings satisfying contractive conditions of integral type, Bull. Belg. Math. Soc. Simon Stevin 16(2) (2009) 277–288). In the present paper, we introduce the notion of strong tangential property and utilize the same to prove an integral type metrical common fixed point theorem for non-self mappings. An illustrative example is also furnished to support our main result. Our results are corrected, improved and generalized versions of a multitude of relevant common fixed point theorems of the existing literature.

The ant genus Paratrechina is reexamined based on the discovery of two new species from Madagascar (P. ankarana sp. n. and P. antsingy sp. n.). Paratrechina kohli, a species known from central Africa, is transferred to Paratrechina from Prenolepis based on a new morphological interpretation of the genus and an updated morphological diagnosis of the genus is provided. This means that other than the widespread P. longicornis, whose origins remain uncertain, all Paratrechina are restricted either to the Afrotropical or Malagasy regions. It would also appear that of the five Paratrechina species now known, three are from dry forest habitats. With this reexamination of the genus, the possible origins of P. longicornis are discussed. A key to the genera of the Prenolepis genus-group is provided, as is a key to the workers of Paratrechina. In addition, we also designate a lectotype for Paratrechina kohli.

Recent survey work in the Seychelles has revealed two new species of Paraparatrechina that are here described: P. illusio sp. n. and P. luminella sp. n. A revised key to the workers of Paraparatrechina for the Afrotropical and Malagasy regions is provided. The taxonomy of the hypogaeic weissi species-group is also reviewed in light of recent field collections. The species P. sordida is revived from synonymy and given new status (as a full species) and a discussion of the morphologically peculiar species-group is provided. With the description of the two species and the removal of another species from weissi synonomy there are now 16 Paraparatrechina species known from the Afrotropical and Malagasy regions.

The taxonomy of the Tetramorium naganum, T. plesiarum, T. schaufussii, and T. severini species groups are revised for the Malagasy region. A total of 31 species are treated, of which 22 are newly described and nine redescribed. This increases the richness of the hyper-diverse genus Tetramorium in the Malagasy region to 106 species, which makes it the most species-rich genus in the region. Twenty-nine of the treated species are endemic to Madagascar, one is endemic to the Comoros, and one species is found predominantly in Madagascar but also on the island of Reunion. The T. naganum species group contains five species, which are mainly distributed in the rainforests and montane rainforests of eastern and northern Madagascar: T. alperti sp. n., T. dalek sp. n., T. enkidu sp. n., T. gilgamesh sp. n., and T. naganum Bolton, 1979. The T.plesiarum species group holds five species: T. bressleri sp. n., T. hobbit sp. n., T. gollum sp. n., T. mars sp.n., and T. plesiarum Bolton, 1979. All five are arid-adapted species occurring in the southwest and west of Madagascar. The second-most species-rich group in the region is the T. schaufussii species group with 20 species, most of which inhabit rainforests or montane rainforests of eastern and northern Madagascar. This group includes two species complexes each containing ten species: the T. cognatum complex with the species T. aspis sp. n., T. camelliae sp. n., T. cognatum Bolton, 1979, T. freya sp. n., T. gladius sp. n., T.karthala sp. n., T. myrmidon sp. n., T. proximum Bolton, 1979, T. rumo sp. n., and T. tenuinode sp. n.; and the T. schaufussii complex with the species T. merina sp. n., T. monticola sp. n., T. nassonowii Forel, 1892 stat. n., T. obiwan sp. n., T. pseudogladius sp. n., T. rala sp. n., T. schaufussii Forel, 1891, T. sikorae Forel, 1892 (=T. latior (Santschi, 1926)), T. scutum sp. n., T. xanthogaster Santschi, 1911. The last group treated in this study is the T. severini species group, which contains only the species T. severini (Emery, 1895). This very conspicuous species is widely distributed in the rainforests and montane rainforests of eastern and northern Madagascar. All four groups are fully revised with group diagnoses, illustrated species-level identification keys, and detailed descriptions for all species that include multifocused montage images and distribution maps.

In this study we synonymise the genus Decamorium Forel under Tetramorium Mayr, revise the new T. decem species group by providing a diagnosis of the group, an illustrated identification key to species level, and worker-based species descriptions for all five species, which include diagnoses, discussions, images, and distribution maps. The following species are revised in this study: T. decem Forel, comb. r., T. raptor sp. n., T. uelense Santschi, comb. r., T. ultor Forel, comb. r., stat. r. & stat. n., and T. venator sp. n. In addition, we also designate lectotypes for T. decem, T. uelense, and T. ultor.

The alpha taxonomy of the ant genus Probolomyrmex in Madagascar is revised on the basis of the worker caste. Two new species are described: P. curculiformis sp. n. and P. zahamena sp. n. and the previously known P. tani is re-described. All three species are members of the P. greavesi species group. The species descriptions include diagnoses, taxonomic discussions, high quality montage images, and distribution maps. In addition, we provide an illustrated species level identification key.

The genus Mystrium is revised for the Malagasy region. Six species, Mystrium barrybressleri sp. n., M. labyrinth sp. n., M. eques sp. n., M. mirror sp. n., M. shadow sp. n., and M. janovitzi sp. n. are described as new. Two existing names, Mystrium fallax Forel and M. stadelmanni Forel, are synonymized with M. voeltzkowi Forel and M. mysticum Roger, respectively. All recognized species, including species outside of the Malagasy region, are assigned to one of the three newly proposed species groups. The associations between existing names and males are reexamined, and males of eight of the ten Malagasy species are described or redescribed. The taxonomic history of Mystrium highlights the importance of using unique identifiers when designating type specimens and the use of deposited vouchers in phylogenetic and ecological studies. Keys to species for workers, queens, and males are provided. Furthermore, a neotype for M. mysticum is designated, as well as lectotypes for M. camillae Emery, M. rogeri Forel, M. fallax Forel, M. oberthueri Forel, M. stadelmanni Forel, and M. voeltzkowi Forel. Stigmatomma gingivale (Brown) is reassigned to Amblyopone as comb. rev. and Amblyopone awa Xu & Chu, A. kangba Xu & Chu, A. meiliana Xu & Chu, and A. zomae Xu & Chu are transferred to the genus Stigmatomma as comb. n.

In this study we revise the taxonomy of the Tetramorium tortuosum species group members encountered in the Afrotropical region, which we have placed in its own subgroup: the T. capillosum species complex. We re-describe the two previously known species T. capillosum Bolton and T. tabarum Bolton, and describe the new species T. hecate sp. n. The geographic distribution of the three species appears to be restricted to the equatorial rainforests of Central Africa. We provide a diagnosis of the T. capillosum species complex, an illustrated identification key to species level, and worker-based species descriptions, which include diagnoses, discussions, high-quality montage images, and distribution maps. Furthermore, we discuss biogeography and composition of the globally distributed T. tortuosum group.

This paper will discuss a SAW passive, wireless multi-sensor system under development by our group for the past several years. The device focus is on orthogonal frequency coded (OFC) SAW sensors, which use both frequency diversity and pulse position reflectors to encode the device ID and will be briefly contrasted to other embodiments. A synchronous correlator transceiver is used for the hardware and post processing and correlation techniques of the received signal to extract the sensor information will be presented. Critical device and system parameters addressed include encoding, operational range, SAW device parameters, post-processing, and antenna-SAW device integration. A fully developed 915 MHz OFC SAW multi-sensor system is used to show experimental results. The system is based on a software radio approach that provides great flexibility for future enhancements and diverse sensor applications. Several different sensor types using the OFC SAW platform are shown.

The aim of this paper is to establish a unique common fixed point theorem for two pairs of occasionally weakly compatible single and multi-valued maps in a metric space. This result improves the result of Türkoglu et al. (Math. Commun. 2002) and references therein.

This paper examines the interest and expectations of patients having access to their electronic care records. Semi-structured prospective interviews were performed with 109 patients in a community setting in London where all records are stored digitally either as coded data, free text or scanned in from the paper original. A booth had recently been set up for patients to access their electronic records in the waiting room with secure access through fingerprint recognition technology. The interviews detailed history and levels of interest in access, impact on relationship with clinician, familiarity with digital media and issues of security and accuracy. Patients were more interested in seeing their electronic than their paper record; they felt it would improve their relationship with their clinician; they generally trusted in the security of their records; they anticipated that there would be some mistakes; they were enthusiastic about the idea of adding to the record themselves, but were divided about having access over the internet. Patients are confident in and anticipate the value of having access to their electronic records.

Some related fixed point theorems for set-valued mappings on two complete and compact uniform spaces are proved.

The Fresnel cosine integral C(x), the Fresnel sine integral S(x), and the associated functions C+(x), C−(x), S+(x), and S−(x) are defined as locally summable functions on the real line. Some convolutions and neutrix convolutions of the Fresnel cosine integral and its associated functions with x+r and xr are evaluated.

The sine integral Si(λx) and the cosine integral Ci(λx) and their associated functions Si+(λx), Si−(λx), Ci+(λx), Ci−(λx) are defined as locally summable functions on the real line. Some convolutions of these functions and sin(μx), sin+(μx), and sin−(μx) are found.

Some related fixed points theorems for set valued mappings on two complete and compact metric spaces are proved.

By using a compatibility condition due to Jungck we establish some common fixed point theorems for four mappings on complete and compact metric spaces These results also generalize a theorem of Sharma and Sahu.

The dilogarithm integral Li(xs) and its associated functions Li+(xs) and Li-(xs) are defined as locally summable functions on the real line. Some convolutions and neutrix convolutions of these functions and other functions are then found.

Let F be a distribution in D' and let f be a locally summable function. The composition F(f(x)) of F and f is said to exist and be equal to the distribution h(x) if the limit of the sequence {Fn(f(x))} is equal to h(x), where Fn(x)=F(x)*δn(x) for n=1,2,… and {δn(x)} is a certain regular sequence converging to the Dirac delta function. In the ordinary sense, the composition δ(s)[(sinh⁡-1x+)r] does not exists. In this study, it is proved that the neutrix composition δ(s)[(sinh⁡-1x+)r] exists and is given by δ(s)[(sinh⁡-1x+)r]=∑k=0sr+r-1∑i=0k(ki)((-1)krcs,k,i/2k+1k!)δ(k)(x), for s=0,1,2,… and r=1,2,…, where cs,k,i=(-1)ss![(k-2i+1)rs-1+(k-2i-1)rs+r-1]/(2(rs+r-1)!). Further results are also proved.

Let F be a distribution in D' and let f be a locally summable function. The composition F(f(x)) of F and f is said to exist and be equal to the distribution h(x) if the limit of the sequence {Fn(f(x))} is equal to h(x), where Fn(x)=F(x)*δn(x) for n=1,2,… and {δn(x)} is a certain regular sequence converging to the Dirac delta function. It is proved that the neutrix composition δ(rs-1)((tanhx+)1/r) exists and δ(rs-1)((tanhx+)1/r)=∑k=0s-1∑i=0Kk((-1)kcs-2i-1,k(rs)!/2sk!)δ(k)(x) for r,s=1,2,…, where Kk is the integer part of (s-k-1)/2 and the constants cj,k are defined by the expansion (tanh-1x)k={∑i=0∞(x2i+1/(2i+1))}k=∑j=k∞cj,kxj, for k=0,1,2,…. Further results are also proved.

IntroductionWorksite policy and environmental supports that promote physical activity, healthy eating, stress management, and preventive health screenings can contribute to the prevention of cardiovascular disease and lower employer costs. This study examines the availability of these four categories of supports in a statewide survey of New York State worksites.MethodsIn 2002, we recruited a statewide sample of worksites in New York State with 75 or more employees to participate in a mailed survey assessing worksite policy and environmental supports for wellness and health promotion. The overall response rate was 34.8%. The analysis included data from 832 worksites.ResultsWorksite size was an independent predictor of health promotion supports with small (75–99 employees) and medium-small (100–199 employees) worksites reporting significantly fewer policy and environmental supports in all four categories than worksites with 300 or more employees. Worksites in which most employees were nonwhite reported fewer supports for physical activity, healthy eating, and stress management than worksites in which most employees were white. A wellness committee or wellness coordinator was associated with more health promotion supports, regardless of the size of the worksite or composition of its workforce.ConclusionWorksites with fewer than 200 employees have an increased need for assistance in establishing environmental and policy supports promoting cardiovascular health. Worksites that have a wellness committee or coordinator are better able to establish and sustain supports with the potential to improve the health of their workers.

It is shown that the continuity of the mapping in Pathak's fixed point theorem for normed spaces is not necessary.

We consider two selfmaps T and I of a closed convex subset C of a Banach space X which are weakly commuting in X, i.e.‖TIx−ITx‖≤‖Ix−Tx‖ for any x in X,and satisfy the inequality‖Tx−Ty‖≤a‖Ix−Iy‖+(1−a)max{‖Tx−Ix‖,‖Ty−Iy‖}for all x, y in C, where 0