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Stalin exchanged more than six hundred messages with Allied leaders Churchill and Roosevelt during the Second World War. In this riveting volume--the fruit of a unique British-Russian scholarly collaboration--the messages are published and also analyzed within their historical context. Ranging from intimate personal greetings to weighty salvos about diplomacy and strategy, this book offers fascinating new revelations of the political machinations and human stories behind the Allied triumvirate. Edited and narrated by two of the world's leading scholars on World War II diplomacy and based on a decade of research in British, American, and newly available Russian archives, this crucial addition to wartime scholarship illuminates an alliance that really worked while exposing its fractious limits and the issues and egos that set the stage for the Cold War that followed.

Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor (PFBR) has 8 Steam Generators (SGs). Inspection of SGs requires a remote tooling to reach each of the 547 tubes. In PFBR SG, Sodium flows through the shell side and water/steam through the tube side. Degradation of the SG tubes are caused by corrosion, pitting, wear due to flow induced vibration; so it is necessary that degraded SG tube must be plugged at both ends in order to increase the availability of plant. So the plugged tubes will have some protrusion above tube sheet. As robotic device for inspection is two-axis Selective Compliant Assembly Robotic Arm (SCARA), so during movement from one tube to another tube, plugged tube has to be avoided for safe operation. In this paper path planning technique using vector algebra has been used to find out via point in the Cartesian space. The via point is selected such that robot can avoid plugged tube& ensures healthy operation of device.

In this paper, a novel design of a multi-sectioned, remotely-actuated, continuum type manipulator is presented. Spatially Hyper-Redundant Robot (SHRR) is based on a continuous backbone model which is divided into four sections. In the area of hyper redundant robotics, kinematic redundant systems result in non square Jacobian matrix which requires a pseudo inverse method to inverse the matrix. A methodology has been devised to solve the Inverse Kinematics (IK) problem of SHRR by predicting the curvature values of each of the section. Redundant IK techniques like Pseudo-Inverse Method (PIM), Jacobian Transpose Method (JTM), Damped Least Squares Method (DLS) and Selectively Damped Least Squares Method (SDLS) are tested on the formulated kinematic model of SHRR using MATLAB and a comparative study has been made.

The Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor steam generators inspection system has seven modules. In this, tube locator module is a planar serial two-link robotic arm, which is used to place the eddy current probe above the steam generators tube hole in the tube sheet region. The trajectory planning of the two-link robotic arm is one of the important tasks, so the peak velocity, peak acceleration, peak jerk of various motion profiles for a given distance has to be selected properly for smooth motion and to avoid actuator saturation. The fifth-order polynomial gives lower acceleration and velocity than the jerk-limited S-curve. In this paper, the comparison of peak values of kinematic variables (velocity, acceleration, and jerk) for different motion profiles has been presented.

RNA molecules adopt complex structures in cells that are involved in numerous and varied biological processes. Many RNAs populate heterogeneous ensembles of structures, with states that differentially regulate biological functions. RNA structure ensembles have been challenging to detect by conventional methods for RNA structure determination, limiting our understanding of the prevalence and biological functions of RNA ensembles. To address this limitation, several recent strategies have been developed for deconvoluting RNA structure ensembles by single-molecule correlated chemical probing. In this work I summarize recent strategies for RNA ensemble deconvolution and highlight their key biological findings. I describe the validation of a structure deconvolution method developed in our lab, DANCE-MaP, as well as its application to the 7SK RNA, which revealed an RNA structure-dependent switch that globally regulates transcription. I then apply DANCE-MaP to the human SERPINA1 mRNA, revealing a hidden ensemble of structures in the early coding sequence that collectively regulates mRNA translation. Lastly, I develop an improved method for detecting RNA–ligand interactions by surface plasmon resonance. Altogether, this work demonstrates that structural heterogeneity is an intrinsic and widespread property of RNA, and that structure ensembles play critical roles in numerous biological processes. This deeper understanding of RNA structural heterogeneity might ultimately guide the development of RNA-targeting therapeutic strategies.

The combined effects of sea level rise, subsidence, and the leveeing of the Mississippi River have led to a land loss crisis in coastal Louisiana. The construction of tidal marshes and river diversions that reconnect the Mississippi River to adjacent estuaries have become common strategies to mitigate coastal land loss. This study aims to compare plant litter decomposition, an important ecological function in coastal wetlands, among marshes at varying distances from a freshwater siphon connected to the Mississippi River during periods of siphon openings and closures. We used a common litter bag technique at three sites in Plaquemine Parish, Louisiana to quantify decomposition. Replicate litter bags containing a standard amount of saltmarsh cordgrass Spartina alterniflora litter were placed in surface plots along three, 100-m transects at each site for two-month periods during the summers of 2018, 2019, and 2021. Litter loss and decomposition rate coefficients were compared between sites and years and to elevation, inundation, temperature, salinity, and precipitation. Our results indicate that wetting associated with precipitation, as well as the combined effects of precipitation and siphon openings on salinity contributed to differences in decomposition across years. Additionally, our results indicate that differences in elevation and inundation were likely drivers of differences in decomposition among sites. Therefore, while the reconnection of the Mississippi River to adjacent estuaries has the potential to offset land loss, it is important for future studies to further quantify the impact on litter decomposition and associated ecosystem services like carbon sequestration following implementation.

Executive behaviour is a captivating socioeconomic phenomenon. Four executiverelated matters attracted the researcher’s interest: (a) What, indeed, is executive effectiveness?; (b) What specific executive behaviours, tasks, attributes, styles of leadership or other considerations make trendsetting executives effective?; (c) In what respects do executives who hold long-term (up-to-retirement) employment contracts differ from their fellow-executives who have opted for short-term contracts, with regard to matters such as remuneration, executive capability, executive migration, and psychosocial dynamics in the workplace?; and (d) How do executives from the public and private sectors differ in their executive job performance and what can they learn from each other with regard to executive effectiveness?Employment patterns of senior executives in many organisations change as their conditions of employment vary. In South Africa, the King report of 1994 questioned the wisdom of granting executive leaders of institutions and organisations contract terms of indefinite length. The researcher considered length of employment contract term as a critical matter. Would a reduction of stipulated duration of terms of employment in executive contracts promote executive effectiveness, result in higher productivity and restrict opportunities for deliberate corporate misconduct? In the study, the researcher intended to explore the effects of length of contract term on executive performance by comparing executives with long-term (up-to-retirement) employment contracts with executives who have opted for short-term employment contracts. The perceived differences will be apparent in criteria of effective executive leadership such as daily executive behaviours, executive tasks, and executive leadership styles.South African organisations and institutions have formulated different policies on the matter of the ideal length of an employment contract term. Government departments, state-owned enterprises and parastatal institutions enter into fixed-term contracts with their executive leadership. While some business enterprises implement fixedterm employment contracts, executive leaders in private-sector companies favoured long-term employment contracts, or employment up to retirement. The length of term of employment contract is a sensitive issue. How desirable is increased executive migration within and between the private and public sectors and how will changes from contracts with indefinite contract terms to contracts with restricted short-term duration, and vice versa, influence executive effectiveness?A survey on the influence of employment contracts that were offered to executives of organisations was undertaken. Terms and conditions of executive employment were examined to better understand what factors influenced the job performance and effectiveness of executives. Various types of executive employment contracts were looked at while benefits, remuneration and other forms of compensation were also reviewed. Three matters of interest need to be considered: What expectations do executive leaders in organisations have about their job performance, what outlooks do the select band of people that appointed them have about their job performance, and to what extent do executives meet these expectations?In conceiving the prospective study, the researcher defined two target populations: executives from the public and private sector. Two subpopulations within each of the populations were also targeted: executives from the two sectors and that held either long- or short-term contracts. An estimated sample size of 125 respondents, evenly distributed among the four subsamples, was envisaged. An electronic location and introduction method was introduced to recruit potential participants.

Green infrastructure improves urban runoff quality and controls runoff volume by maximizing exfiltration, evapotranspiration (ET), storage, and water harvesting. To determine their resilience to various factors (e.g., clay soils which restrict exfiltration, climate change, and application of de-icing salts), three bioretention cells and four permeable pavements were intensively monitored in northern Ohio. To ensure resilience over the longterm, permeable pavements were evaluated to determine (1) when maintenance is needed and (2) how to best maintain the pavement surface infiltration rate (SIR). Volume reduction for bioretention cells constructed over low permeability soils varied from 36-59% and improved with higher drawdown (i.e., the sum of exfiltration and ET) rates and deeper internal water storage (IWS) zone depths. Post-construction measured drawdown rates were non-linear and greater than vertical saturated hydraulic conductivity (Ksat) measured on the underlying soil during construction. Collectively, this suggested (1) lateral exfiltration played a substantial role in volume reduction, and (2) ET provided a minor amount of volume reduction. Field-collected bioretention hydrologic data were used to calibrate and validate DRAINMOD, a long-term agricultural drainage model. Nash-Sutcliffe efficiencies for runoff, drainage, overflow, and exfiltration/ET exceeded 0.7, suggesting the model was well calibrated. Analyses of bioretention design alternatives were conducted using the calibrated models and a long-term climatic record. Volume reduction was most dependent on loading ratio, IWS zone depth, and underlying soil Ksat. A current and two predicted mid-21st century climate scenarios (RCP 4.5 and RCP 8.5) were input into the three calibrated DRAINMOD models. Future climate scenarios predicted decreases in annual precipitation, longer dry periods, and hotter temperatures for Northeast Ohio. Bioretention volume reduction was predicted to either modestly increase (by 4-6%) or decrease (by 5-9%) under future climate scenarios. In all modeled cases, overflow and ET increased as a percentage of the water balance. To mitigate future increases in overflow, bowl volume would need to be increased by up to 51%. Field-monitored permeable pavements situated over low permeability soils, employing 15-cm IWS zones, and minimum loading ratios of 4:1 reduced runoff volume by16 to 53%. In comparison, volume reduction for a permeable pavement treating only direct rainfall was 99%. Post-construction drawdown rates were linear and similar to vertical Ksat of the underlying soil measured during construction, suggesting evaporation and lateral exfiltration were minor contributors to volume reduction. The water quality performance of two permeable pavements was assessed in northeast Ohio. While observed nutrient load reductions were similar to past studies, TSS loads increased by 300-500%. Loss of silt and clay-sized particles from the permeable pavement subgrade was seasonal, and appeared to be related to dispersion of particulate matter caused by sodium in de-icing salts. Eight maintenance techniques were tested for improvement of permeable pavement SIR in North Carolina, Ohio, and Sweden. Milling and pressure washing were the most successful in recovering porous asphalt SIR, while street sweepers employing suction were preferable for permeable interlocking concrete pavements. A simple infiltration test (SIT) to determine permeable pavement maintenance needs was developed because American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) tests can take hours to complete and require infiltrometers not readily available to maintenance contractors. Results showed: (1) a segmented linear relationship related SIT and ASTM-measured SIRs, (2) the SIT and ASTM tests predicted approximately the same IR up to 250 mm/min, and (3) the larger surface area of the SIT reduced measurement variability by 40% compared to the ASTM method. Bioretention cells and permeable pavements are resilient stormwater controls only when properly designed, installed, and maintained. Generally, bioretention cells are more resilient to anthropogenic and natural stressors due to their plant- and soil-based treatment processes.

A retired school teacher with a passionate love for his community and an unshakable faith in its people, he wants to inspire everyone to feel the same.