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Connection Strengthening Scheme For Coastal Bridges Under Hurricane Induced Surge And Wave Load Using C-Iepm, Li He Jan 2019

Connection Strengthening Scheme For Coastal Bridges Under Hurricane Induced Surge And Wave Load Using C-Iepm, Li He

All ETDs from UAB

Considerable damage to the highway bridge system in the Gulf Coast area was observed during the Hurricane Katrina disaster, of which the primary failure mode, caused primarily by the storm-induced loading, is believed to be the superstructure-substructure connection failure which caused further unseating and drifting of the decks. A new Carbon-fiber Interfacial Epoxy-Polyurea Matrix (C-IEPM) composite is investigated as a potential retrofit option for vulnerable girder-to-cap connection-details in coastal highway bridges. Six scaled concrete girders were tested using a modified simulated storm surge and slamming wave force function, derived using regional maps for a 100-year return-period Hurricane Katrina. Two girders, …


An Ex Vivo Model Of Neuroendocrine Tumors: A Net Gain, Brendon R. Herring Jan 2019

An Ex Vivo Model Of Neuroendocrine Tumors: A Net Gain, Brendon R. Herring

All ETDs from UAB

Neuroendocrine tumors (NETs) are a heterogeneous group of neoplasms that originate in a diverse array of anatomical locations and have widely variable clinical presentations and responses to treatment. Patient-derived xenografts and cell lines are valuable models of tumor biology and for testing personalized therapeutics on tumors prior to their administration to patients. However, as PDX models and cell lines for neuroendocrine tumors are lacking in both number and validity, we have developed a 3D flow perfusion polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) bioreactor model for the purpose of culturing patient derived NETs. The goal of this thesis is to determine the ability to use …


The Initiation: Relations Of Power In Women-Forward Indie Horror Films, Shannon House Jan 2019

The Initiation: Relations Of Power In Women-Forward Indie Horror Films, Shannon House

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This thesis aims to investigate the role of female characters in three recent horror indie films: It Follows, Hereditary, and The Witch. Current criticism of these films regale them as women-forward stories of what it means to struggle with mental illness, religious beliefs, or long-held virtues of womanhood. Before analyzing the relations of power between male and female characters in these films and their placement in a patriarchal dystopia or matriarchal utopia, the horror film genre as a whole is discussed to bring context to the prevailing attitudes against horror films for their overt violence or sexualization of female characters. …


Rapid Melting Of Aluminum Alloys By Induction Melting, Carlos Alfonso Larrazabal Colina Jan 2019

Rapid Melting Of Aluminum Alloys By Induction Melting, Carlos Alfonso Larrazabal Colina

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RAPID MELTING OF ALUMINUM ALLOYS BY INDUCTION MELTING CARLOS ALFONSO LARRAZABAL COLINA MATERIAL SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING ABSTRACT Die-casting and high-pressure die-casting are manufacturing processes meant to produce high volumes of parts. However, the die-casting industry suffers when the market is low or when short quantities of a part are needed, because this process may not be as flexible in small quantities. In such situations, one piece of the operation that is inflexible is running excess melting and holding furnace capacity. Rapid induction melting systems are proposed here as an alternative to big furnaces to provide amounts of molten metal in …


Behavior Of Fillet Welds In Skewed Joints, Mohamed Salah Gallow Jan 2019

Behavior Of Fillet Welds In Skewed Joints, Mohamed Salah Gallow

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Fillet weld connections are very common in steel structures because they are easier and cheaper than other types of welded connections, such as groove welds. Several studies were performed on fillet weld of right dihedral angle, such as T-joints weld, to specify its capacity and failure mechanisms under different load directions. Nevertheless, the fillet weld strength analysis is based solely on the shear strength of the weld. Additionally, many of the current details commonly used for T-Joints were based on the requirements for groove welds. Fillet weld design concepts for skewed T-joints in the AWS D1.1 and AISC specifications are …


Significance Of Acculturation, Assimilation, And Allostatic Load As Risk Factors For Obesity Among Hispanics, Yenni Elvia Cedillo Jan 2019

Significance Of Acculturation, Assimilation, And Allostatic Load As Risk Factors For Obesity Among Hispanics, Yenni Elvia Cedillo

All ETDs from UAB

Obesity has increased during the last two decades in the United States (U.S.) and is considered a major risk factor for chronic diseases within the Hispanic community. The burden of obesity in Hispanics is associated with higher rates of morbidity and mortality and an increase in healthcare costs. Hispanics’ challenges after migration extend to subsequent generations, putting the population at risk for disease development. Specifically, migration can lead to the adoption of health behaviors, beliefs, values, and language of the host country, a process known as acculturation, which has been associated with changes in health behaviors. Among the Hispanic population, …


Sexual Behaviors And Non-Initiation Of The Hpv Vaccine Among Young Adult Cancer Survivors, Brooke Cherven Jan 2019

Sexual Behaviors And Non-Initiation Of The Hpv Vaccine Among Young Adult Cancer Survivors, Brooke Cherven

All ETDs from UAB

Advances in treatment for childhood cancer have led to increased survival rates. There are currently an estimated 400,000 survivors of childhood cancer living in the United States who are at risk for developing subsequent malignancies, including cancers associated with the human papillomavirus (HPV). HPV is the most common sexually transmitted infection; sexual behaviors associated with increased risk for HPV acquisition include younger age at first intercourse, multiple sexual partners, and inconsistent condom use. The prevalence of high-risk sexual behaviors, and the relationship between sexual behaviors and HPV vaccine non-initiation among young adult cancer survivors is unknown. This study used data …


Examining Naloxone Access: A Spatial Asessment Of Opioid Use In Urban And Rural Contexts, Keith Chichester Jan 2019

Examining Naloxone Access: A Spatial Asessment Of Opioid Use In Urban And Rural Contexts, Keith Chichester

All ETDs from UAB

Background: Elements of the physical environment have been shown to influence health behaviors including drug use and overdose mortality. Throughout the opioid epidemic in the United States, rural regions have been disproportionately affected by opioid overdose. Although the relationship between the urban built environment and opioid overdose has been established, little is known as to how trends may differ in rural areas. Methods: Risk terrain modeling was used as a spatial analytical approach to assess environmental features that significantly increase the risk of opioid overdose in Jefferson County, Alabama. Spatial risk assessments were conducted for urban and rural regions as …


The Strategy Of Federally Qualified Health Centers: The Influence Of Context And Performance Implications, Seongwon Choi Jan 2019

The Strategy Of Federally Qualified Health Centers: The Influence Of Context And Performance Implications, Seongwon Choi

All ETDs from UAB

The three papers included in this dissertation attempt to provide empirical evidence on the relationship among strategies employed by Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs), the contextual factors and consequent performance. The findings of these studies contribute to the existing body of literature on FQHC strategies and performance. In addition, the findings also provide key practical implications to FQHC managers as well as policymakers. Overall, the results of this dissertation suggest that the FQHC strategy on spatial differentiation is associated with a set of organizational and environmental factors. However, there was little support for the relationship between Medicaid expansion and FQHC …


A Survey Of Shoulder Injuries In Commercial Truck Drivers Using A Retrospective Medical Record Review, Bryan Combs Jan 2019

A Survey Of Shoulder Injuries In Commercial Truck Drivers Using A Retrospective Medical Record Review, Bryan Combs

All ETDs from UAB

Introduction: Musculoskeletal injuries in the occupational setting have significant impact on the worker, employer, and healthcare system. Commercial truck drivers (CTD) experience some of the highest rates of injury, missed days of work, and workers’ compensation costs compared with other workers. In this population, back injuries occur most commonly, followed by shoulder injuries which require 5 times more days away from work. Commercial truck drivers are significantly impacted by shoulder injuries; however, little is known about the unique mechanisms of injury, specific injuries, or possible preventative measures among this group of workers. Methods: A retrospective medical record review was completed …


We Never Considered Teaching: A Critical Narrative Of African American Stem Majors’ Identity As Stem Educators, Paulette Georgina Evans Jan 2019

We Never Considered Teaching: A Critical Narrative Of African American Stem Majors’ Identity As Stem Educators, Paulette Georgina Evans

All ETDs from UAB

The need to diversify and retain non-White STEM teachers in the educator workforce has brought to surface the need to more deeply understand why non-White educators choose teaching as a profession and, equally as important, why they choose to stay. Although there is literature documenting the shortages of African American teachers including how African Americans can be recruited and retained, there is a need to look more closely at how African American undergraduate STEM majors who are in innovative teacher preparation programs articulate their affinity to teaching. The following critical narrative study focuses on how pre-service non-White teachers, particularly African …


Effects Of Protein Timing And Energy Balance On Body Composition In Collegiate Athletes, Ashley Licata Jan 2019

Effects Of Protein Timing And Energy Balance On Body Composition In Collegiate Athletes, Ashley Licata

All ETDs from UAB

The current literature indicates that energy balance and protein consumption influence body composition. However, the effects of protein intake, timed protein supplementation, and energy balance on body composition have not yet been fully investigated in collegiate athletes. The purpose of this research was to assess collegiate athletes using hourly food and exercise data to examine how protein timing and energy balance relate to body composition. Aims 1 and 2 focus on collegiate female soccer athletes and further our understanding of the potential roles that protein amount and frequency and hourly energy balance play in optimizing fat mass and fat-free mass. …


A Scalable Nearline Disk Archive Storage Architecture For Extreme Scale High Performance Computing, Hampton Walker Haddock Jan 2019

A Scalable Nearline Disk Archive Storage Architecture For Extreme Scale High Performance Computing, Hampton Walker Haddock

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Parallel file systems that exploit Redundant Arrays of Inexpensive Devices (RAID) as the mechanism for greater resilience are primarily intended to provide high bandwidth and low latency. Quantifying and studying the trade-offs among reduced run time (bandwidth and latency), resilience (availability and integrity), and cost (energy and capital) is important. For instance, distributing the checksums of RAID systems appears in conflict with the canonical parallel access patterns in high performance computing such as long sequential reads, random access, and checkpoint operations. Choices consequently have to be made between performance, concurrency, latency, energy, capital, integrity and availability of the data for …


Recycling Of Secondary Composite Materials, Kristin Nicole Hardin Jan 2019

Recycling Of Secondary Composite Materials, Kristin Nicole Hardin

All ETDs from UAB

Over the past two decades, composites have shown their ability to help shape and define sustainability through many of their inherent characteristics, such as having high strength-to-weight ratio with long life cycles. However, composites in general are not widely recycled. Current production scrap, reject parts and end of life components are disposed of in landfills, which is costly and damaging to the environment. Driven largely by public perception and technology, the composites industry is starting to put efforts into research and design of composite recycling. Two of the biggest hurdles to widespread composite recycling is the lack of knowledge for …


Applying Markov Processes To Model Disability In Relapsing Multiple Sclerosis Patients, Anastasia Hartzes Jan 2019

Applying Markov Processes To Model Disability In Relapsing Multiple Sclerosis Patients, Anastasia Hartzes

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Modeling disability in multiple sclerosis (MS) is challenging due to its complexity and non-linearity, with utilized methodology having many limitations. Lack of a suitable biomarker has led to relying on statistical models to understand disease progression. Markov methodology has been limitedly applied to the clinically-assessed Expanded Disability Status Score (EDSS), but not to patient-reported Patient Determined Disease Steps (PDDS); both measure disease progression and disability, and neither have been analyzed using the Test of Lumpability (TOL). It is common practice to aggregate these scores for computational or inferential convenience; in the case of Markov Chains (MC), combining states is referred …


Perceptions Of African-American Teachers Concerning African-American Youth, D'Antranett Hicks-Stewart Jan 2019

Perceptions Of African-American Teachers Concerning African-American Youth, D'Antranett Hicks-Stewart

All ETDs from UAB

Perceptions of African American youth have been illustrated by how they are perceived on television: as deviants, criminals and unteachable. These perceptions are also illustrated in the behaviors of teachers in both inner-city and suburban schools. African American teachers in the inner-city schools have hope of changing the world for the better until they are met with difficult challenges presented by African-American students. Some students are excellent and some not so excellent. The structural environment of African-American youth can so strongly influence their behavior, that they begin to take on their perceptions. This can be seen in their choice friends, …


Nursing Staff Approaches To Providing Oral Hygiene In Stroke Survivors With Dysphagia: A Grounded Theory Study, Willard Edward Brewer Jan 2019

Nursing Staff Approaches To Providing Oral Hygiene In Stroke Survivors With Dysphagia: A Grounded Theory Study, Willard Edward Brewer

All ETDs from UAB

The purpose of this qualitative grounded theory study was to explore how the nursing staff approaches oral hygiene in stroke survivors with dysphagia during the rehabilitation phase of recovery and what guides their decisions. Oral hygiene is a proven effective task known to prevent systemic health disparities (i.e. aspiration pneumonia, diabetes, gastrointestinal disparities, and even stroke). However, there are no current evidenced-based guidelines that provide instruction on how to execute oral hygiene to stroke survivors with dysphagia. Little is known about how nurses make decisions to implement oral hygiene in stroke survivors with dysphagia. Using a theoretical sampling strategy, data …


Integration Of Cone Photoreceptor Signals In Macaque Lgn Neurons, Paul B. Brown Jan 2019

Integration Of Cone Photoreceptor Signals In Macaque Lgn Neurons, Paul B. Brown

All ETDs from UAB

Despite advances in the understanding of the primate visual system, much is yet to be learned about the way light signals sum to create our perception of the world. This is especially true at the simplest level of visual processing—the summation of two individual cone photoreceptor signals. How such signals combine to create visual perception has not been assessed in vivo. We used an adaptive optics scanning laser ophthalmoscope (AOSLO) to deliver binarized noise movies to identified groups of cones within the receptive fields of neurons in the macaque lateral geniculate nucleus (LGN). Recordings of neural action potentials within the …


The Relationship Of Bedside Assessment Of Orientation And Cognition To Treatment Outcome In Moderate To Severe Traumatic Brain Injury: A Growth Curve Analysis, Amber Marie Fahey Jan 2019

The Relationship Of Bedside Assessment Of Orientation And Cognition To Treatment Outcome In Moderate To Severe Traumatic Brain Injury: A Growth Curve Analysis, Amber Marie Fahey

All ETDs from UAB

Disorientation and cognitive impairment are commonly experienced in acute moderate to severe TBI patients and deficits early in recovery are predictive of worse long-term outcome. Hence, tracking recovery over time is a significant aspect of rehabilitation research. The Orientation-Log (O-log) and Cognition-Log (Cog-log) are important clinical measures used to monitor cognitive progress during treatment and previous research has shown them to be predictive of long-term outcome. This study used two-level growth curve modeling to, 1) determine the growth trajectory of orientation and cognition in persons with moderate to severe TBI in acute rehabilitation, as determined by the O-log and Cog-log, …


Bet Bromodomain Inhibition As An Approach For Treatment Of Cholangiocarcinoma, Samuel Charles Fehling Jan 2019

Bet Bromodomain Inhibition As An Approach For Treatment Of Cholangiocarcinoma, Samuel Charles Fehling

All ETDs from UAB

Cholangiocarcinoma (CCA) is a highly aggressive neoplasm which arises from the epithelial layer of the biliary tract. It is the second most common primary hepatic malignancy. As CCA is typically diagnosed at late disease stage, the current standard of care, resection followed by gemcitabine with cisplatin, is not effective. Further, up to 90% of CCA patients are ineligible for resection. Of those eligible for resection, postoperative chemotherapy does not prolong overall survival leading to a 5-year survival of ~30%. Previously, mutations have been identified in KRAS (17% of CCA cases), TP53 (44%) and SMAD4 (17%) but none have been recognized …


Identification Of Two Spop-Mediated Pathways In Prostate Cancer Progression, Joshua Fried Jan 2019

Identification Of Two Spop-Mediated Pathways In Prostate Cancer Progression, Joshua Fried

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Prostate cancer is one of the most common malignancies and causes of cancer related death in men. Morbidity is primarily attributed to late-stage and metastatic disease. Re-cent genomic screening studies have revealed that the Speckle type Poz Protein (SPOP) is the most frequently altered gene by missense mutations in prostate cancer. Interestingly, all of the identified mutations were located in the substrate binding domain of SPOP. Here, two pathways highlighting the impact of SPOP mutation on prostate cancer are pre-sented. First, evidence showing that one of the naturally occurring SPOP mutations, ser-ine 119 to asparagine (S119N), induces radiosensitivity and an …


A Study Of Approximation Error In Eulerian Hydrocodes, Parth Yogeshbhai Patel Jan 2019

A Study Of Approximation Error In Eulerian Hydrocodes, Parth Yogeshbhai Patel

All ETDs from UAB

In this study, we examine a number of approximations in the formulation of hydrocodes. These approximations were borne out of an original requirement for the code to run as fast as possible i.e. with accuracy being secondary to speed. Many of these approximations originated from the 1970’s when computers were slow and memory was at a premium. Although speed and memory are not as much of an issue today, these approximations are still used to formulate the hydrocodes. In this study, the effect of these approximations is examined systematically. The lumped mass approximation is a simplification to the consistent mass …


Identification Of Bottleneck Locations From Analysis Of National Performance Management Research Data Set (Npmrds) Records, Xinyun Pan Jan 2019

Identification Of Bottleneck Locations From Analysis Of National Performance Management Research Data Set (Npmrds) Records, Xinyun Pan

All ETDs from UAB

The traveling public is enduring traffic congestion on a regular basis which is a serious problem for the society. Congestion has negative impacts on transportation users’ convenience and satisfaction, results in lost productivity, increases stress and health related issues, has negative environmental impacts, increases fuel consumption, negatively affects travel reliability and increases travel time and delays. Traffic bottlenecks are often associated with traffic congestion. They represent a localized disruption of traffic flow due to a specific physical condition (such as insufficient roadway capacity or poor geometric design) or due to a temporary situation that restricts traffic flow such as a …


The Real-Time Extractiion Of Neural Spikes For Brain-Machine Interface Application Using Deep Learning Algorithm, Sahaj Anilbhai Patel Jan 2019

The Real-Time Extractiion Of Neural Spikes For Brain-Machine Interface Application Using Deep Learning Algorithm, Sahaj Anilbhai Patel

All ETDs from UAB

The detection of neural spikes in real-time and accurately has become the center of interest for the researchers in the field of brain-machine/computer interface (BMI/BCI). The primary challenge in the Brain-Machine interface is to translate raw neuronal response signals into the control of electrical actuators. Only accurate and rapid classification of neural response can help efficiently and conveniently to disable peoples, particularly those suffering from spinal cord injury, stocks, etc., Recording from neurons and analyzing them with many different methods are not new. However, the primary challenge here is the real-time recording and classifying the spikes with higher accuracy. In …


Examining Teachers' Perceptions And Practices Of Family Engagement With Families Of Emergent Bilinguals In Pre-Kindergarten And Kindergarten Classrooms: A Mixed Methods And Multiple Case Study, Julie I. Paul Jan 2019

Examining Teachers' Perceptions And Practices Of Family Engagement With Families Of Emergent Bilinguals In Pre-Kindergarten And Kindergarten Classrooms: A Mixed Methods And Multiple Case Study, Julie I. Paul

All ETDs from UAB

This study addressed pre-K and kindergarten teachers’ perceptions and practices of family engagement with families of students who are Dual Language Learners/Emergent Bilinguals. The study employed an explanatory sequential mixed methods design (Quan --> QUAL) (Creswell & Plano-Clark, 2018). To address the purpose of the study, the overarching mixed methods question was: How do pre-K and kindergarten teachers engage families of all their students and families of students who are emergent bilinguals? Mixing of the strands occurred after the quantitative data was collected. Quantitative results helped develop the semi-structured interview protocol for the qualitative phase of the study. Qualitative results …


Determination Of The Role Of Smu_833 In The Fitness And Virulence Of Cariogenic Streptococcus Mutans, Katherine Lynn Rainey Jan 2019

Determination Of The Role Of Smu_833 In The Fitness And Virulence Of Cariogenic Streptococcus Mutans, Katherine Lynn Rainey

All ETDs from UAB

Dental caries, commonly known as tooth decay, is the most common infectious disease worldwide. The main etiological agent of dental caries is Streptococcus mutans which can readily form a biofilm on the surface of teeth and produce acids through the metabolism of dietary sugars, which is largely responsible for the demineralization and subsequent destruction of tooth enamel. In addition, S. mutans synthesizes extracellular glucosyltransferases (Gtfs) capable of breaking apart dietary sucrose and polymerizing the glucose subunits into the sticky glucan matrix of the biofilm, imperative for the formation of robust, three-dimensional biofilms. Currently used caries therapies are not species-specific and …


The Benefit Of Resilience: Examining The Roles Of Family Resilience And Parental Education In Child Anxiety, Bria Kathryn Morgan Jan 2019

The Benefit Of Resilience: Examining The Roles Of Family Resilience And Parental Education In Child Anxiety, Bria Kathryn Morgan

All ETDs from UAB

Extensive literature addresses the associations between parental education and children’s mental health outcomes; however, the role of parental education and family resilience in child anxiety is unclear. The purpose of this study is to obtain a greater understanding of the role of parental education in child anxiety. Additionally, the study aims to investigate the role and potential varying effects of family resilience. Building upon Bowen’s Family Systems Theory and Walsh’s Systems Theory of Family Resilience, I hypothesize that parental education will be negatively associated with child anxiety and that family resilience will be negatively associated with child anxiety. I also …


Renewables-Integrated Internal Combustion Engine-Based Multi-Generation Options For Uab Buildings, Qing Mu Jan 2019

Renewables-Integrated Internal Combustion Engine-Based Multi-Generation Options For Uab Buildings, Qing Mu

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Distributed energy, also district or decentralized energy is generated or stored by a variety of small, grid-connected devices referred to as distributed energy resources, or distributed energy resource systems. The Distributed Generation (DG) systems can increase energy system reliability, reduce peak power requirements, and improve energy infrastructure resilience. In this study, a DG system using renewable energy sources and energy storage has been introduced for the whole University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) campus. The energy sources for this DG system are photovoltaic arrays, a natural-gas-powered Internal Combustion Engine (ICE), and wind turbines. The energy storage component used in this …


Optimizing Toc Removal For Dbp Reduction In Drinking Water While Overcoming Source Water Variations, April Nabors Jan 2019

Optimizing Toc Removal For Dbp Reduction In Drinking Water While Overcoming Source Water Variations, April Nabors

All ETDs from UAB

Department of Civil, Construction, and Environmental Engineering University of Alabama at Birmingham ABSTRACT This dissertation used a holistic approach to research ways to optimize disinfection by-product (DBP) reduction during each sector of the conventional drinking water treatment process, regardless of the source water type or quality, in an overall effort to meet the USEPA Stage 2 Disinfection/Disinfection By-Products Rule (D/DBPR). DBPs are formed from the reaction between naturally occurring total organic carbon (TOC) in the water and disinfectants used during the treatment process. For this dissertation, effective treatment was measured by the amount of TOC that was removed through the …


Endothelial N-Glycan Hypoglycosylation Enhances Cd16+ Monocyte Adhesion: A Role For Alpha-Mannosidases, Kellie Regal Mcdonald Jan 2019

Endothelial N-Glycan Hypoglycosylation Enhances Cd16+ Monocyte Adhesion: A Role For Alpha-Mannosidases, Kellie Regal Mcdonald

All ETDs from UAB

Monocyte extravasation through the endothelial layer is a hallmark of atherosclerotic plaque development and is mediated by heavily glycosylated surface adhesion molecules, such as intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1). Human monocytes have been classified into three distinct groups: classical (anti-inflammatory; CD14+/CD16-), nonclassical (patrolling; CD14+/CD16++), and intermediate (pro-inflammatory; CD14++/CD16+). The CD16+ nonclassical / intermediate monocytes have been implicated in atherosclerosis progression and their levels positively associate with adverse cardiac events. However, there is a relative lack of understanding as to whether there are distinct mechanisms that regulate CD16+ vs. CD16- monocyte adhesion to the inflamed endothelium. Our previous data identified a high-mannose …