Western scholarship has hitherto described the assimilation of Buddhism in Korea in terms of the importation of Sino-Indian and Chinese intellectual schools. This has led to an overemphasis on the scholastic understanding of Buddhism and overlooked evidence of the way Buddhism was practiced "on the ground." "Domesticating the Dharma" provides a much-needed corrective to this view by presenting for the first time a descriptive analysis of the cultic practices that defined and shaped the way Buddhists in Silla Korea understood their religion from the sixth to tenth centuries. Critiquing the conventional two-tiered model of "elite" versus "popular" religion, Richard McBride demonstrates how the eminent monks, royalty, and hereditary aristocrats of Silla were the primary proponents of Buddhist cults and that rich and diverse practices spread to the common people because of their influence. Drawing on Buddhist hagiography, traditional narratives, historical anecdotes, and epigraphy, McBride describes the seminal role of the worship of Buddhist deities - in particular the Buddha Sakyamuni, the future buddha Maitreya, and the bodhisattva Avalokitesvara - in the domestication of the religion on the Korean peninsula and the use of imagery from the Maitreya cult to create a symbiosis between the native religious observances of Silla and those being imported from the Chinese cultural sphere. He shows how in turn Buddhist imagery transformed Silla intellectually, geographically, and spatially to represent a Buddha land and sacred locations detailed in the Avatamsaka Sutra (Huayan jing/Hwaom kyong). Emphasizing the importance of the interconnected vision of the universe described in the Avatamsaka Sutra, McBride depicts the synthesis of Buddhist cults and cultic practices that flourished in Silla Korea with the practice-oriented Hwaom tradition from the eight to tenth centuries and its subsequent rise to a uniquely Korean cult of the Divine Assembly described in scripture.


The complexity of models for the simulation of physical systems is steadily increasing. This makes the effective validation of models for different design aspects crucial. One of the many important aspects is the structural correctness and the behavior due to design parameters which are of particular concern for the modeling of wind turbines. This article presents a design and implementation of a role-based validation framework. The framework allows for the creation of validation rules for different design aspects. This is done by role models that are used to define restrictions for an aspect by roles and rules. Multiple role models can be combined to cover all design features during model development. Restrictions on how models can interact with each other can be defined, which broadens language-specific restriction capabilities. The resulting rules can then be tested on arbitrary models based on the Eclipse Modeling Framework, for which mapping between elements of the role model and elements of the validated modeling language must be provided. In the domain of wind turbines, this approach is evaluated by application to two kinds of modeling languages (Modelica and UML2). Role models and rules have shown to be easily described with the frameworks role model language and role model definitions are successfully re-used by the definition of mappings for both kinds of modeling languages.


This paper considers general, pure linear prediction schemes, where the prediction of the input signal is based on IIR-filtered versions of the one-sample-delayed input signal. Properties of these schemes are discussed, in particular, the whitening property and the realization and stability of the synthesis filter. In contrast to warped linear prediction, the synthesis filter can be realized in a way similar to the analysis filter. Furthermore, we prove that, at least for a specific class of systems, input data windowing for the calculation of the optimal prediction coefficients guarantees the stability of the synthesis filters. By simulation we show that the proposed prediction scheme, using properly parameterized Laguerre or Kautz systems, shows a behavior similar to that of warped linear prediction.


This paper is aimed to constitute a distributed system for remote monitoring and control of construction vehicle. And this system is mainly divided into three parts: intelligent vehicle monitoring terminal, remote monitoring center and communication system. The functions and architectures of each part are discussed respectively in detail. The critical technologies of implementing the system are also deeply studied, which include CAN bus technology, the embedded system technology, mobile communication technology, database technology and so on. It is indicated that this system will meet the requirements of all the users and clients, including the field operators, construction managers, manufacturers, etc.


We propose a new type of electromagnetic transient associated with the birth of binary black holes (BBHs), which may lead to merger events accompanied by gravitational waves in . We consider the newborn BBHs formed through the evolution of isolated massive stellar binaries. For a close massive binary, consisting of a primary black hole (BH) and a secondary Wolf–Rayet (WR) star that are orbiting around each other, the spin period of the WR star can be tidally synchronized to its orbital period. Then the angular momentum of the outer material of the WR star is large enough to form an accretion disk around a newborn, secondary BH, following its core-collapse. This disk may produce an energetic outflow with a kinetic energy of and an outflow velocity of , resulting in an optical transient with an absolute magnitude from approximately −14 to approximatley −17 with a duration of around a day. This type of transient also produces detectable radio signals years after the birth of BBHs, via synchrotron emission from nonthermal electrons accelerated at external shocks. The predicted optical transients have a shorter duration than ordinary core-collapse supernovae. Dedicated optical transient surveys can detect them and distinguish them from ordinary SNe using the different features of its light curve and late-time spectrum. In this paper (Paper I), we investigate disk-driven outflows from the secondary BH, whereas possible signals from the primary BH will be discussed in Paper II.


Large-scale availability of personal health data, together with improved data analytic capabilities presents enormous opportunities to transform health services and improve patient and population health. Capturing the benefits of this data revolution requires the secondary sharing of personal health data, which raises concerns over data protection, privacy and security. Successfully addressing these concerns while facilitating secondary data use
is complex and relies on establishing and sustaining trust at the individual and societal level. Trust can be secured through clear data governance, public and health practitioner engagement, developing comprehensive consent procedures where needed, and implementing technical solutions to safeguard cyber security.


Abstract. Past variations in the dynamics of the Australian monsoon have been estimated from multi-proxy analysis of a core retrieved in the Eastern Banda Sea. Records of coccolith and pollen assemblages, spanning the last 150 000 years, allow reconstruction of past primary production in the Banda Sea, summer moisture availability, and the length of the dry season in northern Australia and southeastern Indonesia. The amount of moisture available during the summer monsoon follows typical glacial/interglacial dynamics with a broad asymmetrical 100-kyr cycle. Primary production and length of the dry season appear to be closely related, given that they follow the precessional cycle with the same phase. This indicates their independence from ice-volume variations. The present inter-annual variability of both parameters is related to El Nino Southern Oscillation (ENSO), which modulates the Australian Winter Monsoon (AWM). The precessional pattern observed in the past dynamics of the AWM is found in ENSO and monsoon records of other regions. A marked shift in the monsoon intensity occurring during the mid Holocene during a period of constant ice volume, suggests that low latitude climatic variation precedes increases in global ice volume. This precessional pattern suggests that a common forcing mechanism underlies low latitude climate dynamics, acting specifically and synchronously on the different monsoon systems.


Flocking birds in a virtual world through adaption of Craig Reynolds, Boids algorithm. In this paper I will demonstrate how I adapted the Boids algorithm to an already existing code to create a flocking behaviour and discuss options to the solutions. I have been given a virtual world with existing birds that is moving around based on random elements that in a way mimics flying.


Insufficient and low quality sleep is related to several health issues and social outcomes. Regular sleep study conducted in a sleep laboratory is impractical and expensive. As a result, miniature and non-invasive sleep monitoring devices provide an accessible sleep data. Though not as accurate as polysomnography, these devices provide useful data to the subject by tracking sleep patterns regularly. On the other hand, proactive improvement of sleep quality has been limited to pharmacological solutions and cranial electrotherapy stimulation. An alternative approach and a potential solution to sleep deprivation is a non-pharmacological technique which involves the application of micro-current electrical stimulation on the palm during Slow Wave Sleep (SWS). This thesis presents the development of a miniature device for SWS detection and electrocutaneous stimulation. Several sensors are embedded in the prototype device to measure physiological data such as body movement, electrodermal activity, heart rate, and skin and ambient temperature. Furthermore, the prototype device provides local storage and wireless transfer for data acquisition. The quality of the sensor data during sleep are discussed in this thesis. For future work, the results of this thesis shall be the used as a baseline to develop a more refined prototype for clinical trials in sleep laboratories.


This thesis explores techniques for and applications of free-space beam shaping. After reviewing the basic principles of scalar diffraction theory, I discuss and experimentally demonstrate several approaches to two- and three-dimensional transverse beam synthesis; these include analytical solutions of varying complexity as well as methods for computer optimization of beams with arbitrary constraints. Analytical solutions are also presented for the temporal analogy of nondiffracting beams, i.e., nondispersing pulses, and repercussions to time-dependent diffraction theory are discussed.

Next these beam shaping methods are applied to imaging photolithography, addressing ways to improve both resolution and focal depth therein with the use and proper design of phase masks. In this work it is evident that computation time plays a critical role in the applicability of phase masks to photolithography, because phase mask design algorithms tend to scale unfavorably with mask size. I therefore introduce an approximation to the Hopkins equation which reduces the computation time for partially coherent imaging by one to two orders of magnitude. Following this the question of spatial coherence in phase mask-assisted photolithography becomes interesting, and the optimal coherence for such systems is investigated both theoretically and experimentally. The properties of incoherent imaging are next applied to a slightly different problem--imaging through random media. A new technique for ballistic imaging is presented, discussed theoretically, simulated, and demonstrated experimentally, and its advantages and drawbacks are analyzed. Finally, a theoretical overview of the fundamental limits to space-time beam shaping is presented, several results of which are demonstrated.

Due to the diversity of the subjects discussed, introductions and brief histories are given at the beginning of relevant chapters.


Surfactant protein A (SP-A) is a family of glycoproteins that have a triplet with 26, 32 and 36 kDa under reducing conditions in rat lung. We wanted to evaluate the SP-A forms in amniotic fluid of pregnant rats compared to those found in rat lungs. By Western blot analysis, glycosylated SP-A, was not found in the amniotic fluid in contrast to the pulmonary surfactant triplet SP-A, which comprises a 26 kDa protein and its glycosylated 32 and 36 kDa forms. The SP-A concentration in amniotic fluid was barely detectable at 18 days of gestation (20 +/- 12 ng.ml-1), and then increased and reached 700 +/- 333 ng.ml-1 at the final gestational day 21, as determined by an enzyme-linked immunoabsorbent assay. Immunohistochemically, SP-A was found in some epithelial cells of larger respiratory bronchi, but not, or to a lesser degree, in smaller respiratory bronchi at gestational day 18. At 21 days of gestation, SP-A was detected in bronchial and bronchiolar nonciliated epithelial Clara cells, alveolar epithelial type II cells and some alveolar macrophages. The ratio of the 26, 32 and 36 kDa SP-A forms in bronchoalveolar, bronchobronchiolar and tracheal lavage fluids prepared from adult rats was 6:29:65, 84:5:11 and 100:0:0, respectively. These findings show the presence of a non-glycosylated SP-A in rat amniotic fluid. This may reflect the increased ratio of non-glycosylated SP-A to bronchoalveolar, bronchobronchiolar and tracheal lavage fluids, respectively.


1. Fish oils are rich in the long-chain n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs), eicosapentaenoic (20:5n-3) and docosahexaenoic (22:6n-3) acids. Linseed oil and green plant tissues are rich in the precursor fatty acid, alpha-linolenic acid (18:3n-3). Most vegetable oils are rich in the n-6 PUFA linoleic acid (18:2n-6), the precursor of arachidonic acid (20:4n-6). 2. Arachidonic acid-derived eicosanoids such as prostaglandin E2 are pro-inflammatory and regulate the functions of cells of the immune system. Consumption of fish oils leads to replacement of arachidonic acid in cell membranes by eicosapentaenoic acid. This changes the amount and alters the balance of eicosanoids produced. 3. Consumption of fish oils diminishes lymphocyte proliferation, T-cell-mediated cytotoxicity, natural killer cell activity, macrophage-mediated cytotoxicity, monocyte and neutrophil chemotaxis, major histocompatibility class II expression and antigen presentation, production of pro-inflammatory cytokines (interleukins 1 and 6, tumour necrosis factor) and adhesion molecule expression. 4. Feeding laboratory animals fish oil reduces acute and chronic inflammatory responses, improves survival to endotoxin and in models of autoimmunity and prolongs the survival of grafted organs. 5. Feeding fish oil reduces cell-mediated immune responses. 6. Fish oil supplementation may be clinically useful in acute and chronic inflammatory conditions and following transplantation. 7. n-3 PUFAs may exert their effects by modulating signal transduction and/or gene expression within inflammatory and immune cells.


Our aim in this paper is to propose fully distributed schemes for transmit and receive filter optimization. The novelty of the proposed schemes is that they only require a few forward-backward iterations, thus causing minimal communication overhead. For that purpose, we relax the well-known leakage minimization problem, and then propose two different filter update structures to solve the resulting nonconvex problem: though one leads to conventional full-rank filters, the other results in rank-deficient filters, that we exploit to gradually reduce the transmit and receive filter rank, and greatly speed up the convergence. Furthermore, inspired from the decoding of turbo codes, we propose a turbo-like structure to the algorithms, where a separate inner optimization loop is run at each receiver (in addition to the main forward-backward iteration). In that sense, the introduction of this turbo-like structure converts the communication overhead required by conventional methods to computational overhead at each receiver (a cheap resource), allowing us to achieve the desired performance, under a minimal overhead constraint. Finally, we show through comprehensive simulations that both proposed schemes hugely outperform the relevant benchmarks, especially for large system dimensions.


In this paper, tightness relations (or inequalities) between Bayesian lower bounds (BLBs) on the mean-squared-error are derived which result from the marginalization of a joint probability density function (pdf) depending on both parameters of interest and extraneous or nuisance parameters. In particular, it is shown that for a large class of BLBs, the BLB derived from the marginal pdf is at least as tight as the corresponding BLB derived from the joint pdf. A Bayesian linear regression example is used to illustrate the tightness relations.


Biofilms can methylate mercury (Hg) at higher rates than unattached bacteria and are increasingly recognized as important Hg methylation sites in the environment. Our previous study showed that methylation rates in biofilm cultures were up to 1 order of magnitude greater than those in planktonic cultures of a sulfate-reducing bacterium. To probe whether the differential Hg methylation rates resulted from metabolic differences between these two cultures, Hg methylation assays following molybdate or chloroform inhibition (a specific inhibitor of the acetyl-CoA pathway) were conducted on biofilm and planktonic cultures of Desulfovibrio desulfuricans strains M8 and ND132. Molybdate was as effective in inhibiting Hg methylation as well as growth in both planktonic and biofilm cultures. The addition of chloroform only impacted Hg methylation in biofilm cultures, suggesting that different pathways are used for methylation in biofilm compared to planktonic cultures. To investigate this further, expression of the cooS gene, which encodes for carbon monoxide dehydrogenase, a key enzyme in the acetyl-CoA pathway, was compared in biofilm and planktonic cultures of ND132. Biofilm cultures showed up to 4 times higher expression of cooS than planktonic cultures. On the basis of these results, the acetyl-CoA pathway appears to play an important role in methylation in biofilm cultures of this organism, possibly by supplying the methyl group to Hg methylating enzymes; methylation in planktonic cultures appears to be independent of this pathway. This observation has important implications, particularly in developing reliable models to predict Hg methylation rates in different environments and perhaps eventually in being able to control this undesirable chemical transformation.


In-row subsoiling has been used in the southern United States as a standard production
practice to reduce the ill effects of soil compaction. Much of the subsoiling literature from the
southern U.S. indicates that significant increases in productivity are found when in-row subsoiling is
used, with the most success being found on sandier soils. However, the cost of this operation is
relatively expensive and significant gains in crop yield must be obtained to pay for the tillage practice.
Much can also be done to reduce the cost of the in-row subsoiling operation. A number of research
studies are presented that indicate various methods that can be used to reduce the cost of in-row
subsoiling. These methods include: proper selection of subsoiler shanks, appropriate selection of
subsoiler depth, appropriate selection of soil moisture for subsoiling, reducing frequency of
subsoiling, and consideration of other methods of compaction reduction, including the use of a cover
crop. Use of these methods should allow in-row subsoiling to continue to be a valuable part of
conservation agricultural systems.


In Reflections on a Half Century of Injury Control , Julian Waller addressed directly the need for collaboration.1 He noted that organizations, as they age, tend to become insular and look inward instead of toward others for new ideas. Yet, as Waller emphasizes, a multidisciplinary approach is critical to our ability to understand and reduce injuries, particularly as problems and solutions become more complex. For the field to advance, collaboration between academically based researchers and public agencies (for example, local health departments) or community organizations (for example, non-governmental service groups or neighborhood associations) is essential.

Despite ample opportunities for collaboration among academicians, public agencies, and community organizations, different emphases in these potential partners result in barriers to collaborative ventures. These barriers arise from differences in:

Understanding the perspectives of communities, agencies, and academicians on these barriers will enable these potential partners to overcome impediments to effective collaboration. The purpose of this commentary is to explore how these barriers impede academic researchers in the collaborative process.

In any collaboration, there must be agreement about what problem is to be addressed and how multiple problems are to be prioritized. A variety of agencies and disciplines play unique, but overlapping, roles in injury control—for example, health, transportation, criminal justice, education, and labor. Some emphasize engineering approaches to prevention, while others may focus on health behaviors or on enforcement. Though all these approaches have their places, the tendency to cling to traditional perspectives can create barriers to collaboration.

Community members may bring different perspectives on research needs from those in academic research and public agency settings. Further, it is not infrequent that different individuals or groups may claim to …


In this study, the authors examined what distinguished highly effective from typical elementary schools in mathematics by examining the conceptions of fourth-grade teachers with regards to mathematics education (curriculum, instruction, and assessment) and student diversity (ability, culture, language, and socioeconomic status). The study was conducted in two large urban areas with high proportions of racially/ethnically and linguistically diverse student groups. Interviews were conducted with 32 fourth-grade teachers from 16 elementary schools, including 10 highly effective and 6 typical schools in the two areas. Compelling evidence was found that teachers at highly effective schools had better developed and better articulated conceptions of mathematics education and student diversity. While similar findings were found across the two areas (e.g., teachers' beliefs about the influence of high-stakes assessment and the academic ability of low-achieving students), differences were also found across the two areas (e.g., teachers' beliefs about the importance of implementing multiple instructional strategies and expectations for college attendance).


Constant observation (CO) of psychiatric inpatients at risk for suicidal behavior has been criticized in the literature because of the absence of demonstrable effectiveness, associated costs, staff and patient acceptance, and related issues. Our inability to demonstrate effectiveness, however, is an ethical conundrum that cannot readily be solved. Frequent and often vociferous references in the literature to the absence of an evidence base for this intervention carries the risk that CO may be underutilized in particular clinical circumstances with untoward results. A case is made for shifting focus from the lack of evidence supporting CO to agreement on an observation protocol that achieves the desired goal of maximizing patient safety. A sample protocol is presented.


The effect of chlorine (Cl) chemisorption on the energetics and atomic structure of the Cu(001) surface over a wide range of chlorine pressures and temperatures has been studied using equilibrium ab initio atomistic thermodynamics to elucidate the formation of cuprous chloride (CuCl) as part of the Deacon reaction on copper metal. The calculated surface free energies show that the 1/2 monolayer (ML) c(2 × 2)-Cl phase with chlorine atoms adsorbed at the hollow sites is the most stable structure for a wide range of Cl chemical potential, in agreement with experimental observations. It is also found that at very low pressure and exposure, but elevated temperature, the 1/9 ML and 1/4 ML phases become the most stable. By contrast, a high coverage of Cl does not lead to thermodynamically stable geometries. The subsurface adsorption of Cl atoms, however, dramatically increases the stability of the 1 ML and 2 ML adsorption configurations providing a possible pathway for the formation of the bulk-chloride surface phases in the kinetic regime.


New Zealand Herald cartoonist Malcolm Evans was dismissed from the paper after he refused to follow his editor's instruction to cease cartooning on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Members of the Jewish community were upset by a number of his cartoons, drawn during the first half of 2003. Evans is not alone among cartoonists to attract the anger of Jewish community lobbies and the hesitation of their editors when presenting cartoons dealing with the activities of the Israeli government. Cartoonists Tony Auth (Philadelphia Inquirer) and Michael Leunig (The Age) have also presented controversial cartoon commenting on the Israeli Government and, with Evans, defend their work on the grounds that while cartoons may offend an audience the content is not necessarily wrong. Cartoonists fiercely defend their licence to mock politicians, governments and states. This article examines this defence and the space within which cartoonists examine political subjects. We analyse the parameters within which mass circulation newspaper editors operate, principally in the Australian context. We defend a wide licence for cartoonists and argue that this licence represents an important measure of free speech in an era when the threat of terrorism looms large on national political agendas.


Water plays an important role in crop production. A good irrigation water
management system has to be provided to give adequate and timely supply of water to
improve the crop production. In order to achieve this, it is necessary to have adequate
water source, a good conveyance system, a good distribution system and a strong
database to store all the required data. Improved management can be achieved when the
study area has been provided with a good database to store the real time data according
to the seasons that will help the users and the decision makers to make a firm decision
with respect to the management aspect. Visual Basic and GIS can greatly help to achieve
efficient water management. The Tanjung Karang Rice Irrigation Project in Northwest
Selangor Malaysia was selected for this study and three compartments Sawah
Sempadan, Sungai Burong and Sungai Nipah were considered for the study. The Visual Basic program designed in this study with several screens provides
unique results based on the water management. The program was designed, tested and
the results stored in MS-Access database. This study concentrates on creating an
irrigation water management database and providing a user-friendly on-farm decision
support system to benefit the farmers and the farm managers. Critical solutions can be
achieved by creating a useful database for irrigation management. The designed
database can store, edit, update and delete the data records whenever necessary.
The GIS user interface for the irrigation system promIses to provide
comprehensible results to improve the decision making process in the operation and
management of the scheme. MapInfo Professional Software 5.0 was used to digitize the
Tanjung Karang study area. The digitized maps were exported from MapInfo to
ArcView GIS 3.1 using Universal Translator. ArcView GIS 3.1 was used for analysis
and the results shown in the form of thematic maps, tables, graphs and charts to benefit
the users and decision makers involve with irrigation water management.


As you walk around during your daily life, you commonly make path finding decisions based on the world around you. For example, when you are walk ing in the outdoors, you take the path of least re sistance over a terrain. We present two applications which demonstrate the importance of using the least cost caloric cost path computation in two different domain settings. One application uses the popular Google Earth API to explore the use of least cost caloric path computations to create an interactive path-finding tool. The second tool uses least cost caloric path computations to enhance crowd simula tions in the 3D modeling and rendering application, Maya. Both applications show that considering the cost of travel from a human centered perspective can produce better results for computing good walking paths for crowds and individuals.


A supersonic mixing layer with a blunt base is of practical significance to engineering. Two flow configurations with splitter thicknesses of 1 mm (TN) and 5 mm (TK) are simulated using large eddy simulation. The cluster-based network model (CNM) projects the supersonic mixing layer into a ten-centroid based low-dimensional dynamical system. The CNM's outputs of TN and TK cases are compared in order to better understand the spatial and temporal physics. The given baseline case (TN) demonstrates a quasi-steady dynamics with a periodic visit between ten centroids. Each cluster occupies a nearly uniform space region and is also populated with equal probability. The CNM identifies ten centroids associated with these two flow regimes observed in the TK case: Kelvin–Helmholtz vortex and vortex pairing. According to the resolved centroids, increasing the thickness of the splitter plate complicates the flow structures and expands the high-dimensional state space. The CNM presents probable state transitions, revealing that the temporal dynamics in the whole field exhibits highly intermittent behaviors, with large shape modifications but small fluctuations in turbulent kinetic energy. In the near-wake field, the reattachment point and shock wave behave similarly that they move downstream and upstream alternatively. The blunt base supersonic mixing layer, in aggregate, increases the turbulent kinetic energy by 20.5%.


Dispersion of super-paramagnetic nanoparticles in nonmagnetic carrier fluids, known as ferrofluids, offers the advantages of tunable thermo-physical properties and eliminate the need for moving parts to induce flow. This study investigates ferrofluid flow characteristics in an inclined channel under inclined magnetic field and constant pressure gradient. The ferrofluid considered in this work is comprised of Cu particles as the nanoparticles and water as the base fluid. The governing differential equations including viscous dissipation are non-dimensionalised and discretized with Generalized Differential Quadrature Method. The resulting algebraic set of equations are solved via Newton-Raphson Method. The work done here contributes to the literature by searching the effects of magnetic field angle and channel inclination separately on the entropy generation of the ferrofluid filled inclined channel system in order to achieve best design parameter values so called entropy generation minimization is implemented. Furthermore, the effect of magnetic field, inclination angle of the channel and volume fraction of nanoparticles on velocity and temperature profiles are examined and represented by figures to give a thorough understanding of the system behavior.


Staphylococcus aureus is a human commensal and opportunistic pathogen that causes devastating infections in a wide range of locations within the body. One of the defining characteristics of S. aureus is its ability to form clumps in the presence of soluble fibrinogen, which likely has a protective benefit and facilitates adhesion to host tissue. We have previously shown that the ArlRS two-component regulatory system controls clumping, in part by repressing production of the large surface protein Ebh. In this work we show that ArlRS does not directly regulate Ebh, but instead ArlRS activates expression of the global regulator MgrA. Strains lacking mgrA fail to clump in the presence of fibrinogen, and clumping can be restored to an arlRS mutant by overexpressing either arlRS or mgrA, indicating that ArlRS and MgrA constitute a regulatory pathway. We used RNA-seq to show that MgrA represses ebh, as well as seven cell wall-associated proteins (SraP, Spa, FnbB, SasG, SasC, FmtB, and SdrD). EMSA analysis showed that MgrA directly represses expression of ebh and sraP. Clumping can be restored to an mgrA mutant by deleting the genes for Ebh, SraP and SasG, suggesting that increased expression of these proteins blocks clumping by steric hindrance. We show that mgrA mutants are less virulent in a rabbit model of endocarditis, and virulence can be partially restored by deleting the genes for the surface proteins ebh, sraP, and sasG. While mgrA mutants are unable to clump, they are known to have enhanced biofilm capacity. We demonstrate that this increase in biofilm formation is partially due to up-regulation of SasG, a surface protein known to promote intercellular interactions. These results confirm that ArlRS and MgrA constitute a regulatory cascade, and that they control expression of a number of genes important for virulence, including those for eight large surface proteins.


This book is devoted to the modern problems of quantum optics. Atomic radiations in free space, waveguides, cavities and periodical structures are investigated. The wavepacket quantum-mechanical picture of radiation is stressed and different quantum states of the radiation field are described. The analysis of the appearance of coherence in lasers is followed by a discussion of the connection between the form of the Hamiltonian and the initial conditions in the radiation problems. The quantum theory of interference is also given and causality in the radiation process is investigated, and the resolvent method for radiation problems is also described. A new type of laser generator with an extremely narrow spectrum is then proposed. Finally, problems of the quantum-mechanical description of macroscopic body movement are discussed in connection with the observation of squeezed light.


The present article begins with a conceptual review of the models which have been developed for the analysis of health services utilization. The models are: epidemiological, psychosocial, sociological and economic. The stages and/or determining factors in the procedure of health services use, are described and a cross study is made with each model by means of a contingency matrix. The starting point for the search of a model that enables (in a complete and unisolated way) the identification of the determinant factors in health service use is the cross analysis of the models under investigation. This cross analysis is also taken as a conceptual framework of reference in the unfolding investigation.


This study reports the experimental investigation on the flow imbalance phenomena during filling symmetrical multi-cavity in injection molding of optic elements. There are two aspects in this study: First, the flow imbalance in the eight-cavity mold with normal H-type symmetric runners were observed and measured with aid of short-shot experiments. Second, the effects of three processing conditions including injection speed, melt temperature and mold temperature on flow imbalance were investigated. Flow imbalances are consistently observed and quantitatively measured. The results have shown that proper injection speed, high melt and high mold temperature can reduce the flow imbalance.


Objective: To find out microscopically whether Trigonella foenumgraecum (fenugreek seeds/methi seeds) has got any preventive role against the lowering of cortical thickness of the thymic lobules in diabetes mellitus. Design: An experimental study on Long Evans rats which were divided into three equal groups depending on their different shorts of dietary feeding and drug treatment. Setting: Anatomy department of IPGMR (Institute of Post Graduate Medicine and Research) at present BSMMU (Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University) and BIRDEM (Bangladesh Institute of Research and Rehabilitation in diabetes, Endocrine & Metabolic Disorders). Subjects: Fifty eight healthy young Long Evans rats of either sex weighing 72 to 174gm aged between 50 to 60 days were used in this study. Main outcome measures: Variation of cortical thickness of the thymic lobules in different groups of rat. Result: Cortical thickness in the nondiabetic control group, which ranges from 30.17 to 36.99. and the mean was 34.83 ± 0.60. In diabetic control group the cortical thickness ranges from 17.78 to 26.46 and the mean was 21.85 ± 1 On the other hand, in the fenugreek- treated diabetic rats the cortical thickness ranges from 25.71 to 32.95 and mean cortical thickness was 30.49 ± 0.75. Conclusion: Fenugreek showed a tendency of acting against lowering of the cortical thickness of the thymic lobule of Streptozotocin-induced diabetes mellitus. However, further investigations are recommended for establishing fenugreek as a safe, useful effective agent to preserve the cortical thickness improving the diabetic condition by acting as antidiabetogenic agent. Key words: Diabetes mellitus, Differential lymphocyte count, Fenugreek, Thymus doi: 10.3329/bja.v7i1.3017 Bangladesh Journal of Anatomy January 2009, Vol. 7 No. 1 pp. 37-41


We present two examples of non-Hermitian Hamiltonians which consist of an unperturbed part plus a perturbation that behaves like a vector, in the framework of PT quantum mechanics. The first example is a generalization of the recent work by Bender and Kalveks, wherein the E2 algebra was examined; here we consider the E3 algebra rep-resenting a particle on a sphere, and identify the critical value of coupling constant which marks the transition from real to imaginary eigenvalues. Next we analyze a model with SO(3) symmetry, and in the process extend the application of the Wigner-Eckart theorem to a non-Hermitian setting.


Ovality defect of round bloom castings is the haunting defect of demanding grades steel, which can be attributed to excessive mechanical stress imposed by the roll containment especially at the unbending region. A 2-D elastic-plastic FEM model has been developed for the quantitative analysis of the effects of hot strand pressures on the ovality deformation and the contact normal force distribution. It is shown that higher friction force and smaller reduction deformation can be expected through the adoption of grooved rolls for given hot strand pressures as compared with plain rolls. For the determination of whether the given hot strand pressures can meet the requirement of strand downslide control in the caster, the resistances generated in the mold, secondary cooling zone and unbending zone are analyzed. Accordingly, an iterative algorithm has been presented to modify the hot strand pressures for given caster. A set of modified hot strand pressures has been computationally determined, which has been proved to be safe in production for casting round bloom with diameter up to Φ400mm with better roundness and less roller mark.


This paper aims to examine the provision of "Rights of prisoners" of defendant related to exemption conditional (EC) in correctional institution. This is an important issue, if the defendant override rules associated with kontrofersial issues in society, both at national and international level, such as human rights issues. The case which was appeared recently, in connection with cases of exemption conditional, Pollycarpus Budihari Priyanto. The case has became the center of public attention, after the Ministry of Law and Human Rights, RI freeing prisoners related homicides Human Rights Activists (HRA) Munir Said Thalib. In the community, this decision raises the pros and cons. This paper concludes that all persons deprived of their liberty shall be treated with humanity and with respect for the inherent dignity of the human person in accordance with the existing rules. In this case, the government has given the rights of prisoners through the stages of development of the inmates according to the stage of the penal process that refers to laws and regulations and implementation of technical regulations. The paper also recommends that the need for the government to deliver data either traditionally or electronically linked plan of exemption conditional.


Directional solidification of the undercooled melt which combines melt undercooling with conventional directional solidification is a new method of obtaining directional structure. This method is used to realize the directional solidification of the undercooled Ag70.3Cu29.7 melt. The experiment is performed in two steps: The undercooled melt is obtained by glass fluxing, and the above specimen is remelted and excited with Ga-In-Sn coolant. By this method, directional solidification dendrites of Ag70.3Cu29.7 alloy are achieved successfully. The columnar dendrites are straight and fine. The primary arm spacing is 21µm in average for a 65K undercooling, as compared to 38µm for a 32K undercooling. This confirms that higher undercooling promotes finer dendritic microstructures.


This work investigates the level of purity in Minna water and its environs. Water samples were collected from four water sources; Federal University of Technology (FUT), Minna water tank (Treated water), Maikunkele (Borehole), Chanchaga (Water treatment plant) and Tagwai dam (Raw). The following analyses of pH, Total dissolved Solids (TDS), Conductivity, Chemical oxygen demand (COD), Total hardness, Concentration of carbonate, chloride, nitrate and Bacterial count were carried out on the samples collected. From the analyses, it could be seen that there were difference in the quality of water from the various locations investigated. Apart from the micro bacterial count, the various sources conformed to the standard set by the World Health Organization (WHO). The high nitrate content of 4.6 mg/l in the Maikunkele water shows the danger of inappropriate location of borehole in the community. However, it could be said that majority of the water sources are not fit for human consumption due to the high microbial population. Keywords: water quality, pollution, borehole sites, Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) Botswana Journal of Technology Vol 14(1) 2005: 31-35


OBJECTIVE: To explore the effect of estradiol and progesterone on the expression of calcitonin in human endometrial epithelial cells cultured in vitro. METHODS: Human endometrial epithelial cells were cultured in vitro in DMEM medium. After the cells were treated respectively with estradiol and progesterone at different concentrations for 24 and 48 h, the fluorescence density of the cells was measured by flow cytometer. RESULTS: Progesterone treatment of the epithelial cells for 24 h produced in a dose-dependent manner significantly higher fluorescence level than that of the control (P<0.01). Small dose of estradiol took little effect on calcitonin expression, but high-concentration estradiol resulted in lowered fluorescence level than the control. CONCLUSION: Progesterone promotes calcitonin expression in cultured human endometrial epithelial cells in a dose-dependent manner, while estradiol tends to inhibit its expression.


The interest in nano particles from the view of basic and applied research has constantly risen in recent years. Since their physical properties are different from those of bulk materials, new industrial applications are emerging, e.g. in microelectronics. For quality control, particle production technologies call for on-line techniques that respond to the chemical nature of the particles. A particle generation process usually leads to particles with different surface properties. These surface properties, i.e. impurities ( like an oxygen layer ) or the crystal habit of single particles, determines much of their behaviour, especially in the diameter range of a few nanometers. While this fact has hardly been recognized, we anticipate that new technologies will establish a demand not only for analysis but also for separation of chemically pure particles with respect to their surface properties. In these PHD thesis we introduce a method and a device to separate aerosol particles according to their photoelectric properties. These strongly depend on particle surface composition as well as the particle morphology.


Author(s): Conner, Jeremy Alexander | Advisor(s): Manousiouthakis, Vasilios I | Abstract: This work focuses on linear and non-linear programming techniques for feasibility assessment, synthesis, and optimization of process networks. Analytical techniques, dimensionality reduction, convexification strategies, and functional analysis are developed to identify global optima and to enhance the efficiency of their computation. Green engineering, especially the hydrogen economy, is the primary motivation of this work. To this end, these strategies are implemented in identification of the attainable region for separator networks, optimization of compressors and coolers in series delivering hydrogen at high pressure, and minimum utility cost of an energetically-enhanced steam methane reforming process in the presence of carbon tax legislation.Pursuant to feasibility assessment of systems with respect to delivery of pure compounds, the applicability of the Infinite DimEnsionAl State-space (IDEAS) framework is extended to attainable region (AR) identification for separator networks. The AR for a water/methanol/acetone mixture involving one network feed stream with known species molar fractions and three network outlet streams at 1 atm pressure. The binary methanol/acetone system exhibits a minimum-boiling azeotrope at 79.07% mole fraction of acetone at 328.5 K. The IDEAS-generated AR successfully identified that the binary methanol/acetone azeotrope was inside the AR, and thus demonstrated there exists a separator network that can bypass the azeotrope. In the exploration of hydrogen as an alternative energy source, the minimum operating cost and minimum capital cost problems for a system of compressors and coolers in series that bring a gas with constant compressibility factor from a specified initial state (T0, P0) to a specified final state (T0, Pn). Through mathematical proof, the dimensionality of the optimization problems is reduced and analytical properties of the compressor outlet temperatures, when either operating costs or capital costs dominate, are established. A case study involving hydrogen compression was done to illustrate the methods, and shows the global optimum achieves cost savings of up to 13% from conventional designs. Lastly, a novel method for solution of linear parametric programming problems is proposed based on the concept of dimensionality reduction – this allows the analytic quantification of the optimum objective function value and associated optimum variable vector. Regions in carbon/renewable utility cost coefficient ratio space are identified, in which one technology is superior over the other. EESMR is shown to be preferable in the presence of significant levels of taxation on the use of natural gas as fuel.


The taxonomic status of strains belonging to the Streptomyces violaceusniger phenotypic cluster, including eight S. violaceusniger strains, three Streptomyces hygroscopicus strains, and the type strains of Streptomyces sparsogenes and Streptomyces melanosporofaciens, was evaluated by using DNA relatedness data. The S. violaceusniger strains were separated into seven different DNA homology groups, including four single-member clusters, at a level of DNA relatedness of >70%. S. hygroscopicus NRRL 2387T (T = type strain) clustered with the type strain of Streptomyces endus and several S. violaceusniger strains. The other strains of S. hygroscopicus, S. sparsogenes, and S. melanosporofaciens formed single-member homology groups.


Abstract In adopting new theoretical advancements within cognitive science, emotion studies, and ecological psychology, this paper explores how the notion of affordances gains strength and explanatory power by being linked to the notions of affect and emotion. In doing so, it is claimed that the notions of direct perception and affordances can be used to analyse and understand the trajectory of fast and on-going choices that underlies human interaction as an ecological alternative to the micro-sociological perspective of Conversation Analysis. This perspective is laid out in in-depth analyses of three real-life examples from three different organizational settings: an emergency ward at a hospital, a school for children with special needs, and a kindergarten. Inherent in each setting one finds a pre-defined set of expectations of how specific actions are carried out by the participants to achieve organizational goals. However, in each example, slightly different and surprising actions are accomplished during the on-going interaction. As the participants engage in the task, they use the affordances of the environment – including other individuals – differently, which highlights the complicated nature of affordances in relation to social interaction. The situations all entertain a number of potential affordances; yet only one (or at least few) is enacted. It is argued that this choice – a pull towards certain aspects at the expense of others – is saturated by emotionality and affective involvement. Finally, these findings are used to illustrate how emotion and cognition can be re-thought, not as distinct processes, but as intertwined in an organism-environment-system.


Objectives To establish a mathematical model of middle ear gas pressure regulation and to discuss potential implications for pathophysiology-oriented theoretical approach to middle ear surgery, with particular attention to mastoid obliteration. Background Numerous studies support that small mastoid volume is associated with cholesteatoma. Latest studies show that mastoid obliteration is an effective technique to lower the recurrence rate in these ears. Methods A mathematical model was used to predict the development of gas pressure balance in the function of different middle ear volumes (VME), considering normal and dysfunctional Eustachian tube. Published data as gas pressure input values and our 3D CT reconstruction data in healthy and pathologic middle ears of children were applied. Results The model predicted ⩽6.66 daPa pressure fluctuations in VME ≥3 ml, compared to ≥16 daPa of a VME ⩽1 ml at perfect ET function, because of the different pressure change rate and pressure buffer effect of the MEs. Substantially larger fluctuations can be expected in a VME <3 ml with malfunctioning ET. Modeling mastoid obliteration predicts similar pressure fluctuations to a VME ≥3 ml resulting from elimination of gas exchange surface. Conclusion Pressure change is faster in smaller MEs than in larger ones. Healthy MEs between 3 and 6 ml are very sensitive to the duration of a potential ET dysfunction to develop ME pathology. In MEs with poor mastoid pneumatization and dysfunctional ET, typical in cholesteatoma cases, mastoid obliteration as surgical reduction of mucosal surface for gas exchange can improve ME gas pressure balance resulting in better long-term outcome.


Despite numerous limitations, agricultural machinery (AM) manufacturing sub-sector inBangladeshis growing quite satisfactorily and has potential to make substantial contribution to much needed non-farm economic growth, employment generation, mechanization of on and off-farm agricultural activities, and as a whole orientation in the national development.  This study made an attempt to take account of AM manufacturers, importers, traders/wholesalers and retailers, their associations, assess market potential and identify serious bottlenecks associated with this sub-sector.  Stratified random sampling technique was used for identifying respondents in quantitative survey, while focus group discussions (FGDs) and Key Informant Interviews (KIIs) were conducted for qualitative investigation.  In recent years, there are about 70 foundries, 800 agricultural machinery manufacturing industries and workshops, 1,500 spare parts manufacturing workshops, and about 20,000 repair and maintenance workshops are engaged in AM sub-sector of the country.  The annual estimated market size of AM and spare parts in the country is about US$ 802.3 million with an US$ 105.2 million annual repair and maintenance service market, estimating an annual total AM market size of about US$ 907.5 million of which local production market share is about     US$ 402.7 million.  The spare parts market size in the country is about US$ 309.3 million of which domestic production of spare parts is estimated US$ 237.9 million.  The significant shift in the supply of spare parts in the country underlines the growth potential of the local spare parts manufacturing sub-sector and potential for substitution of imported spare parts.  Bogra has emerged as the center of manufacturing AM and spare parts especially for irrigation pumps, threshers, maize shellers, piston, liner and numerous spare parts of small diesel engines and machines, casting of machine components etc. and contributing about 80% of the local production in the country.  However, infrastructures for production of AM and spare parts in Bogra and elsewhere in the country are still inadequate. The study recommends declaration of Borga and Jessore as 'Agri-machinery districts' and establishment of special 'Agri-machinery Production Zones (APZ)' in these areas.  To promote export market to Indian subcontinent and other developing countries, tariff and non-tariff restrictions would be waved on AM through bilateral negotiations and border markets (hats) withIndiato be allowed for AM sales.


This paper presents comparison studies between different fuzzy models to solve the fuzzy-based optimal power dispatch (OPD) problem. The proposed fuzzy-based OPD model handles fuzzy objectives and constraints and is aimed to obtain the optimal operational settings of system generation outputs. These settings minimize the total generation costs and at the same time guarantees that the power flows in critical lines are less than their maximum limit. The comparison studies are performed considering the changes in fuzzy constraints as membership models. The fuzzy constraints are modeled using two linear fuzzy models, namely triangular and trapezoidal models. Numerical studies are performed based on the fuzzy linear programming (FLP) optimization technique. These studies show that, the changes in membership models have a great effect in generation settings, elimination the overflows in the critical lines, and minimizing the total generation costs.


Extensive researches have studied the relationship between IT and vertical firm boundaries, but few has distinguished between different types of IT. This study divides IT into two categories, open IT and proprietary IT and proposes that the impacts of open IT and proprietary IT on vertical firm boundaries are different. Moreover, we also hypothesize that industry dynamism has moderating effects on these relationships. We use the panel data from U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) to test these hypotheses. The results show that open IT has a negative effect on vertical scope of firms while proprietary IT has a positive effect on vertical scope. Furthermore, with the increase of industry dynamism, open IT has a further negative effect on vertical scope while proprietary IT has a further positive effect on vertical scope. This study suggests that different types of IT have different impacts on vertical firm boundaries, which provides implications for both research and practice.


Exploring ways to help students achieve success in nursing programs is critical to improving student learning, success in nursing programs, and ultimately the number of graduates. Strategies for increasing NCLEX-RN pass rates range from modifying admission criteria, altering the number of times students can retake courses, and implementing remediation and progression policies. There does not appear, however, to be one single strategy which, when employed, can assure NCLEX-RN success. There is clear evidence, however, that studying using repeated self-testing has greater learning benefits that repeated reading, although it is unclear to what extent students understand and apply this principle on their own. In this paper we describe the implementation and use of an adaptive quizzing and learning system to provide students an environment for studying by self-testing to better master curricular material and prepare for exams. The study implemented a retrospective descriptive and correlational design to explore the relationship between usage and mastery measured in the system, course outcome data, standardized testing (ATI) scores, and NCLEX outcomes. Use of the system was voluntary and no course credit was assigned. All students (N = 36) used the practice quizzing feature of the system, answered an average of 574 questions with an overall average quizzing mastery level of 3.48 (on a scale of 1-8). There was a strong, positive correlation between the number of questions answered and overall mastery level; with increased usage students were better able to correctly answer more difficult questions and mastery of the content improved. All students in the group passed the NCLEX-RN (on the first or second attempt). Findings support the use of adaptive quizzing as a self-regulated learning strategy for nursing students and indicate that as students actively study and learn in the system, their mastery of course content increases. Additional implications will be discussed.


HYPOTHESIS
Reoperation is safe and benefits patients with persistent and recurrent parathyroid carcinoma.

DESIGN
Retrospective study. The mean follow-up time was 8.1 years (median, 7 years; range, 1-23 years).

SETTING
A university tertiary referral center.

PATIENTS
Eighteen patients treated for parathyroid carcinoma from 1966 to 1999.

RESULTS
The mean serum calcium level was 13.7 mg/dL (3.43 mmol/L), and the parathyroid hormone (PTH) level was 1.6 to 20 times the upper limit of normal. Fourteen of 18 patients had persistent or recurrent parathyroid carcinoma and underwent 54 reoperations (28 at our institution). Mean time to recurrence was 4.8 years (range, 1-20 years). Symptoms of hyperparathyroidism were relieved in 86% of patients who had reoperation (P<.05). Reoperation for parathyroid carcinoma (25 locoregional and 3 distant) significantly reduced and normalized the serum calcium and PTH levels in 75% and 62% of the cases, respectively (P<.001). The preoperative serum calcium level was a significant predictor of postreoperative normalization of the serum calcium level but not extent of initial resection, PTH level, time to recurrence, concordance of localization studies, or patient age and sex (P<.01). Surgical complications consisted of 5 unilateral and 1 bilateral permanent recurrent laryngeal nerve palsies (2 intentionally resected en bloc), 1 transient hypoparathyroidism, 1 wound seroma, and 1 tracheoesophageal fistula. The sensitivity rates of sestamibi scan (n = 14), magnetic resonance imaging (n = 15), computed tomographic scan (n = 6), ultrasound (n = 13), and selective venous catheterization with PTH measurement (n = 6) were 79%, 93%, 67%, 69%, and 83%, respectively.

CONCLUSIONS
Recurrence is common in patients with parathyroid carcinoma. Patients with this disease should have frequent, lifelong follow-up to ensure early detection of recurrence. Although reoperation for persistent or recurrent parathyroid carcinoma provides significant symptomatic relief and normalizes serum calcium and PTH levels in most patients, it is associated with some morbidity. Localizing studies of parathyroid carcinoma are helpful but do not detect all tumor foci.


Modern Algerian literature, unique among Arab national literary traditions, features a cultural blend of Arabic, Berber and French influences. The literature reflects their love of Algerian culture and thought, and their revolt against French colonialism. The Algerian-born Arab author Muhammad Dib (1920-2003) wrote in French, mainly about the Algerian struggle for independence. Expelled in 1959 for supporting the Algerian revolution, he settled in Paris. Considered a pioneer of Algerian literature, he was the first Arab Algerian to write Western-style novels. His Algerian trilogy, La Grande Maison, L'Incendie, and Le Metier a tisser, was published between 1952 and 1957. Though autobiographical, the books trace both rural and urban life in pre-revolutionary times. Dib's 1959 thematically driven novel Un ete Africaine (An African Summer), analyzed here, rather than depicting the Algerian revolution itself, describes its effect on the characters and their lives. Nevertheless, the novel, framed around a cross-section of Algerian society, reflects colonial government abuses and the common people's sacrifices for their dream of independence. Dib also depicts France's colonialist attitudes as a betrayal of the ideals of the French Revolution and claims to humanitarian values.


The action of thiamine on frog m. sartorius neuromuscular junction was investigated. Thiamine (1 X 10(-14)-1 X 10(-4) mol/l) reversibly increased miniature end-plate potential frequency, amplitude and quantal content of end-plate potentials, probability of quantal release. The role of thiamine in the regulation of synaptic transmission and mechanism of its action are discussed.


Objective. To investigate the effectiveness of the Karl Storz BERCI DCI Macintosh video laryngoscope (MVL) via the TELE PACK system for facilitating intubation by novice paramedic students in a simulation environment. We assessed the laryngeal view, measured by percentage of glottic opening (POGO), when intubating the SimMan manikin airway in different settings. The primary endpoint was the best POGO achieved by the student. Secondary endpoints included intubation times andsuccess rate. Method. We enrolled 25 novice paramedic students to intubate SimMan manikins. Students were randomized to use either a conventional Macintosh 3 (Mac3) blade alone or the MVL with a Mac3 blade. Students attempted their first intubation with the manikin on a stretcher in a normal neck position andreattempted intubation with the manikin's neck stiffened. The groups then crossed over using the alternate device to repeat the attempts in the manikin with a normal neck andwith a stiffened neck. The students then attempted the same sequence of four intubations with the manikin on the floor. Results. The MVL significantly improved POGO in all scenarios (p < 0.05). The MVL improved mean POGO 16% ± 6% in the manikin with a normal neck position on a stretcher and33% ± 7% in the manikin with a stiff neck on the floor. The improvement was significantly greater in simulated difficult scenarios. The intubation success rate (94%) was equal in the two groups, andthe POGO was significantly worse in the failures. In some subgroups, intubation times were longer with the MVL. Conclusion. The MVL improves the laryngeal view for novice laryngoscopists in a simulated setting, andthis improvement is greatest in simulated difficult scenarios


In the context of binary classification with continuous predictors, we proove two properties concerning the connections between Partial Least Squares (PLS) dimension reduction and between-group PCA, and between linear discriminant analysis and between-group PCA. Such methods are of great interest for the analysis of high-dimensional data with continuous predictors, such as microarray gene expression data.


This paper uses a Poisson regression model to estimate the determinants of firm relocation from urban areas to rural areas between 2009 and 2012, including controls for land and labor costs, taxes, market size, agglomeration effects, natural amenities, but with a focus on measures of school quality. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study of firm relocation between rural and urban areas within the United States and the only study to estimate the impacts of school quality on firm relocation behavior. Preliminary results from these models suggest that lower high school dropout rates and smaller class sizes may increase the expected count of firms relocating from urban to rural areas.


Fostering 'experiential learning' in real-life situations is a critical task for engineering educators when creating constructively aligned learning activities. The paper proposes an approach to measure the students' perception of learning in Conceive-Design-Implement-Operate activities conducted outside the classroom. The approach is based on the opportunity of gathering and analyzing lessons learned from the student reflection reports at the end of a team-based innovation project performed in collaboration with company partners. The approach is intended to provide a basis for the future development of innovation projects with engineering students, supporting the definition of learning outcomes that are relevant for the CDIO Syllabus 2.0, and of constructively aligned learning experiences. The paper exemplifies the approach with regards to a master course named Value Innovation and presents the findings obtained at the third and second level of the CDIO Syllabus 2.0. The results of the course implementation show how short team-based innovation projects largely contributed in developing social and communication-related skills in engineering students, going beyond the mere application of their technical skills.


A sol gel composite process has been used to produce lead zirconate titanate coatings in the thickness range of 3 to 100 /spl mu/m on aluminum substrates. The complex permittivity (/spl epsi//sub 33//sup S/), elastic stiffness (c/sub 33//sup D/), and the piezoelectric constant (h/sub 33/) of the coating and the complex elastic stiffness (c/sub 33//sup D/) of the substrate have been determined using impedance measurements and a commercially available software program [Piezoelectric Resonance Analysis Program PRAP 2.0, TASI Technical Software, Kingston, Ontario, Canada]. The complex components of the material parameters account for the losses within the film and the substrate. Sol gel composite films on aluminum have a dielectric constant of 220 with an imaginary component of 1% and an electromechanical coupling coefficient of up to 0.24 with an imaginary component of 3%. These films are applied to the fabrication of a high frequency transducers suitable for ultrasound biomicroscopy (UBM). By combining the sol gel composite material with existing transducer fabrication techniques, single-element focusing transducers have been produced that operate in the frequency range of 70 to 160 MHz. Devices have -6-dB bandwidths up to 52% and minimum insertion losses ranging from -47 to -58 dB. Real-time images of phantom materials and ex vivo biological samples are shown.


Objective To determine whether there are reciprocal relations between care-related regret and insomnia severity among healthcare professionals, and whether the use of different coping strategies influences these associations. Methods This is a multicentre international cohort study of 151 healthcare professionals working in acute care hospitals and clinics (87.4% female; mean age=30.4±8.0 years, 27.2% physicians, 48.3% nurses and 24.5% other professions) between 2014 and 2017. Weekly measures of regret intensity, number of regrets, and use of coping strategies (Regret Coping Scale) and sleep problems (Insomnia Severity Index) were assessed using a web survey. Results The associations between regret and insomnia severity were bidirectional. In a given week, regret intensity (bregret intensity→sleep=0.26, 95% credible interval (CI) (0.14 to 0.40)) and number of regrets (bnumber of regrets→sleep=0.43, 95% CI (0.07 to 0.53)) were significantly associated with increased insomnia severity the following week. Conversely, insomnia severity in a given week was significantly associated with higher regret intensity (bsleep→regret intensity=0.14, 95% CI (0.11 to 0.30)) and more regrets (bsleep→number of regrets=0.04, 95% CI (0.02 to 0.06)) the week after. The effects of regret on insomnia severity were much stronger than those in the opposite direction. The use of coping strategies, especially if they were maladaptive, modified the strength of these cross-lagged associations. Conclusions The present study showed that care-related regret and sleep problems are closely intertwined among healthcare professionals. Given the high prevalence of these issues, our findings call for the implementation of interventions that are specifically designed to help healthcare professionals to reduce their use of maladaptive coping strategies.


The aim of this research was to assess the impact of the amount smoked, mental health status and perceived loneliness level in regards to the influence on smoking behaviour and the type of smoker an individual is (daily or recreational). Individuals were exposed to either a stressful or non-stressful cold pressor task (CPT) and measures assessing them on a variety of factors including the amount of cigarettes they smoke per day and their anxiety, depression and loneliness levels. Participants completed several questionnaires, a two-part concurrent choice task and a CPT, these were then analysed using correlational and ANCOVA analyses. The results suggest the amount of cigarettes smoked per day has a significant impact on how many times the individual will respond for cigarettes in the extinction part of concurrent choice task. Thus suggesting the heavier the smoker the higher the incentive value of cigarettes compared to the neutral stimulus. However, a significant impact of the level of depression, anxiety and loneliness on the response rate of cigarettes was not found. Possible reasoning for these outcomes are discussed, including methodological issues of the CPT. Whilst providing evidence towards the influence of the amount smoked and the incentive value of cigarettes, the findings are expected have to therapeutic potential by aiding what is targeted in abstinence programmes.


ABSTRACT In Jane Austen's novels, musicianship is mainly the preserve of the female sex. The main role of the true gentleman, as far as musicianship is concerned, is to be an appreciative listener. The mark of a hero is listening with enjoyment and attention to the woman who has attracted his interest. More than once, this is the shortest route to falling in love. In the late Georgian period, English masculinity was in crisis, as a result of various social and historical pressures, including the Enlightenment, the rise of the merchant classes, and the long-lasting European wars. Various models of masculinity were proposed by writers throughout the eighteenth century, in parallel with the models of femininity endorsed in the female conduct literature of the time. In this paper I explore the interplay of music and masculinity which resulted in the marginalisation of musical practice in the life of the English gentleman in the society of the time, and how that is reflected in Austen's fiction.


This thesis focus on the topology of multi-pulse rectifiers and the modulation technique of multilevel inverters for high-powermedium voltage drives. A dual 18 pulse rectifier topology is proposed. The topology achieves harmonic performance of 36-pulse rectifiers by using relatively simple 18-pulse transformers. It can also neutralize the 5th and 7th harmonics caused by unbalanced secondary windings. Moreover, a novel space vector modulation (SVM) alogrithm with flexilble three-segment switchinhg sequence is proposed for multilever inverters. It features: 1) minimized device switching frequency, 2) lower weighted total harmonic distortion due to the increase of the inverter sampling frequency, and 3) easy implementation thanks to the simplified sequence design. The algorithm is applicable to various multilevel inverter topologies. Theoretical analyses and computer simulations are carried out for the proposed topology and algorithm. The harmonic performance is verified by experiments on a 10k VA 5-level NPC/H-bridge inverter fed by a dual 18-pulse rectifier.


The purpose of this study was to characterise secondary school science teachers' conceptual models of discussion, against the background that a number of researchers have found that discussion of socio‐scientific issues in science classrooms is rare, somewhat discomforting for teachers and its purpose unclear. Recent research indicates that when science teachers do engage in socio‐scientific discussion, the quality is poor and is teacher‐centred where pupils' views do not figure prominently (far less be clarified and integrated with their scientific learning). This has led to calls for such dialogue to be conducted by humanities teachers. The question arising from such thinking is: Do science teachers hold different conceptual models of discussion from their humanities colleagues? Using semi‐structured interviews, three groups each of six teachers (experienced science teachers, experienced humanities teachers, and newly qualified science teachers) were interviewed in‐depth in order to characterise their conceptual understanding of discussion as a teaching strategy. Analysis of the interview transcripts utilised the constant comparison approach of grounded theory. Five conceptual models of discussion emerged from an analysis of the data—discussion: (1) as a teacher‐mediated discourse; (2) as open‐ended inquiry; (3) for the development of reasoning skills; (4) as mediated transfer of knowledge to real‐life contexts; and (5) as practice for democratic citizenship. The results confirmed that the science teachers' emphasis tended to stress practice for democratic citizenship whereas the humanities teachers' emphasis was more towards open‐ended inquiry and for the development of reasoning skills.


Cameroon's electricity sector is undergoing significant changes. Before 1974, electricity was supplied by many different companies until they were nationalized and merged into a single, vertically integrated company that had responsibility for production, transmission, distribution and electricity retail sales. This monopolistic organization has, however, certain limitations and the national company was privatized in 2001. This article presents assessment of the hydro sector, previous and current legislation, and opportunities for private investors.


Ontology is a formal representation of knowledge by a set of concepts within a domain and relationship between those concepts. With hundreds of developers emerging everyday there are always more than one ontology for a domain. In this case different conceptualizations of same domain exist. To create a common repository of knowledge base and to remove overlaps in existing ontologies we go for Ontology Merging. Two or more Ontologies are merged to build bigger ontology for extended knowledge. This paper deals with an algorithm used for merging of ontologies automatically using a hybrid strategy. It consists of four sub strategies such as Lexical Matching, Semantic Matching, Similarity Check and Heuristics Functions. The user's only job is to give the owl files as input and a merged owl file will be produced as output.


Depressive illness is common in the general population, with a prevalence of 5 percent. However, 10 to 15 percent of any general medical population has clinically significant depression; in patients with selected chronic illnesses, prevalence rates between 25 to 50 percent are noted. In patients with coexisting medical illness, the diagnosis of depression requires differentiating symptoms of the medical illness from symptoms of the comorbid depression. The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV) can be helpful in this endeavor. An understanding of the effect of particular medications on neurotransmitters is required and can guide the clinician in selecting therapeutic agents that have a low incidence of side effects and toxicity.


Sedentarism has a negative impact on health, life expectancy and quality of life, especially in older adults. The assessment of functional fitness helps evaluating the effects of ageing and sedentarism, and this assessment is typically done through validated battery tests such as the Senior Fitness Test (SFT). In this paper we present a computer-based system for assisting and automating SFT administration and scoring in the elderly population. Our system assesses lower body strength, agility and dynamic balance, and aerobic endurance making use of a depth sensor for body tracking and multiple gesture detectors for the evaluation of movement execution. The system was developed and trained with optimal data collected in laboratory conditions and its performance was evaluated in a real environment with 22 elderly end-users, and compared to traditional SFT administered by an expert. Results show a high accuracy of our system in identifying movement patterns (>95%) and consistency with the traditional fitness assessment method. Our results suggest that this technology is a viable low cost option to assist in the fitness assessment of elderly that could be deployed for at home use in the context of fitness programs.


This study aims to select the territories District in Ketapang that should be used as centers of local economic growth and establishing zones Local Activities Center (PKL) in Ketapang in West Kalimantan. Ketapang is one district that were taken into account in the system of national and regional spatial layout system in West Kalimantan and has several important positions in the status Ketapang district in regional. Centers of economic growth in Ketapang expected impact on improving equity in the welfare of the people through development. To achieve these goals one in the travel path is to choose the centers of economic growth in Ketapang that will accelerate the growth of the surrounding areas. The analytical tool used in the study is Scalogram Analysis, Analysis of Interaction or Gravity, Focus Group Discussion (FGD) and Approach Advantages Agglomeration. The results showed that in Ketapang has a center of economic growth in the District Delta Pawan as a Regional Activity Center (PKW) and the District Kendawangan, District Manis Mata, District Simpang Sandai and Hulu as the Local Activity Center (PKL). Where the dynamics of the economy in Ketapang increasingly shifted to the Agribusiness sector. This happens due to the area and natural resources owned by the Ketapang District is very diverse.


The chromosomes - DNA polymers and their binding proteins - are compacted into a spatially organized, yet dynamic, three-dimensional structure. Recent genome-wide chromatin conformation capture experiments reveal a hierarchical organization of the DNA structure that is imposed, at least in part, by looping interactions arising from the activity of loop extrusion factors. The dynamics of chromatin reflects the response of these polymers to a combination of thermal fluctuations and active processes. However, how chromosome structure and enzymes acting on chromatin together define its dynamics remains poorly understood. To gain insight into the structure-dynamics relationship of chromatin, we combine high-precision microscopy in living Schizosaccharomyces pombe cells with systematic genetic perturbations and Rouse-model polymer simulations. We first investigated the model that the activity of two loop extrusion factors, cohesin and condensin, drives chromatin dynamics. Surprisingly, deactivating cohesin or condensin increased chromatin mobility, suggesting that loop extrusion constrains rather than agitates chromatin motion. Our corresponding simulations reveal that the introduction of loops is sufficient to explain the constraining activity of loop extrusion factors, highlighting that the conformation adopted by the polymer plays a key role in defining its dynamics. We also find that the activity of the INO80 chromatin remodeler, but not the SWI/SNF or RSC complexes, is critical for ATP-dependent chromatin mobility in fission yeast. Taken together we suggest that thermal and INO80-dependent activities exert forces that drive chromatin fluctuations, which are constrained by the organization of the chromosome into loops.


Premature delivery is the major contributing factor to perinatal mortality and morbidity (Prazuck and Tall, 1993). A descriptive survey study of the knowledge of mothers who deliver premature babies of gestational age ranging between 28 and 32 weeks regarding the causes of premature delivery was conducted. The study setting was the Coronation Mother and Child Hospital. The participants were recruited over a three month period. A descriptive survey design was used for this study. Every mother who delivered a premature baby was used in the sample. The size of the sample was 104. Data were collected using a structured interview schedule. Data collected were analysed using descriptive statistics. The findings of the study showed that the mothers who deliver premature babies knew the causes associated with premature deliveries. The majority of them agreed that continuous standing (62,5%), being involved in fighting (87,5%), strenuous work (87%), strenuous exercise (93,3%), falling (92,3%), high blood pressure (65,4%), alcohol (77,9%), smoking (74%), drugs (76,9%) and premature rupture of membranes (88,5%) could cause premature delivery, The findings of the study can be utilized at the antenatal clinic in health education programmes to teach pregnant mothers to know and understand factors associated with premature delivery. However, it appears that this knowledge often does not influence them to change their practice as mothers were found to continue smoking and drinking ;Jcohol. Further research is needed to discover how to change practices.


It is well known that the constraint satisfaction problem over a general relational structure A is polynomial time equivalent to the constraint problem over some associated digraph. We present a variant of this construction and show that the corresponding constraint satisfaction problem is logspace equivalent to that over A. Moreover, we show that almost all of the commonly encountered polymorphism properties are held equivalently on the A and the constructed digraph. As a consequence, the Algebraic CSP dichotomy conjecture as well as the conjectures characterizing CSPs solvable in logspace and in nondeterministic logspace are equivalent to their restriction to digraphs.


The effects of neonatal capsaicin on the fibre populations of peripheral somatosensory nerves have been investigated in adult mouse sural nerve and rat saphenous nerve. One or two doses of capsaicin, 50 mg/kg, given in the first few days of life, caused a permanent 50% reduction in the number of unmyelinated axons in mouse sural nerve and a 64% reduction in rat saphenous nerve, compared with untreated controls. Schwann cell sub-units were also reduced in number, and on average contained fewer axons than controls. The number and size distribution of myelinated fibres were not affected by capsaicin. Active degeneration was seen in only a few unmyelinated axons, and a small number of denervated Schwann cell bands was present. There were no signs of unmyelinated fibre regeneration. It is concluded that neonatal capsaicin produces selective degeneration of unmyelinated axons in the neonatal period which has effectively reached its full extent by early adult life.


The recent downturn in global economy exerts mounting pressure on the justification of ICT budgets within organizations. Effective evaluation of ICT investments is therefore deterministic of organizations' ability to maximize the business value to be extracted from such investments. The same can be said for healthcare institutions. Increasingly, healthcare institutions are pressured to optimize ICT investments for improving patient care. Yet, extant literature is fragmented on the focal concepts to be utilized for ICT evaluations in healthcare. By conducting a systematic literature review of 99 scholarly articles that have been published between 2003 and 2008, this study endeavors to shed light on contemporary theoretical and methodological trends that are pertinent to ICT evaluations in healthcare. Based on our literature review, three main findings are noted. First, we detect a gradual progression of ICT evaluation methods from the conventional standard of random controlled trial (RCT) to mixed-methods and triangulation. This, in turn, translates to a greater diversity of constructs being utilized for ICT evaluation and an expansion in operationalization techniques for measurement purposes. Second, we identified the five most important stakeholders and evaluative dimensions to be included in the ICT evaluation process. Together, these identified stakeholders and evaluative dimensions represent core elements to be incorporated into ICT evaluations in healthcare such that evaluations can be undertaken in an informative and purposeful fashion. Third, we identified several distinctive contextual characteristics of the healthcare sector that deserve further research. These characteristics include the multi-stakeholder environment, the industry's emphasis on safety as well as the knowledge intensive nature and handcrafted type of work being performed. This study enriches extant literature by synthesizing findings from past studies to glean insights into relevant concepts for ICT evaluation in healthcare and propose an agenda for future research along this direction.


Providers of the next generation of IPTV services seek to gain competitive advantage over competing providers. In order to attract and satisfy customers, these providers must offer added value e.g. by delivering suitable content according to customers personal interests in a seamless way. This can achieved using recommender services. However, this brings about additional requirement related to the privacy of users' profiles that has to be addressed to make these services widely accepted. The ability to deploy a privacy aware recommender services and in the same time provide accurate recommendations become a key success for the spread of these services. Nevertheless, Current implementations of recommender services are mostly centralized where the users' profiles are stored in single server. This implementation fails to achieve the required privacy guarantee for the users, as it requires collecting accurate private information. In this paper, we present our efforts to build a private centralized recommender service (PRS) using collaborative filtering techniques by introducing an agent based middleware (AMPR) to ensure user profile privacy in the recommendation process. The driving force for using software agents in this work is the autonomic intelligent behaviour that can be achieved using agent technology. AMPR preserve the privacy of its users when using the system and allow private sharing of data among different user in the network. We also introduce two-stage obfuscation process embedded in AMPR that protect user profile privacy and preserve the aggregates in the dataset to maximize the usability of information in order to get accurate recommendations. These processes give the user a complete control on the privacy level of his personal profile. We also provide an IPTV network scenario and experimentation results


Introduction Several studies have explored the design of antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) for the development of therapeutic and diagnostic molecules for the treatment and identification of pathogenic diseases as well as cancer. Human cadherin-1 protein has been identified to be involved in adhesion-mediated signalling pathways in normal cells and its loss through genetic and epigenetic alterations can result in an enhanced invasion and metastasis of malignancy in tumours. Therefore, the identification of cadherin during treatment of cancer can be used as prognostic biomarker to establish the responsiveness of patients to treatment regimen. Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) offer several compensatory advantages in biomedical applications and have been used for treatment of diseases, dietary supplements and diagnosis of diseases. The aim of this research work was to use in silico approaches to analyse retrieved human cadherin-1 as prognostic targets in cancer treatments using modelled putative anticancer AMPs. Methods The structures of the putative AMPs and cadherin-1 were modelled using I-TASSER server and the protein overall quality was validated using PROCHECK. Thereafter, the protein motifs were predicted and the molecular interaction between the putative anticancer AMPs and protein was carried out using PatchDock. Results The results revealed that all the AMPs were good prognostic molecules for cancer with BOO1 having the highest binding affinity of 15,874. Conclusion This study revealed that all the generated AMPs have good prognostic value for monitoring the progress of cancer treatment using human cadherin-1 as receptor. This is the first report where AMPs were used in prognostics of cancer using human cadherin-1.


Wadi Auranah is one of the potential wadis in respect of land use, located on the western shield (Hijaz escarpment) of Saudi Arabia. A spatio-temporal change assessment of this wadi (valley) was conducted with the help of landsat data. The results of the spectral analysis and NDVI for vegetation changes assessment reveals a continuous increasing trend of land cover biomass in specific parts of the wadi. Geological review of geologic map supports soil fertility. It is observed from field assessment of the study area that has potential for more land more to be cultivated. About 73 km of vegetation land cover has been increased in the last 20 years. Treated wastewater is the main source of water supply that is used for afforestation and cultivation purpose.


Background: Temperature extremes as a consequence of changing climate are known to have large morbidity and mortality impacts. Studies assessing mortality risk due to heat waves and cold spells are largely absent in urban India. Addressing this gap is critical in developing adaptation measures to protect the health of vulnerable populations in urban India. Methods: Daily all-cause mortality, temperature and humidity data were collected for five cities – Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Mumbai and Shimla spanning 2005 - 2012. We developed Poisson regression models to study 'the main temperature effect' as well as 'additional impacts' of sustained high and low temperatures (i.e. heat and cold waves) on allcause mortality risk. Results: We find large heterogeneity among mortality risks across urban areas. Typically, risks increase with intensity of heat (cold) waves. Populations in hotter environments may be more susceptible to cold related impacts and vice-versa. Across urban areas the main temperature effect captures most of the mortality risk. We find that 'additional impacts' due to sustained temperatures (heat and cold waves) is not significant. Conclusions: This is one of the first multi-city studies to examine mortality risk due to heat and cold waves in Indian cities that are spread across climatic regions and topographies. Our findings highlight the need for developing planned adaptation measures in Indian cities to minimize health impacts.


The Generative Pre-trained Transformer (GPT) represents a notable breakthrough in the domain of natural language processing, which is propelling us toward the development of machines that can understand and communicate using language in a manner that closely resembles that of humans. GPT is based on the transformer architecture, a deep neural network designed for natural language processing tasks. Due to their impressive performance on natural language processing tasks and ability to effectively converse, GPT have gained significant popularity among researchers and industrial communities, making them one of the most widely used and effective models in natural language processing and related fields, which motivated to conduct this review. This review provides a detailed overview of the GPT, including its architecture, working process, training procedures, enabling technologies, and its impact on various applications. In this review, we also explored the potential challenges and limitations of a GPT. Furthermore, we discuss potential solutions and future directions. Overall, this paper aims to provide a comprehensive understanding of GPT, enabling technologies, their impact on various applications, emerging challenges, and potential solutions.


During the rehabilitation process, the movements of the post-stroke patients need to be localized and learned so that incorrect movements can be instantly identified and modified. This is vital and necessary for patients to recover and improve their mobility toward normal life. This paper presents an adaptive Kalman filter algorithm for position estimation of patients' movements. In order to improve the performance of dynamic performance of the filter, a modified adaptive filtering algorithm is investigated. The feasibility and efficiency of the proposed adaptive algorithm is verified by simulation results.


A model is presented which predicts the movements of flesh points on the tongue, lips, and jaw during speech production, from time-aligned phonetic strings. Starting from a database of x-ray articulator trajectories, means and variances of articulator positions and curvatures at the midpoints of phonemes are extracted from the data set. During prediction, the amount of articulatory effort required in a particular phonetic context is estimated from the relative local curvature of the articulator trajectory concerned. Correlations between position and curvature are used to directly predict variations from mean articulator positions due to coarticulatory effects. Use of the explicit coarticulation model yields a significant increase in articulatory modeling accuracy with respect to x-ray traces, as compared with the use of mean articulator positions alone.


MHC I–restricted epitopes of chicken ovalbumin (OVA) were originally identified using CD8+ T cells as probes. Here, using bioinformatics tools, we identify 4 additional epitopes in OVA in addition to a cryptic epitope. Each additional epitope is presented in vivo, as deduced from the lack of CD8+ T cell response to it in OVA-transgenic mice. In addition, CD8 responses to the previously known epitopes and those identified in this study are examined in C57BL/6J mice exposed to the OVA-expressing tumor E.G7 in several ways. No responses to any epitope, including SIINFEKL, are detected in mice with growing E.G7 or mice immunized with the tumor. Only in E.G7-bearing mice treated with an anti–CTLA-4 antibody, which depletes tumor-infiltrating regulatory T cells, are CD8 responses to SIINFEKL and the epitope EKYNLTSVL identified in this study detected. Finally, all epitopes fail to treat mice with preexisting tumors. These observations force an important reconsideration of the common assumptions about the therapeutic value of neoepitopes detected by CD8 responses in tumor-bearing hosts. Research Article Immunology


The structural behavior of a steel reinforced concrete (SRC) transfer beam in high-rise building is studied in the paper. Mechanical properties and deformation characteristics between transfer beam and shear wall are analyzed by an analytic approach and the nonlinear finite element method. The stress analytical solutions for the SRC transfer beam are obtained and agree with finite element calculation data in an actual project. The results show that the beam can be as an eccentric tension member, meanwhile the performance of shear wall must be considered. And it also shows that the shear stress and vertical compressed stress must be considered in end both transfer beam and shear wall and there is interaction between the beam and the shear walls above. The results can be used to describe the behavior of the SRC transfer beam under complicated loads.


Synapses are key elements in the information transmission in the nervous system. Among the different approaches to study them, the use of computational simulations is identified as the most promising technique.
Simulations, however, do not provide generalized models of the underlying biochemical phenomena, but a set of observations, or time-series curves, displaying the behavior of the synapse in the scenario represented. Finding a general model of these curves, like a set of mathematical equations, could be an achievement in the study of synaptic behavior. In this paper, we propose an exploratory analysis in which selected curve models are proposed, and state-of-the-art metaheuristics are used and compared to fit the free coefficients of these curves to the data obtained from simulations. Experimental results demonstrate that several models can fit these
data, though a deeper analysis from a biological perspective reveals that some are better suited for this purpose, as they represent more accurately the biological process. Based on the results of this analysis, we propose a set of mathematical equations and a methodology, adequate for modeling several aspects of biochemical synaptic behavior.


Sink drains from the Veterans Administration Medical Center, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, and the Oklahoma City community were selectively cultured for gentamicin- and amikacin-resistant bacteria. Aminoglycoside-resistant organisms were found in 86% (Veterans Administration Medical Center, 88%; University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, 88%; and Oklahoma City community, 77%) of all 233 sink drains sampled. Of 207 sink drains harboring aminoglycoside-resistent organisms, 99% of the organisms were gentamicin resistant and 82% were amikacin resistant. These data suggest that aminoglycoside-resistent organisms are commonly present in the environment.