Objective: Orthosiphon stamineus (OS) or Misai Kucing (Java tea) is a popular herbal supplement from Southeast Asia for various metabolic, age-related diseases. This study investigated the potential use of OS leaf extracts to ameliorate osteoporosis in ovariectomized rats. Methods: Fifty-six female Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly allocated into eight groups (n = 7): SHAM (healthy sham control); OVX (ovarietomized) nontreated rats (negative control); OVX + Remifemin (100 mg/kg body weight), and 2% green tea extract (positive controls); OVX + OS 50% ethanolic and aqueous extracts, both at either 150 or 300 mg/kg. After 16 weeks, the rats' bones and blood were evaluated for osteoporosis indicators (protein and mRNA expressions), micro-computed tomography for bone histomorphometry, and three-point bending test for tibia mechanical strength. Results: The extracts dose-dependently and significantly (P < 0.05) improved bone strength and flexibility, bone mineral density, bone formation protein markers (P1NP), and bone histomorphometry. All extracts reduced the inflammation biomarker (interleukin-6). The extracts up-regulated osteoblastogenesis (bone morphogenetic protein-2) and collagen-1 synthesis (collagen type 1 alpha-1) mRNA expressions, and down-regulated bone resorption (TNFSF11 and nuclear factor-kappa B) mRNA expressions. Both the water and 50% ethanolic extract were effective. The effective dose is equivalent to 25 to 50 mg/kg extract for humans. Conclusions: The extract showed bone-protective and antiosteoporotic effects (improving bone strength, flexibility, bone density, and bone morphometry) by reducing inflammation and the bone resorption biomarkers, while enhancing bone formation biomarkers and collagen synthesis.


The ability to generate stable, spatiotemporally controllable concentration gradients is critical for resolving the dynamics of cellular response to a chemical microenvironment. Here we demonstrate an acoustofluidic gradient generator based on acoustically oscillating sharp-edge structures, which facilitates in a step-wise fashion the rapid mixing of fluids to generate tunable, dynamic chemical gradients. By controlling the driving voltage of a piezoelectric transducer, we demonstrated that the chemical gradient profiles can be conveniently altered (spatially controllable). By adjusting the actuation time of the piezoelectric transducer, moreover, we generated pulsatile chemical gradients (temporally controllable). With these two characteristics combined, we have developed a spatiotemporally controllable gradient generator. The applicability and biocompatibility of our acoustofluidic gradient generator are validated by demonstrating the migration of human dermal microvascular endothelial cells (HMVEC-d) in response to a generated vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) gradient, and by preserving the viability of HMVEC-d cells after long-term exposure to an acoustic field. Our device features advantages such as simple fabrication and operation, compact and biocompatible device, and generation of spatiotemporally tunable gradients.


The Internet and World Wide Web are becoming more and more dynamic in terms of their content and use. Information retrieval (IR) efforts aim to keep up with this dynamic environment by designing intelligent systems which can deliver Web content in real time to various wired or wireless devices. Evolutionary and adaptive systems (EASs) are emerging as typical examples of such systems. This paper contains one of the first attempts to gather and evaluate the nature of current research on Web-based IR using EAS and proposes future research directions in parallel to developments on the Web environments.


ABSTRACT The common cuckoo was a pre-Christian symbol of male fertility across Eurasia, associated with several European fertility goddesses. Some standing-stones are named after it as cuckoo (coucou is Old-French) or gowk (Anglo-Saxon). Gouk and cuckoo stones can only have been so named from the fifth and eleventh centuries respectively but at least one stone was erected in the third millennium BC. It was not known if the naming was recent or if the stones had been associated with the cuckoo since prehistory and through subsequent language transitions. Previous authors thought some cuckoo place-names were places of seasonal ritual associated with specific natural and cultural features. Traditional toponymic methods cannot test these hypotheses being temporally limited by linguistic and textual constraints. A wider study of all known cuckoo place-names in Britain was undertaken using cartographic and statistical analysis independent of language transitions and textual evidence. Several natural and cultural features were very statistically significantly associated with both cuckoo stones and other cuckoo place-names indicating the association with the bird originated in prehistory. GIS geoprocessing also confirmed that early Roman structures were very significantly associated with cuckoo place-names indicating that they were cult-centres targeted for psychological advantage during the conquest period.


The slug test is a viable method in estimating the hydraulic conductivity of the slurry trench wall backfill because of its ability to consider a more representative volume of the backfill and to reflect the in situ performance of the construction. A three-dimensional numerical model is developed to simulate the slug test in a slurry trench wall with the presence of bentonite cake on the interface boundary between the wall and the surrounding soil formation. Influential factors such as wall width (i.e., proximity of wall boundary), well deviation, vertical position of the well intake section, and compressibility of the wall backfill are taken into account in the model. The experimentally obtained hydraulic properties of the bentonite cake are also incorporated in a series of slug test simulations. The simulation results are then examined to evaluate the bentonite cake effect in analyzing practical slug test results in the slurry trench wall. The simulation results show that the modified line-fitting method can be used without any reduction factor for the slug test in the slurry trench wall with the presence of bentonite cake. A case study is reanalyzed with the assumption of existing bentonite cake. The results are compared with the previously reported results by the approaches used for the case of no bentonite cake (constant-head boundary) and upper-bound solution (no-flux boundary). The modified line-fitting method and the type curve method produce similar results for slurry walls with bentonite cakes. The case study results demonstrate the importance of the bentonite cake effect in estimating the hydraulic conductivity of the slurry wall backfill.


This thesis is concerned with certain aspects of the reign of Muzaffar al-Din Shah of Persia from 1896 to 1907; during the last year of which Persia ceased to be an absolute monarchy and adopted a constitution. The thesis first of all discusses the value of various British archives for the study of this period. It goes on to consider the character of Muzaffar al-Din and the nature of government during his reign. Two particular organs of government are-studied in detail: the army and the Customs administration, which was then undergoing reform at the hands of Belgian experts. The diffusion of cholera throughout Persia in 1904 is described, and the effects of that epidemic are discussed. The thesis then turns to a study of the political and economic circumstances which prevailed in the two important provinces of Fars and Isfahan. The thesis shows that there was much discontent in Persia, and it notes that few of the sources of that discontent were new., It is seen that members of the religious classes played an important part in events throughout the period. It is shown that the government of Muzaffar al- Din Shah was weak, that it failed to exercise effective central control, and that it was incapable of meeting the demands made upon it. It is argued that Anglo-Russian rivalry had a considerable impact on domestic events, and that that rivalry increased the problems facing the country, while at the same time it revealed to many Persians the extent of the government's weakness. It is concluded that although many demands were being made of the Shah and his government, they were not essentially incompatible with the continuation of absolute rule.


We describe gender and socioeconomic inequalities in the Big Five personality traits over the life cycle, using a facet-level inventory linked to administrative data. We estimate life-cycle profiles non-parametrically and test for cohort and sample-selection effects. We discuss the economic implications of the following findings: Women of all ages score more highly than men on all personality traits, including three that are positively associated with wages; Individuals with high own or parental education have more favorable traits except Conscientiousness; Over the life cycle, gender and socioeconomic gaps widen in Openness and shrink in Neuroticism, a trait associated with worse outcomes.


Abstract Efforts have been made to adapt the delivery of mental health care and support services to the demands of COVID-19. Here we detail the perspectives and experiences of mental health workers (MHWs), in relation to what they found helpful when adapting mental health services during the COVID-19 pandemic and responding to its demands. Individual interviews were conducted with MHWs (n = 30) during the third COVID-19 lockdown. Interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed and managed using NVIVO. Qualitative data was analyzed using an inductive thematic approach. Three themes emphasized the importance of: (1) 'self-care and peer support (checking in with each other)', (2) 'team cohesion and collaboration' and (3) 'visible and supportive management and leadership (new ways of working)'. Our findings emphasize the importance of individual, team and systems-based support in helping MHWs maintain their own wellbeing, whilst adapting and responding to the challenges in providing mental health care and support during this pandemic. Guidance and direction from management, with adaptive leadership in providing sustained, efficient, and equitable delivery of mental healthcare, is essential. Our findings support future policy, research and mental health practice developments through sharing important salutogenic lessons learned and transferable insights which may help with preparedness for future pandemics.


Correction for:

Kurreeman FAS, Padyukov L, Marques RB, Schrodi SJ, Seddighzadeh M, et al. (2007) A Candidate Gene Approach Identifies the TRAF1/C5 Region as a Risk Factor for Rheumatoid Arthritis. PLoS Med 4(9): e278. doi:10.1371/journal.pmed.0040278

In Table 1, the allele ratio in column eight (Allele Ratiosb: Cases, Controls) refers to allele A: allele B and not allele1:allele2 as described in footnote b, with Allele A being the Susceptibility Allele as denoted in column seven.

The footnote should read:

bNumber of alleles were compared in cases versus controls: allele A: allele B cases, allele A: allele B controls. Allele A refers to the susceptibility alleles as given in column seven.


Absrract: The phagocytic ability of neutrophil. leucocytes was found to be impaired in patients suffering from pustulosis palmaris et plantaris (PPP). This ability was studied with the aid of the yeast particle method. In 78 % of 27 patients whose PPP was in a static phase, the phagocytic function was en hanced, while the PPP abated concomitantly and the pustules disappeared. lmpaired phagocyrosis and the beneficial efrect of clofazimine signify the pathogenic importance of defective neutrophils in PPP.


This unique examination of medieval medicine as detailed in physician's manuals of the period reveals a more sophisticated approach to the medical arts than expected for the time.
 knowledge, tradition, innovation, and intuition to create a humane, holistic approach to understanding and treating every known disease. In fact, a singularly authoritative medical source of the period, Lily of Medicine, continued to provide crucial study for students and practitioners of medicine almost four centuries after its completion in 1305. This unprecedented book investigates the extensive capabilities of physicians who relied on practice, observation, and imagination before the supremacy of mechanistic views and technological aids.
 Medieval Medicine: The Art of Healing, from Head to Toe is a comprehensive look at diseases as they were described, classified, explained, assessed, and treated by doctors of the age. The author methodically compares a dozen encyclopedic manuals in which both the fundamental understanding of healthy functions and the specific response to diseases were summarized, viewing the information through a medieval perspective rather than based upon modern criteria.


With increased road transporation, Nepal is no-exception now facing increased air pollution.The problem is high mainly in its urban area owing to urbanization, population pressure, vehicular pressure and growing industrialization.Butwal, an industrial town in western Nepal is facing high air pollutioddust particle these days.The present work deals with the quantitative studies of dust accumulation and chlorophyll content in three diferent plant species, Delonix regia , Azadirachta indica and Mangifea indica found at three different road sides, i.e., Chauraha road (cross road) near highway, Hospital road and Butwal Campus road in the town.The amount of dust deposit on leaf surface indicates that Chauraha and Hospital area are more polluted than the Butwal Campus area and the chlorophyll content data shows that the Chauraha is more polluted area than other areas studied in Butwal town. On the basis of amount of  dust deposit and chlorophyll content, Chauraha was the most polluted area. Howeverthe increased level of dust and decreased level of chlorophyll in all studied areas than the less polluted area show that Butwal town was suffering from some level of air pollution. The study foresees the forthcoming level of pollution of the town and warns the concerned authorities to be serious towards the problem and to take up efficacious projects to check it.


The fluid loss control additive plays a key role in reducing reservoir damage and improving the cementing quality of an oil well. Aiming at good fluid loss control ability and excellent dispersibility, a new dispersive type fluid loss control additive was synthesized through orthogonal experiment with 2-acrylamido-2- methyl propane sulfonic acid, acrylamide, N, N-dimethylacrylamide and maleic anhydride. The orthogonal experiment result shows that the influence on the properties of FLCA decreases in the order: PH value > monomer concentration > monomer mole ratio > initiator concentration > temperature. The result indicates that the optimal conditions for FLCA were 4/2.5/2.5/1 of mole ratio of AMPS/AM /NNDMA/MA, 32.5% total monomer concentration in deionized water, 1.0% (by weight of monomer) ammonium persulfate/sodium bisulfite, 4 of PH value, 40°Cof temperature. The synthesized copolymer was identified by FTIR analysis. The results show the dispersive type fluid loss control additive has excellent dispersibility, fluid loss control ability, thermal resistant and salt tolerant ability. As the temperature increases, the thickening time of the slurry containing the synthesized additive reduces. The copolymer is expected to be a good fluid loss control additive.


Recent years have seen increased interest in skeletal populations from the Imperial Roman Age in Italy,
but much less is known about diet and standards of living in the subsequent medieval period. To fill this
gap, we conducted a morphological analysis of human remains from Albano, an Italian town near Rome, as well as a stable isotope analysis of bone collagen to reconstruct diet. The sample was recovered from a Medieval cemetery (1040–1220 cal. yr. BP) located in the gardens of the historical Palazzo Doria Pamphili in Albano. A minimum number of 40 individuals (31 adults and 9 sub-adults) were examined using standard methods. Though the general health status of the population was good, signs of cribra orbitalia and diffuse enthesopathies were noted during the morphological examination.
Stable carbon and nitrogen isotope analyses of the bone collagen from 24 adult humans and three faunal bones indicate that the diet of the population may be described as predominantly terrestrial and C3-plant
based although the data for some of the individuals suggest a modest consumption of C4-(millet) based
or aquatic proteins. No evidence of significant dietary differences between the sexes was found.
The comparison of the isotope data from Albano with those from populations recovered in the same region
is consistent with a shift from a terrestrial, possibly plant foods-dominated subsistence in the Early Middle Ages to a diet with a higher contribution from animal proteins, both terrestrial and aquatic, in the Later Middle Ages.


Sufficient evidence has accumulated to permit the conclusion that there are at least two major determinants for the effectiveness of 5-FU against tumors. These are the formation of fluorodeoxyuridylate (FdUMP) and the incorporation of 5-FU into RNA. Either or both of these determinants can be of critical significance in the tumor-inhibitory actions of 5-FU and the sensitivity of normal tissues of this drug, depending on the biological system and the experimental conditions. The critical role for FdUMP and inhibition of DNA synthesis as a cell target determinant is supported by the recognition of "thymineless death;" the time-course correlation of levels of this metabolite (and/or or susceptibility of thymidylate synthetase) with tumor sensitivity to 5-FU and with cytotoxicity to specific organs and tissues; and the reversibility of the actions of 5-Fu by thymidine in vitro. A role for 5-FU incorporated in RNA (FU-RNA) is based on various toxic consequences of the incorporation of the analog, including the inhibition of ribosomal maturation; the occasionally reported lack of rescue from growth inhibition with thymidine, which prevents the 5-FU induced inhibition of DNA synthesis, apparently with increased FU-RNA formation; the activity of uridine as a partial rescue agent, and various studies revealing correlations of FU-RNA with enhanced therapeutic response.


The purpose of study was to investigate factors influencing tendering process in public sector in Tanzania. The study intended to find out the influence of training, ethical practices and ICT usage on tendering process at Medical Store Department. The study employed case study design whereby purposive and convenience sampling techniques were applied to select sample of 40 respondents from MSD. Both primary data and secondary data were employed whereby data were analyzed through qualitative and quantitative approaches. The study revealed that in regards to tendering process only procurement staffs attend training. The study further showed that, staff attends training less frequently. It was found that, there are unethical practices found in procurement function. The study further observed that, the rate of favouritism in tendering process at MSD as well as tribalism in tendering process at MSD is very low. It was reported that, MSD has well developed ICT infrastructure that supports tendering process and at large extent. The study concludes that training, ethical issues and ICT usage have significant impact in influencing tendering process at MSD. However, attending of training at less frequently could affect tendering process because training is very important as it ensures that the staffs are not left with changes that happen in the system. The study recommends that, despite the fact that unethical issues are not highly exercised at MSD, much efforts should be taken into consideration to prevent unethical practices at large because there is high influence of unethical practice in tendering process in most of public institutions in Tanzania.


This paper describes the DATA-CHASER Automated Planner/Scheduler (DCAPS) system for automated generation and repair of command sequences for the DATA-CHASER shuttle payload. DCAPS uses general Artificial Intelligence (AI) heuristic search techniques, including an iterative repair framework in which the system iteratively resolves conflicts with the state, resource, and temporal constraints of the payload activities. DCAPS was used in the operations of the shuttle payload for the STS-85 shuttle flight in August 1997 and enabled an 80% reduction in mission operations effort and a 40% increase in science return.


The power spectrum Of a zero-mean stationary Gaussian random process is assumed to be known except for one or more parameters which are to be estimated from an observation of the process during a finite time interval. The approximation is introduced that the coefficients of the Fourier series expansion of a realization of long-time duration are uncorrelated. Based on this approximation maximum likelihood estimates are derived and lundamental limits on the variances attainable are found by evaluation of the Cramer-Rao lower bound. Parameters specifically considered are amplitude, center frequency, and frequency scale factor. Also considered is ripple frequency which refers to the cosine factor in the spectrum produced by the addition of a delayed replica of the random process. The dual problem of estimating parameters of the time-varying power level of a nonstationary baud-limited white noise process is examined.


Petroleum product leakages from underground storage tanks, distribution facilities and various industrial operations represent an important source of soil and aquifer contamination. This study was carried out to determine the effects of Goat Dung (GD) on Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbon (PAH) degradation and microbiological composition. Top soil (0-15 cm depth) was collected from Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Satellite Depot, Ejigbo, Lagos State. One kilogram of the gasoline polluted soil was measured into nine containers. The GD was mixed with the soil at the rate of 0, 50 and 100 g kg -1 soil in triplicate and the containers were arranged in a Completely Randomized Design. Soil samples were taken from each container at 21 and 42 days for Hydrocarbon Utilizing Bacteria (HUB) and PAH determination using standard methods. Collected data were subjected to descriptive and inferential statistics. The HUB species identified were Bacillus , Staphylococcus , Klebsiella , Escherichia , Pseudomonas and Enterobacter . The PAH (mg kg -1 ) of the soil before GD application was 192.65. After the amendments at 0, 50 and 100 g kg -1 , this value reduced to 167.32±2.45, 107.11 ±1.88 and 75.10±3.65, respectively at 21 days and 134.26±1.59, 74.16 ±2.27 and 46.14.14±1.93, respectively at 42 days. Biodegradation efficiency of 76 % was recorded after 42 days in soil amended with 100 g kg -1 of GD. Application of 100 g kg -1 of GD was more effective in the remediation of PAH contaminated soil. Results demonstrated that GD could be used to enhance activities of the microbial hydrocarbon-degrading bacteria during bioremediation of gasoline polluted soil. Keywords: Biodegradation, Gasoline, Goat dung, Hydrocarbon, Pollution


Methylglucoside (MEG) has been used in the water-based mud with fine montmorillonite (MMT) swelling inhibition, but it still has such shortages as large concentration and low thermostability. In this work, carboxymethyl glucoside (CMG) was synthesized with glucose and sodium chloroacetate and used as swelling inhibitor. The inhibition of CMG against clay swelling was investigated by MMT linear expansion test, mud ball immersing test and bentonite inhibition test. The results showed that the CMG has a good inhibition to the hydration swelling and dispersion of MMT. Under lower concentrations, the linear expansion rate of MMT in CMG solution is much lower than that of MEG, and the hydration expansion degree of the mud ball in the CMG solution was significantly inhibited. The characterizations of physicalchemical properties of particle, analysized by thermogravimetric analysis and scanning electron microscopy revealed that CMG plays a great role in preventing water from absorbing and keeps MMT in large particle size.


As conflicts related to the water use in Brazil are increasing, the implementation of policies that can mitigate these problems has become crucial. In this context, the concept of Payment for Environmental Services (PES) has been widely accepted and applied around the world and also in Brazil. The municipality of Extrema, in the State of Minas Gerais, was the first in Brazil to implement a PES program, known as "Conservador das Aguas". This study aimed to evaluate soil losses in the watershed Posses and determine the potential of the PES program to conserve soil in this watershed; moreover, to maximize the soil conservation environmental service for a given forest size and location. Therefore, the effectiveness of soil conservation was analyzed in 14 areas with different soil use and forest cover. The Geographic Information System (SIG) and the Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE) were used for this purpose. Soil losses in the Posses watershed were estimated before and after implementing the water conservation program, at 30.63 and 7.06 Mg ha-1 year-1, respectively. Conservation could be optimized by implementing soil conservation practices on pasture and by optimizing the location of forest areas.


Abstract Laboratory and greenhouse studies were conducted on redvine and trumpetcreeper to characterize leaf surface and wax composition, determine responses of these weeds to glyphosate, characterize the nature of interactions between glyphosate and several selective postemergence herbicides (e.g., acifluorfen, bentazon, chlorimuron, imazaquin, and pyrithiobac) used in soybean and cotton, and determine the effects of various adjuvants on glyphosate activity on both species. Trumpetcreeper was consistently more susceptible to glyphosate than redvine. Glyphosate spray solution droplets had lower contact angle in trumpetcreeper than in redvine. Micro-roughness of the trumpetcreeper adaxial leaf surface was greater due to trichomes and glands compared to that of redvine, which had no trichomes or glands. Stomata or crystal wax deposition on the adaxial leaf surface were not observed in either species. The wax mass per unit area (22 to 37 µg cm−2) was similar regardless of the leaf age in both species. Epicuticular wax consisted of hydrocarbons, alcohols, acids, and triterpenes. Wax composition of young leaves of redvine was relatively hydrophilic (72% alcohols and acids, 24% hydrocarbons) compared to the hydrophobic components (23% alcohols and acids, 49% hydrocarbons) of old leaves. In contrast, wax of trumpetcreeper young leaves was relatively hydrophobic (9% alcohols and acids, 29% hydrocarbons), whereas old leaves had similar levels of hydrophilic and hydrophobic components (28% alcohols and acids, 31% hydrocarbons). Glyphosate mixed with selective postemergence herbicides were antagonistic when applied to redvine and trumpetcreeper, except acifluorfen. Various adjuvants did not increase glyphosate efficacy except ammonium sulfate, which increased glyphosate efficacy when applied alone to trumpetcreeper. These results showed that lower glyphosate efficacy was related to the more hydrophobic nature of redvine epicuticular waxes compared to that of trumpetcreeper. Nomenclature: Acifluorfen; bentazon; chlorimuron; glyphosate; imazaquin; pyrithiobac; cotton, Gossypium hirsutum L.; redvine, Brunnichia ovata (Walt.) Shinners BRVCI; soybean, Glycine max (L.) Merr.; trumpetcreeper, Campsis radicans (L.) Seem. ex Bureau CMIRA.


ABSTRACT Davis, R.A., 2013. A New Look at Barrier-Inlet Morphodynamics. Coastal morphodynamics is dependent on the interaction of multiple variables. An earlier publication demonstrated that the comparative influence of waves and tides was the fundamental relationship in coastal morphology. The discussion in this paper adds the important variables of tidal prism, sediment abundance, and sea-level change to the equation. Tidal prism is critical in that it can be the primary factor in morphodynamics if both wave and tidal climate are held constant. Abundant or scarce sediment availability can produce coastal morphology that would not develop otherwise. Because of the extremely slow rate of sea-level change, its impact is less prominent than the other variables and we see less evidence of its influence than the others, except in certain coastal reaches.


Following from numerical predictions and large scale experimental verification, flow measurements are presented to show the effect of transverse wire vibrations on spectral measurements. It has been shown previously that if the first and second natural frequencies of a probe wire are close, it is expected to have favorable dynamic characteristics in turbulent flow. This expectation is confirmed with flow measurements. Further, the traditional sensing length to diameter ratio is reexamined for small scale measurements.© 2002 ASME


In this thesis rigorous models for simulating the operation of multi-component batch distillation with a hypothetical start-up procedure are derived and solved by a novel analytical derivative technique. The conventional backward derivative technique which usually solves the model only from the steady-state total reflux condition is also extended to include the solution from the hypothetical start-up condition. Both techniques are shown to give identical results. Simulation and optimisation of a ternary system with slop recycle are analysed by using one of the above rigorous models and solution techniques. Nine modes of operation for handling the recycle slops are developed and a basic mode of operation for evaluating the economic efficiency is defined as the reference. The objective function chosen for the analysis is the profit per cycle time rather than the total product per cycle time. The results of analysis show that the right choice of mode of operation is more significant than the right choice of the constant reflux ratio of the operation. An explicit short-cut model for estimating the instantaneous overhead composition of multi-component batch distillation is successfully derived. The performance of the short-cut model is acceptably accurate and offers some advantages of speed over other published models. The short-cut model is shown to be very powerful for solving the problem of optimal reflux profile.


Abstract We estimate the effects of political accountability on the selection of politicians when accountability mechanisms are prone to political capture. We compare the characteristics of candidates running in municipalities where the previous incumbent was ousted from office through a recall referendum with those who run where the recall referendum failed by a small margin. Having a recalled incumbent in the previous term causes a negative selection of candidates in terms of their education and previous experience. They are also less representative of indigenous groups. The results are driven by localities where the accountability institution is likely used for political purposes.


World economy is experiencing a global economic crisis. During such periods, the world economic structure and leader-countries are changing, new economic centers are appearing. Authors explore the causes of the global economic crisis and show changes in the present structure of world economy. Also substantiated the efficiency of using the strategy of catching up on the example of developing countries.
Today Russia has a unique chance for technological upgrading by large-scale deployment of efficient technologies already developed by the leaders. Based on global experience, the strategy to modernize the Russian economy should be combined: a strategy of leadership in the areas where Russia has the technological superiority, the strategy of catching up and borrowing in industries where there is a considerable lag. To gain this goal Russia first of all has to increase effectiveness of cooperation of the state, universities (of science and education) and business â?? the three basic factors of innovative system.


There are potential interactions among approaches to reduce or prevent certain accident causes. Given the overlapped safety benefits of various measures for accident prevention, it is necessary to identify their interactions and quantify the safety effectiveness of combined accident prevention strategies. This study focuses on strategies to prevent broken rails and broken wheels, respectively. Improved wheel condition reduces the impact load on the rail, thereby may reduce broken-rail-caused derailments. In this paper, we propose a quantitative framework to assess the safety effectiveness of combined accident prevention strategies under various operational conditions. In the larger context of railroad hazardous materials risk management, integrated accident prevention can be compared to other means of risk reduction measures, such as tank car safety design enhancement or operational changes.Copyright © 2013 by ASME


Design of a Wide Bandwidth Continuous-time Low-pass Sigma-delta Modulator (December 2011) Cheng-Ming Chien Chair of Advisory Committee: Jose Silva-Martinez / Aydin Karsilayan The emergence of bandwidth-intensive services has created a need for high speed and high resolution data converters. Towards this end, system level design of a continuous-time sigma-delta modulator achieving 11 bits resolution over 100 MHz signal bandwidth by using a feed-forward topology is presented. The system is first built in the Simulink environment in MATLAB. The building blocks in the loop filter are modeled with nonidealities, and specifications for these blocks are obtained by simulations. An operational transconductor amplifier (OTA) with 100 mS transconductance, 70 dB linearity, and 34.2 mW power dissipation is designed to be used in the loop filter. Simulation results indicate that the 5th order loop filter implemented in the feedforward architecture in transistor level shows lower power consumption, 105 mW, compared to the loop filter implemented by feedback architecture, 152 mW.


Recently, AdaBoost has been widely used in many computer vision applications and has shown promising results. However, it is also observed that its classification performance is often poor when the size of the training sample set is small. In certain situations, there may be many unlabelled samples available and labelling them is costly and time-consuming. Thus it is desirable to pick a few good samples to be labelled. The key is how. In this paper, we integrate active learning with AdaBoost to attack this problem. The principle idea is to select the next unlabelled sample base on it being at the minimum distance from the optimal AdaBoost hyperplane derived from the current set of labelled samples. We prove via version space concept that this selection strategy yields the fastest expected learning rate. Experimental results on both artificial and standard databases demonstrate the effectiveness of our proposed method.


The central Igneous Complex of Arran is one of the Tertiary volcanic centres of the West coast of Scotland. The thesis describes the structure and petrology of the eastern part of the Complex, and includes a detailed account of the area of Glen Dubh. Three main divisions of the Complex are recognised; the volcanic caldera of Ard Bheinn, in the West; the granite and agglomerate masses of the eastern part on A'Chruach and the Tir Dubh; and the instructions of diorite, dolerite and gabbro on the eastern margin on the Complex in Glen Dubh and Glen Ormidale. The complex is emplaced in rocks of Old Red Sandstone, Carboniferous and Permian age and chalk occur. The country rocks of the Glen Dubh area are Old Red Sandstone sediments, bleached and partly recrystallised by thermal metamorphism. A sinous fault divides the Glen Dubh area, and forms, to the North, the boundary of the Complex. In Glen Dubh, the inner area is mainly of dolerite forming an irregular margin to the gabbro. A dyke of felsite occurs along the fault for a short distance and to the West in the Innner Area, there is a thick sill-like body of felsite breccia. Veins of breccia extend into the over-overlying dolerite. In two places the brecciation of the dolerite above the felsite is so intense as to form small vents. In the Outer area Glen Dubh, there is a layered sequence. Sediments of Old Red Sandstone age were intruded by a concordant gabbro and dolerite body (the base is not exposed) and subsequently, before cooling of the basic rocks, a thin sheet of microgranite was intruded along the contact. Reaction between the microgranite and basic rocks resulted in the formation of a variable suite of diorites- finegrained diorites formed as a result of the alternation of solid gabbro or dolerite, mainly by diffusion of granite material, and diorites formed by contamination of the microgranite, which intrude the other rocks in places. Alternation of the gabbros is by the introduction of granitic material. No occurrence of assimilation of sedimentary material has been found, although small-scale assimilation of quartzite fragments in fine hornblende diorite occurs in one locality.The igneous history determined for the Glen Dubh area is correlated with that of the rest of the Central Complex thus. The isolated areas of diorite around the northern edge of the Complex are equivalent to the diorites of Glen Dubh. The rocks of Glen Dubh area are interpreted as being relics of the early stages of the igneous period which culminated in the formation of the vents and caldera of Ard Bheinn. The equivalent rocks in the Ard Bheinn areas have been removed durin the volcanic episode, or are present only as small isolated remnants.


In this paper, we address the problem of fusing information about object positions in multirobot systems. Our approach is novel in two main respects. First, it addresses the multirobot object localization problem using fuzzy logic. It uses fuzzy sets to represent uncertain position information and fuzzy intersection to fuse this information. The result of this fusion is a consensus among sources, as opposed to the compromise achieved by many other approaches. Second, our method fully propagates self-localization uncertainty to object-position estimates. We evaluate our method using systematic experiments, which describe an input-error landscape for the performance of our approach. This landscape characterizes how well our method performs when faced with various types and amounts of input errors.


The effects of ingestion of soluble immune complexes upon macrophage phagocytic function was studied. Ingestion of immune complexes severely impaired the macrophage's ability to ingest IgG-coated particles but did not alter its ability to interact with particles by means other than its Fc receptors. Treatment of macrophages that had ingested immune complexes with supernates containing the previously described lymphokine that augments macrophage complement receptor function failed to enhance the cells' interaction with either IgG-coated erythrocytes or zymosan particles but markedly enhanced their ability to phagocytize via their complement receptors. The possible significance of these findings in immunologically mediated inflammation is discussed.


Mostly used estimators of Hurst exponent for detection of long-range dependence are biased by presence of short-range dependence in the underlying time series. We present confidence intervals estimates for rescaled range and modified rescaled range. We show that the difference in expected values and confidence intervals enables us to use both methods together to clearly distinguish between the two types of processes. The estimates are further applied on Dow Jones Industrial Average between 1944 and 2009 and show that returns do not show any long-range dependence whereas volatility shows both short-range and long-range dependence in the underlying process.


Vinylidene is a high-energy isomer of acetylene, and the rearrangement of bonds in the two species serves as a prototype for isomerization reactions. Here, a full-dimensional quantum mechanical study of the vinylidene vibration is carried out on a recently developed global acetylene-vinylidene potential energy surface by simulating the photodetachment dynamics of the vinylidene anion. Several low-lying vibrational levels of the anion were first determined on a new ab initio based potential energy surface, and their photoelectron spectra were obtained within the Condon approximation. The vibrational features of the vinylidene isomer are found to agree well with the experiment in both positions and intensities, validating the global acetylene-vinylidene potential energy surface.


The genome sequence of the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS)-assoclated virus provides essential information for the identification of pathogen(s), exploration of etiology and evolution, interpretation of transmission and pathogenesis, development of diagnostics, prevention by future vaccination, and treatment by developing new drugs.We report the complete genome sequence and comparative analysis of an isolate (B J01) of the coronavirus that has been recognized as a pathogen for SARS. The genome is 29725 nt in size and has 11 ORFs (Open Reading Frames). It is composed of a stable region encoding an RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (composed of 20RFs) and a variable region representing 4 CDSs (coding sequences) for viral structural genes (the S, E, M, N proteins) and 5 PUPs (putative uncharacterized proteins). Its gene order is identical to that of other known coronaviruses. The sequence alignment with all known RNA viruses places this virus as a member in the family of Coronaviridae. Thirty putative substitutions have been identified by comparative analysis of the 5 SARS-associated virus genome sequences in GenBank. Fifteen of them lead to possible amino acid changes (non-synonymous mutations) in the proteins. Three amino acid changes, with predicted alteration of physical and chemical features, have been detected in the S protein that is postulated to be involved in the immunoreactions between the virus and its host.Two amino acid changes have been detected in the M protein,which could be related to viral envelope formation. Phylogenetic analysis suggests the possibility of non-human origin of the SARS-associated viruses but provides no evidence that they are man-made. Further efforts should focus on identifying the etiology of the SARS-associated virus and ruling out conclusively the existence of other possible SARS-related pathogen(s).


Fifty percent of the relative motion between the Indian and Asian plates is accommodated by active convergence at the Himalayan Range Front (HRF). Earthquake cycle processes on shallowly dipping HRF thrust faults generate large earthquakes (MW ≥ 7) and contribute to the growth of HRF topography. Interseismic rock uplift rates reach a maximum north of the active Main Frontal Thrust and have been suggested to significantly influence the collocated convex bulge in HRF topography. Using geodetically constrained models of interseismic rock uplift rates and simple channel erosion rate laws, we show that convex channel profiles are predicted when interseismic deformation outpaces coseismic deformation. Applying this model to the observed elevation profiles of 20 HRF-spanning channels in Nepal yields a minimum mean residual elevation (72 m) if interseismic deformation has outpaced coseismic deformation by a factor of four. The long-term earthquake deficit required for the application of this model is consistent with some estimates of historical moment imbalance but requires temporally variable fault system activity. The spatial correlation between nominally interseismic rock uplift and the HRF topographic bulge may be explained by (1) a noncausal geometric coincidence, (2) geodetic observations of significant deformation not directly related to earthquake cycle processes, or (3) an unbalanced earthquake cycle at the HRF.


Background Fibromyalgia Syndrome (FS) is a chronic condition with widespread pain. Increased FS prevalence was observed in patients with Diabetes Mellitus (DM) in several of former studies.1,2 Objectives The aim of this study is to assess the frequency of FS in patients with Type 2 DM. Additionally; we aimed to evaluate the association of pain severity with disease control of DM. Methods Patients with Type 2 DM who were followed in Endocrinology Clinic of Cukurova University Hospital were included in the study. FS was diagnosed according to 2013 Alternative Criteria set by American College of Rheumatology. Patients with anemia, hyper- and hypothyroidism, malignancy, pregnancy and rheumatologic conditions were excluded. Patients' pain during morning and sleep was evaluated by Visual Analog Scale (VAS). Fasting blood glucose and Hba1c levels were measured to assess disease control of DM. Results Ninety-two patients (61 female, 31 male) with Type 2 DM were included in the study. Mean age of the patients was 57.84 ± 10.01 years. FS was diagnosed in 4.3% of the patients. No significant difference was observed between Hba1c levels of Type 2 DM patients with and without FS (P=0.87). Mean VAS scores of the patients during morning and sleep were detected as 2.97±2.96 and 2.51±2.73 respectively. There was a weak negative correlation between VAS morning scores and Hba1c levels in diabetic patients (r=-0.24, P=0.04). There were no correlations of VAS sleep scores with fasting glucose and Hba1c levels (P=0.54, P=0.34 respectively). Conclusions According to the results of the present study, when diagnosis is based on 2013 alternative criteria of ACR, FS frequency in patients with Type 2 DM is found to be similar to that of among healthy populations. Yet, better control of blood glucose levels might decrease daily pain in diabetic patients. References Yanmaz MN, Mert M, Korkmaz M. The prevalence of fibromyalgia syndrome in a group of patients with diabetes mellitus. Rheumatol Int. 2012 Apr;32(4):871–4. Tishler M, Smorodin T, Vazina-Amit M, Ramot Y, Koffler M, Fishel B. Fibromyalgia in diabetes mellitus. Rheumatol Int. 2003 Jul;23(4):171–3 Disclosure of Interest None declared


Intermolecular binding underlies various metabolic and regulatory processes of the
cell, and the therapeutic and pharmacological properties of drugs. Molecular docking
systems model and simulate these interactions in silico and allow the study of the
binding process. In molecular docking, haptics enables the user to sense the interaction
forces and intervene cognitively in the docking process. Haptics-assisted docking
systems provide an immersive virtual docking environment where the user can interact
with the molecules, feel the interaction forces using their sense of touch, identify
visually the binding site, and guide the molecules to their binding pose. Despite a
forty-year research e�ort however, the docking community has been slow to adopt this
technology. Proprietary, unreleased software, expensive haptic hardware and limits
on processing power are the main reasons for this. Another signi�cant factor is the
size of the molecules simulated, limited to small molecules.
The focus of the research described in this thesis is the development of an interactive
haptics-assisted docking application that addresses the above issues, and enables
the rigid docking of very large biomolecules and the study of the underlying interactions.
Novel methods for computing the interaction forces of binding on the CPU
and GPU, in real-time, have been developed. The force calculation methods proposed
here overcome several computational limitations of previous approaches, such as precomputed
force grids, and could potentially be used to model molecular
exibility
at haptic refresh rates. Methods for force scaling, multipoint collision response, and
haptic navigation are also reported that address newfound issues, particular to the
interactive docking of large systems, e.g. force stability at molecular collision. The
i
ii
result is a haptics-assisted docking application, Haptimol RD, that runs on relatively
inexpensive consumer level hardware, (i.e. there is no need for specialized/proprietary
hardware).


In this paper, data are presented regarding the population structure of dusky grouper (Epinephelus marginatus) which was sampled in the Mediterranean Sea and Atlantic Ocean using two different molecular markers, ND2 RFLP and cytochrome b (cyt b) sequence analysis. The main objective of the study is to analyse the genetic variability of E. marginatus in the Mediterranean Sea to define how the biological characteristics of the species, such as the dispersal capability of pelagic larvae and the benthonic‐sedentary life style, can affect the genetic population structure or maintaining the gene flow or determining genetic differences. Furthermore, we considered an Atlantic sample to establish the presence of genetic differences between the two biogeographical areas under consideration. Analysis of variation based on ND2 RFLP analysis revealed a genetic difference between the Atlantic and Mediterranean samples, whilst cyt b sequence analysis did not. There exists evidence for genetic differentiation for both molecular markers in the Mediterranean region. The majority of the variation was due to the Ustica Island sample and this could be due to differences in fisheries effort since the island is a protected area where recreational and professional fisheries are almost completely forbidden. The pattern of genetic diversity, haplotype networks and mismatch distribution suggest a historical influence on the genetic structure of E. marginatus and recent population expansion. An analysis of the genetic structure of the dusky grouper will be the prerequisite for decisions regarding conservation and fisheries management.


Soybean meal (SBM) inclusion is reduced in young pig diets due to antinutritional factors that may negatively impact performance and gut function. However, when SBM is fed to grower pigs under disease or environmental stress, health may improve through modulation of immunity. Presently it is unknown if a parallel effect will be realized in nursery pigs. Therefore, the experimental objective was to examine the role of SBM and its bioactive compounds on nursery pig gastrointestinal physiology, systemic health, and inflammatory markers. Two replications of 18 barrows (8.12 ± 0.80 kg BW; PIC800×Camborough), were randomly assigned to 1 of 6 dietary treatments: a high SBM positive control (SBMC; 28.6%), a negative control void of SBM (SP), but included soy protein isolate and concentrate to provide amino acids equivalent to SBM in SBMC; SP formulated to similar contribution and composition of isoflavones as SBMC (SP+ISO; 528 mg/kg of soy-isoflavones); SP diet fortified with soybean lecithin and phytosterols at similar concentrations to SBMC (SP+LIP; 2.85 g/kg of functional lipids); SP formulated to an equivalent ratio of insoluble to soluble fiber as SBM in SBMC (SP+FIB; 30 g/kg of soy fiber); or SP diet fortified with lunasin-peptide at 3.81 g/kg (SP+LUN). Pigs were individually housed, and limit-fed 2.5 times maintenance for a metabolism study consisting of a 6-d adaptation period, followed by 72-h of urine and fecal collections, and a 12-h lactulose:mannitol test. On d 11, whole blood and serum were collected before feeding, and at 2, 5, and 24 h post-feeding via jugular-venipuncture. Serum was analyzed for total antioxidant capacity (TAC) and malondialdehyde (MDA). Hematology was measured on whole blood. On d 12, pigs were necropsied for intestinal tissues collection. Data were analyzed as a linear mixed model with treatment as a fixed effect, replicate as a random effect, and initial BW as a covariate where appropriate. A dependent covariance structure was used for repeated measurements (Table 1). Pigs fed either SBMC or SP+LIP had greater mean corpuscular volume and hematocrit % (P = 0.027). Relative to the SP diet, pigs fed SP+LIP tended to have 11.4% greater hemoglobin concentrations (P=0.086). Circulating total white blood cells (WBC) were 21.2% and 22.6% less in pigs fed SBMC and SP+ISO diet, respectively, relative to SP (P = 0.002). Similarly, SBMC and SP+ISO had reduced neutrophil counts (P = 0.043). Relative to SP, SBMC, SP+ISO, and SP+FIB tended to have increased systemic TAC (P=0.086). Pigs fed either SBMC or SPC+ISO had over a 2-fold increase in the TAC of the jejunum, relative to SP (P = 0.039), but those fed SPC+FIB had increased TAC in the ileum and reduced MDA (P < 0.05). In conclusion, SBM and its isoflavones altered WBC concentrations. Whereas, SBM functional lipids may alter red blood cells, and SBM fiber modulated oxidative status.


This paper presents a robust nonlinear control that uses a state variable estimator for control of a single degree of freedom rotary manipulator actuated by shape memory alloy (SMA) wire. A model for SMA actuated manipulator is presented. The model includes nonlinear dynamics of the manipulator, a constitutive model of the shape memory alloy, and the electrical and heat transfer behavior of SMA wire. The current experimental setup allows for the measurement of only one state variable which is the angular position of the arm. Due to measurement difficulties, the other three state variables, arm angular velocity and SMA wire stress and temperature, cannot be directly measured. A model-based state estimator that works with noisy measurements is presented based on the extended Kalman filter (EKF). This estimator estimates the state vector at each time step and corrects its estimation based on the angular position measurements. The estimator is then used in a nonlinear and robust control algorithm based on variable structure control (VSC). The VSC algorithm is a control gain switching technique based on the arm angular position (and velocity) feedback and EKF estimated SMA wire stress and temperature. Using simulation it is shown that the state vector estimates help reduce or avoid the undesirable and inefficient overshoot problem in SMA one-way actuation control.


Sixty 2-month-old, male Awassi lambs were used in this study to investigate the effects of feed refreshing frequencies on behavioural responses of lambs. Treatments consisted of feed refreshing at intervals of 2 h (FR2), 4 h (FR4), 8 h (FR8), 12 h (FR12), and 24 h (FR24). Each lamb within each group kept individually was considered a replicate. All lambs were offered fresh feed ad libitum in each refreshing period for 56 days. Behavioural responses of the lambs were determined individually by monitoring the animals 2 days a week for 30 min at 10:00, 12:00, 14:00, 16:00, 18:00, 20:00, 22:00, 24:00, 02:00, 04:00, 06:00 and 08:00 at 5 min intervals. At the end of the study, 25.8%, 20.9%, 18.5%, 14.9%, and 14.6% eating behaviour; 9.6%, 11.5%, 12.3%, 12.8%, and 12.4% ruminating behaviour; 30.4%, 34.3%, 28.2%, 31.3%, and 36.6% standing behaviour; and 29.4%, 28%, 36.3%, 36.8%, and 32.1% resting behaviour were recorded as percentages of daily observed activities of lambs in the FR2, FR4, FR8, FR12, and FR24 groups, respectively. In conclusion, lambs that were offered fresh feed more frequently showed more eating behaviour but less ruminating and standing behaviour. It can be claimed that offering fresh feed 3 times a day will improve the welfare of lambs, with less standing and more resting behaviour.


Multi-shelled α-Fe2O3 hollow microspheres were synthesized using carbonaceous microsphere sacrificial templates and utilized for high capacity anode materials in lithium ion batteries (LIBs). Structural aspects including the shell thickness, number of internal multi-shells, and shell porosity were controlled by synthesis parameters to produce hollow microspheres with maximum lithium capacity and stable cycling behavior. Thin, porous, hollow microspheres with three concentric multi-shells showed the best cycling performance, demonstrating excellent stability and a reversible capacity of up to 1702 mA h g−1 at a current density of 50 mA g−1. The electrode performance is attributed to the large specific surface area and enhanced volumetric capacity of the multi-shelled hollow spheres that provide maximum lithium storage, while the porous thin shells facilitate rapid electrochemical kinetics and buffer mechanical stresses that accompany volume changes during de/lithiation.


Air quality measures that were implemented in Europe in the 1990s resulted in reductions of ozone precursor concentrations. In this study, the effect of these reductions on ozone is investigated by analyzing surface measurements of this pollutant for the time period between 2000 and 2015. Using a nonparametric timescale decomposition methodology, the long-term, seasonal and short-term variation in ozone observations were extracted. A clustering algorithm was applied to the different timescale variations, leading to a classification of sites across Europe based on the temporal characteristics of ozone. The clustering based on the long-term variation resulted in a site-type classification, while a regional classification was obtained based on the seasonal and short-term variations. Long-term trends of deseasonalized mean and meteo-adjusted peak ozone concentrations were calculated across large parts of Europe for the time period 2000–2015. A multidimensional scheme was used for a detailed trend analysis, based on the identified clusters, which reflect precursor emissions and meteorological influence either on the inter-annual or the short-term timescale. Decreasing mean ozone concentrations at rural sites and increasing or stabilizing at urban sites were observed. At the same time, downward trends for peak ozone concentrations were detected for all site types. In addition, a reduction of the amplitude in the seasonal cycle of ozone and a shift in the occurrence of the seasonal maximum towards earlier time of the year were observed. Finally, a reduced sensitivity of ozone to temperature was identified. It was concluded that long-term trends of mean and peak ozone concentrations are mostly controlled by precursor emissions changes, while seasonal cycle trends and changes in the sensitivity of ozone to temperature are among other factors driven by regional climatic conditions.


Background/introduction Sexualised substance use (chemsex) is an emergent phenomenon amongst some gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men (GBMSM). Aim(s)/objectives To describe patterns of chemsex and clinical characteristics of GBMSM attending two London sexual health clinics. Methods Retrospective case-notes review. Data on demographics, chemsex practices, sexual behaviour, STI diagnoses and HIV status extracted from a new holistic standardised profoma used in GBMSM clinics June to December 2014. Results 27% (n = 127) of 531 cases disclosed drug use. 59% (n = 73/124) reported chemsex, 13% (n = 15/116) injected. Drugs: Mephedrone (n = 48), GHB/GBL (n = 38), Crystal Meth (n = 28) and Cocaine (n = 8). 1/3 disclosed > one chemsex session/month. Chemsex was significantly associated with the risk taking behaviours transactional sex, group sex, fisting, sharing sex toys, HIV and hepatitis sero-discordancy (p < 0.05), more reported sexual partners (median 3 vs. 2 in past 3 months; P < 0.0001) and HIV positivity (35% vs 7% p < 0.0001). STIs were diagnosed more frequently in chemsex participants; Gonorrhoea (39% vs. 6% p < 0.0001), Chlamydia (11% vs. 4% p = 0.05), Hepatitis C (5% vs 0.3% p = 0.03) and PEPSE was more frequently prescribed (14% vs. 2% p = 0.001). 42% of patients perceived chemsex to have had an adverse consequences on their physical/ mental health or career. Discussion/conclusion The majority of GBMSM reporting chemsex were HIV negative and many perceived negative consequences from chemsex. It was also significantly associated with risk taking behaviours, STIs, hepatitis C and being HIV positive. A holistic assessment of GBMSM enables the identification of opportunities for targeted prevention, health promotion and wellbeing interventions.


Meta-learning aims to perform fast adaptation on a new task through learning a "prior" from multiple existing tasks. A common practice in meta-learning is to perform a train-validation split where the prior adapts to the task on one split of the data, and the resulting predictor is evaluated on another split. Despite its prevalence, the importance of the train-validation split is not well understood either in theory or in practice, particularly in comparison to the more direct non-splitting method, which uses all the per-task data for both training and evaluation.
We provide a detailed theoretical study on whether and when the train-validation split is helpful on the linear centroid meta-learning problem, in the asymptotic setting where the number of tasks goes to infinity. We show that the splitting method converges to the optimal prior as expected, whereas the non-splitting method does not in general without structural assumptions on the data. In contrast, if the data are generated from linear models (the realizable regime), we show that both the splitting and non-splitting methods converge to the optimal prior. Further, perhaps surprisingly, our main result shows that the non-splitting method achieves a strictly better asymptotic excess risk under this data distribution, even when the regularization parameter and split ratio are optimally tuned for both methods. Our results highlight that data splitting may not always be preferable, especially when the data is realizable by the model. We validate our theories by experimentally showing that the non-splitting method can indeed outperform the splitting method, on both simulations and real meta-learning tasks.


In this study, salmon by-products were utilised to produce high ash content (AC) salmon bone powder (SBP) using hydrolytic enzyme and apply in the production of Tra catfish cake. The by- products included 61.9% of moisture, 43.1% of protein, 45.4% of lipid, 10.2% of ash, 3.7% of calcium and 2.3% of phosphorus (on dry weight basis). The AC of SBP achieved the maximal value of 46.9% when hydrolytic enzyme of Alcalase, pH value of 6.5, temperature of 60oC, the Enzyme/Substrate (E/S) ratio of 60 U/g protein and time of 4 hours. The obtained SBP contained 23.1% of calcium, 11.7% of phosphorus and without heavy metals such as cadmium, mercury and lead. The fish cake added with 2% of SBP owned the highest gel strength, folding score and whiteness of 287.4, AA and 65.3, respectively and it was accepted by the test panel. Hence, SBP could be used in the production of Tra catfish cake as a mineral supplement.


Litsea petiolata Hk. f was included Lauraceae family, and the previous study had been isolated 5 compounds from the Litsea petiolata Hk. f stem bark dichloromethane extract namely harman or aribine, norharman, reticuline, isoboldine, and thalifoline. Antioxidants can prevent tissue damage by free radical. Free radical production continuously in all cells as cellular function usually, but excess production can cause many diseases. The research aimed to assay the activity of antioxidant from the extract and fractions of the Litsea petiolata Hk. f stem bark with DPPH assay and FRAP assay. The extract was obtained by soxhletation used dichloromethane as solvent. The fractions fractionated with column chromatography. The antioxidant test used DPPH assay and FRAP assay. The IC50 values for the 2, 2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging test of the dichloromethane extract was 27.36 µg/mL, the fraction A was 113.74 µg/mL, fraction B was 60.17 µg/mL, and the control positive (quercetin) was 3.96 µg/ml. The EC50 values for ferric ion reducing antioxidant potential (FRAP) test of the dichloromethane extract was obtained 13.47 µg/mL, the fraction A was 76.49 µg/mL, fraction B was 55.73 µg/mL, and the control positive (quercetin) was 14.01 µg/ml. The extract had higher antioxidant activity than the fractions, and by FRAP test the extract showed better antioxidant activity than the positive control (quercetin).


The aging of the Russian population and the rapid shrinking of its labor force in coming decades will make the human capital each worker contributes increasingly vital for sustaining economic output and growth. While improvements in general education are necessary to build the foundation for a productive future labor force, a broad-based and effective system of adult education can provide second-chance opportunities for current workers to enhance their productivity and lengthen their working lives and for low-skilled immigrants to be integrated into the workforce. How well the Russian Federation addresses these multiple needs at and beyond the workplace will depend on how effective its adult education system is. This study targeting policymakers outlines the problems of Russia's growing skills gap, especially the shortage of higher-order cognitive and socio-emotional skills, and examines the current state of adult education.


We have previously identified and mapped a locus within human chromosome 11p11.2-p12 that suppresses the tumorigenic potential of a rat liver tumor cell line (termed GN6TF) which contains well defined chromosomal aberrations involving rat chromosomes 1, 4, 7, and 10. In the present study, we investigated the potential of this human 11p11.2-p12 liver tumor suppressor locus to suppress the tumorigenic potential of two other rat liver tumor cell lines (GN3TG and GP10TA) following microcell-mediated introduction of human chromosome 11. These tumor cell lines are aneuploid and contain chromosomal abnormalities that are similar to the GN6TF tumor line. The tumorigenic potential and other phenotypic characteristics of GN3TG-11neo and GP10TA-11neo microcell hybrid (MCH) cell lines were variable, and dependent upon the status of the introduced human chromosome 11. MCH cell lines that retained the region of 11p11. 2-p12 delineated by microsatellite markers D11S1385 and D11S903 exhibited suppression of tumorigenicity in vivo (decrease in tumorigenicity and/or elongation of latency), whereas, the tumorigenic potential of one MCH line that lacked markers in this region of human 11p11.2-p12, but retained flanking markers, was not changed from that of the parental tumor cell line. The chromosomal interval between microsatellite markers D11S1385 and D11S903 encompasses the previously localized minimal liver tumor suppressor region, suggesting that a common locus is responsible for tumor suppression among the rat liver tumor cell lines examined. The results of the present study have verified the presence of a liver tumor suppressor locus within human 11p11.2-p12, and have identified a substantial number of microsatellite markers that are closely linked to this tumor suppressor region. These chromosomal markers will facilitate positional cloning of candidate genes from this region, and may prove useful for determining the involvement of this locus in the pathogenesis of human liver cancer.


The developing musculoskeletal structures of the immature athlete are uniquely susceptible to injury, particularly at the physes. These growth plates are present in arm and leg bones, and some may not close until the late teen years. Early literature suggested that weight training might be inappropriate for these athletes. However, recent evidence suggests that, properly done, strength/resistance training may not only be safe, it may also help reduce the risk of injury for the young athletes. Nurses are often called upon to advise coaches of formal and community athletic programs, and need to know the underlying physiology of developing bone and muscle as well as the current recommendations related to training. Language: en


This study focus on the nature of different Si-based sensitizers for Er3+ ions in Silicon- Rich Silicon oxide thin films. The samples were first analyzed by Cathodoluminescence technique to probe all emitting centers in the films. Some of these centers were found to be potential sensitizers for Er3+ ions, such as Silicon Oxygen Deficient Center and Non-Bridging Oxygen Hole Center, in addition to the well-known Silicon-nanoclusters (Si-nc). The influence of the thickness was subsequently examined, revealing that the formation of Si-nc is inhibited for films thinner than 100 nm and this led to less sensitization of the Er3+ ions. We demonstrate that the introduction of a SiO2 buffer layer can overcome this issue and increase the luminescence of Er3+ ions by a factor of five for films thinner than 50 nm that are usually used for electrically-driven photonic devices.


The biophysical and socioeconomic factors are thought to have close relationships with the Land Surface Temperature (LST) due to the physical characteristics of green areas, building spaces and the influences of socially-related and economically-related factors. This study spatially and quantitatively examines the influences of biophysical and socioeconomic data on LST using Landsat TM image and census data in Hong Kong, and attempts to model the LST by a few but effective integration methodologies. The selected biophysical factors include Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) and Normalized Difference Building Index (NDBI). The socioeconomic data includes population density, per capita income, percentage of college graduates, percentage of modern building, percentage of old buildings and village houses, and building density. Data integration using the Principal Components Analysis (PCA) and Stepwise Regression (SR) revealed that the NDVI and NDBI are the prominent factors on LST. The NDVI has an inverse relationship with the LST while the NDBI has a positive correlation. These support the facts that green areas provide a cooling effect to the surroundings in a city and the increase in building spaces leads to a rise in LST. It is also noted that high-income, highly educated families prefer to live in green and open space areas, and old buildings and antique villages in Hong Kong still preserve green areas. The backward SR method shows the strongest correlation (r=0.836 and s.d.=0.586) exists between LST and the biophysical/socioeconomic parameters. These findings can be used for investigating other urban thermal environments and as measures for analyzing the mitigating effects of urban heat island caused by socio-related factors.


Neuroscientific theory suggests that dopaminergic neurons broadcast global reward prediction errors to large areas of the brain influencing the synaptic plasticity of the neurons in those regions. We build on this theory to propose a multi-agent learning framework with spiking neurons in the generalized linear model (GLM) formulation as agents, to solve reinforcement learning (RL) tasks. We show that a network of GLM spiking agents connected in a hierarchical fashion, where each spiking agent modulates its firing policy based on local information and a global prediction error, can learn complex action representations to solve RL tasks. We further show how leveraging principles of modularity and population coding inspired from the brain can help reduce variance in the learning updates making it a viable optimization technique.


The author analyses in depth the long-lasting territorial dispute between India and Pakistan over Sir Creek situated in the Indus Delta and the neighboring area. This area is of great importance for the economy and security of the two nations. The article encompasses an overview of the historic background of the dispute and highlights both Indian and Pakistani positions during the negotiation process. The author looks at the legal aspects of the territorial dispute, including an overview of international rules relevant to regulating the dispute. The paper highlights the economic significance of the area from different perspectives including the importance of fishing for local populations as well as energy security, crucial for such emerging economies as India and Pakistan. The significance of the area in terms of defense and security, especially in the context of combating terrorism is also considered. The author argues that the territorial dispute is not likely to be resolved in the short or medium term. Both India and Pakistan will continue to refer to the international rules that are consistent with their stances in the dispute, and the situation in the region is likely to become more and more explosive. The author uses historical methods to compare the positions of India and Pakistan over time and to scrutinize the role of the territorial dispute in the Indo-Pakistani relation, analyses and interprets official statements concerning the territorial dispute and applies statistical methods to assess the economic potential of the disputed area.


Wastewaters from various industries are a main source of the contaminants in aquatic environments. The authors evaluated the hormonal activities (estrogenic/anti‐estrogenic activities, androgenic/anti‐androgenic activities) and genotoxicity of various effluents from textile and dyeing plants, electronic and electroplate factories, pulp and paper mills, fine chemical factories, and municipal wastewater treatment plants in the Pearl River Delta region by using in vitro bioassays (yeast estrogen screen [YES]; yeast androgen screen [YAS]; and genotoxicity assay [umu/SOS]) combined with chemical analysis. The results demonstrated the presence of estrogenic, anti‐estrogenic, and anti‐androgenic activity in most industrial effluents, whereas no androgenic activities were detected in all of the effluents. The measured estrogenic activities expressed as estradiol equivalent concentrations (EEQs) ranged from below detection (3 of 26 samples) to 40.7 ng/L, with a mean of 7.33 ng/L in all effluents. A good linear relationship was found between the EEQs measured by YES bioassay and the EEQs calculated from chemical concentrations. These detected estrogenic compounds, such as 4‐nonylphenol and estrone, were responsible for the estrogenic activities in the effluents. The genotoxic effects expressed as benzo[a]pyrene equivalent concentrations (BaP EQs) varied between below detection and 88.2 µg/L, with a mean of 8.76 µg/L in all effluents. The target polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons were minor contributors to the genotoxicity in the effluents, and some nontarget compounds in the effluents were responsible for the measured genotoxicity. In terms of estrogenic activities and genotoxicity, discharge of these effluents could pose high risks to aquatic organisms in the receiving environments. Environ. Toxicol. Chem. 2012;31:1273–1282. © 2012 SETAC


In this paper we study the diversity of users of open access articles on the Finnish Journal.fi platform. This platform hosts around hundred open access journals from Finland publishing in different fields and mainly Finnish and English languages. The study is based on an online survey, conducted on 48 journals during Spring 2020, in which visitors were asked to indicate their background and allow their location and download behaviour be tracked. Among 668 survey participants, the two largest groups were students (40%) and researchers (36%), followed by private citizens (8%), other experts (7%) and teachers (5%). Other identified user categories include journalists, civil servants, entrepreneurs and politicians. While new publications attract a considerable share of the views, there is still a relatively large interest, especially among students, in older materials. Our findings indicate that Finnish language publications are particularly important for reaching students, citizens, experts and politicians. Thus, open access to publications in national languages is vital for the local relevance and outreach of research.


This paper introduces a new open CNC system for winding machines which can overcome the shortcomings the traditional winding machine existed, such as the low control-accuracy, the low speed and the poor quality of its product. The system takes Microprocessor MC68HC000 as the core and its working mode is centralized control and time-sharing processing. The highest drive pulse of the system reaches 500 KPPS and the drive aufloesung can be as high as 0.001mm/Pulse. So, the system software, together with the winding machines' development kits and operating software, can provide an open design platform of the controller for the winding machine, and it may cater to the market's needs for winding machines


The kind of clear-cut model of the genetic sources of alcoholism perceived by the public and presented in popular tracts does not accurately reflect the state of knowledge in this area. No persuasive genetic mechanism has been proposed to account for accumulated data about alcoholic behavior, social differences in alcoholism rates or the unfolding of the disease. Biological findings about the offspring of alcoholics have been inconsistent and grounds exist to challenge the notion of an enhanced genetic liability for alcoholism that has been accepted wisdom for the last decade. Genuine attempts to forge data and theory into genetic models have been limited to men alcoholics and to a minority of severely afflicted alcoholics with other special characteristics. However, several investigators dispute the idea of a special type of inherited alcoholism affecting only such groups. Even for these populations, balanced genetic models leave room for the substantial impact of environmental, social and individual factors (including personal values and intentions) so that drinking to excess can only be predicted within a complex, multivariate framework. The denial of this complexity in some quarters obscures what has been discovered through genetically oriented research and has dangerous consequences for prevention and treatment policies.


The osseointegration trans-femoral implant is a new orthopedic anchoring method to attach prosthetic limb. The success of this technique depends on how healthy the osseointegration between implant and bone can be achieved and how the post-surgical rehabilitation is progressed. The current clinical practice is based on patient fitness feeling. To achieve a high success rate of osseointegration and an optimal rehabilitation process, a quantitative measurement of the degree of osseointegration is required. In this paper, the authors present a non-invasive method to determine the stability of an osseointegration trans-femoral implant system. It uses resonant frequency of implant system to observe the integration between the implant and bone. The vibration signals of a trans-femoral implant system were collected using an accelerometer attached to the implant abutment and analyzed using Fast Fourier Transform (FFT). The results of in vitro tests are presented to demonstrate that the developed instrument system can be used in future in vivo clinical research.


A large series of concrete shrinkage tests which can be used for statistical purposes is reported. The series involves two groups of 36 identical cylindrical specimens, with a diameter of 83 mm for Group 1 and 160 mm for Group 2. Statistical analysis of shrinkage strains and strain rates is presented, and the goodness of fit by normal distribution, log-normal distribution, and gamma distribution is analyzed. Correlations between the values at various times are determined. The study reveals only the intrinsic randomness of the shrinkage process (along with measurement errors) and omits the superimposed uncertainties due to randomness of environment and to prediction uncertainties in the influence of material composition, curing, and other factors. It is found that the coefficient of variation of shrinkage values first decreases with time and then levels off at 6 to 9%. The normal, log-normal, and gamma distributions all give acceptable fits of the observed distributions. There are small systematic deviations from normal distribution: the distributions are slightly skewed to the right and slightly platykurtic. The skewness is more pronounced for the distribution of shrinkage rates, and asymmetric distributions such as gamma give slightly better fits. The correlation of single specimen shrinkage deviations from the group mean at various times is characterized by correlation coefficients. Their value is found to decrease slowly as the length of the time interval increases. For shrinkage rates, this decrease is much faster. The standard deviation of the single specimen shrinkage from its smoothed shrinkage curve is much less than (about one third of) the standard deviation of the single specimen relative to the mean for all specimens. The standard deviation of all single-specimen smoothed shrinkage curves at one time is almost the same as (about 95% of) the standard deviation of the original unsmoothed data for that time.


By the afternoon of September 11, entertainment executives were rushing to remove media products containing 'inappropriate' references from American television and movie screens. While references to terrorism were the starting point, their caution extended to themes of war and threats against America, all in the name of 'public sensitivity' and 'respect for the victims'. Simultaneously, uninterrupted news coverage was brimming with scenes of devastation and heartbreak. What makes fiction inappropriate when the equivalent fact is not? Can fiction help the viewer process fact, and if so, should it?


"Dyslexia is best described as a specific difficulty in learning, in one or more of reading,
spelling and written language which may be accompanied by difficulty in number work, short
term memory, sequencing auditory and/or visual perception, and motor skills." (British
Dyslexia Association)
This thesis aims to investigate the extent to which public libraries attempt to meet the needs of
the dyslexic community. Libraries are key resource centres for reading and accessing the
written language and should aim to meet the needs of their various user communities. Libraries
should, therefore, be in the forefront in assisting users in overcoming this disability. Although
much is written on the subject of dyslexia and most libraries have descriptive material on the
subject, public libraries do not appear particularly proactive in providing material for use by
dyslexic individuals. There is a tendency for dyslexia to be seen primarily as an educational
issue. However, iflibraries are to continue to have a role in self improvement, literacy and life
long learning, they should be addressing areas such as dyslexia.
A survey of the literature revealed that little has been written in the professional literature
about public library resource provision for dyslexic users. A questionnaire was sent 152
Public Library authorities in the United Kingdom (excluding Scotland) to ascertain the range
of services and initiatives offered to people with dyslexia. The results indicate that a modest
number of authorities have dedicated collections for people with dyslexia as well as material
on the subject aimed towards parents, teachers and carers. The findings suggest that although
interest in the potential role of libraries in serving the needs of the dyslexic community is high,
relatively little is being done to address the issue in a structured way.
Library authorities with dedicated collections for people with dyslexia have been investigated
as comparative case studies covering themes such as composition and funding of collections,
involvement with other agencies, methods of communication, location and lessons learned.
Other case studies explore user needs and actions undertaken by a specialist resource centre.
Supporting studies include a survey of resources available from specialist publishers.
The thesis concludes witl a summary of findings ancLrecommendations for public libraries on
the way ahead in terms of best practice to meet. the needs of dyslexic individuals.


Abstract The author presents a long-term follow-up on Achilles tendon rupture and repair. The study includes comparison of Achilles tendon rupture and repair performed by the author and other surgeons. There was an alarmingly high incidence of complications with the Achilles repair and partial ruptures not reported in the literature. Discussion regarding ways to reduce complications using the author's classification system, and repair, was effective based on this study.


From a systematic search of the UniGene and dbEST databanks, using human beta 4-galactosyltransferase (beta 4GalT-I), which is recognized to function in lactose biosynthesis, as the query sequence, we have identified five additional gene family members denoted as beta 4GalT-II, -III, -IV, -V, and -VI. Complementary DNA clones containing the complete coding regions for each of the five human homologs were obtained or generated by a PCR-based strategy (RACE) and sequenced. Relative to beta 4GalT-I, the percent sequence identity at the amino acid level between the individual family members, ranges from 33% (beta 4GalT-VI) to 55% (beta 4GalT-II). The highest sequence identity between any of the homologs is between beta 4GalT-V and beta 4GalT-VI (68%). beta 4GalT-II is the ortholog of the chicken beta 4GalT-II gene, which has been demonstrated to encode an alpha-lactalbumin responsive beta 4-galactosyltransferase (Shaper et al., J. Biol. Chem., 272, 31389-31399, 1997). As established by Northern analysis, beta 4GalT-II and -IV show the most restricted pattern of tissue expression. High steady state levels of beta 4GalT-II mRNA are seen only in fetal brain and adult heart, muscle, and pancreas; relatively high levels of beta 4GalT-VI mRNA are seen only in adult brain. When the corresponding mouse EST clone for each of the beta 4GalT family members was used as the hybridization probe for Northern analysis of murine mammary tissue, transcription of only the beta 4GalT-I gene could be detected in the lactating mammary gland. These observations support the conclusion that among the six known beta 4GalT family members in the mammalian genome, that have been generated through multiple gene duplication events of an ancestral gene(s), only the beta 4GalT-I ancestral lineage was recruited for lactose biosynthesis during the evolution of mammals.


SUMMARY: Arthrobacter globiformis NCIBIO683 was grown under different conditions in continuous and batch culture to produce rods, cocci and cystites. All forms were resistant to lysozyme and enzyme L1 and did not autolyse readily. Walls contained polysaccharide, made up of glucose, galactose and rhamnose, as well as peptidoglycan and phosphorus. The polysaccharide constituted about 60 % of the wall of each form, although the molar ratios of glucose, galactose and rhamnose varied from 1:1:1 in the cystites to 1:3:2 in rods and 1:3:5:3 in cocci. The molar ratios of alanine, glutamic acid, threonine and lysine in the peptidoglycan were similar in all three preparations (4:1:1:1). Electron microscopy showed that the wall was structurally homogeneous but was thicker in cocci (10 to 27 nm) than in rods (6 to 12 nm). The wall in cystites varied in thickness (6 to 40 nm) and was sometimes distorted due to the accumulation of large amounts of glycogen which expanded the organism and displaced the ribosomes from most parts of the organism. Glycogen granules were also seen in rods but never in cocci. Division of Arthrobacter was by binary fission and budding. Buds could usually be distinguished from parent organisms since the latter contained less ribosomes and mesosomes. Large periplasmic spaces were found, especially in budding cells. Cross-wall formation differed in binary fission and budding.


The 17D-204 vaccine manufactured in South Africa (17D-204-SA) and a large plaque variant (17D-LP) derived from it were highly virulent in adult mice. The LD50 of 17D-LP virus was 0-2 p.f.u. for mice following intracerebral inoculation. In comparison, a medium plaque variant derived from 17D-LP, termed 17D-MP virus, was found to be attenuated in adult mice following the same route of inoculation (> 10(4) p.f.u./LD50). Replication of 17D-MP virus was decreased in infected mouse brains compared to 17D-LP virus. Also, 17D-MP virus was slightly temperature sensitive at 39.5 degrees C. Compared to its parent viruses, 17D-204-SA and 17D-LP, 17D-MP virus had one unique mutation at nt 8045 in the genome which resulted in a single amino acid substitution (Pro --> Ser) at residue 137 of the NS5 protein and appeared to be the mutation responsible for the attenuation of 17D-MP virus. This is the first time that altered virulence of a flavivirus caused by mutation in a non-structural protein gene, other than NS1, has been reported.


There are three integral components to value a fixed rate mortgage loan: 1) the mortgagors' American straddle option on the underling loan, (a call option to refinance and a put option to default); 2) the mortgagors' heterogeneous behavior in exercising the options inefficiently; and 3) the market price of risk, [the option adjusted spread (OAS)]. Despite the dominance of mortgages in the capital market, scant research considers the valuation of mortgage loans while taking these three components into consideration, a contribution of this article. Specifically, this article uses a multinomial logit model to describe the mortgagors' behavior in dealing with the competing refinancing and default risks, and then utilizes a two factor arbitrage-free interest rate model to value the mortgages.


Cancer cells display an increased reliance on glycolysis despite the presence of sufficient oxygen levels to support mitochondrial functions. In this study, we asked whether ameliorating mitochondrial functions in cancer cells might limit their proliferative capacity. Specifically, we increased mitochondrial metabolism in a murine cellular model of ErbB2/Neu-induced breast cancer by ectopically expressing the transcriptional coactivator peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor γ coactivator 1α (PGC-1α), a master regulator of mitochondrial metabolism. As predicted, ErbB2/Neu cells ectopically expressing PGC-1α displayed an increased level of mitochondrial metabolism and reduced proliferative capacity in vitro, compared with controls. In contrast, ErbB2/Neu cells ectopically expressing PGC-1α formed larger tumors in vivo. These tumors exhibited increased concentrations of glucose and the angiogenic factor VEGF as well as higher expression of ErbB2/Neu compared with controls. We discovered that ErbB2/Neu levels were sensitive to nutrient availability, such that reduced glucose concentrations resulted in diminished ErbB2/Neu protein levels. Therefore, our data indicate that PGC-1α prevents the nutrient-mediated downregulation of ErbB2/Neu in tumors by increasing glucose supply. Mechanistic investigations revealed that the regulation of ErbB2/Neu levels by glucose was mediated by the unfolded protein response (UPR). Incubation of ErbB2/Neu-induced breast cancer cells in limited glucose concentrations or with drugs that activate the UPR led to significant reductions in ErbB2/Neu protein levels. Also, ErbB2/Neu-induced tumors ectopically expressing PGC-1α displayed lowered UPR activation compared with controls. Together, our findings uncover an unexpected link between PGC-1α-mediated nutrient availability, UPR, and ErbB2/Neu levels.


Deep neural networks can empirically perform efficient hierarchical learning, in which the layers learn useful representations of the data. However, how they make use of the intermediate representations are not explained by recent theories that relate them to "shallow learners" such as kernels. In this work, we demonstrate that intermediate neural representations add more flexibility to neural networks and can be advantageous over raw inputs. We consider a fixed, randomly initialized neural network as a representation function fed into another trainable network. When the trainable network is the quadratic Taylor model of a wide two-layer network, we show that neural representation can achieve improved sample complexities compared with the raw input: For learning a low-rank degree-$p$ polynomial ($p \geq 4$) in $d$ dimension, neural representation requires only $\tilde{O}(d^{\lceil p/2 \rceil})$ samples, while the best-known sample complexity upper bound for the raw input is $\tilde{O}(d^{p-1})$. We contrast our result with a lower bound showing that neural representations do not improve over the raw input (in the infinite width limit), when the trainable network is instead a neural tangent kernel. Our results characterize when neural representations are beneficial, and may provide a new perspective on why depth is important in deep learning.


Auctions are often not independent from each other, and the movement of bidders across different auctions is one of the key linkages. We propose different measures of bidder movements (which we call bidder migration in this paper) and how such migration affects the price outcome of later auctions. Moreover, we identify two potentially confounding effects: the learning effect where bidders learn to become more sophisticated bidders, hence driving down the price of later auctions; and the desperation effect where bidders, in a hope to obtain the product that they previous couldn't win, tend to increase the prices. We empirically investigated these effects using bidding history data from eBay and Generalized Linear Model specifications. We further discussed potential applications of bidder migration for online auction platforms, such as bidder segmentation, dynamic promotions, and shill bidder detection. These bidder migration measures can be provided to internet auction sellers as a value-added service,


We numerically simulate seismic wave propagation from the 1999 Mw7.4 Izmit, Turkey, earthquake, using a 3D finite difference method based on published finite source models obtained by waveform inversions. This earthquake has been reported, based on observations at the near-fault station SKR, as an example of super-shear rupture propagation towards the east. Although the modeled ground motion does show a characteristic Mach wave from the fault plane, it is difficult to identify any particular effects in terms of peak ground velocity, an important parameter in earthquake engineering. This is because the fault spatial heterogeneity is strong enough to mask the properties of super-shear rupture, which has been reported through several numerical simulations mostly based on homogeneous fault conditions. This study demonstrates the importance of studying ground motions for known earthquakes through numerical simulations based on finite-fault source models.


In this work, a series of Pressure Sensitive Adhesives (PSAs) of poly(n-butyl acrylate-2-ethyl hexyl acrylate- acrylic acid) were synthesized via emulsion polymerization. The PSAs particles were carried out in a semicontinuous process. Synthesis was carried out in two stages of thereaction. In the first, a core of poly(butyl acrylate-co-2-ethyl hexyl acrylate) with a composition of 50/50 wt%/wt % was synthesized, while in the second stage, the core was charged in the reactor as a seed; and was recovered with a poly(butyl acrylate-co-2-ethyl hexyl acrylate-co-acrylic acid) shell. The acrylic acid in the shell was varied between 0, 1, 3 and 5 wt%. The PSAs obtained were characterized by dynamic light scattering and zeta potential. The results of dynamic light scattering showed monodispersed particles with an average particle size of 350 nm, while the zeta potential results decreased as the acrylic acid content increased. The mechanical tests showed that the increase in acrylic acid content in the particle shell improves the adhesion properties. For peel adhesion, the maximum value was reached at 3 wt% of acrylic acid.


Introduction: Of the nearly 38 million people in the USA who receive statin therapy, 0.1‐0.5% experience severe or life‐threatening myopathic side effects. Methods: We performed a genome‐wide association study (GWAS) in a group of patients with severe statin myopathy versus a statin‐tolerant group to identify genetic susceptibility loci. Results: Replication studies in independent groups of severe statin myopathy (n = 190) and statin‐tolerant controls (n = 130) resulted in the identification of three single‐nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), rs9342288, rs1337512, and rs3857532, in the eyes shut homolog (EYS) on chromosome 6 suggestive of an association with risk for severe statin myopathy (P = 0.0003–0.0008). Analysis of EYS cDNA demonstrated that EYS gene products are complex and expressed with relative abundance in the spinal cord as well as in the retina. Conclusion: Structural similarities of these EYS gene products to members of the Notch signaling pathway and to agrin suggest a possible functional role in the maintenance and regeneration of the structural integrity of skeletal muscle. Muscle Nerve, 2011


Reinhardt et al. (E. Reinhardt, J. Scott, K. Gray, and R. Keane, Can. J. For. Res. 36: 2803–2814, 2006) questioned the validity of the regression equations for estimating canopy base heights in coniferous forest fuel types developed by Cruz et al. (M.G. Cruz, M.E. Alexander, and R.H. Wakimoto, Int. J. Wildland Fire, 12: 39–50, 2003) to produce logical results when applied to simulations involving low thinning. This turns out to be an error in interpretation with regard to the stand height input parameter.