In the context of the prediction of the long-term behaviour of reinforced concrete structures involved in the nuclear waste storage, the corrosion mechanisms of steels have to be assessed. When mild steel rebars are embedded in concrete, the chemical environment of the reinforcement is progressively modified, due to the carbonation of the concrete matrix. This modification leads to the variation of iron oxides properties formed at the steel/concrete interface, and the active corrosion can be initiated. The aim of this study is to evaluate the passivation behaviour and to provide insights into the depassivation of mild steel in concrete pore solution. In a young concrete, due to the alkalinity of the interstitial solution, steel reinforcement remains passive. Immersion tests of mild steel substrate in various alkaline solutions (from pH 13 to 10) have been performed. Due to the low thickness of the corrosion layers formed, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy has been used to characterize them. In the passive domain, the corrosion products are similar for the various solutions. The corrosion layer is composed of a mixture of Fe 3+ and Fe 2+ . A similar approach is used to determine the depassivation mechanism. The effect of various components such as carbonates, sulfates and silicates resulting from the dissolution of minerals of cement during the carbonation process is investigated. In addition to the surface analysis, the evolution of the electrochemical behaviour as function of the solution nature (pH) is evaluated with the help of electrochemical measurements (free corrosion potential, cyclic voltamperometry).


Improving health literacy levels would empower people to improve their capacity in using health related information effectively. The study period was six months: this included the collection of data, the analysis of the collected data,and the reporting of the results. The sample size was calculated to be 104.Each research subject was scheduled 4 appointments which included the pretest and posttest of the subject as well as the teaching part of the teach back program. The scores were graded accordingly into three grades. On the first visit the patient was administered a tool,newest vital sign,which has a nutrition label and a questionnaire.The subject would be explained about the label. After the explanation,the subject would be administered the questionnaire which has 6 questions. For every correct answer,an award of one point is made. A score between 0 and 1 points to a high probability of the patient having a literacy level that could be labelled as limited literacy. A score between 2 and 3 points to a medium probability of the patient having a literacy level that could be labelled as limited literacy. A score between 4 and 6 points to a level of literacy that could be labelled as sufficient to competently traverse the healthcare system. After the collection of pretest results,the teach back method of educating patients about health literacy will be implemented for two sessions and follow up will be done for the next two consecutive visit.The assessment of health literacy will be done on the fourth visit and analysis of results will be done to see the improvement if any. Out of 104 patients who attended the pre and the post-tests,the health literacy status was found to be higher among females compared to males in the pretest scores. With relation to age it was found that the people in the age group of 18-25 lacked knowledge on health literacy. The age group above 35 had higher literacy levels.


Contract grading has achieved some prominence in our field as a practice associated with critical pedagogy. In this context we describe a hybrid grading contract where students earn a course grade of B based not on our evaluation of their writing quality but solely on their completion of the specified activities. The contract lists activities we've found most reliable in producing B-quality writing over fourteen weeks. Higher grades are awarded to students who produce exemplary portfolios. Thus we freely give students lots of evaluative feedback on their writing, but students can count on a course grade of B if they do all the required activities—no matter our feedback. Our goal in using contracts is to enable teachers and students to give as much attention as possible to writing and as little as possible to grades.


This document describes the LISP (Locator/ID Separation Protocol) Map-
Versioning mechanism, which provides in-packet information about
Endpoint ID to Routing Locator (EID-to-RLOC) mappings used to
encapsulate LISP data packets. The proposed approach is based on
associating a version number to EID-to-RLOC mappings and the transport
of such a version number in the LISP-specific header of LISP-
encapsulated packets. LISP Map-Versioning is particularly useful to
inform communicating Ingress Tunnel Routers (ITRs) and Egress Tunnel
Routers (ETRs) about modifications of the mappings used to encapsulate
packets. The mechanism is transparent to implementations not
supporting this feature, since in the LISP- specific header and in the
Map Records, bits used for Map-Versioning can be safely ignored by
ITRs and ETRs that do not support the mechanism. This document defines
an Experimental Protocol for the Internet community.


The study aims to investigate the casual effect of Socio-Political factors on Systematic risk in Pakistan Stock Exchange. For this purpose, the study used 250 Non-Financial companies monthly rolling Beta (36 months window) data as well as Socio-Political factors like Assassination, Terrorism, Riots and General Strikes from 2001-2010 by using 23,349 observations. Assassination was further divided into two dimensions i.e. Assassination and Assassination through drone attack. Terrorism was divided into three sub dimensions i.e. Guerilla Attacks on Military, Police, Paramilitary and Intelligence, Terrorism (Terrorism attack on General mass) and Military Paramilitary or Police Attack on non-state combatants. The study used stepwise regression to identify the variables affecting the systematic risk. With exception to Riots, number of events instead of number of persons killed found to be statistically significant proxies to measure the effect of Socio-Political factors on systematic risk. General strike has no effect on systematic risk.


PURPOSE
To update eligibility and outcome measures in trials that evaluate systemic treatment for patients with progressive prostate cancer and castrate levels of testosterone.

METHODS
A committee of investigators experienced in conducting trials for prostate cancer defined new consensus criteria by reviewing previous criteria, Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors (RECIST), and emerging trial data.

RESULTS
The Prostate Cancer Clinical Trials Working Group (PCWG2) recommends a two-objective paradigm: (1) controlling, relieving, or eliminating disease manifestations that are present when treatment is initiated and (2) preventing or delaying disease manifestations expected to occur. Prostate cancers progressing despite castrate levels of testosterone are considered castration resistant and not hormone refractory. Eligibility is defined using standard disease assessments to authenticate disease progression, prior treatment, distinct clinical subtypes, and predictive models. Outcomes are reported independently for prostate-specific antigen (PSA), imaging, and clinical measures, avoiding grouped categorizations such as complete or partial response. In most trials, early changes in PSA and/or pain are not acted on without other evidence of disease progression, and treatment should be continued for at least 12 weeks to ensure adequate drug exposure. Bone scans are reported as "new lesions" or "no new lesions," changes in soft-tissue disease assessed by RECIST, and pain using validated scales. Defining eligibility for prevent/delay end points requires attention to estimated event frequency and/or random assignment to a control group.

CONCLUSION
PCWG2 recommends increasing emphasis on time-to-event end points (ie, failure to progress) as decision aids in proceeding from phase II to phase III trials. Recommendations will evolve as data are generated on the utility of intermediate end points to predict clinical benefit.


Vehicle trajectory information can enable many promising applications, but obtaining the information is very challenging. Thanks to the Vehicular Adhoc Network (VANET), in which vehicles and access points can communicate, we can collect trajectory data from vehicles in an area through wireless communication. In this paper, we select intersections to disseminate requests for collecting moving trajectories of all the vehicles in the area, while at the same time minimizing the number of selected intersections. We prove the underlying intersection selection problem is NP-Complete and propose a greedy heuristic to address it approximately. The performance, efficiency and practical issues such as broadcast intervals of the scheme are analyzed in this paper. To deal with the situation that access points are unavailable, we propose a distributed protocol to make vehicles conduct message broadcasting at the selected intersections. The simulation shows our distributed protocol is both efficient and effective.


In recent years, issues of social inequality and social exclusion in mobility and transport have gained increasing attention, both in empirical research and in policymaking and transport development. While some European countries (such as Great Britain, the Netherlands, France and Switzerland) can be seen as outstanding examples in this context, gaps within research and between research findings and political action persist. While researchers have called for more attention to the mobility of individuals and the conditions1 of their mobility, transport planners and politicians (it seems) would rather stick to conventional space- and time-based approaches to accessibility. The issue of social exclusion requires a comprehensive approach : mobility researchers must consider conditions of access and travellers' competencies, skills, needs, habits and preferences. In this endeavor, sociologically based historical research can help. Recent theoretical research on social exclusion in mobility and transport, related social science research in Europe, and empirical findings (especially on income disparities) and associated policies in some European countries are therefore reviewed in this paper, with no pretensions of comprehensiveness.


Abstract In the paleoecological literature, drilling frequency—the percent of specimens in a prey taxon with complete drill holes—is commonly interpreted as an indication of a predator's preference. Such taxon-specific drilling frequencies are often compared with one another and related to underlying prey characteristics such as cost-benefit ratio or body size. Although this approach can demonstrate a predator's relative preference for one prey type over another, it fails to consider whether predation on any prey type is greater than would be expected by a predator without preference. Here we develop a null model for evaluating predator preference in paleoecology by considering drilling frequency in the framework of Manly's alpha, which is a well-established model in the ecological literature that has been used to evaluate predator preferences. In effect, Manly's alpha normalizes taxon-specific drilling frequencies with all potential prey types in the community, allowing for a statistically rigorous test of the null hypothesis that drilling predation, and therefore predator preference, on any given prey type is equivalent to all other available prey types in the community. After discussing the statistical basis for the model, we demonstrate the model's utility by applying it to a published dataset of drilling predation on Pliocene bivalves from Langenboom, Netherlands. The Manly's alpha approach, which uses the same data (i.e., drilling frequencies) that are commonly collected by paleoecologists, provides a null hypothesis to more rigorously assess predator preferences and inherently includes community context for predator-prey interactions in the fossil record.


Spectroscopic properties of four odd-mass nuclei in the rare-earth region have been studied within the Hartree-Fock-plus-Bardeen-Cooper-Schrieffer (HF-BCS) framework with self-consistent blocking using phenomenological SIII Skyrme parameters. The calculations were limited to axially symmetric nuclear shapes. In the BCS framework, the seniority force was used to approximate pairing interaction. The pairing strengths were determined by fitting the neutron and proton pairing strengths to experimental odd-even mass staggering (OES). The neutron and protons pairing strengths were found to be 16 MeV and 15 MeV, respectively. Comparison of intrinsic band-heads energies with existing experimental data were made for two odd-neutron (177Hf, 179Hf) and two odd-proton (177Lu, 179Ta) nuclei. The charge quadrupole moment of some even-even rare-earth nuclei were also evaluated.


Supreme Court justices routinely answer factual questions about the world – such as whether violent video games have a harmful effect on child brain development or whether a partial birth abortion is ever medically necessary. The traditional view is that these findings are informed through the adversary system: by reviewing evidence on the record and briefs on appeal. Routinely, however, the justices also engage in what I call "in house" fact-finding. They independently look beyond the briefs and record to answer general questions of fact, and they rely on their discoveries as authorities. To be sure, judges have always done this, and the Federal Rules of Evidence contain no rule restricting it. But times have changed. The world has recently undergone a massive revolution in the way it receives and evaluates information. No longer do justices need to trek to the library to look up factual questions. Instead they can access virtually infinite amounts of factual information at the click of a mouse. This article discusses how that change in technology has and will affect the Court's fact-finding practice. It collects over 100 examples of factual authorities relied on in recent decisions of the U.S. Supreme Court that were found "in house" – i.e. that cannot be found in any of the party briefs, amici briefs, or the joint record. These are not insignificant rarities: almost 60% of the most important Court opinions in the last ten years rely on in house research at least once. The article then examines the potential dangers of in house fact finding in the digital age – specifically the possibility of mistake, the systematic introduction of bias, and notice/legitimacy concerns. It concludes that these concerns require an update to our approach to Supreme Court fact finding. It then offers two independent and contrasting solutions: new procedural rules that restrict reliance on factual authorities found in house, or alterations to the adversary method to allow for more public participation.


Robustness and evolvability are indirectly selected properties of biological systems that still play a significant role in determining evolutionary trajectories. Understanding such second order evolution is even more challenging when considering traits related to cooperation, as the evolution of cooperation itself is governed by indirect selection. To examine the robustness and evolvability of cooperation, we used an agent-based model of digital evolution, Aevol. In Aevol individuals capable of cooperating via costly public good secretion evolve for thousands of generations in a classical tragedy of the commons scenario. We varied the cost of secreting the public good molecule between and within individual experiments and constructed and evaluated millions of mutants to quantify the organisms' position in the fitness landscape. Populations initially evolved at different regimes selecting against secretion, and then continued the evolution at a reasonably low cost of secretion. The populations that experienced a very strong selection against cooperation evolved less secretion than the ones that initially experienced a less drastic selection against cooperation via a high secretion cost. The mutational analysis revealed a correlation between the number of mutants with increased secretion and the secretion level across all costs of secretion. We also evolved several clones of each population to highlight a strong effect of history in general on cooperation. Our work shows that the history of cooperative interactions has an effect on evolutionary dynamics, a result likely to be relevant in any cooperative systems that are frequently experiencing changes in cost and benefit of cooperation.


Scientific and social advances may have affected aspects of their work but these general practitioners continue to play a vital role in delivering primary health care to France's rural population. Reporter Nira Datta and photographer Chris Black went to the village of Genouillac to see how the doctor's role had changed in 50 years. In 1958, World health magazine reported on Dr Edmond, a country doctor in Genouillac, in the central French region of Limousin. On the occasion of the journalists' visit, the doctor had just sat down with his family to Sunday lunch when he was called away to treat a patient in his household surgery. After donning his white coat, the doctor made an incision in the patient's right hand, extracted a wood splinter, before disinfecting and bandaging the wound. The emergency over, the doctor returned to the empty dining room, hoping the doorbell and telephone would remain silent long enough for him to finish his solitary meal. "For 40 years it's been like that day and night. I can't call my soul my own. I belong to them," he said. Edmond--shown here in two pictures by French photographer Robert Doisneau--was carrying on a centuries-old tradition of round-the-clock primary health care in rural France. Since the time of King Louis XIV (1638-1715), the country doctor has been an integral fixture of French rural life, attending to the basic health needs--and more--of villagers. That tradition is carried on today in Genouillac--a village of some 575 people--by Dr Rend Nicolas. The world in which he operates is much changed from Edmond's time, but despite the major advances in medical care, and the social, economic and cultural forces that have impacted on life even in remote communities, the work of the French country doctor, at its core, remains much the same. Country doctors still offer the personal, one-to-one care that hospitals and specialist clinics cannot. Empathy, trust and an intimate knowledge of individual case histories--these are their stock in trade. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Several developments, however, have threatened to erode the role of the country doctor. The advent of tarmac roads and telecommunications, for example, have brought advanced scientific treatments within reach of otherwise isolated villagers. But perhaps the most pressing problem has been the difficulty in recruiting young doctors. The French government has been working on ways to attract more doctors to the countryside to counter what the Lancet described as "a dramatic decline in practitioners in an increasing number of rural regions". In a 2001 article, the Lancet suggested perceived harder working conditions were dissuading young doctors from settling in rural areas. In central and south-western France, in particular, hundreds of practices closed between 1996-2001 when the local doctor retired. Genouillac is a case in point. Five of the seven doctors practising in the region are over 50, including Nicolas himself. Indeed, the ageing of rural doctors is part of a larger challenge--providing health care for an ageing population. Much of Nicolas's daily work involves treating the elderly. The work of country doctors such as Nicolas is in danger of being diminished also as a result of operational changes and the more litigious, aspirational world we live in, according to Dr Guenael Rodier, who completed a medical degree in his native France and now works as a programme director at the World Health Organization (WHO) in Geneva. He refers to today's French rural doctors often having to wear a "legal straitjacket" and no longer able to take initiatives for fear they could be challenged. "I come from a rural part of France," he says, "and when I was back there recently, one of my nephews had a cut that needed a few stitches. I could have done this myself but I didn't have any equipment, so I had to take him to the emergency room in the hospital. No general practitioner would have been willing to do it because they don't want to take the responsibility (because of the legal implications). …


Insider threat detection requires the identification of rare anomalies in contexts where evolving behaviors tend to mask such anomalies. This paper proposes and tests an ensemble-based stream mining algorithm based on supervised learning that addresses this challenge by maintaining an evolving collection of multiple models to classify dynamic data streams of unbounded length. The result is a classifier that exhibits substantially increased classification accuracy for real insider threat streams relative to traditional supervised learning (traditional SVM and one-class SVM) and other single-model approaches.


In this work, the quality of coatings prepared by plasma electrolytic oxidation (PEO) on an AZ31 magnesium alloy were evaluated. This was done by studying the effects of the chemical composition of phosphate-based process electrolytes in combination with different applied current densities on coating thickness, porosity, micro-cracking and corrosion resistance in 0.1 M NaCl. Both processing parameters were studied in four different levels. Mid-term corrosion resistance in 0.1 M NaCl was examined by electrochemical impedance spectroscopy and based on this, corrosion mechanisms were hypothesized. Results of performed experiments showed that the chosen processing parameters and electrolyte composition significantly influenced the morphology and corrosion performance of the prepared PEO coatings. The PEO coating prepared in an electrolyte with 12 g/L Na3PO4·12H2O and using an applied current density 0.05 A/cm2 reached the highest value of polarization resistance. This was more than 11 times higher when compared to the uncoated counterpart.


The recent financial crisis has raised several questions with respect to the corporate governance of financial institutions. This paper investigates whether risk management-related corporate governance mechanisms, such as for example the presence of a chief risk officer (CRO) in a bank's executive board and whether the CRO reports to the CEO or directly to the board of directors, are associated with a better bank performance during the financial crisis of 2007/2008. We measure bank performance by buy-and-hold returns and ROE and we control for standard corporate governance variables such as CEO ownership, board size, and board independence. Most importantly, our results indicate that banks, in which the CRO directly reports to the board of directors and not to the CEO (or other corporate entities), exhibit significantly higher (i.e., less negative) stock returns and ROE during the crisis. In contrast, standard corporate governance variables are mostly insignificantly or even negatively related to the banks' performance during the crisis.


This report presents a general evaluation of the current methodology used by industry for the probabilistic assessment of fire events in nuclear power plants. The basis for this evaluation, in which the strengths and weaknesses of the methods are identified, stem from reviews of several, industry-sponsored, full-scope Probabilistic Risk Assessments (PRAs) and various deterministic/probabilistic approaches used by industry to judge their compliance with or used to seek exemptions from the fire-protection requirements enumerated in Appendix R to 10 CFR 50. In performing this evaluation of the current methodologies, state-of-the-art literature on the modeling of fire propagation/detection/suppression, input parameters, and modeling uncertainties are utilized. Areas are identified where recently-developed, more accurate and complete techniques can be implemented to reduce the state-of-knowledge uncertainties that presently exist. Recommendations are also made which could be the basis for a more suitable and complete fire-risk methodology.


ODS steels are considered as promising materials for the next generation of fission reactors and future fusion reactors due to their outstanding combination of mechanical properties and resistance to radiation damage. The eponymous oxide precipitates are crucial for the properties of the material and the diffusion of yttrium is essential to their formation process.

In the first part of this thesis an interatomic potential for the iron-yttrium system is presented that enables large-scale atomistic simulations. The potential is used to investigate the interaction between substitutional yttrium atoms and edge dislocations and shows a significant attraction between yttrium atoms and the stress field of the dislocation. This leads to yttrium segregation and pinning of dislocation motion. Calculation of vacancy jumps within the core
of edge dislocations reveals a significant reduction of migration barriers, which leads to the conclusion that pipe diffusion can be a relevant diffusion mechanism of yttrium in ODS steels.

The second part deals with the bulk diffusion of yttrium in bcc iron.
Yttrium atoms and other oversized solutes show a high binding energy to vacancies and a considerable relaxation from their lattice site towards a neighboring vacancy. In the case of yttrium the relaxation is so prominent, that the resulting situation may also be considered as an interstitial atom sitting in between two vacancies. We calculate the yttrium-vacancy binding energy and the migration barriers of vacancy jumps in the vicinity of a yttrium atom by
means of nudged-elastic band calculations using DFT calculations. These barriers are used in a kinetic Monte Carlo code to calculate the diffusivity of yttrium and investigate the diffusion mechanism of yttrium in bcc iron with a focus on correlation effects.

The third part of this thesis deals with the impact of oxide precipitates on the radiation resistance of ODS steels. We address the question, if elastic strain fields around \ce{Y2O3} and \ce{Y2Ti2O7} particles cause a long-ranged interaction between the precipitates and point defects. We use kinetic Monte Carlo simulations to simulate the diffusion of point defects in these strain fields and to determine the resulting steady state point defect concentrations. We show, that there is essentially no vacancy-strain interaction while the sink
strength of precipitates for interstitials increases with misfit strain between precipitate and matrix. The total change of point defect concentration with misfit strain is, however, rather limited.


Characterizing and developing drought climatology continues to be a challenging problem. Also as decision makers seek guidance on water management strategies, there is a need for assessing the performance of drought indices. This requires the adaptation of appropriate drought indices that aid in monitoring droughts and hydrological vulnerability on a regional scale. This study aims to assist the process of developing a statewide water shortage and assessment plan (WSP) for the state of Indiana, USA by conducting a focused hydroclimatological assessment of drought variability. Drought climatology was assessed using in-situ observations and regional reanalysis data. A summary of precipitation and evaporation trends, estimated drought variability, worst-case drought scenarios, drought return period, as well as frequency and duration was undertaken, using multiple drought indices and streamflow analysis. Results indicated a regional and local variability in drought susceptibility. The worst-case (200 year return period) prediction showed that Indiana has a 0.5% probability of receiving 45% of normal precipitation over a 12 month drought in any years. Consistent with other studies, the Standard Precipitation Index (SPI) was found to be appropriate for detecting short-term drought conditions over Indiana. This recommendation has now been incorporated in the 2009 Indiana Water Shortage Plan. This study also highlights the difficulties in identifying past droughts from available climatic data, and our results suggest a persistent, high degree of uncertainty in making drought predictions using future climatic projections.


In this paper, I focus on the role of community development corporations (CDCs) in fostering public participation in the local political process. Using survey and interview data gathered from CDCs operating in the Mississippi Delta region of Arkansas, I show that the CDC is an important intermediary between the citizens and the local political arena. While, according to this study's findings, the CDCs' long-term goal is to develop a lasting sense of efficacy among CDC participants, leading to direct political participation by citizens, the nature of CDC funding does not fully support these efforts. As a result, these critical activities remain at the fringes of their official mission. By focusing on short-term outcomes rather than long-term development process, the money spent to improve the CDC constituency's capacity appears to miss its target. The results of the current study 1) shed light on the disconnect between the needs of CDCs and the objectives of funding agencies; and 2) help community practitioners interested in community development to better understand challenges related to engaging citizens in local issues and facilitating citizen participation in ways that enhance collective efficacy in poor communities.


Lyme neuroborreliosis (involvement of the central and/or peripheral nervous system due to infection with B. burgdorferi sensu lato) is the second most frequent manifestation of Lyme borreliosis in Europe, while it comprises the third most common expression of the disease in North America. Early Lyme neuroborreliosis, which is much better defined and far more common than late Lyme neuroborreliosis, is in Europe caused mainly by B. garinii and comprises the classic triad of meningitis, radiculoneuritis and/or cranial neuropathy, while in American patients subacute meningitis with or without cranial neuropathy is the most common manifestation. Among chronic forms of European Lyme neuroborreliosis peripheral neuritis associated with acrodermatitis chronic atrophicans is most frequently observed. A reliable diagnosis of borrelial central nervous system infection requires demonstration of lymphocytic pleocytosis and the evidence of borrelial infection of the central nervous system, established by intrathecal synthesis of specific antibodies and/or isolation of Borreliae from the cerebrospinal fluid. Treatment with oral doxycycline, or parenteral penicillin or third generation cephalosporins (most frequently ceftriaxone) for 2-4 weeks is efficient in the majority of patients..


Agricultural production is facing high requirements on nutrient runoff reduction. Furthermore, the reductions should by done efficiently. For instance, the European Water Framework Directive calls for cost-effectiveness from schemes of measures to fulfill the target of good water quality in European river basins. In this paper we analyse the implications of target level variation on efficiency properties of agricultural phosphorus abatement. We analyse the robustness of cost-effectiveness as the scheme of measures is adopted from another, identical river basin with different target level on total phosphorus abatement. We find that even between homogeneous regions the cost-effective scheme of measures is unique for all target levels of reduction, and that the costs of adoting cost-effective allocations out of scale are high.


The Central Artery/Tunnel Project is one of the largest public infrastructure projects in the United States. As such it poses major environmental planning and design challenges. The environmental permitting effort began in 1989, preceding actual construction which commenced in 1991 and will continue until 2004. The $7.9 billion project includes replacement of a decaying, over-capacity six-lane viaduct with an enlarged state-of-the-art eight-to-ten-lane underground expressway through the heart of downtown Boston, Massachusetts. The northern limit of the Project will be reached via a landmark cable-stayed bridge spanning the Charles River from Boston into Charlestown and Somerville. In addition, the Project includes design and construction of a new four.lane immersed tube tunnel (the Ted Williams Tunnel) under Boston Harbor and a 3.9 mile extension of the Massachusetts Turnpike through South Boston to Logan Airport. The Harbor tunnel opened to commercial traffic in December, 1995.


Motivation Read alignment is an important step in RNA-seq analysis as the result of alignment forms the basis for further downstream analyses. However, recent studies have shown that published alignment tools have variable mapping sensitivity and do not necessarily align reads which should have been aligned, a problem we termed as the false-negative non-alignment problem. Results We have developed Scavenger, a pipeline for recovering unaligned reads using a novel mechanism which utilises information from aligned reads. Scavenger performs recovery of unaligned reads by re-aligning unaligned reads against a putative location derived from aligned reads with sequence similarity against unaligned reads. We show that Scavenger can successfully recover unaligned reads in both simulated and real RNA-seq datasets, including single-cell RNA-seq data. The reads recovered contain more genetic variants compared to previously aligned reads, indicating that divergence between personal and reference genomes plays a role in the false-negative non-alignment problem. We also explored the impact of read recovery on downstream analyses, in particular gene expression analysis, and showed that Scavenger is able to both recover genes which were previously non-expressed and also increase gene expression, with lowly expressed genes having the most impact from the addition of recovered reads. We also found that the majority of genes with >1 fold change in expression after recovery are categorised as pseudogenes, indicating that pseudogene expression can be affected by the false-negative non-alignment problem. Scavenger helps to solve the false-negative non-alignment problem through recovery of unaligned reads using information from previously aligned reads. Availability Scavenger is available via an open source license in https://github.com/VCCRI/Scavenger/ Contact firstname.lastname@example.com


In the bloodstream of its mammalian host, the African trypanosome Trypanosoma brucei undergoes a life cycle stage differentiation from a long, slender form to a short, stumpy form. This involves three known major events: exit from a proliferative cell cycle, morphological change and mitochondrial biogenesis. Previously, models have been proposed accounting for these events (Matthews and Gull 1994a). Refinement of, and discrimination between, these models has been hindered by a lack of stage–regulated antigens useful as markers at the single–cell level. We have now evaluated a variety of cytological markers and applied them to investigate the coordination of phenotypic differentiation and cell cycle arrest. Our studies have focused on the differential expression of the mitochondrial enzyme dihydrolipoamide dehydrogenase relative to the differentiation–division of bloodstream trypanosomes. The results implicate a temporal order of events: commitment, division, phenotypic differentiation.


Alumina-supported molybdena–ceria catalysts were prepared by a sol–gel method and characterized by X-ray diffraction, N2 sorptometry, UV-vis-NIR diffuse reflectance spectroscopy, SEM and TEM. The effect of the Mo/Ce ratio, reaction temperature, steam to glycerol molar ratio, space velocity and the stability of the catalysts during the reaction were investigated. The results show that the presence of ceria enhances both the activity and the selectivity toward hydrogen. The best reaction temperature was found to be 500 °C for all catalysts, at which the highest hydrogen selectivity of almost 60% was obtained for an optimal cerium loading of 7 wt%; higher ceria loading reduced the capacity to convert glycerol to hydrogen.


In late 2017, Congress passed the first major tax reform in over three decades. This Essay considers the constitutional concerns raised by Section 965 (the "Mandatory Repatriation Tax"), a central provision of the new tax law that imposes a one-time tax on U.S.-based multinationals' accumulated foreign earnings. First, this Essay argues that Congress lacks the power to directly tax wealth without apportionment among the states. Congress's power to tax is expressly granted, and constrained, by the Constitution. While the passage of the Sixteenth Amendment mooted many constitutional questions by expressly allowing Congress to tax income from whatever source derived, this Essay argues the Mandatory Repatriation Tax is a wealth tax, rather than an income tax, and is therefore unconstitutional. Second, even if the Mandatory Repatriation Tax is found to be an income tax (or, alternatively, an excise tax), the tax is nevertheless unconstitutionally retroactive. While the Supreme Court has generally upheld retroactive taxes at both the state and federal level over the past few decades, the unprecedented retroactivity of the Mandatory Repatriation Tax—and its potential for taxing earnings nearly three decades after the fact—raises unprecedented Fifth Amendment due process concerns.


The properties of the bootstrap test for restrictions are studied in two versions: 1) bootstrapping under the null hypothesis, restricted, and 2) bootstrapping under the alternative hypothesis, unrestricted. This article demonstrates the equivalence of these two methods, and illustrates the small sample properties of the Wald test for testing Granger-Causality in a stable stationary VAR system by Monte Carlo methods. The analysis regarding the size of the test reveals that, as expected, both bootstrap tests have actual sizes that lie close to the nominal size. Regarding the power of the test, the Wald and bootstrap tests share the same power as the use of the Size-Power Curves on a correct size-adjusted basis.


Small-scale wind turbines are promising renewable energy devices driven by the aim of carbon savings at energy generation. However, the use of small-scale wind turbines in residential areas is still very narrow because of low wind speeds, high turbulence intensity, and the perception of high aerodynamic noise produced by wind turbines. Furthermore, their high cost make it essential to assess the turbines carefully before deciding to purchase so that the optimum performance and costs can be obtained. In this study, power curves of bestselling small scale wind turbines in Turkey are compared using experimentally collected one year wind data for the use in a smart home environment at Davutpasa Campus, Istanbul. The total annual energy production of the wind turbines and financial payback periods are calculated. With the results of performed analysis, it is possible to define the most profitable small wind turbine to be used in related applications in Istanbul and in areas where wind speed is similar.


Dynamical tidal effects impact the orbital motion of extended bodies, imprinting themselves in several measurable ways. This thesis explores the saturation of weakly nonlinear dynamical tidal interactions within two very different systems: hot Jupiters orbiting main-sequence hosts with radiative cores and compact stellar remnants inspiraling due to gravitational radiation. In addition, it discusses general aspects of detecting Gravitational Waves with ground-based laser interferometers. Data quality and noise reduction along with source parameter estimation, with particular emphasis on localization, are discussed in great detail. Conclusions drawn from statistical ensembles of simulated signals are applied to the first three confirmed detections of Gravitational Waves, all from the coalescence of binary black hole systems. Thesis Supervisor: Dr. Erotokritos Katsavounidis Title: Senior Research Scientist Thesis Supervisor: Prof. Nevin N. Weinberg Title: Associate Professor of Physics


As online social networks expand their role beyond maintaining existing relationships, they may look to more faceted ratings to support the formation of new connections between their users. Our study focuses on one community employing faceted ratings, CouchSurfing.org, and combines data analysis of ratings, a large-scale survey, and in-depth interviews. In order to understand the ratings, we revisit the notions of friendship and trust and uncover an asymmetry: close friendship includes trust, but high levels of trust can be achieved without close friendship. To users, providing faceted ratings presents challenges, including differentiating and quantifying inherently subjective feelings such as friendship and trust, concern over a friend's reaction to a rating, and knowledge of how ratings can affect others' reputations. One consequence of these issues is the near absence of negative feedback, even though a small portion of actual experiences and privately held ratings are negative. We show how users take this into account when formulating and interpreting ratings, and discuss designs that could encourage more balanced feedback.


Gradient methods and their value in single-objective, real-valued optimization are well-established. As such, they play a key role in tackling real-world, hard optimization problems such as deformable image registration (DIR). A key question is to which extent gradient techniques can also play a role in a multi-objective approach to DIR. We therefore aim to exploit gradient information within an evolutionary-algorithm-based multi-objective optimization framework for DIR. Although an analytical description of the multi-objective gradient (the set of all Pareto-optimal improving directions) is available, it is nontrivial how to best choose the most appropriate direction per solution because these directions are not necessarily uniformly distributed in objective space. To address this, we employ a Monte-Carlo method to obtain a discrete, spatially-uniformly distributed approximation of the set of Pareto-optimal improving directions. We then apply a diversification technique in which each solution is associated with a unique direction from this set based on its multi- as well as single-objective rank. To assess its utility, we compare a state-of-the-art multi-objective evolutionary algorithm with three different hybrid versions thereof on several benchmark problems and two medical DIR problems. Results show that the diversification strategy successfully leads to unbiased improvement, helping an adaptive hybrid scheme solve all problems, but the evolutionary algorithm remains the most powerful optimization method, providing the best balance between proximity and diversity.


The highest-energy particle accelerator ever built, the Large Hadron Collider runs under the border between France and Switzerland. It leapt into action on September 10, 2008, amid unprecedented global press coverage and widespread fears that its energy would create tiny black holes that could destroy the earth. By smashing together particles smaller than atoms, the LHC recreates the conditions hypothesized to have existed just moments after the big bang. Physicists expect it to aid our understanding of how the universe came into being and to show us much about the standard model of particle physics-even possibly proving the existence of the mysterious Higgs boson. In exploring what the collider does and what it might find, Don Lincoln explains what the LHC is likely to teach us about particle physics, including uncovering the nature of dark matter, finding micro black holes and supersymmetric particles, identifying extra dimensions, and revealing the origin of mass in the universe. Thousands of physicists from around the globe will have access to the LHC, none of whom really knows what outcomes will be produced by the 7.7 billion project. Whatever it reveals, the results arising from the Large Hadron Collider will profoundly alter our understanding of the cosmos and the atom and stimulate amateur and professional scientists for years to come.


Objective. To examine the efficacy and safety of antibiotic treatments for reactive arthritis (ReA). Methods. We did a systematic review and metaanalysis of randomized controlled trials of antibiotics for treatment of ReA. We searched electronic databases and conference proceedings up to November 2011. Included trials reported on remission, joint counts, and pain or patient global scores in any language. Results. Twelve trials were eligible for inclusion and 10 provided data for metaanalysis. The pooled relative risk of failure to achieve remission from a random effects model showed no significant benefit of antibiotic treatment on remission (7 trials, 375 participants, RR 0.74, 95% CI 0.49–1.10); however, substantial heterogeneity was observed (I2 = 76.3%, p < 0.0001). The treatment effect did not differ significantly by the type of organism triggering the ReA (chlamydia, 4 trials, RR 0.80, 95% CI 0.63–1.03, vs other microorganisms, 5 trials, RR 0.72, 95% CI 0.29–1.79, metaregression p = 0.477) or use of combination antibiotics (monotherapy, 6 trials, RR 0.70, 95% CI 0.39–1.26, vs combination therapy, 1 trial, RR 0.79, 95% CI 0.63–0.99, metaregression p = 0.466). When unblinded trials were excluded, the treatment effect was attenuated and heterogeneity decreased (RR 0.87, 95% CI 0.70–1.10, I2 = 32.8%, p = 0.19). No significant effects of antibiotic treatment were observed on joint counts, pain, or patient global scores; however, antibiotics were associated with a 97% increase in gastrointestinal adverse events. Conclusion. Trials of antibiotic treatment for ReA have produced heterogeneous results that may be related to differences in study design. The efficacy of antibiotics is uncertain.


In the Museum of Maya Culture: Touring Chichen Itza. QUETZIL CASTANEDA. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1996; 341 pp. This historical ethnography provides a refreshing perspective on the strategic relationships among anthropology, tourism, and Maya culture(s). In a profound effort to investigate the "invention" of Maya culture in Yucatan, Castaneda's "Guidebook to the Archaeology of Chichen Itza" is a palimpsest: each chapter sets out to reveal a layer of a complex stratigraphy of discourses, texts, practices, histories, and events which (re)constitute and (re)invent the space and place of the archaeological site of Chichen Itza. The result is an outstanding intellectual work that broadly uses postmodern and literary theory in order to give the reader tours of the many cultural inscriptions which comprise the "museum" of Maya culture at Chichen. Castaneda argues that Maya culture, anthropology, and tourism are not homogenous entities. Instead, they share an interdependent history of collusion and complicity, which has allowed them to perpetuate. This guidebook, then, serves as an ethnographic map to present the numerous possible analytical approaches - or "departures" (p. 2) - to these intersections of discourses and practices, through history, theory, and autobiography. By examining the history of the production of anthropological knowledge surrounding Yucatan, Castaneda illustrates how the "rediscovery" (p. 5) of the "Maya" in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries led to the area becoming the "target of massive scientific intervention" supported by both the U.S. and Mexico. After extensive investments by the Carnegie Insitution of Washington and the Mexican government, the "scientific laboratory" (p. 6) of Yucatan and Chichen Itza paved the way for the institutionalization of Maya studies in conjunction with the establishment of tourism activity. Castaneda argues that because the relations among anthropology, tourism, Maya societies, and governments have shared the common ground of complicity and collaboration, it is ridiculous to ask whether tourism has had an "impact" (p. 9) on the people of nearby Piste and other villages. Instead, Castaneda challenges us to understand historically how anthropological practices and discourses have invented Maya culture and civilization according to our epistemological predispositions. This invention has contributed to the production and maintenance of the tourism industry in Yucatan. However, the Maya themselves are active agents and subjects in this invention process, whether as informants, workers, or "culture-bearers" (p. 8), and their participation in this invention process has also been critical. The task for Castaneda, then, is to provide an analysis that helps to show how anthropological and tourism practices and discourses are related to the politics of identity, not only at the local level of Piste and Chichen, but at regional, national, and international ones as well. Castaneda's theoretical approach primarily owes a debt to de Certeau, and secondly to Foucault and Derrida, as emphasis is placed on doing an archaeology, genealogy, and deconstruction of Maya culture at the museum of Chichen and the town of Piste. Operating within the dual assertion that "culture is text" and "text is culture," and that cultures are both invented and continually reinvented, Castaneda is able to contextualize anthropology's role in Maya cultural imagination. He uses de Certeau's notion of a scriptural economy to discuss, or rather imagine, how Maya culture is (re)inscribed, (re)lived, (re)embodied, (re)imagined, and (re)invented in the contexts of various economic, social, political, and historical vehicles at Chich6n Itza. Castaneda goes on to note: What seems to me to be at stake is the problem of culture, not only as a practical issue but as a theoretical/critical question in relation to modernity: What is the invention of culture (in the register of truth) and the culture of invention (as an economy and technology of the real)? …


This study investigated the dosing patterns for aripiprazole augmentation for major depressive disorder (MDD) in a naturalistic treatment setting. Between 1 January 2009 and 31 March 2012, patients with a diagnosis of MDD who were receiving aripiprazole augmentation in conjunction with an ongoing antidepressant were recruited for this study. The electronic medical records and clinical data for a total of 276 patients were reviewed up to a year. The mean duration of aripiprazole augmentation was ∼5 months; the mean time to the first increase of aripiprazole was about 3 weeks; and the mean initial, first up-titrated, maximal, and maintenance doses were 3.4, 4.2, 4.7, and 4.4 mg/day, respectively. The most frequent adverse events were insomnia, followed by anxiety and sedation. The current results indicate that the actual doses of aripiprazole augmentation with ongoing antidepressant for MDD should be lower than the doses used in placebo-controlled clinical trials and those recommended by the US Food and Drug Administration. Adequately powered and well-controlled prospective studies are needed to better understand the exact role of low doses of aripiprazole augmentation in the treatment of MDD, particularly in routine practice.


In 1982-1983, naturally formed blight cankers, within a zone ranging from the ground to 183 cm on three grafted American chestnut trees, were inoculated with a mixture of four European (white), and six, pigmented hypovirulent strains of Cryphonectria parasitica. A total of 202 C. parasitica isolates were recovered from 49 cankers located outside of the inoculated zone. Ninety-five isolates (47%) were white and 107 (53%) were pigmented. Forty-eight vegetative compatibility groups were identified among 110 white isolates collected from this and previous studies. The ratio of VC groups to isolates tested (S/N), and Shannon diversity index were calculated to be 0.43 and 3.64 respectively. Of the 48 VC groups identified, 25 consisted of two or more isolates. These 25 groups were found to be vegetatively incompatible with all four of the original hypovirulent white inoculated strains, consisting of three VC groups, but were compatible with five of the 11 most common pigmented VC groups recovered from previous studies. These data provide evidence for spread of the original European hypoviruses (Cryphonectria hypovirus 1, CHV1) but not for spread of the original inoculated strains. Forty-five VC groups therefore represent the minimum number of "new" VC groups into which one or more of the original hypoviruses (CHV1) have spread. Single-spore colonies of the white isolates recovered from the 49 cankers were placed into four cultural morphology (CM) groups based on degree and pattern of pigmentation, and type of colony margin in culture. The two largest CM groups contained 37 (CM group 3) and 33 (CM group 1) isolates. Single-spore colonies from the original, white inoculated strain, EP-49, were classified to CM groups 3 and 1, while colonies of EP-51W were classified into CM group 1. The spatial pattern of white isolates within cankers was evaluated using a 7 x 7 lattice plot. Spatial pattern determination using the join-count statistics, described by Pielou, indicated that three of the four cankers containing white isolates had random patterns of white isolates. Vegetative compatibility tests of C. parasitica isolates in the two cankers sampled for spatial pattern indicated that the majority of both white and pigmented isolates in the cankers were within the same VC group for each canker. This was frequently the case even when pigmented and white isolates occurred in adjacent lattice cells. Isolates in each of the cankers identified to VC group had random patterns of the major VC groups (includes pigmented and white isolates). Using a double matrix statistical test, the spatial pattern of white VC groups among the 49 cankers was found to be aggregated (P=0.019), whereas the spatial pattern of white isolates was found to be random (P=0.325). The Lloyd's index of patchiness value for the pattern of white isolates in all cankers was 0.91. This value is just less than 1.0, which would indicate a random pattern.


People become "conscious of entering a strange country" when they travel North observed George Orwell. North is the cardinal point of the compass and the direction of the Northern Star. But it can also mislead on a deviation between Magnetic North and True North. And so, North is at times a metaphor and symbol. "I am but mad north-north-west" insists Hamlet in Shakespeare's play while Sylvia Plath becomes unsettled "into a long blackness" of her North which the poet "cannot contain":

North features as a place of escape or hiding in the films El Norte, Insomnia and Last Cab to Darwin. It represents a "land beyond" in Game of Thrones, "Minnesota nice" in Fargo, and Nordic Noir in Scandinavian screen cultures. Old Nordic sagas tell of the Pagan North where "Thor's hammer swung to geography" as the Irish poet Seamus Heaney noted.

North marks separation across the US along the Mason-Dixon Line, while being "beyond of the 49th parallel" evokes melancholy attachment in the songs of Leonard Cohen, Joni Mitchell and Neil Young. "Nordicity" refers to degrees of Northern-ness as measured by polar values while Inuit song, orature and literature link the vast Arctic regions of Northern Canada, Alaska, Siberia and the improbably named Greenland. In China, North is signified by the Black Turtle and historic fears stretching back to the Qin Dynasty and the construction of the Great Wall. In Russia North divides between "Far North" and "Extreme North." It delimits the "hermit kingdom" of North Korea, Britain's province in Northern Ireland, and the North Island of New Zealand.

North defines our best efforts at direction but remains elusive. India has two Norths—the "North" to the North-West and the "North East." North Africa terminates at the Southern Mediterranean and shares Egypt with the Middle East. The Far East is the Near North to Australia where "your compass spins frighteningly" as the poet Judith Wright observed. North in Janette Turner Hospital's North of Nowhere South of Loss is the far North of Australia while her South refers to the deep South of the US. This North is Jeannie Gunn's Never Never, Xavier Herbert's Capricornia and Alexis Wright's Carpentaria. It lies across the tropics—Aristotle's "Torrid Zone"—which is South of the equator.

Seven centuries of cartographic convention has placed North at the top of maps—so North always points up—and thanks to the Mercator Effect constantly exaggerates, leading to the conceptualisation of the "Global South" as an alternative concept and term replacing the "Third World." North is defined by South and has a location. It is precisely calculated at the Northern-most point of the globe where the lines of longitude converge. For all this exactitude, True North cannot be permanently marked above sea level because of the shifting polar icecaps. Yet it is here that North exists. And then vanishes. Every direction at True North becomes South … except for the compass needle which insists that North is South along 72.62 degrees longitude west to Magnetic North.


Rare earths and their compounds show many interesting physical phenomena caused by the complex electronic structure related to f electrons. External pressure can affect the hybridization between 5d band electrons and the more atomic-like 4f ones, giving rise to intermediate valence behaviour. Resonant x-ray emission spectroscopy (RXES) has been shown to be a very effective tool for probing the mixed valence ground state under pressure. A RXES experiment detects the x-ray emission that follows decay into a resonantly created core hole. Being a photon-in–photon-out spectroscopic technique, it is not hindered by the presence of the pressure cell. In the case of rare earths we chose to detect the 3d–2p x-ray emission following a 2p–5d resonant excitation process. The divalent and trivalent components of the ground state are separately enhanced because they resonate at different incident photon energies. Very good precision in the determination of even small changes of valence is reached. We will present experimental results on ytterbium compounds (Y bAl2 and YbS), as well as recent data on the valence state of SmS in the gold phase, that have allowed us to unveil the progressive valence change towards the completion of trivalency. The spectral changes and the way to extract the valence from measured spectra will be discussed.


ABSTRACT Twelve petrographic variables observed in duplicate thin sections for each of 65 Cincinnatian calcarenites are the basis for a multivariate classification. The observed variables are: broken and whole brachiopods, broken and whole bryozoans, crinoids, total broken and total whole skeletal grains, total skeletal grains, micrite, sparite and insoluble residue. One thin section per sample was randomly selected to form sample A. Initial clustering of this sample by means of Q-mode factor analysis suggested four subgroups (1-2A, 3A, 1LA, 3SA), which correspond to limestone classes 1-2, 3, 1L and 3S. Null hypotheses concerning (1) group dispersion, and (2) equality of sample centroids were accepted and rejected at the 0.05 and 0.01 levels of significance respectively. All combinations of no -diagonal elements were tested by the Generalized Mahalanobis D2 Statistic (V) and a probability of <0.001 was indicated for each combination. Discriminant functions and a classification matrix were then computed for sample A. Interclass and intraclass variation was tested by use of the remaining 65 thin sections (sample B). All combinations of the A and B subgroups were tested using the V Statistic. The null hypothesis for 1LA versus 1LB and 3SA versus 3SB was rejected, thus eliminating classes 1L and 3S. Subgroups 1-2A and 1-2B and 3A and 3B were pooled using sample means. Factor analysis of the pooled sample suggests two groups, which correspond to classes 1-2 and 3. A discriminant function and a classification matrix were computed for the pooled sample. Ninety-two perce t of the samples belonging to class 1-2 and 88 percent of those belonging to class 3 were correctly classified. The computed discriminant functions classify more efficiently than associated factor clusters.


Introduction of a normal retinoblastoma gene (RB) into retinoblastoma cells was previously shown to suppress several aspects of their neoplastic phenotype, including tumorigenicity in nude mice, thereby directly demonstrating a cancer suppression function of RB. To explore the possibility of a similar activity in a common adult tumor, RB expression was examined in three human prostate carcinoma cell lines. One of these, DU145, contained an abnormally small protein translated from an RB messenger RNA transcript that lacked 105 nucleotides encoded by exon 21. To assess the functional consequences of this mutation, normal RB expression was restored in DU145 cells by retrovirus-mediated gene transfer. Cells that maintained stable exogenous RB expression lost their ability to form tumors in nude mice, although their growth rate in culture was apparently unaltered. These results suggest that RB inactivation can play a significant role in the genesis of a common adult neoplasm and that restoration of normal RB-encoded protein in tumors could have clinical utility.


The reversible tyrosine phosphorylation of proteins, modulated by the coordinated actions of protein-tyrosine kinases and protein-tyrosine phosphatases (PTPs), regulates the cellular response to a wide variety of stimuli. It is established that protein kinases possess discrete sets of substrates and that substrate recognition is often dictated by the presence of consensus phosphorylation sites. Here, we have extended this concept to the PTPs and demonstrated that (E/D)-pY-pY-(R/K) is a consensus substrate recognition motif for PTP1B. We have shown that JAK2 and TYK2 are substrates of PTP1B and that the substrate recognition site within theses kinases is similar to the site of dephosphorylation previously identified within the insulin receptor. A substrate-trapping mutant of PTP1B formed a stable interaction with JAK2 and TYK2 in response to interferon stimulation. Expression of wild type or substrate-trapping mutant PTP1B inhibited interferon-dependent transcriptional activation. Finally, mouse embryo fibroblasts deficient in PTP1B displayed subtle changes in tyrosine phosphorylation, including hyperphosphorylation of JAK2. The closely related JAK family member, JAK1, which does not match the consensus dephosphorylation site, was not recognized as a substrate. These data illustrate that PTP1B may be an important physiological regulator of cytokine signaling and that it may be possible to derive consensus substrate recognition motifs for other members of the PTP family, which may then be used to predict novel physiological substrates.


Canine tick-borne diseases are an emerging problem within Australia and throughout the world. This thesis investigates Babesia gibsoni and Anaplasma platys infections in dogs in Australia and also explores the evolutionary relationships and taxonomy of the canine piroplasm species and the members of the order Piroplasmida.

A nested PCR-RFLP assay was developed for the detection and differentiation of the canine piroplasm species and was found to have a high detection limit, capable of detecting a 2.7 x 10-7 % parasitaemia or the equivalent of 1.2 molecules of target DNA. Detection of piroplasm DNA applied to Whatman FTA classic cards using nested-PCR was found to have a lower detection limit than when using DNA extracted from whole blood but higher than IsoCode Stix or QIAamp extraction from filter paper based techniques. The nested PCR-RFLP assay was further evaluated for the detection of B. gibsoni infection in dogs being exported from Australia to New Zealand and compared to the current screening methods, the Immunofluorescent Antibody Test (IFAT) and microscopy. Of 235 dogs screened, 11 were IFAT positive, 1 was microscopy positive and 3 were PCR positive for B. gibsoni, highlighting the discordance that exists between various detection techniques. Replacing microscopic examination of blood smears with PCR-RFLP is suggested for screening dogs entering New Zealand, in addition to revising the current IFAT cut-off titre to minimize false positive results. The first case of B. gibsoni in New South Wales is also reported.

A study was also conducted to further investigate the recent discovery of B. gibsoni in Australia and the association of this infection with American Pit Bull Terriers in an epidemiological study. Both American Pit Bull Terriers (n = 100) and other dog breeds (n = 51) were screened for B. gibsoni using IFAT and PCR-RFLP. A questionnaire was also completed by each dog owner regarding thethe husbandry and habits these dogs. Fourteen dogs were positive for B. gibsoni using IFAT and/or PCR-RFLP and all were American Pit Bull Terriers. Dogs that were male and/or were bitten by or were biters of other American Pit Bull Terriers were statistically more likely to be B. gibsoni positive, thus suggesting that blood-to-blood transmission may contribute to the spread of this disease.

Experimental B. gibsoni infections were established in vivo to investigate the efficacy of combined atovaquone and azithromycin therapy and to determine the detection limits of PCR, IFAT and microscopy during various stages of infection. While atovaquone and azithromycin produced a reduction in circulating parasite levels, it did not cause total eradication, and possible drug resistance also developed in one dog. PCR was found to be most useful in detecting early and acute stage infections, while IFAT was most useful during chronic and acute infections. Microscopy is suggested to be only useful for detecting acute stage infections. This study also describes the detection of B. gibsoni in tissue samples during chronic infection for the first time, suggesting possible sequestration of this parasite.

Anaplasma platys has also only recently been reported in Australia and the distribution, molecular-charcterisation, pathogenesis, co-infection with Babesia canis vogeli and treatment of infection with doxycycline were investigated. For the first time, A. platys is reported in Western Australia, Queensland and Victoria, with each isolate found to be genetically identical on the basis of the 16S rRNA gene. No correlation could be established between A. platys infection and the development of clinical signs or pathogenesis and definitive treatment using doxycycline could not be determined.

Isolates of canine piroplasms from various geographical locations worldwide (n = 46), including Australia were characterised on the basis of multiple gene loci to explore the distribution, genetic variation and possible phylogeographical relationships of these species. Separate genotypes of B. canis vogeli, B. canis canis and B. gibsoni are suggested and may be correlated to different geographical origins. Characterization of B. canis vogeli, B. canis canis and B. canis rossi on the basis of the HSP 70 gene and B. gibsoni on the basis of the ITS 1, 5.8S rRNA gene and ITS 2 is described for the first time. Elevation of each of the B. canis subspecies, with the exclusion of B. canis presentii, to separate species is also proposed.

The current paraphyly and taxonomic confusion associated with the members of the order Piroplasmida led to a review of the phylogenetic and taxonomic status of this group of organisms. Phylogenetic relationships are determined using 18S rRNA gene, 5.8S rRNA gene, HSP 70 gene and combined loci analyses. Rearrangement of the Piroplasmida into three families, including the new family Piroplasmiidae is proposed, in addition to the establishment of two new genera, the Piroplasma (Patton, 1895) and the Achromaticus (Dionisi, 1899). Other proposed schemes of classification and the limitations of phenotypic characteristics in taxonomic classification within the Piroplasmida are also discussed.


At times, even his admirers seemed unsure of what to do with General Douglas MacArthur. Imperious, headstrong, and vain, MacArthur matched an undeniable military genius with a massive ego and a rebellious streak that often seemed to destine him for the dustbin of history. Yet despite his flaws, MacArthur is remembered as a brilliant commander whose combined-arms operation in the Pacific--the first in the history of warfare--secured America's triumph in World War II and changed the course of history. In The Most Dangerous Man in America, celebrated historian Mark Perry examines how this paradox of a man overcame personal and professional challenges to lead his countrymen in their darkest hour. As Perry shows, Franklin Roosevelt and a handful of MacArthur's subordinates made this feat possible, taming MacArthur, making him useful, and finally making him victorious. A gripping, authoritative biography of the Pacific Theater's most celebrated and misunderstood commander, The Most Dangerous Man in America reveals the secrets of Douglas MacArthur's success--and the incredible efforts of the men who made it possible.


Dendritic cells have a key role in protecting organisms from infections. These cells detect antigens derived from invading bacteria or viruses and present them to T cells. Zaru et al. explored the roles of protein kinases activated in response to mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPKs) and not only demonstrate the importance of various MAPK-activated protein kinases (MKs)--the MKs known as MK2 and MK3 and the p90 ribosomal S6 kinases (Rsks)--but also reveal a previously unrecognized regulatory network for control of downstream kinases in a MAPK system. The authors monitored Toll-like receptor-activated endocytosis by detecting uptake of fluorescently labeled dextran and observed that dendritic cells lacking both MK2 and MK3 had a reduced response. They also observed that pharmacological inhibition of Rsk family members with two structurally distinct inhibitors inhibited Toll-like receptor-induced endocytosis. The surprise was that inhibition of ERK1 and ERK2, the MAPKs known to activate Rsks, could not block receptor-induced Rsk activation in this system. Inhibition of ERKs only blocked Rsk activation in cells lacking MK2 and MK3, kinases that are activated by the MAPK p38 rather then ERKs. Rsks have two kinase domains, and the C-terminal kinase domain of Rsk proteins is phosphorylated by ERKs and autophosphorylates a serine residue located between the two kinase domains [thus recruiting yet another kinase (PDK1) to complete the activation]. Zaru et al. realized, however, that this critical serine residue in Rsk fits the consensus for recognition by MK2 and MK3 and showed that MK2 could phosphorylate Rsk2 at this site in vitro. Thus, the p38 MAPK provides an alternative mechanism for activating Rsks that bypasses the mechanism used for their activation by the ERK MAPKs, a mechanism that appears to be restricted to dendritic cells. The authors and Karin (in associated commentary) speculate on ways in which this modified regulatory scheme might be advantageous in these particular cells. R. Zaru, N. Ronkina, M. Gaestel, J. S. C. Arthur, C. Watts, The MAPK-activated kinase Rsk controls an acute Toll-like receptor signaling response in dendritic cells and is activated through two distinct pathways. Nat. Immunol. 8, 1227-1235 (2007). [PubMed] M. Karin, Rsk Tolls the bell for endocytosis in DCs. Nat. Immunol. 8, 1197-1199 (2007). [PubMed]


On 4 May 1978, the SADF launched a military attack on Cassinga, in the South of Angola, which was a base for the military wing of SWAPO. In what would later be described as a successful parachute operation, elements of the SADF had attacked and conquered the military base. This article will examine to what extent this operation would still have been possible without the active participation of the South African Airforce. The conclusion reached is that the role of the South African Airforce was crucial and that without their participation, the operation would have been predestined to utter failure.


Problem statement: The impact of anthropogenic activities on Otamiri and Oramiriukwa
Rivers as a result of the increasing rate of urbanization in Owerri, Nigeria is of a great concern due to
the fact that water from these rivers is the source of water distributed for public use. These rivers are of
particular importance in the study of surface water pollution because effluents from industries,
municipal waste, agricultural and urban run-off are discharged into it thereby deteriorating the quality.
Approach: This study used the application of Water Quality Index (WQI) in evaluating the quality of
Otamiri and Oramiriukwa Rivers for public usage. This was done by subjecting the 180 samples
collected to comprehensive physicochemical and bacteriological analysis using APHA standard
methods of analysis. Results: The overall WQI for the samples was 174.49. The high concentration of
conductivity, color, total solids, turbidity, total coliform, iron, manganese, COD, BOD and nitrate were
responsible for the high value of WQI which may be attributed to the anthropogenic interference along
the river bank. The results of the analysis when compared with the Nigerian Standard for Drinking
Water Quality (NSDWQ) permissible limit showed that the rivers were polluted and that the water is
not safe for domestic use and would need treatment. Conclusion: The use of WQI in elucidating
surface water quality evaluation and management has been demonstrated by this study. WQI is also
valuable tool in categorizing the pollution sources of surface waters.


The term "genetic load" first emerged in a paper written in 1950 by the geneticist H. Muller. It is a mathematical model based on biological, social, political and ethical arguments describing the dramatic accumulation of disadvantageous mutations in human populations that will occur in modern societies if eugenic measures are not taken. The model describes how the combined actions of medical and social progress will supposedly impede natural selection and make genes of inferior quality likely to spread across populations – a process which in fine loads their progress. Genetic load is based on optimal fitness and emerges from a "typological view" of evolution. This model of evolution had previously, however, been invalidated by Robert Wright and Theodosius Dobzhansky who, as early as 1946, showed that polymorphism was the rule in natural populations. The blooming and persistence of the concept of genetic load, after its theoretical basis had already expired, are a historical puzzle. This persistence reveals the intricacy of science and policy-making in eugenic matters. The Canguilhemian concept of 'scientific ideology' (1988) is used along with the concept of 'immutable mobile' (Latour 1986) and compared with the concept of 'co-production' (Jasanoff 1998), to provide complementary perspectives on this complex phenomenon.


Enhanced-Resolution Processing and Applications of the ASCAT Scatterometer Richard D. Lindsley Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, BYU Doctor of Philosophy The ASCAT scatterometer measures the Earth surface microwave radar backscatter in order to estimate the near-surface winds over the oceans. While the spatial resolution of the conventional applications is sufficient for many purposes, other geoscience applications benefit from an improved spatial resolution. Specialized algorithms may be applied to the scatterometer data in order to reconstruct the radar backscatter on a high-resolution grid. Image reconstruction requires the spatial response function (SRF) of each measurement, which is not reported with the measurement data. To address this need, I precisely model the SRF incorporating (1) the antenna beam response, (2) the processing performed onboard ASCAT before telemetering to the ground, and (3) the Doppler shift induced by a satellite orbiting the rotating Earth. I also develop a simple parameterized model of the SRF to reduce computational complexity. The accuracy of both models is validated. Image reconstruction of the ASCAT data is performed using the modeled SRF. I discuss the spatial resolution of the reconstructed ASCAT images and consider the firstand second-order statistics of the reconstructed data. Optimum values for the parameters of the reconstruction algorithms are also considered. The reconstructed radar backscatter data may be used for enhanced-resolution wind retrieval and for geoscience applications. In this dissertation, the reconstructed backscatter data is used to map the surface extent of the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill and in a study to quantify the azimuth angle anisotropy of backscatter in East Antarctica. Near-coastal ocean wind retrieval is also explored in this dissertation. Because nearcoastal ocean measurements of backscatter may be "contaminated" from nearby land and introduce errors to wind retrieval, they must be discarded. The modeled SRF is used to quantify the land contamination, enabling enhanced-resolution wind retrieval much closer to the coasts. The near-coastal winds are validated against buoy measurements.


We have considered the output of a longitudinally pumped, heavily doped Er:Yb:Cr:phosphate glass laser. We experimentally observed that the characteristic output-versus-input curve is not linear and exhibits bistability. A theoretical approach, based on a thermal lensing effect that varies depending on whether the laser is on or off, provides an excellent description of the experimental results. In addition, we observed that the laser operates in a self-pulsing, sinusoidal, or cw regime, although the pumping is continuous such as was already observed in erbium-doped fiber lasers. This effect is attributed to the existence of ion pairs acting as saturable absorbers. Unlike for erbium-doped fibers, we demonstrate that the concentration of ion pairs cannot be deduced from the pump transmission through the amplifying medium because of the presence of ytterbium ions.


Thirty bands of C2D2 have been observed and measured between 1900 and 3300 cm−1. Twenty of these have been resolved well enough to permit extraction of rotational constants. The Δ2F values up to J35 for three Σg ground state bands were averaged and correlated with other data for a more reliable B0 = 0.84794 ± 0.00005 and D0 = 7.85 × 10−7 ± 0.4 × 10−7, where the indicated uncertainties are the probable errors of the coefficients. Better resolution and higher J values have reduced the uncertainty derived from other sources. The l-type doubling constants for ν41 and ν51 have been obtained from resolved Q branches and split P and R branches; they are q4 = 0.00316 and q5 = 0.00314 cm−1.


The paper addresses the position of private enforcement in the overall context of competition enforcement in Europe and its relationship with public enforcement. It revisits the various objectives-functions served by competition enforcement (injunctive, compensatory, deterrent-punitive) and considers how and to what extent there is a role of each limb of antitrust enforcement with regard to such objectives-functions. It then sets out the principle that private enforcement is independent of public enforcement and places emphasis on the questions of the effect of public decisions on private litigation and on the interaction between the latter and leniency. Finally, the paper reviews the role of public agencies in quantifying anti-competitive harm and takes a position as to the degree such a duty should be imposed on them.


Fundamental information-density limits are evaluated for amplified systems, based on entropy analysis. It is shown that in-line amplification introduces information loss, which is more important in distributed than in lumped amplification. In the absence of any other degradation (such as that which comes from dispersion and nonlinearity), spectral efficiencies of 6¿14 (bits/s)/Hz represent theoretical limits for medium- and long-haul amplified systems.


Gambling and gaming is a very large industry in the United States with about one-third of all adults participating in it on a regular basis. Using novel and unique behavioral data from a panel of casino gamblers, this paper investigates three aspects of consumer behavior in this domain. The first is that consumers are addicted to gambling, the second that they act on "irrational" beliefs, and the third that they are influenced by marketing activity that attempts to influence their gambling behavior. We use the interrelated consumer decisions to play (gamble) and the amount bet in a casino setting to focus on addiction using the standard economic definition of addiction. We test for two irrational behaviors, the "gambler's fallacy" and the "hot hand myth"—our research represents the first test for these behaviors using disaggregate data in a real (as opposed to a laboratory) setting. Finally, we look at the effect of marketing instruments on the both the decision to play and the amount bet. Using hierarchical Bayesian methods to pin down individual-level parameters, we find that about 8% of the consumers in our sample can be classified as addicted. We find support in our data for the gambler's fallacy, but not for the hot hand myth. We find that marketing instruments positively affect gambling behavior, and that consumers who are more addicted are also affected by marketing to a greater extent. Specifically, the long-run marketing response is about twice as high for the more addicted consumers.


Many believers don't understand the importance DNA has on their everyday routines. Healthy lifestyles--and healthy spiritual lives--are very much related to the epigenome, the control system of the cell. It's time for Christians to learn the amazing and mysterious benefits of understanding what lies beyond DNA. In this creative and inventive treatment, authors Thomas E. Woodward and James P. Gills take readers on an exploration of the human epigenome. Acting as tour guides leading visitors through a 3-D model of a human cell, Woodward and Gills bring to life the human molecular makeup. Readers (as visitors) will get up close and personal with the minute details of human molecular structure, including E. coli, flagellum, a DNA helix, an RNA molecule, and more. By seeing it with their own eyes, readers will gain a better understanding of their genetic systems and a better appreciation for the Creator who put this all into place. Perhaps the most exciting aspect of understanding epigenetic information is the potential to proactively reprogram the human epigenome to allow for improved physical and spiritual health. Readers will discover how epigenetic damage can lead to rare forms of cancer and other ailments and how improved healthy lifestyles can cure the epigenomes, preventing the communication of hereditary setbacks to future generations. "Our hope," write the authors "is that this book will be but the start of an awe-inspiring journey.


We explore two different worldwide multi-regional input–output (MRIO) databases (Global Trade Analysis Project-MRIO and World Input–Output Database) for the calculation of the global carbon footprint (CF) of nations. We start our analysis with a description of the main characteristics of the databases and then make a comparison between their main components. Then, we calculate the CF with both databases and identify (from a global perspective) the most relevant factors underlying their differences using structural decomposition analysis. On average, certain parts of both databases (e.g. intermediate uses and final demand) can be said to be similar for around 75% to 80%, with only a few elements in each part mainly driving the major differences. The divergences in the datasets of four countries explain almost 50% of the differences in the CF (the USA, China, Russia and India). Industry-wise, 50% of the differences can be explained by the divergences in electricity, refining and inland transport industries.


I examine the welfare implications of informative advertising in a differentiated product duopoly market. The analysis reconciles the apparently conflicting results in previous studies that find advertising to be undersupplied in homogeneous product markets and in differentiated markets with a limited number of firms, but oversupplied in differentiated markets with a large number of firms. In equilibrium, purely informative advertising is always overprovided when the degree of product differentiation exceeds a threshold level. The result is robust and obtains under conditions of both price and quantity competition. Product differentiation also has welfare implications for the effect of technological change in the advertising sector. In response to an advertising cost innovation (e.g., through the emergence of cable TV and internet media), the equilibrium prices and advertising levels converge to the social optimum when the products are sufficiently non-differentiated, whereas divergence occurs for more differentiated goods


Most vaccines should be given via the intramuscular route into the deltoid or the anterolateral aspect of the thigh. This optimises the immunogenicity of the vaccine and minimises adverse reactions at the injection site. Recent studies have highlighted the importance of administering vaccines correctly.1–3 Clinical practice needs to reflect considerations about the right length and gauge of needles used to ensure that those vaccinated get the immunological benefit of the vaccines without local side effects.

Injecting a vaccine into the layer of subcutaneous fat, where poor vascularity may result in slow mobilisation and processing of antigen, is a cause of vaccine failure1—for example in hepatitis B,2 rabies, and influenza vaccines.3 Compared with intramuscular administration, subcutaneous injection of hepatitis B vaccine leads to significantly lower seroconversion rates and more rapid decay of antibody response.1

Traditionally the buttocks were thought to be an appropriate site for vaccination, but …


Analysis of a 39‐yr record (1969–2008) of temperature profiles from Lake Kinneret, Israel, revealed that average epilimnion thickness decreased by ∼ 1.2 m (∼ 3 cm yr−1), metalimnion thickness decreased by between ∼ 1.0 m (December) and ∼ 2.0 m (April), and average temperature of the epilimnion increased by ∼ 1°C (∼ 0.028°C yr−1). Average hypolimnetic temperature remained constant (∼ 15°C), so that the thermal gradient across the metalimnion increased. The average duration of the stratification period (∼ 286 d) remained unchanged. We show that the stratification changes were the result of a decrease in lake level, a slight increase in air temperature during the spring and summer, and a reduction of inflows to the lake. These changes in time affected the stratification pattern in the same direction, i.e., an increase in the lake epilimnetic temperature and an increase in the thermal gradient across the metalimnion. Analysis of the data indicates that the effect of overpumping, which leads to a reduction in lake level, is larger than the effect of changes due to air‐temperature increase and the reduction in inflow volumes.


Baseline Chinese economic data are unreliable. Taking published National Bureau of Statistics China data, three problems appear. First, base data on housing price inflation are manipulated. Second, the NBSC misclassifies most Chinese households as private housing occupants. Third, the NSBC applies a straight 80/20 urban/rural private housing weighting. To correct for these manipulative practices, I use third party and related NBSC data to correct the change in consumer prices in China between 2000 and 2011. I find that using conservative assumptions about price increases, the annual CPI in China should be adjusted upwards by approximately 1%. This reduces real Chinese GDP by 8–12% or more than $1 trillion in PPP terms.


What accounts for our tastes? Why and how do they change over time? In this innovative book Stanley Lieberson analyzes children's first names to develop an original theory of fashion. Children's names provide an opportunity to view the pure mechanisms of fashion, unaffected by commercial interests that influence many fashions and tastes, says Lieberson. He disputes the commonly held notion that tastes in names (and other fashions) simply reflect societal shifts. There exist also "internal taste mechanisms" that drive changes in fashion even in the absence of social change, Lieberson contends. He explores the intricate and subtle ways in which internal mechanisms operate in concert with social forces to determine our choices of names. And he applies these conclusions to classical music, the decline of the fedora, women's garments, and other examples of change in fashion. Examining extensive data on names over long periods of time, Lieberson discovers an orderly regularity to the process of change. He considers an array of naming practices-how Rebecca became a popular name, why the names of certain important and attractive biblical characters are rarely chosen, and the influence of movie stars and characters in movies and novels. The book also inquires into name selection by specific ethnic and racial groups-Mexicans' choices of names for their sons and daughters, African-American naming tastes from the time of slavery, changing names among American Jews throughout the twentieth century, and ethnic influences on naming in assimilated white groups. Lieberson concludes with a discussion of broader applications of internal mechanisms, suggesting that they operate widely in culture, across the entire "cultural surface."


The Department provides for its major and minor students in French, German, and Spanish programs of study that are conducive to developing competence in the spoken and written language, with a broad and deep knowledge of the literature and culture of the target languages. The Department offers to its students of Japanese and Italian a program of study conducive to developing competence in the spoken and written language with insights into the culture of the target languages.


Polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) are synthetic chemicals used in consumer products as additive flame retardants. There has been concern about these substances amongst regulators and policy makers as a result of their persistence in the environment and bioaccumulation in human and wildlife, as well as their ability to undergo long range atmospheric transport. PBDE contamination has been reported in most parts of the outdoor environment (such as sediment, soil, air, water and wildlife), as well as the indoor environment (dust and air) and human body (blood, breast milk, hair and so on). These chemicals have also raised concerns as they are human toxicants since they have been reported to affect thyroid hormones, neurobehavioural development, disruption to endocrine systems and possibly causing cancer. The overall hypothesis for this study was that the government regulatory intervention has differed between regions and countries. This has led to variations in the use of consumer goods containing PBDEs which directly affects contaminant levels in indoor environments which may be detrimental to human health with different timing and severities. The aims of the study were to discuss the development of regulations in Europe, North America and China, and through a sampling campaign and investigation, determine concentrations of PBDEs in the indoor environment of private homes across China. The final part of the study investigated the possible correlation between human serum concentrations and thyroid hormone function. In the initial part of this study, previously published studies of PBDEs in indoor environments and human exposure were used to summarize and compare temporal and spatial patterns across Europe, the USA and China. This was followed by the collection of dust samples in private homes in December, 2016 to January 2017, from five main cities in China, Dalian, Beijing, Shanghai, Xiamen and Guangzhou. Serum samples were collected from patients diagnosed with thyroid function abnormalities in Kunming, China. All samples were analyzed by gas chromatography and mass spectrometry (GC/MS). As a result of the variation in regional restrictions of the production/usage of commercial PBDEs, the concentration and PBDE profile composition were found to be different between Europe, the USA and China. Data from this study also showed variations in PBDE concentration between cities, within a city region and within individual dwellings. For example, a significant positive correlation was found between total PBDE concentration in dust collected from air conditioner (AC) filters and floor dust samples, which suggests they have a common source. AC filters may be a good place to collect samples in future as it represents the status of the general indoor environment. However, no significant association was found between total PBDEs in dust collected from foam furniture and floor dust. Differences were also observed between urban, suburban and rural locations. Serum samples from patients with abnormal thyroid function from Kunming were evaluated for PBDE contamination to assess exposure and possible interactions. The results identified BDE47 to be the major congener present in human serum. The concentrations of ∑7PBDE were similar to those from previous studies for general population groups including both adults and children, and at the same order of magnitude as European data, but lower than in the USA. Multiple linear regressions were used to examine the associations between PBDE congeners and the 5 thyroid hormone parameters. BDE153 showed significant positive correlation with Thyroxine (T4) and a negative correlation with Triiodothyonie (T3), whilst BDE47 showed a negative correlation with Free Thyroxine (FT4). The β-coefficients also suggested that a log-unit increase in ∑7PBDE was associated with an increase of FT4 and T4 levels and a decrease of TSH, T3 and free triiodothyonine (FT3). Further research is required, preferably using an increased sample size from thyroid patients, to investigate this possible relationship.


Background Large-scale real life observational cohorts are needed to study effectiveness and early signals of rare safety issues of new biological disease modifying drugs (bDMARDs) and biosimilars (bsDMARDs) in ankylosing spondylitis (AS). Combining data from biological registries would facilitate this. The Nordic countries have several similarities that would justify such aggregated analyses including similar health care systems with universal access to population based health care, availability of b/bsDMARDs through a tax-paid system and the registration of use and effectiveness of bDMARDs in inflammatory diseases in a prospective manner in drug registries. Objectives To explore the prescription patterns of old (TNF-inhibitors) and newer bDMARDs (secukinumab, ustekinumab) including bsDMARDs (SB4, CT-P13) over time in AS in the Nordic countries in order to illustrate the potential of a common Nordic collaboration. Methods Data regarding the numbers of AS patients (pts) (ICD10 code M45) who initiated bDMARD treatment (irrespective of treatment course number) during the period 2011–2016 were collected from the Nordic rheumatologic biological registries SRQ (Sweden), NOR-DMARD (6 Norwegian treatment centres), DANBIO (Denmark), ROB-FIN (Finland, 2011–2015) and ICEBIO (Iceland). Results In total, 6,610 bDMARD treatment initiations were identified (Sweden 3654, Norway 1078, Denmark 782, Finland 789, Iceland 307). The prescription patterns of bDMARDs changed substantially over time. In 2016, the number of pts initiating a bsDMARDs exceeded those starting an originator bDMARD (figure). Few patients were treated with ustekinumab (Denmark <10 pts, Finland <10, Sweden 26) and secukinumab (Denmark <10 pts, Sweden 57). Conclusions The use of bsDMARDs in AS is rapidly increasing. The use of drugs with new modes of action is still low, which illustrates the need for collaboration across countries to provide real life data with sufficient power for new innovative therapies in the future. The Nordic rheumatologic registries represent a unique opportunity to study effectiveness and safety of bDMARDs, including bsDMARDs in AS. Acknowledgements Partly funded by a grant from NordForsk Disclosure of Interest B. Glintborg Grant/research support from: abbvie, K. Chatzidionysiou: None declared, J. Askling Grant/research support from: AbbVie, Eli Lilly, Janssen, Merck, Pfizer, Roche, UCB, Samsung, K. Aaltonen Speakers bureau: AbbVie, BMS, Janssen, MSD, Pfizer, Roche, UCB, E. Kristianslund: None declared, B. Gudbjornsson Grant/research support from: Actavis, Celgene, MSD, Pfizer, D. Nordström Speakers bureau: AbbVie, BMS, Lilly, MSD, Novartis, Pfizer, Roche, UCB, M. Hetland Grant/research support from: Orion, BMS, AbbVie, Biogen, Pfizer, MSD, L. Dreyer Speakers bureau: MSD, UCB, Janssen Pharmaceuticals, L. E. Kristensen Speakers bureau: Pfizer, AbbVie, Biogen, Amgen, UCB, Celegene, BMS, MSD, Novartis, Eli Lilly, Janssen pharmaceuticals, T. Jørgensen Speakers bureau: AbbVie, Roche, Novartis, UCB, Biogen, K. Eklund: None declared, G. Grondal: None declared, S. Ernestam: None declared, J. Joensuu Grant/research support from: Pfizer, T. Kvien Speakers bureau: AbbVie, Biogen, BMS, Boehringer Ingelheim, Celltrion, Eli Lilly, Epirus, Janssen, Merck-Serono, MSD, Mundipharma, Novartis, Oktal, Orion Pharma, Hospira/Pfizer, Roche, Sandoz, UCB, E. Lie Speakers bureau: AbbVie, Celgene, Hospira, Pfizer, K. Fagerli: None declared, A. J. Geirsson: None declared, H. Jonsson: None declared, L. Jacobsson Consultant for: Abbvie, Celegen, MSD, Novartis, UCB