Medicinal leeches gather visual input from both its eyecups and photoreceptors across its body surface; each of its 21 midbody segments possesses 14 photoreceptive sensilla. It has been previously established that the posterior sucker is composed of seven body segments that are fused during embryogenesis. Similarly, four body segments fuse to create the anterior brain. There are five bilateral pairs of eyes located on the dorsal surface of the leech's head and seven bilateral pairs of sensilla distributed over the surface of each midbody segment (Kretz et al., 1975). If no sensilla were lost during the fusion of the seven body segments that make up the posterior sucker, it would possess in the order of one-quarter of the receptors in the entire body. It has been observed that leeches have different responses to ultraviolet light stimulation on the anterior and posterior portion of their bodies suggesting that leeches are responsive to stimuli at both their head and tail (Jellies, 2013). The presence of photoreceptors on the tail sucker could contribute to the difference in the observed behaviors. There have been few studies on the hindbrain and tail sucker of the Medicinal Leech, however, there are known pathways in which the hindbrain and anterior brain communicate that play a role in rhythmic and mesenteric movements like crawling and swimming (Baader et al., 1997). In 10 trials, this study isolated the caudal region of the leech through partial ablation of the connective nerve between ganglion eleven and twelve and division of the body wall between body segment twelve and thirteen, then tested visual responses with and without the hindbrain isolated. Extracellular recordings were analyzed for S-cell response then standardized and compared. All 10 trials showed S-cell response to light stimuli while the hindbrain was isolated suggesting the tail sucker possesses sensilla. Photoreceptors in Tail Sucker 3


The description of the developed computer system possibilities and its use to solve problems of motion safety and stability is given.


Drawing on over 150 interviews with former IRA, INLA, UVF and UFF prisoners, this is a major analysis of why Northern Ireland has seen a transition from war to peace. Most accounts of the peace process are 'top-down', relying upon the views of political elites. This book is 'bottom-up', analysing the voices of those who actually 'fought the war'. What made them fight, why did they stop and what are the lessons for other conflict zones?

Using unrivalled access to members of the armed groups, the book offering a critical appraisal of one-dimensional accounts of the onset of peace, grounded in 'mutually hurting stalemate' and 'ripeness', which downgrade the political and economic aspects of conflict. Military stalemate had been evident since the early 1970s and offers little in explaining the timing of the peace process. Moreover, republicans and loyalists based their ceasefires upon very different perceptions of transformation or victory.

Based on a Leverhulme Trust project and written by an expert team, Abandoning Conflict offers a new analysis, based on subtle interplays of military, political, economic and personal changes and experiences. Combined, these allowed combatants to move from violence to peace whilst retaining core ideological beliefs and maintaining long-term constitutional visions.

Former prisoners now act as ambassadors for peace in Northern Ireland. Knowledge of why and how combatants switched to peaceful methodologies amid widespread skepticism over prospects for peace is essential to our understanding of the management of global peace processes. Abandoning Conflict is essential reading for policy-makers, academics, students and anyone with an interest in how war can become peace.


This paper contributes to the development of techniques for the modular proof of programs that include concurrent algorithms. We present a proof of a non-blocking concurrent algorithm, which provides a shared stack. The inter-thread interference, which is essential to the algorithm, is confined in the proof and the specification to the modular operations, which perform push and pop on the stack. This is achieved by the mechanisms of separation logic. The effect is that inter-thread interference does not pollute specification or verification of clients of the stack.


Pre-training (PT) followed by fine-tuning (FT) is an effective method for training neural networks, and has led to significant performance improvements in many domains. PT can incorporate various design choices such as task and data reweighting strategies, augmentation policies, and noise models, all of which can significantly impact the quality of representations learned. The hyperparameters introduced by these strategies therefore must be tuned appropriately. However, setting the values of these hyperparameters is challenging. Most existing methods either struggle to scale to high dimensions, are too slow and memory-intensive, or cannot be directly applied to the two-stage PT and FT learning process. In this work, we propose an efficient, gradient-based algorithm to meta-learn PT hyperparameters. We formalize the PT hyperparameter optimization problem and propose a novel method to obtain PT hyperparameter gradients by combining implicit differentiation and backpropagation through unrolled optimization. We demonstrate that our method improves predictive performance on two real-world domains. First, we optimize high-dimensional task weighting hyperparameters for multitask pre-training on protein-protein interaction graphs and improve AUROC by up to 3.9%. Second, we optimize a data augmentation neural network for self-supervised PT with SimCLR on electrocardiography data and improve AUROC by up to 1.9%.


This paper introduces WikiWikiWeb software, also known as Wiki, for use in library and information management contexts. Wikis provide an environment for Web-based collaboration and can also be used for Web site content management. The article includes an overview of the history and development of Wiki, as well as discussing basic and advanced Wiki features. It compares three Wiki engines and describes seven case studies of real-world library and library-related Wiki applications. The paper concludes with a discussion of factors that can contribute to a successful Wiki project.


Every decision about energy involves its price and cost. The price of gasoline and the cost of buying from foreign producers; the price of nuclear and hydroelectricity and the costs to our ecosystems; the price of electricity from coal-fired plants and the cost to the atmosphere. Giving life to inventions, lifestyle changes, geopolitical shifts, and things in-between, energy economics is of high interest to Academia, Corporations and Governments. For economists, energy economics is one of three subdisciplines which, taken together, compose an economic approach to the exploitation and preservation of natural resources: energy economics, which focuses on energy-related subjects such as renewable energy, hydropower, nuclear power, and the political economy of energy; resource economics, which covers subjects in land and water use, such as mining, fisheries, agriculture, and forests; and, environmental economics, which takes a broader view of natural resources through economic concepts such as risk, valuation, regulation, and distribution Although the three are closely related, they are not often presented as an integrated whole. This Encyclopedia has done just that by unifying these fields into a high-quality and unique overview. The only reference work that codifies the relationships among the three subdisciplines: energy economics, resource economics and environmental economics. Understanding these relationships just became simpler! Nobel Prize Winning Editor-in-Chief (joint recipient 2007 Peace Prize), Jason Shogren, has demonstrated excellent team work again, by coordinating and steering his Editorial Board to produce a cohesive work that guides the user seamlessly through the diverse topics. This work contains in equal parts information from and about business, academic, and government perspectives and is intended to serve as a tool for unifying and systematizing research and analysis in business, universities, and government.


Abstract. Energy plays a crucial role in the economy of any country. One of the most recent trends in global development is the transition to "green" growth. Morocco is keeping pace with its growth by promising to increase renewable energy capacity to 42% of total installed capacity by 2020 and to 52% by 2030. This study develops a framework that aims to determine the optimal areas for deploying photovoltaic (PV) installation in two stages. The first stage aims at excluding the undesirable areas such as forests, rivers and agricultural land. The second stage consists in defining the suitability of sites based on seven criteria; solar irradiation, land surface temperature, slopes, slope orientation, distance from power lines, distance from main roads, distance of urban area. In this study we are using fuzzy logic and fuzzy membership functions in order to create criteria layers in the environment of Geographic Information System (GIS) that allowing the integration of a Multi-Criterion Decision Analysis (MCDA) to identify the best sites to deploy PV solar power plants in north-western Morocco. Also, the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) technique is used to determine weights for each one of the criteria. Results obtained from the spatial approach shows that the major portion of the studied area was judged inappropriate for solar farms installations. Also, it shows that only 5.11% (8500 Ha) of the territory demonstrate high suitability for PV solar installations located in the southern part of our studied area with a potential of electricity generation, from the areas with high suitability level, assuming a PV system efficiency of 6.48%; equivalent to 5.39 Twh/year with an installed capacity of 4.02 GW and an annual carbon emission reduction of 3 697.54 Kt-CO2/year. The resulting suitability map can be used as a decision support tool to help the public policy makers to integrate green energy into their policies.


Background and Study Aims. The nonlifting polyp sign of invasive colon cancer is considered highly sensitive and specific for cancer extending beyond the mid-submucosa. However, prior interventions can cause adenomas to become nonlifting due to fibrosis. It is unclear whether nonlifting adenomas can be successfully treated endoscopically. The aim of this study was to evaluate outcomes in a referral practice incorporating a standardized protocol of attempted endoscopic resection of nonlifting lesions previously treated by biopsy, polypectomy, surgery, or tattoo placement. Patients and Methods. Retrospective review of patients undergoing colonoscopy by one endoscopist at two hospitals found to have nonlifting lesions from prior interventions. Lesions with biopsy proven invasive cancer or definite endoscopic features of invasive cancer were excluded. Lesions ≥ 8 mm were routinely injected with saline prior to attempted endoscopic resection. Polypectomy was performed using a stiff snare, followed by argon plasma coagulation (APC) if necessary. Results. 26 patients each had a single nonlifting lesion with a history of prior intervention. Endoscopic resection was completed in 25 (96%). 22 required snare resection and APC. 1 patient had invasive cancer and was referred for surgery. The recurrence rate on follow-up colonoscopy was 26%. All of the recurrences were successfully treated endoscopically. There was 1 postprocedure bleed (4%), no perforations, and no other complications. Conclusions. The majority of adenomas that are nonlifting after prior interventions can be treated successfully and safely by a combination of piecemeal polypectomy and ablation. Although recurrence rates are high at 26%, these too can be successfully treated endoscopically.


Plants recognize pathogens through immune-like receptors, which activate a resistance response. In turn, pathogens have evolved means to modify plant signaling pathways to avoid triggering the resistance response. Kay et al. and Römer et al. tackle the molecular mechanisms underlying this evolutionary arms race between plants and pathogens. The bacterial type III effector protein, AvrBs3, functions as a pathogenicity factor in susceptible host plants, which lack a resistance gene known as Bs3, by acting as a transcriptional activator. In contrast, plants carrying Bs3 recognize the AvrBs3 protein and activate the resistance gene Bs3, which simulates the plant resistance pathway. P. Römer, S. Hahn, T. Jordan, T. Strauß, U. Bonas, T. Lahaye, Plant pathogen recognition mediated by promoter activation of the pepper Bs3 resistance gene. Science 318, 645-648 (2007). [Abstract] [Full Text] S. Kay, S. Hahn, E. Marois, G. Hause, U. Bonas, A bacterial effector acts as a plant transcription factor and induces a cell size regulator. Science 318, 648-651 (2007). [Abstract] [Full Text]


Just as the polls opened on November 5, 1872, Susan B. Anthony arrived and filled out her "ticket" for the various candidates. But before it could be placed in the ballot box, a poll watcher objected, claiming her action violated the laws of New York and the state constitution. Anthony vehemently protested that as a citizen of the United States and the state of New York she was entitled to vote under the Fourteenth Amendment. The poll watchers gave in and allowed Anthony to deposit her ballots. Anthony was arrested, charged with a federal crime, and tried in court. Primarily represented within document collections and broader accounts of the fight for woman suffrage, Anthony's controversial trial--as a landmark narrative in the annals of American law--remains a relatively neglected subject. N. E. H. Hull provides the first book-length engagement with the legal dimensions of that narrative and in the process illuminates the laws, politics, and personalities at the heart of the trial and its outcome. Hull summarises the woman suffrage movement in the post-Civil War era, reveals its betrayal by former allies in the abolitionist movement, and describes its fall into disarray. She then chronicles Anthony's vote, arrest, and preliminary hearings, as well as the legal and public relations manoeuvring in the run-up to the trial. She captures the drama created by Anthony, her attorneys, the politically ambitious prosecutor, and presiding judge--and Supreme Court justice--Ward Hunt, who argued emphatically against Anthony's interpretation of the Reconstruction Amendments as the source of her voting rights. She then tracks further relevant developments in the trial's aftermath--including Minor v. Happersett , another key case for the voting rights of women--and follows the major players through the eventual passage of the Nineteenth (or "Susan B. Anthony") Amendment. Hull's concise and readable guide reveals a story of courage and despair, of sisterhood and rivalry, of high purpose and low politics. It also underscores for all of us how Anthony's act of civil disobedience remains essential to our understanding of both constitutional and women's history--and why it all matters. This book is part of the Landmark Law Cases and American Society series .


Shellfish processing results in the disposal of large quantities of waste to landfill sites. This project sought to deal with the issue of the processing of marine crustacean waste, specifically that of the prawn, Nephrops norvegicus.

The exoskeleton of Nephrops norvegicus contains chitin, β-(1→4)-N-acetyl-D-glucosamine.

In this study shell waste was demineralised, via lactic acid fermentation, using a commercial silage inoculant. The product contained 11.2% (w/w) ash, 31.1% (w/w) protein and 53.5% (w/w) chitin. Addition of the proteolytic enzyme, bromelain and a nitrogen source to the fermentation system led to deproteinisation and further demineralisation of the shell. The final product contained 4.2% (w/w) ash, 5.3% (w/w) protein and 79.6% (w/w) chitin.

Chitin is relatively inert but can be converted to its more reactive derivative, chitosan, by deacetylation. Chitosan, prepared from bioprocessed shell waste, was investigated as a potential coating for urinary catheters. Attempts are currently being made to prevent blockage of these biomedical devices due to mineral ions, via the use of different manufacturing materials. Shell waste that had been demineralised using lactic acid fermentation was deacetylated using 50% (w/v) NaOH at 90oC. Membranes were prepared from the resultant chitosan. After immersion in a bath containing artificial urine, adherence of calcium and magnesium ions to the membranes was measured and compared with adherence of the same ions to polyurethane membranes. Adherence of calcium to the chitosan membranes was not higher than adherence to the polyurethane control membranes. Adherence of magnesium ions was significantly less than to the polyurethane control. The chitosan was hence shown to have potential for use as a coating for urinary catheters.


ABSTRACT Bicycle-Sharing Systems (BSS) are growing quickly in popularity all over the world. In this article, we propose a method based on Nonnegative Matrix Factorization to study the typical temporal patterns of usage of the BSS of Lyon, France, by studying logs of rentals. First, we show how this approach allows us to understand the spatial and temporal usage of the system. Second, we show how we can track the evolution of these temporal patterns over several years, and how this information can be used to better understand the BSS, but also changes in the city itself, by considering the stations as social sensors.


Abstract. The LOSCAR model is designed to efficiently compute the partitioning of carbon between ocean, atmosphere, and sediments on time scales ranging from centuries to millions of years. While a variety of computationally inexpensive carbon cycle models are already available, many are missing a critical sediment component, which is indispensable for long-term integrations. One of LOSCAR's strengths is the coupling of ocean-atmosphere routines to a computationally efficient sediment module. This allows, for instance, adequate computation of CaCO3 dissolution, calcite compensation, and long-term carbon cycle fluxes, including weathering of carbonate and silicate rocks. The ocean component includes various biogeochemical tracers such as total carbon, alkalinity, phosphate, oxygen, and stable carbon isotopes. LOSCAR's configuration of ocean geometry is flexible and allows for easy switching between modern and paleo-versions. We have previously published applications of the model tackling future projections of ocean chemistry and weathering, pCO2 sensitivity to carbon cycle perturbations throughout the Cenozoic, and carbon/calcium cycling during the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum. The focus of the present contribution is the detailed description of the model including numerical architecture, processes and parameterizations, tuning, and examples of input and output. Typical CPU integration times of LOSCAR are of order seconds for several thousand model years on current standard desktop machines. The LOSCAR source code in C can be obtained from the author by sending a request to firstname.lastname@example.com.


he Chemical Engineering Vocabulary was written for students and young professionals in chemistry, mechanical engineering, chemical engineering and economics, who have to do with chemical engineering in an academic or industrial setting.

All 2600 entries come with a sentence, which shows the application and, in addition, provides a piece of relevant and interesting information.

After studying these terms, the reader will have a solid vocabulary at his/her disposal, so that he/she can communicate in all areas of the process industries in a competent way and make use of the scientific and technical literature efficiently.


ABSTRACT Quality of life (QoL) is now widely recognised as a multidimensional concept. This study validates an instrument to measure multidimensional QoL, and investigates the relationships between the domains thereof. The domains analysed are: health, housing and infrastructure, socio-economic status, social relationships, governance and safety. We utilise a rich household-level dataset collected by the GCRO on QoL in the Gauteng city-region of South Africa. To validate the instrument, we subject the different domains to exploratory factor analysis (EFA) to confirm the unidimensionality of each dimension, and then employ confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) to validate the instrument and to investigate the interrelationships between the domains of QoL. The results show that the items included to measure the different scales/domains of QoL are valid measures of the constructs. Furthermore, all domains are positively related, implying that policy measures implemented to improve a specific dimension may also positively influence the other domains of QoL.


We have developed a single probe method for detecting microRNA from human serum using single molecule arrays, with sequence specificity down to a single base, and without the use of amplification by polymerases. An abasic peptide nucleic acid (PNA) probe—containing a reactive amine instead of a nucleotide at a specific position in the sequence—for detecting a microRNA was conjugated to superparamagnetic beads. These beads were incubated with a sample containing microRNA, a biotinylated reactive nucleobase—containing an aldehyde group—that was complementary to the missing base in the probe sequence, and a reducing agent. When a target molecule with an exact match in sequence hybridized to the capture probe, the reactive nucleobase was covalently attached to the backbone of the probe by a dynamic covalent chemical reaction. Single molecules of the biotin-labeled probe were then labeled with streptavidin-β-galactosidase (SβG), the beads were resuspended in a fluorogenic enzyme substrate, loaded into an array of femtoliter wells, and sealed with oil. The array was imaged fluorescently to determine which beads were associated with single enzymes, and the average number of enzymes per bead was determined. The assay had a limit of detection of 500 fM, approximately 500 times more sensitive than a corresponding analog bead-based assay, with target specificity down to a single base mis-match. This assay was used to measure microRNA-122 (miR-122)—an established biomarker of liver toxicity—extracted from the serum of patients who had acute liver injury due to acetaminophen, and control healthy patients. All patients with liver injury had higher levels of miR-122 in their serum compared to controls, and the concentrations measured correlated well with those determined using RT-qPCR. This approach allows rapid quantification of circulating microRNA with single-based specificity and a limit of quantification suitable for clinical use.


This paper assesses consumer preferences for margarine among Hungarian and foreign university students (studying in Hungary) by using the discrete choice experiment. The questionnaire-based survey was preceded by a focus group interview which, supplemented with knowledge gained from literature, established product attributes involved in the examination (such as price, fat, salt and sunflower oil content). Results suggest that the increase in fat and salt content result in reduced con sumer utility and willingness to pay for margarine products. Sunflower oil content, however, was not found to play a significant role in consumer choices. When comparing the two groups, we found that international students tended to be more health conscious than their Hungarian counterparts.


OBJECTIVE
Acute myocardial infarction (AMI) contributes to be a significant public health problem, and it is the leading cause of morbidity and mortality in the world. However, the molecular mechanisms underlying AMI is poorly known. The purpose of this study was to investigate the change of plasma microRNA-99a (miR-99a) level in AMI patients and its potential clinical value.

PATIENTS AND METHODS
Plasma samples from 54 patients with AMI and 30 healthy volunteers were collected. Quantitative real-time PCR (qPCR) and ELISA assays were used to detect the expression of circulating plasma miR-99a and of cardiac troponin I (cTnI)/creatine kinase-MB (CK-MB), respectively. AMI patients were categorized into subgroups according to the number of stenosed coronary vessels, and the association between the plasma miR-99a level and the severity of AMI was analyzed. The expression level of miR-99a was also evaluated in patients receiving percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI).

RESULTS
The expression of miR-99a was significantly downregulated in patients with AMI compared with the normal controls (p < 0.01).  In the AMI patients, miR-99a level had a negative correlation with cTnI level (r = -0.8202, p < 0.01) and CK-MB (r = -0.6924, p < 0.01). Also, the expression of miR-99a was markedly lower in patients with more stenosed coronary vessels (p < 0.01). The relative expression level of miR-99a in AMI patients was significantly increased after receiving PCI (p < 0.01).

CONCLUSIONS
The expression level of plasma miR-99a was remarkably reduced following AMI and closely associated with the severity of AMI. Therefore, it was a promising novel diagnostic biomarker for AMI.


The 5-HT3 serotonin receptor belongs to the cys-loop ligand-gated ion channel (LGIC) family. It is located in the central and peripheral nervous system and is implicated in certain pathologic situations. The 5-HT3 receptor is investigated here, as a typical example of these LGIC's, to elucidate its structure and dynamics in living cells. Distribution, receptor-ligand interaction and low-resolution structural information of the 5-HT3 receptor were determined using a new method for protein labelling (chapter 2). This generic method does not require the fusion of bulky fluorophores or other moieties to the target molecule. Instead, small nickel-chelating nitrilotriacetate probes are used that bind specifically and reversibly to polyhistidine loops on the target proteins. The lateral mobility of the 5-HT3 in different functional states was investigated by single-molecule microscopy using the newly developed repetitive protein labelling method (chapter 3). A significant reduction of the lateral mobility of the desensitized receptor was observed indicating the role of serotonin in modulating the diffusion of the receptor, which might be important in the development of the synapse. Conformational transitions of the 5-HT3 receptor were investigated by tethering a fluorophore to a single cysteine side chain introduced at the 20' position in the TM2 region (chapter 4). During serotonin application, fluorescence decreased by  18% indicating a change of the fluorophore environment. Eighteen single cysteine receptors were characterized for functionality and cysteine accessibility. Finally, electrical current through single activated 5-HT3 mutant receptors was measured (chapter 5). Five different conductance levels were determined and noise analysis of current fluctuations in the open states of the activated receptor revealed a 1/fα dependence with α < 1. According to a proposed model, the oscillating domain responsible of the current fluctuations contains charged amino acids. These results contribute to a more comprehensive model of the dynamics both of the 5-HT3 receptor and 5-HT3 receptor within cells.


Vinyl ester/inorganic layered material nanocomposites were prepared from osmotic swelled clay which is a typical inorganic layered material. Inorganic layered material (montmorillonite clay type (CL120), Zinc Aluminum Layer Double Hydroxide (ZnAl LDH)) based nanocomposites have dominated the polymer literature and is one of the most significant areas of current and emerging interest. Disodium cocoamphodipropionate (K2) and sodium dodecylbenzene sulfonate (SDBS) were intercalated into montmorillonite and ZnAl LDH, respectively. Modified CL120 and ZnAl LDH dispersion morphology is confirmed by using X-ray diffraction (XRD), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR). The synthesized nanocomposites' dispersion morphology is confirmed by XRD and TEM, and in order to evaluate the influence of these nanofillers, samples with different concentrations (1 and 3 phr) were dispersed in the matrix. The mechanical and shrinkage properties, dimensional stability, and print through phenomenon are expected to effectively help the development of wind blades.


The large latency of memory accesses in modern computer systems is a key obstacle to achieving high processor utilization. Furthermore, the technology trends indicate that this gap between processor and memory speeds is likely to increase in the future. While increased latency affects all computer systems, the problem is magnified in large-scale shared-memory multiprocessors, where physical dimensions cause latency to be an inherent problem. To cope with the memory latency problem, the basic solution that nearly all computer systems rely on is their cache hierarchy. While caches are useful, they are not a panacea.
Software-controlled prefetching is a technique for tolerating memory latency by explicitly executing prefetch instructions to move data close to the processor before it is actually needed. This technique is attractive because it can hide both read and write latency within a single thread of execution while requiring relatively little hardware support. Software-controlled prefetching, however, presents two major challenges. First, some sophistication is required on the part of either the programmer, runtime system, or (preferably) the compiler to insert prefetches into the code. Second, care must be taken that the overheads of prefetching, which include additional instructions and increased memory queueing delays, do not outweigh the benefits.
This dissertation proposes and evaluates a new compiler algorithm for inserting prefetches into code. The proposed algorithm attempts to minimize overheads by only issuing prefetches for references that are predicted to suffer cache misses. The algorithm can prefetch both dense-matrix and sparse-matrix codes, thus covering a large fraction of scientific applications. It also works for both uniprocessor and large-scale shared-memory multiprocessor architectures. We have implemented our algorithm in the SUIF (Stanford University Intermediate Form) optimizing compiler. The results of our detailed architectural simulations demonstrate that the speed of some applications can be improved by as much as a factor of two, both on uniprocessor and multiprocessor systems. This dissertation also compares software-controlled prefetching with other latency-hiding techniques (e.g., locality optimizations, relaxed consistency models, and multithreading), and investigates the architectural support necessary to make prefetching effective.


From the Publisher:
The MIT Sloan School of Management, as conceived by the legendary General Motors chairman Alfred P. Sloan, was founded in 1952 to draw on the scientific and technical resources of MIT and approach the problems of management with the rigorous research practices for which MIT was famous. Fifty years later, the Sloan School gathered international leaders in business and management, MIT faculty, students, and alumni to address again the basic principles that should guide business and management. This book presents the papers prepared by student-faculty teams, speeches by business and world leaders, and summaries of the discussions from this special convocation; taken together, they offer a guide to the future of management based on the hallmarks of MIT and Sloan--creativity and innovation.

The topics considered coalesced around three main themes. First, and paramount, is the necessity of building and maintaining trust by means of openness, transparency, and accountability; this was addressed in speeches by Kofi Annan and Carly Fiorina and exemplified by the case study presented of Nike's efforts to rebuild the trust of customers. The increasingly complex conditions of the modern global economy emerged as another recurring theme, as the participants considered the effect of the growing spectrum of stakeholders on issues of corporate governance. The third common theme was the inescapability of technological and scientific change, from the Internet as a marketing tool to the organizational impact of information technology.


PROBLEM IDENTIFICATION
Understanding of Korean American cancer survivors' quality of life (QOL) within a cultural context is limited. This article examines factors associated with the QOL of Korean American cancer survivors.
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LITERATURE SEARCH
A systematic literature search was conducted of PubMed, CINAHL®, Google Scholar, and EBSCO databases from January 2000 to January 2014.
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DATA EVALUATION
The studies were assessed for the relevance to the purpose of the review. Each study was rated on a two-point scale using an 11-item quality criteria checklist.
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SYNTHESIS
The 13 studies that met the criteria for inclusion included 7 descriptive, 5 qualitative, and 1 mixed-method.
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CONCLUSIONS
Social support, communication, and acculturation were key factors associated with Korean Americans' QOL. Cultural differences were evident for Korean Americans versus other Asian American ethnic groups.
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IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE
More innovative and culturally driven research is needed to understand each minority group's cultural barriers, as well as to improve cancer survivors' QOL. Improving the doctor-patient relationship is critical to promoting better cancer experiences for Korean American cancer survivors.


This paper, first, reviews the report filed by the Western Water Policy Review Advisory Commission since it touches on all the major issues associated with water rights and uses in the Upper Rio Grande Basin, defined as that part of the river from the San Luis Valley in Colorado to Fort Quitman, Texas. Second, the paper reviews historical developments over water use and water rights and briefly discusses the major characteristics of El Paso del Norte that do and will have an impact on water supply and consumption. Then the paper reviews the positions of the major stakeholders in the Basin, paying particular attention to their legal arguments. Finally, the paper attempts to describe the possible alternative outcomes of the continuing struggle over water.


BACKGROUND
Surgery performed to improve or replace the function of the diseased urinary bladder has been carried out for over a century. Main reasons for improving or replacing the function of the urinary bladder are bladder cancer, neurogenic bladder dysfunction, detrusor overactivity and chronic inflammatory diseases of the bladder (such as interstitial cystitis, tuberculosis and schistosomiasis). There is still much uncertainty about the best surgical approach. Options available at the present time include: (1) conduit diversion (the creation of various intestinal conduits to the skin) or continent diversion (which includes either a rectal reservoir or continent cutaneous diversion), (2) bladder reconstruction and (3) replacement of the bladder with various intestinal segments.

OBJECTIVES
To determine the best way of improving or replacing the function of the lower urinary tract using intestinal segments when the bladder has to be removed or when it has been rendered useless or dangerous by disease.

SEARCH METHODS
We searched the Cochrane Incontinence Group Specialised Trials Register (searched 28 October 2011), which contains trials identified from the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL), MEDLINE and CINAHL, and handsearching of journals and conference proceedings, and the reference lists of relevant articles.

SELECTION CRITERIA
All randomised or quasi-randomised controlled trials of surgery involving transposition of an intestinal segment into the urinary tract.

DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS
Trials were evaluated for appropriateness for inclusion and for risk of bias by the review authors. Three review authors were involved in the data extraction. Data were combined in a meta-analysis when appropriate.

MAIN RESULTS
Five trials met the inclusion criteria with a total of 355 participants. These trials addressed only five of the 14 comparisons pre-specified in the protocol. One trial reported no statistically significant differences in the incidence of upper urinary tract infection, uretero-intestinal stenosis and renal deterioration in the comparison of continent diversion with conduit diversion. The confidence intervals were all wide, however, and did not rule out important clinical differences. In a second trial, there was no reported difference in the incidence of upper urinary tract infection and uretero-intestinal stenosis when conduit diversions were fashioned from either ileum or colon. A meta-analysis of two trials showed no statistically significant difference in daytime or nocturnal incontinence amongst participants who were randomised to ileocolonic/ileocaecal segment bladder replacement compared to an ileal bladder replacement. However, one small trial suggested that bladder replacement using an ileal segment compared to using an ileocolonic segment may be better in terms of lower rates of nocturnal incontinence. There were no differences in the incidence of dilatation of upper tract, daytime urinary incontinence or wound infection using different intestinal segments for bladder replacement. However the data were reported for 'renal units', but not in a form that allowed appropriate patient-based paired analyses. No statistically significant difference was found in the incidence of renal scarring between anti-refluxing versus freely refluxing uretero-intestinal anastomotic techniques in conduit diversions and bladder replacement groups. Again, the outcome data were not reported as paired analysis or in form to carry out paired analysis.

AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS
The evidence from the included trials was very limited. Only five studies met the inclusion criteria; these were small, of moderate or poor methodological quality, and reported few of the pre-selected outcome measures. This review did not find any evidence that bladder replacement (orthotopic or continent diversion) was better than conduit diversion following cystectomy for cancer. There was no evidence to suggest that bladder reconstruction was better than conduit diversion for benign disease. The clinical significance of data from one small trial suggesting that bladder replacement using an ileal segment compared to using an ileocolonic segment is better in terms of lower rates of nocturnal incontinence is uncertain. The small amount of usable evidence for this review suggests that collaborative multi centre studies should be organised, using random allocation where possible.


We examined the clinical usefulness of measurements of antimitochondrial autoantibodies (AMA) in predicting disease progression in patients with primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC). We determined the relationships between AMA levels measured by indirect immunofluorescence (IF) and those measured by quantitative enzyme immunoassays (EIAs) using recombinant 2‐oxo‐acid dehydrogenase complex (2‐OADC) proteins and the Mayo Risk Score, an established indicator of disease progression in primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC). Results of tests for AMA by either method correlated weakly (r = .24 to .30) with disease progression as indicated by Mayo Risk Scores. The levels of AMA to 2‐OADC proteins varied by more than 200‐fold between patients but remained relatively constant over time in individual patients. Despite being positively correlated with Mayo Risk Score results, the levels of AMA to 2‐OADC proteins were not useful for predicting disease progression in individual patients with PBC. In addition, we found no significant differences in the levels of autoantibodies to 2‐OADC proteins among patients with different histological stages of disease. Our results show that measurements of AMA by IF or by quantitative EIA methods with recombinant 2‐OADC proteins are not useful parameters for predicting disease progression in patients with PBC.


CLARA is a new FEL test facility being developed at STFC Daresbury Laboratory in the UK. The main motivation for CLARA is to test new FEL schemes that can later be implemented on existing and future short wavelength FELs. Particular focus will be on ultra-short pulse generation, pulse stability, and synchronisation with external sources. The project is now underway and the Front End section (photoinjector and first linac) installation will begin later this year. This paper will discuss the progress with the Front End assembly and also highlighting other topics which are currently receiving significant attention.


The Microbiota Makes for Good Therapy The gut microbiota has been implicated in the development of some cancers, such as colorectal cancer, but—given the important role our intestinal habitants play in metabolism—they may also modulate the efficacy of certain cancer therapeutics. Iida et al. (p. 967) evaluated the impact of the microbiota on the efficacy of an immunotherapy [CpG (the cytosine, guanosine, phosphodiester link) oligonucleotides] and oxaliplatin, a platinum compound used as a chemotherapeutic. Both therapies were reduced in efficacy in tumor-bearing mice that lacked microbiota, with the microbiota important for activating the innate immune response against the tumors. Viaud et al. (p. 971) found a similar effect of the microbiota on tumor-bearing mice treated with cyclophosphamide, but in this case it appeared that the microbiota promoted an adaptive immune response against the tumors. The gut microbiota promote the efficacy of several antineoplastic agents in mice. Cyclophosphamide is one of several clinically important cancer drugs whose therapeutic efficacy is due in part to their ability to stimulate antitumor immune responses. Studying mouse models, we demonstrate that cyclophosphamide alters the composition of microbiota in the small intestine and induces the translocation of selected species of Gram-positive bacteria into secondary lymphoid organs. There, these bacteria stimulate the generation of a specific subset of "pathogenic" T helper 17 (pTH17) cells and memory TH1 immune responses. Tumor-bearing mice that were germ-free or that had been treated with antibiotics to kill Gram-positive bacteria showed a reduction in pTH17 responses, and their tumors were resistant to cyclophosphamide. Adoptive transfer of pTH17 cells partially restored the antitumor efficacy of cyclophosphamide. These results suggest that the gut microbiota help shape the anticancer immune response.


This paper addresses the problem of interpolating signals defined on a 2-d sphere from non-uniform samples. We present an interpolation method based on locally weighted linear and nonlinear regression, which takes into account the differences in importance of neighboring samples for signal reconstruction. We show that for optimal kernel function variance, the proposed method performs interpolation more accurately than the nearest neighbor method, especially in noisy conditions. Moreover, this method does not have memory limitations which set the upper bound on the possible interpolation points number, like in the method presented in [1].


We study the impact of post election violence in Kenya on the food market ain Mombasa and find empirical evidence against predictions of high volatility of prices following violence. Using a data set of flour producing firm, we identity the degree of persistence in prices and quantities by means of techniques based on the concept of long term memory or long range dependence. Prices are found to be highly persistent in both wheat and maize flour, with orders of integration which are around 1 or even above 1, implying permanent effect of the shocks. On the contrary, quantities, though also persistent, appear to be fractionally integrated, with orders of integration in the interval (0, 0.5) pointing towards stationarity, long term memory mean reverting behaviour. Violence is associated with an insignificant increase in prices of both products and a significant decrease in quantities.


With the advent of the Internet, distributed programming has become a necessity for the majority of application domains. Nevertheless, programming distributed systems remains a delicate and complex task. This dissertation explores separating distribution concerns, the process of transforming a centralized monolithic program into a distributed one. This research develops algorithms, techniques, and tools for separating distribution concerns and evaluates the applicability of the developed artifacts by identifying the distribution concerns that they separate and the common architectural characteristics of the centralized programs that they transform successfully. The thesis of this research is that software tools working with standard mainstream languages, systems software, and virtual machines can effectively and efficiently separate distribution concerns from application logic for object-oriented programs that use multiple distinct sets of resources. Among the specific technical contributions of this dissertation are (1) a general algorithm for call-by-copy-restore semantics in remote procedure calls for linked data structures, (2) an analysis heuristic that determines which application objects get passed to which parts of native (i.e., platform-specific) code in the language runtime system for platform-independent binary code applications, (3) a technique for injecting code in such applications that will convert objects to the right representation so that they can be accessed correctly inside both application and native code, (4) an approach to maintaining the Java centralized concurrency and synchronization semantics over remote procedure calls efficiently, and (5) an approach to enabling the execution of legacy Java code remotely from a web browser.
The technical contributions of this dissertation have been realized in three software tools for separating distribution concerns: NRMI, middleware with copy-restore semantics; GOTECH, a program generator for distribution; and J-Orchestra, an automatic partitioning system. This dissertation presents several case studies of successfully applying the developed tools to third-party programs.


ABSTRACT While leisure, race, and national populism have been minimally linked and theorized in the literature, we take this moment, during the global turn to national populism and conservative regimes, to center leisure and race in the politics of today. While theorizing the link to leisure and national populism, we center how the turn towards ethno-nationalist populism derives from the workings of race, alongside class, caste, and ethnicity, in various global north and global south leisure contexts. We provide an introduction that puts in conversation the realms of leisure (in all its possibilities), race, and the various modes of national populism. Therefore, we provide both the important theoretical foundations to understanding these relationships while offering numerous instances of such shifts to national populism. In particular, we start the conversation with a case of the realm of art, sport, and protest as a way to pull out the extraordinary links to social phenomenon, power, and theory.


This paper proposes a new non-parametric method of constructing joint confidence bands for impulse response functions of vector autoregressive models. The estimation uncertainty is captured by means of bootstrapping and the highest density region (HDR) approach is used to construct the bands. A Monte Carlo comparison of the HDR bands with existing alternatives shows that the former are competitive with the bootstrap-based Bonferroni and Wald confidence regions. The relative tightness of the HDR bands matched with their good coverage properties makes them attractive for applications. An application to corporate bond spreads for Germany highlights the potential for empirical work.


The article analyzes the relationship between the ideological orientations of the main six Brazilian parties and the occupational composition of their rank-and-file. Two right-wing parties, two from the center and another two left wing ones were selected, defined according to the standard concept used: PPB, PFL, PMDB, PSDB, PDT and PT, respectively. The relationship between the social composition and the ideological orientation of these parties was done by investigating the profile of the parties'members for the 51st Legislature in the Lower House, elected in 1998. The analysis showed a marked difference in terms of occupational composition and in the patrimony dimension of the members. The parties classified as right wing recruited their rank-and-file mainly from managerial segments and high ranked public administrators whereas the left wing parties, among the liberal professionals, intellectuals, teachers, white and blue-collar employees (the latter being generally former trade union members). For the parties considered to be centerist, the presence of managers is important but they form a minority inside these parties and, at the same time, there are no members from the popular classes. The article shows, on the other hand, that the present Brazilian political class in the current legislature comes, in its almost totality, from four occupational segments: managers, liberal professionals, teachers and former public servants.


We introduce a biologically inspired computational architecture for small-field detection and wide-field spatial integration of visual motion based on the general organizing principles of visual motion processing common to organisms from insects to primates. This highly parallel architecture begins with two-dimensional (2-D) image transduction and signal conditioning, performs small-field motion detection with a number of parallel motion arrays, and then spatially integrates the small-field motion units to synthesize units sensitive to complex wide-field patterns of visual motion. We present a theoretical analysis demonstrating the architecture's potential in discrimination of wide-field motion patterns such as those which might be generated by self-motion. A custom VLSI hardware implementation of this architecture is also described, incorporating both analog and digital circuitry. The individual custom VLSI elements are analyzed and characterized, and system-level test results demonstrate the ability of the system to selectively respond to certain motion patterns, such as those that might be encountered in self-motion, at the exclusion of others.


What sets the tax treatment of the international civil servants apart are the legal considerations derived from public international law. Often the matter is approached from the perspective of privileges and immunities. However, when regarded as a concern with the equal pay for equal work it boils down to employment conditions that need to be satisfied by international organisations due to the peculiar legal setting in which international civil servants discharge their duties. By adding a perspective from the jurisprudence of international (administrative) tribunals to the current scholarship, the present study - the first of its kind - purports to contribute to a better understanding of the matter of taxation of the salary, emoluments and pensions of employees of international organizations.


Many animals use structural coloration to create bright and conspicuous visual signals. Selection of the size and shape of the optical structures animals use defines both the colour and intensity of the light reflected. The material used to create these reflectors is also important; however, animals are restricted to a limited number of materials: commonly chitin, guanine and the protein, reflectin. In this work we highlight that a particular set of material properties can also be under selection in order to increase the optical functionality of structural reflectors. Specifically, polarization properties, such as birefringence (the difference between the refractive indices of a material) and chirality (which relates to molecular asymmetry) are both under selection to create enhanced structural reflectivity. We demonstrate that the structural coloration of the gold beetle Chrysina resplendens and silvery reflective sides of the Atlantic herring, Clupea harengus are two examples of this phenomenon. Importantly, these polarization properties are not selected to control the polarization of the reflected light as a source of visual information per se. Instead, by creating higher levels of reflectivity than are otherwise possible, such internal polarization properties improve intensity-matching camouflage. This article is part of the themed issue 'Animal coloration: production, perception, function and application'.


A series of consecutive trials were undertaken to determine whether higher doses of intravenous metoclopramide and combinations of metoclopramide, dexamethasone, and diphenhydramine would improve antiemetic control or decrease treatment‐related side effects in patients receiving cisplatin at 120 mg/m2. Metoclopramide and dexamethasone were studied because of their proven efficacy as single agents and their differing mechanisms of action and side effects. Diphenhydramine was used because of its possible antiemetic properties and its ability to control acute dystonic reactions. Two hundred fifty‐five patients who had never received chemotherapy or antiemetics were observed in the hospital for the 24 hours following cisplatin administration. The addition of dexamethasone or dexamethasone plus diphenhydramine to intravenous metoclopramide 2 mg/kg produced both improved antiemetic control and a decrease in treatment‐associated diarrhea (P = 0.002). The use of metoclopramide alone at a dose of 3 mg/kg for only two doses appeared as effective as 2 mg/kg for five doses. When dexamethasone and diphenhydramine were given with metoclopramide 3 mg/kg for two intravenous dosages, 81% of patients experienced no emesis and 93% had two or fewer vomiting episodes. The antiemetic results of this 2‐hour "short‐course" regimen were superior to metoclopramide 2 mg/kg, with (P = 0.002) or without (P = 0.0001) dexamethasone and diphenhydramine. It was concluded that combinations of metoclopramide plus dexamethasone plus diphenhydramine improve antiemetic control, facilitate the usage of higher doses of metoclopramide, and decrease the incidence of treatment‐related side effects.


In this study, a quasi-panoramic bio-inspired eye dedicated to optic flow measurement on board micro flying robots is presented. It will allow future micro flying robots to mimic honeybees' navigational tasks which work without any metric sensors. An innovative optic flow-based algorithm was tested in the horizontal plane to measure the robot's incidence angle when travelling along a wall. Experimental results achieved while using a moving texture showed that our algorithm is able to measure the local visual heading with respect to a tapered wall with an error of 3° and an accuracy of 3° on average. Our bio-inspired eye will be implemented in the near future on board a micro quadrotor to "sense and avoid" obstacles in a GPS-denied environment.


"This paper reviews the trends in government subsidies and investments in and for Indian agriculture; develops a conceptual framework and model to assess the impact of various subsidies and investments on agricultural growth and poverty reduction; and, presents several reform options with regard to re-prioritizing government spending and improving institutions and governance. There are three major findings. First, initial subsidies in credit, fertilizer, and irrigation have been crucial for small farmers to adopt new technologies. Small farms are often losers in the initial adoption stage of a new technology since prices of the agricultural products are typically being pushed down by greater supply of products from large farms, which adopted the new technology. But as more and more farmers have adopted HYV, continued subsidies have led to inefficiency of the overall economy. Second, agricultural research, education, and rural roads are the three most effective public spending items in promoting agricultural growth and poverty reduction during all periods. Finally, the trade-off between agricultural growth and poverty reduction is generally small among different types of investments. As for agricultural research, education, and infrastructure development, they have large growth impact and a large poverty reduction impact. Several policy lessons can be drawn. Agricultural input and output subsidies have proved to be unproductive, financially unsustainable, environmentally unfriendly in recent years, and contributed to increased inequality among rural Indian states. To sustain long-term growth in agricultural production, and therefore provide a long-term solution to poverty reduction, the government should cut subsidies of fertilizer, irrigation, power, and credit and increase investments in agricultural research and development, rural infrastructure, and education. Promoting nonfarm opportunities is also important. However, simply reallocating public resources is not the full solution. Reforming institutions can have an equal, if not larger, impact on future agricultural and rural growth and rural poverty reduction." from Authors' Abstract


The most widely spread method of supplying the customers in isolated areas is to use single or multiple diesel generators with constant or variable speed. The price of energy in such areas is highly influenced by the cost of fuel transportation to the place of consumption. We propose an approach to reduce this price by complementing the diesel generators with wind turbines and high-capacity energy storage devices. We create a model to define the proportion between the installed capacities and to provide the proper sizing of elements. The paper studies the case of an isolated area in central Russia, where the fuel transportation share of energy price reaches 65%. We propose a new energy supply system, which includes diesel generators, wind turbines and energy storage devices. We study the system statistically and model it in Homer software. To decrease the capital and operating costs, we introduce the specific algorithm: the diesel generator operates only when wind turbines are not covering the load and energy storage device is exhausted. We test the proposed algorithm using MATLAB to obtain both economic and technical operation results. The economic modeling then continues the system evaluation. We evaluate the investment criteria and define the new minimum price for electricity. The paper is concluded by a systematic analysis of the results and remarks towards the efficiency of investment into the new equipment.


The paper reports on results concerning the Si/YSZ/CeO/sub 2//YBCO multilayer prepared by means of magnetron sputtering. Such multilayer is considered for the possibility to compound the integration of YBCO films with silicon-based devices, with the unique, in perspective, properties of YBCO concerning photon sensors. We characterized YBCO films in such multilayer configuration by means of structural and dc transport measurements. It turns out that some granularity affects the transport properties of the YBCO film and lowers the critical currents. However, the lower temperature E-J characteristics are sharp enough to consider exploiting the transition between under critical and over critical (flux flow) state for future silicon-integrated broad-band photon sensors.


Vitamin E (a-tocopherol) is the major lipid soluble secondary antioxidant in vivo and is important for maintaining the integrity of cell membranes. It may also have more specific functions in vivo including roles in cell signaling and gene expression. Relatively little is known, however, about the details and dynamics of vitamin E metabolism, which may be important in fully understanding its role(s) in vivo. Vitamin E metabolites detected in urine include a-tocopheronolactone (a- TL), with an oxidized chroman ring, and compounds with successively shortened phytyl side chains, including the carboxyethyl-hydroxychromans (CEHC) and carboxymethylbutyl-hydroxychromans (CMBHC). As a-TL can be produced from a-tocopherol by oxidation it may be a potential biomarker of in vivo oxidative stress. The CEHCs are the major urinary metabolites but the cellular localisation of the side-chain shortening process (mitochondria and/or peroxisomes) remains undefined. The aims of my studies were to determine whether a-TL could be a useful biomarker of oxidative stress and define the cellular localisation of the side-chain shortening process of the tocopherols. Initially methods were established and validated for the measurement of urinary vitamin E metabolites and the F2-isoprostane, 8isoPGF2a(a non-enzymatically derived isomers of the prostaglandins, formed in vivo by free radical mediated oxidation of arachidonic acid and an accepted biomarker of oxidative stress) by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). To investigate whether a-TL was a potential biomarker of in vivo oxidative stress, urinary a-TL and 8-isoprostane were measured in healthy trained and untrained males before and after a standardised endurance exercise regimen. A significant correlation (p<0.0001) was found between the concentrations of a-TL and 8- isoPGF2a. There was, however, no evidence of an increase in oxidative stress following exercise in the subjects studied. Studies to investigate the role of peroxisomes and mitochondria in vitamin E metabolism utilized two approaches. The first involved the analysis of urinary vitamin E metabolites of patients with peroxisomal (n=5) and mitochondrial (n=3) disorders, and those suspected of peroxisomal or mitochondrial disorders (n=5) compared to age matched controls (n=19). No consistent and significant differences in metabolite profiles were found between the groups. The second approach involved tissue culture studies to investigate peroxisomal and mitochondrial function. These studies suggested that both organelles played a role in tocopherol metabolism. To conclude, firstly a-TL was not shown conclusively, by this thesis to be a biomarker of oxidative stress, but its correlation with the independent biomarker, 8-isoPGF2a, may suggests that there is still potential in it being a biomarker in other states of oxidative stress such as in sepsis or disease. Therefore the techniques developed and used here may be used in further investigations to answer the question whether a-TL is a biomarker of oxidative. Secondly, the localization of Y-tocopherol metabolism has been shown to involve the peroxisome and mitochondria, in human liver HepG2 cells, with effects at different stages of metabolism showing similarity to the branched chain fatty acid metabolism pathway.


We present 17 transit light curves of the ultrashort period planetary system WASP-103, a strong candidate for the detection of tidally-induced orbital decay. We use these to establish a high-precision reference epoch for transit timing studies. The time of the reference transit mid-point is now measured to an accuracy of 4.8 s, versus 67.4 s in the discovery paper, aiding future searches for orbital decay. With the help of published spectroscopic measurements and theoretical stellar models, we determine the physical properties of the system to high precision and present a detailed error budget for these calculations. The planet has a Roche lobe filling factor of 0.58, leading to a significant asphericity; we correct its measured mass and mean density for this phenomenon. A high-resolutionLucky Imaging observation shows no evidence for faint stars close enough to contaminate the point spread function of WASP-103. Our data were obtained in the Bessell RI and the SDSS griz passbands and yield a larger planet radius at bluer optical wavelengths, to a confidence level of 7.3σ. Interpreting this as an effect of Rayleigh scattering in the planetary atmosphere leads to a measurement of the planetary mass which is too small by a factor of 5, implying that Rayleigh scattering is not the main cause of the variation of radius with wavelength.


Summary In this paper, we present a novel spatial-domain denoising algorithm and directly apply it to the mosaicked Stokes sub-images generated by the division-of-focal-plane (DoFP) polarimetric image sensors. Compared to the previous implementations with the generated raw polarization images directly interpolated and demosaicked, the proposed method not only leads to significant noise reduction, but also effectively decreases the interpolated pixels' mean square error (MSE) after the interpolation process. In addition, regarding the sequence of the proposed denoising and interpolation, the polarization image quality and the interpolation MSE can be further improved by conducting the denoising before the interpolation, which has been validated by our intensive simulation results. Motivation Polarimetric image sensors enable a wide range of applications that are infeasible with traditional intensity/color image sensors, such as microscopy for tumor margin detection, 3-D shape reconstruction from a single image, material classification, and cancer diagnosis. By mimicking the mature Bayer-pattern-based color imaging, polarizers with different orientations are first scaled-down to micron level then mosaicked to have the full Stokes sub-images generated simultaneously in one single frame, namely division of focal plane (DoFP) (Fig. 1). However, this single-frame solution is at the expense of temporal noise and spatial resolution loss. As shown in Fig. 2, the temporal noise issue can be well-addressed by averaging multiple image frames of same micro-polarizer, which is not feasible in the aforesaid single-frame-based DoFP. In addition, interpolation algorithms are necessary to compensate the spatial resolution loss. In this paper, we propose a non-local-mean-based spatial-domain noise reduction scheme to denoise the DoFP polarization images and minimize the mean-square-error (MSE) caused by the interpolation process. Moreover, the exploration is extended to the sequence of the denoising and the interpolation as well. Results We compared the overall MSE of the two different sequences for different test polarization images, and it is indicated by the intensive simulation results that denoising before the interpolation can bring lower MSE [Fig. 3 (A)]. In addition, as shown in Fig. 3 (B), we compared the MSE of traditional single-frame solution, 4-frame-averaging and the proposed implementation with spatial-domain denoising, and it is indicated the proposed scheme can achieve an MSE reduction effect similar to 4-frame-averaging by spatial-domain denoising. Acknowledgments This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 61504087), the Kongque Technology Innovation Foundation of Shenzhen (Grant No. KQCX20120807153227588), the Fundamental Research Foundation of Shenzhen (Grant No. JCYJ20140418095735624, and JCYJ20150324141711677).


Noncyclic breast pain is a common breast disorder prompting women to seek medical evaluation. We aimed to perform a pilot study on the relief of noncyclic breast pain using acupuncture. Thirty-seven women seen at a diagnostic breast clinic between April 2003 and January 2009 were enrolled. Treatment consisted of four acupuncture sessions over two weeks, with three months of follow-up. Response to treatment was measured with use of a breast pain questionnaire, a quality of life (QOL) questionnaire, and the Cleeland Brief Pain Inventory (BPI) assessed at baseline, end of treatment, and three months after treatment. Data were analyzed using standard descriptive statistics. Twenty-two patients completed four acupuncture sessions. Pain described as throbbing and heavy decreased significantly after acupuncture (p = 0.04 and p = 0.03, respectively). After treatment, pain scores (on the 10-point BPI scale) decreased by an average of 3.5 points for the worst pain during the previous month (p = 0.001), by 2.7 points for average pain (p < 0.001), and by 2.3 points for pain interference (p = 0.002). The percentage of patients reporting a clinically meaningful decrease of 2 points from baseline to the end of treatment included 67% (12/18) for the worst pain, 65% (11/17) for average pain, and 56% (10/18) for pain interference. QOL data showed no improvement in QOL measures (mental, physical, emotional, social, or spiritual well-being). The results of this preliminary study suggest that a randomized controlled trial may be warranted to evaluate the effect of acupuncture on noncyclic breast pain, as well as the optimal frequency of acupuncture treatments.


Abstract. Sea ice melt pond fraction (fp), linked with lower sea ice surface albedo and increased light transmittance to the ocean, is inadequately parameterised in sea ice models due to a lack of observations. In this paper, results from a multi-scale remote-sensing program dedicated to the retrieval of level first-year sea ice (FYI) fp from dual co- and cross-polarisation C-band synthetic aperture radar (SAR) backscatter are detailed. Models which utilise the dominant effect of free-water melt ponds on the VV / HH (vertical transmit and vertical receive / horizontal transmit and horizontal receive) polarisation ratio at high incidence angles are tested for their ability to provide estimates of the subscale fp. Retrieved fp from noise-corrected Radarsat-2 quad-polarisation scenes are in good agreement with observations from coincident aerial survey data, with root mean square errors (RMSEs) of 0.05–0.07 obtained during intermediate and late stages of ponding. Weak model performance is attributed to the presence of wet snow and slush during initial ponding, and a synoptically driven freezing event causing ice lids to form on ponds. The HV / HH (horizontal transmit and vertical receive / horizontal transmit and horizontal receive) ratio explains a greater portion of variability in fp, compared to VV / HH, when ice lids are present. Generally low HV channel intensity suggests limited applications using dual cross-polarisation data, except with systems that have exceptionally low noise floors. Results demonstrate the overall potential of dual-polarisation SAR for standalone or complementary observations of fp for process-scale studies and improvements to model parameterisations.


BACKGROUND
Pathological features of the airway in young children with severe recurrent wheeze suggest an association between bacterial colonization and the initiating events of early asthma. We conducted a study to investigate a possible association between bacterial colonization of the hypopharynx in asymptomatic neonates and later development of recurrent wheeze, asthma, and allergy during the first 5 years of life.

METHODS
The subjects were children from the Copenhagen Prospective Study on Asthma in Childhood birth cohort who were born to mothers with asthma. Aspirates from the hypopharyngeal region of asymptomatic 1-month-old infants were cultured for Streptococcus pneumoniae, Haemophilus influenzae, Moraxella catarrhalis, and Staphylococcus aureus. Wheeze was monitored prospectively on diary cards during the first 5 years of life. Blood eosinophil count and total IgE and specific IgE were measured at 4 years of age. Lung function was measured and asthma was diagnosed at 5 years of age.

RESULTS
Hypopharyngeal samples were cultured from 321 neonates at 1 month of age. Twenty-one percent of the infants were colonized with S. pneumoniae, M. catarrhalis, H. influenzae, or a combination of these organisms; colonization with one or more of these organisms, but not colonization with S. aureus, was significantly associated with persistent wheeze (hazard ratio, 2.40; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.45 to 3.99), acute severe exacerbation of wheeze (hazard ratio, 2.99; 95% CI, 1.66 to 5.39), and hospitalization for wheeze (hazard ratio, 3.85; 95% CI, 1.90 to 7.79). Blood eosinophil counts and total IgE at 4 years of age were significantly increased in children colonized neonatally with S. pneumoniae, M. catarrhalis, H. influenzae, or a combination of these organisms, but specific IgE was not significantly affected. The prevalence of asthma and the reversibility of airway resistance after beta2-agonist administration at 5 years of age were significantly increased in the children colonized neonatally with these organisms as compared with the children without such colonization (33% vs. 10% and 23% vs. 18%, respectively).

CONCLUSIONS
Neonates colonized in the hypopharyngeal region with S. pneumoniae, H. influenzae, or M. catarrhalis, or with a combination of these organisms, are at increased risk for recurrent wheeze and asthma early in life.


The problem of the annual growth in education of medical waste requires the development of integrated solutions in the organization of the optimal waste management, hazardous epidemiologically. In the metropolitan areas and large cities, where a high concentration of medical institutions, this problem is of particular relevance. The paper discusses the main results of implementation of the innovation system, and presents the optimal model taking into account transition of the health care system to new forms of economic activities and financing


Abstract Site amplification is an important factor to determine seismic‐wave amplitude in addition to source and propagation factors. Many previous studies have estimated site amplification factors in the frequency domain. In recent decades, real‐time prediction of strong ground motion has been widely investigated and applied for earthquake early warning. Frequency‐dependent site amplification factors, however, have not yet fully been taken into account in studies of the real‐time prediction. A method for real‐time correction of frequency‐dependent site factors is proposed in this paper, in which the frequency dependence is reproduced by a causal recursive filter in the time domain.


Rapid urbanization and economic growth in China over the past 20 years has resulted in an increased demand for energy use in buildings. Among 50 billion m2 of existing buildings only 0.15% reached the basic requirement of the Chinese green building standard. The Chinese government has set up a building retrofit plan in order to achieve its carbon reduction target. This paper presents computer simulation results for the energy consumption of a typical air-conditioned office building located in the five Chinese climate zones. Retrofitting strategies include building insulation, airtightness, efficiency of heating/cooling systems (COP) and lighting systems. The simulation results show that building retrofitting measures are highly beneficial to energy efficiency in buildings. This paper attempts to provide information for policy-makers considering building retrofitting strategies.


Perchlorate (ClO4−) has emerged as a widespread environmental contaminant found in groundwater and surface water and there is a great need for rapid detection and monitoring of this contaminant. Surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) spectroscopy was found to be capable of detecting ClO4− at concentrations as low as 25 μg/L using poly(diallyldimethylammonium chloride)-modified gold nanoparticles (PDDA-AuNPs) as a substrate. The substrate was successfully fabricated by combining the self-assembly technique with a heat-treatment-based strategy using poly(diallyldimethylammonium chloride) (PDDA) as the reducing and stabilizing agents. With the 520 cm−1 band of silicon as external standard, band intensity ratios of perchlorate to silicon, (i.e., I931/I520) were found to have a quantitative relationship with a large concentration range of perchlorate between 25 μg/L and 50 mg/L. The methodology was also reproducible and not susceptible to the interference of other anions such as sulfate, carbonate, nitrate, and chloride at concentrations of 1 mM, making it potentially suitable for rapid screening and routine analysis of perchlorate in environmental samples.


We have examined the spatial and seasonal distribution of Thaumarchaeota in the water column and sediment of the southern North Sea using the specific intact polar lipid (IPL) hexose-phosphohexose (HPH) crenarchaeol, as well as thaumarchaeotal 16S rRNA gene abundances and expression. In the water column, a higher abundance of Thaumarchaeota was observed in the winter season than in the summer, which is in agreement with previous studies, but this was not the case in the sediment where Thaumarchaeota were most abundant in spring and summer. This observation corresponds well with the idea that ammonia availability is a key factor in thaumarchaeotal niche determination. In the surface waters of the southern North Sea, we observed a spatial variability in HPH crenarchaeol, thaumarchaeotal 16S rRNA gene abundance and transcriptional activity that corresponded well with the different water masses present. In bottom waters, a clear differentiation based on water masses was not observed; instead, we suggest that observed differences in thaumarchaeotal abundance with depth may be related to resuspension from the sediment. This could be due to suspension of benthic Thaumarchaeota to the water column or due to delivery of e.g. resuspended sediment or ammonium to the water column, which could be utilized by pelagic Thaumarchaeota. This study has shown that the seasonality of Thaumarchaeota in water and sediment is different and highlights the importance of water masses, currents and sedimentary processes in determining the spatial abundance of Thaumarchaeota in the southern North Sea.


This Report synthesizes the main results obtained throughout the ADVISOR research project ("Integrated Evaluation for Sustainable River Basin Governance") funded by the European Commission, under the - 'Energy, Environment and Sustainable Development' theme of the 5th Framework Research Programme.

The aim of ADVISOR was to improve the understanding of evaluation processes as part of river basin planning and management and to provide a framework supported by a toolkit for the conduct of integrated and participatory evaluations. The project comprised four work-packages.

Work Package 1 examined past water project or plan evaluation cases in five EU states and drew insights on the problems of past evaluation practices.

Work Package 2 interpreted these past experiences from different analytical angles leading to a theory for an integrated evaluation process, emphasising issues of deliberation, multiple values, quality in the use of information and governance.

Work Package 3 moved from theory to practice. Different tools which could contribute to integrated evaluation processes were tested in experimental case applications. These included scenario workshops, mediated modelling supported by a quality assurance protocol, social multi-criteria evaluation, cost-effectiveness analyses and monetary valuation.

Work Package 4 aimed at transferring the experience and lessons learned during the ADVISOR project to policy makers, contributing especially to the implementation process of the Water Framework Directive. A guidance document for designing and implementing Integrated Deliberative Decision Processes (IDDP) was developed, detailing a step-by-step procedure to achieve integrated evaluations.

The synthesis of the main results achieved throughout the ADVISOR project is presented in this report in three parts: Part A sets the stage for the role of integrated evaluations in river basin planning and management; Part B unfolds the set of relevant principles and tools developed in the project and Part C concludes with futures challenges for integrated evaluation processes.

This title belongs to European Water Research Series

ISBN: 9781843391487 (Print)

ISBN: 9781780402307 (eBook)


1400 16th St NW, Suite 300, Washington, DC 20036 202-266-1940 This fact sheet explores key sociodemographic characteristics of Texas's immigrant and native-born parents with children ages 0 to 4 and 5 to 10. It draws from a broader analysis the Migration Policy Institute's (MPI's) National Center on Immigrant Integration Policy (NCIIP) conducted on immigrant and U.S.born parents with children under age 18. Given the needs of parents differ depending on their children's age, and many service systems align their efforts to particular age groups, the overarching analysis segments data on parent characteristics to reflect those with children between ages 0 to 4, 5 to 10, 11 to 13, and 14 to 17.


The purpose of this study is to analyze the concept of conflict of treaties in the light of contemporary general international law. According to the author, the conflict of treaties arises when a state party to an earlier treaty concludes or applies a new treaty (or such later treaty enters into force for that state) leading to the violation of obligations arising for that state from the earlier treaty. The author contends that treaty conflict may be resolved by simultaneously applying the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties and the law on state responsibility. After analyzing the provisions of the Vienna Convention and relevant doctrine, author concludes that article 30 of the Vienna Convention shall apply to all treaties having incompatible provisions, irrespective of its limited literal meaning referring to treaties governing "the same subject-matter". In the analysis of the contents of article 30, the author advances a number of legal arguments in favor of the criteria of "entry into force" rather than "adoption of the text" for the determination of earlier and later treaties. Author advances the idea that treaty conflict may be entered into by mere conclusion (adoption of the text) of the later treaty, regardless of the fact that such a case is not defined by the wording of the article 30 of the Vienna Convention. This finding is deduced from the legal principles of state responsibility, material breach and treaty modification applicable to such cases irrespective of limited wording of the above mentioned article of the Vienna Convention. The author finalizes the analysis of the Vienna Convention by concluding that the priority of the application of the earlier treaty in case of conflict of treaties is well grounded upon the text of the Vienna convention, as the travaux preparatoires suggests. In the part of the article dealing with state responsibility the author outlines the main features of the concept of incompatible obligations brought about by the conflict of treaties and notes that in case of conflict of treaties, by default the state shall adhere to the earlier treaty and make appropriate reparation to prior treaty partner. Whereas in regard to the partner of the later treaty such a state shall make reparation for the breach of Article 102 of the UN Charter obliging the defaulting state to publish and register engagements entered into by a state with the Secretariat of the UN, provided the treaty partner was unaware of conflicting treaty obligations.


Mätauranga Mäori has become commonplace in international sport events involving New Zealand athletes and teams to create a national identity. The heart of this article examines the journey and implementation of mätauranga Mäori into the New Zealand Olympic and Commonwealth games teams at Athens 2004, Torino 2006, Vancouver 2010 and Delhi 2010. The experiences of one cultural advisor (referred to here as CA), who is also an exOlympian, are presented through an analysis that considers the principles of rangatiratanga and öritetanga as advocated in Te Tiriti o Waitangi. Utilising a combination of Kaupapa Mäori theory and narrative inquiry, a critique is provided of the challenges faced by CA. Although CA's perspectives indicate that the integration of mätauranga Mäori has been problematic and mistreated, there exists the potential for positive practice to be enhanced and realised within the Olympic and Commonwealth games environs.


Oceanic radiance model inversion methods are used to develop a comprehensive algorithm for retrieval of the absorption coefficients of phycourobilin (PUB) pigment, type I phycoerythrobilin (PEB) pigment rich in PUB, and type II PEB deficient in PUB pigment (together with the usual "big three" inherent optical properties: the total backscattering coefficient and the absorption coefficients of chromophoric dissolved organic matter (CDOM)-detritus and phytoplankton). This fully modeled inversion algorithm is then simplified to yield a hybrid modeled-unmodeled inversion algorithm in which the phycoerythrin (PE) absorption coefficient is retrieved as unmodeled 488-nm absorption (which exceeds the modeled phytoplankton and the CDOM-detritus absorption coefficients). Each algorithm was applied to water-leaving radiances, but only hybrid modeled-unmodeled inversions yielded viable retrievals of the PE absorption coefficient. Validation of the PE absorption coefficient retrieval was achieved by relative comparison with airborne laser-induced PEB fluorescence. The modeled-unmodeled retrieval of four inherent optical properties by direct matrix inversion is rapid and well conditioned, but the accuracy is strongly limited by the accuracy of the three principal inherent optical property models across all four spectral bands. Several research areas are identified to enhance the radiance-model-based retrievals: (a) improved PEB and PUB absorption coefficient models, (b) PE spectral shifts induced by PUB chromophore substitution at chromophore binding sites, (c) specific absorption-sensitive phytoplankton absorption modeling, (d) total constituent backscattering modeling, (e) unmodeled carotinoid and phycocyanin absorption that are not now accounted for in the chlorophyll-dominated phytoplankton absorption coefficient model, and (f) iterative inversion techniques to solve for six constituents with only five radiances. Although considerable progress has been made toward the satellite recovery of PE absorption, the maturity of the retrieval is presently insufficient for routine global application. Instead it must currently be used on a regional basis where localized ship and aircraft validation can be made available. The algorithm was developed for the MODIS (Moderate-Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer) sensor but is applicable to any sensor having comparable band locations.


Mobile learning demands real-time transmission of lecture videos to mobile users over wireless networks. However, wireless video streaming is challenging due to the dynamic change of network bandwidths and the variety of mobile devices. In this paper, we present a mobile learning system that incorporates semantic-level scalable video coding and wireless video streaming. The lecture videos are encoded into different quality levels with different compression ratios. We demonstrate the effectiveness of our mobile learning system with the lecture videos recorded in real classrooms.


Solid-state photochemically induced dynamic polarisation (photo-CIDNP) is one of the hyperpolarization techniques that tremendously enhances the sensitivity and selectivity of solid state NMR. Photo-CIDNP MAS NMR studies on entire cells of heliobacteria Hb. mobilis in both anaerobic and aerobic forms are presented in Chapter 2. This chapter demonstrates that photo-CIDNP MAS NMR can be applied as an analytical tool directly on to cells and bacteria even if no further purification is known or possible. To improve the knowledge of the solid-state photo-CIDNP effect, field dependencies are measured over large ranges (Chapter 3). The electron spin density distribution in the 3P donor triplet state is constructed here using the analysis of differential relaxation mechanism and this stresses the versatility of photo-CIDNP MAS NMR as hyperpolarization method. Chapter 4 describes the first observation of photo-CIDNP MAS NM R in phototropin LOV1-C57S, overcoming an old limitation of this method to natural photosynthetic RCs. The first analytical studies on the LOV1 system in Chapter 5 provides the potential to develop photo-CIDNP MAS NMR into an enhancement method generally applicable to electron transfer proteins. In Chapter 6 this leads to a new paradigm, expecting plenty of photo-CIDNP hyperpolarization if the experiment is optimized for the LOV1 system.


Background: Functional trait-based approaches link species diversity patterns to ecosystem functioning. In the context of global change, understanding these links is vital for developing holistic biodiversity management strategies. Bryophytes, important ecosystem components owing to their biogeochemical functions, have not been the focus of many functional studies. Aims: This is the first assessment of bryophyte functional diversity in the Azores archipelago, aiming to uncover multivariate trait richness and composition patterns along the elevational gradient on Terceira Island. Methods: Based on five water acquisition and retention traits of leafy liverworts and mosses, we calculated functional diversity metrics within and among six bryophyte communities sampled along a 1021-m elevational transect. Results: Trait composition differed significantly between coastal and mountain communities. Mosses presented inrolled leaves and ornamented leaf cells at low elevation but not at high elevation. These patterns were associated with an uphill shift from drier and warmer conditions to a moister and cooler environment. Conclusions: Future climatic changes might affect bryophyte functional diversity patterns in Terceira Island, particularly for mosses. These results can be directly compared with those obtained for other archipelagos where the same protocol has been applied, allowing a joint assessment of insular vegetation functional diversity patterns.


The so-called Digital Age, many claim, is marked by a shift from a global economy based on material industry to one based on the manipulation of information/knowledge. Whether or not one agrees with this assessment, the increased realization of information/knowledge as a prime source of market value has led to a consequent growth in the reach of intellectual property (IP) rights and in the diversity of individual and cultural ownership claims considered possible. This expansion has sparked heated debates marked by a broad sense of crisis that the very foundations of culture, creativity, and even humanity, are increasingly subject to privatization. This article explores a key issue in these debates by examining processes of appropriation with respect to intangible heritage and the consequent development of "stewardship" as an authoritative claim over future interpretations of culture-as-resource. The discussion focuses on the complexities of fashioning contemporary cultural stewardship claims with respect to South Asian classical medicine, generally, and yoga, specifically. I examine the emergence of a particular understanding of cultural stewardship that enables certain parties, such as the Indian state, to be identified as legitimate guardians of South Asian intangible heritage while others, such as private individuals, come to be labeled cultural pirates.


New work on heuristics and biases has explored the role of emotions and affect; the idea of "dual processing"; the place of heuristics and biases outside of the laboratory; and the implications of heuristics and biases for policy and law. This review-essay focuses on certain aspects of "Heuristics and Biases: The Psychology of Intuitive Judgment", edited by Thomas Gilovich, Dale Griffin, and Daniel Kahneman. An understanding of heuristics and biases casts light on many issues in law, involving jury awards, risk regulation, and political economy in general. Some attention is given to the possibility of "moral heuristics" - rules of thumb, for purposes of morality, that generally work well but that also systematically misfire.


The formulation of a drug can interfere with its absorption into the circulatory system and may result in changes in the dose required to achieve that particular effect. The aim of this study was to determine the lethal dose 50 (LD 50) and 100 (LD100) of a nanoemulsion of propofol and the lipid emulsion in mice intraperitoneally. One hundred sixty animals weighing 36.47±4.6g, which were distributed randomly into two groups: NANO and EMU who received propofol 1% in the nanoemulsion and lipid emulsion, respectively, intraperitoneally. Began with a dose of 250mg/kg (n=10) and from this isdecreased or increased the dose until achieving 0 and 100% of deaths in each group thus formed were seven subgroups in NANO (each subgroup n = 10) at doses 200, 250, 325, 350, 400, 425 and 475 mg/kg and in EMU eight subgroups (n= 10 each subset) 250, 325, 350, 400, 425, 475, 525 and 575 mg/kg. In the CONTROL group (n=10) animals received saline in the largest volume used in the other groups to rule out death by the volume injected. Analysis of LD 50 and LD 100 were obtained by linear regression. The LD 50 was 320, 95 mg / kg and 4243, 51mg / kg and the LD 100 was445.99 mg / kg and 595.31 mg / kg to groups NANO and EMU, respectively. It follows that nanoemulsion is propofol in 25% more potent compared to the lipid emulsionintraperitoneally.


Reflection at normal incidence of a plane wave can be described by imaging the incident wave profile on the opposite side of the boundary. This concept has been introduced in a few texts, but only for nondissipative conditions. In this paper the procedure to describe a purely resistive boundary is generalized, and then the concept is extended to describe the transient response of a one-dimensional, finite length waveguide. The field generated by arbitrary initial conditions is characterized by an infinite number of images, which leads to a representation of the acoustic field as oppositely propagating waves in an unbounded waveguide. Both graphical and mathematical descriptions of these waves are derived, with the former shown to provide significant insights. Mathematical analysis of the image construction leads to identification of several fundamental acoustic phenomena, including acoustic modes and reverberation time. From an instructional viewpoint the ability to explore fundamental acoustic phenomena without recourse to solving differential equations makes the waveform image concept especially useful as an introductory tool.


In medical field, previous patients' cases are extremely private as well as intensely valuable to current disease diagnosis. Therefore, how to make full use of precious cases while not leaking out patients' privacy is a leading and promising work especially in future privacy-preserving intelligent medical period. In this article, we investigate how to securely invoke patients' records from past case-database while protecting the privacy of both current diagnosed patient and the case-database and construct a privacy-preserving medical record searching scheme based on ElGamal Blind Signature. In our scheme, by blinded the healthy data of the patient and the database of the iDoctor, respectively, the patient can securely make self-helped medical diagnosis by invoking past case-database and securely comparing the blinded abstracts of current data and previous records. Moreover, the patient can obtain target searching information intelligently at the same time he knows whether the abstracts match or not instead of obtaining it after matching. It greatly increases the timeliness of information acquisition and meets high-speed information sharing requirements, especially in 5G era. What's more, our proposed scheme achieves bilateral security, that is, whether the abstracts match or not, both of the privacy of the case-database and the private information of the current patient are well protected. Besides, it resists different levels of violent ergodic attacks by adjusting the number of zeros in a bit string according to different security requirements.


Consider a connected $r$-regular $n$-vertex graph $G$ with random independent edge lengths, each uniformly distributed on $[0,1]$. Let $mst(G)$ be the expected length of a minimum spanning tree. We show in this paper that if $G$ is sufficiently highly edge connected then the expected length of a minimum spanning tree is $\sim {n\over r}\zeta(3)$. If we omit the edge connectivity condition, then it is at most $\sim {n\over r}(\zeta(3)+1)$.


Religious organizations occupy an enviable legal stature in American society, receiving over 200 exemptions and other regulatory breaks in federal legislation over the last 18 years alone. Religious organizations enjoy numerous federal as well as state and local tax exemptions representing hundreds of billions of dollars in foregone revenue. The propriety of these lucrative tax exemptions must be questioned when religious organizations engage in discrimination against members of society. As illustrated in real-life occurrences contained in pages 3 and 4 of the article, ostensibly widespread discrimination by such organizations exists not only with respect to employment, but more importantly in providing services or engaging in activities for which the organization was originally granted tax-exempt status (e.g., education). The primary bases for such discrimination are currently sexual orientation and marital status.In a prior article published in the WISCONSIN LAW REVIEW, I proposed a solution to the problem of discrimination by charitable organizations (a term commonly interpreted to include religious organizations) - enact a broad and well-defined nondiscrimination condition on tax exemption under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. Inherent in that proposal is the notion that discrimination by charitable organizations is intrinsically incompatible with such organizations' purpose and mission. Although my prior article briefly addressed the constitutional and other difficulties inherent in applying a nondiscrimination requirement to religious organizations, it acknowledged the necessity of additional and more thorough discussion on the issue - thus, the focus of this Article. Accordingly, this Article examines the propriety and constitutionality of subjecting religious organizations to a nondiscrimination requirement and crafting a more narrow church exception to that requirement. It proposes statutory and regulatory amendments to prevent certain church-affiliated organizations from avoiding the nondiscrimination requirement.