To the Editor,

The short-term clinical outcomes of kidney transplantation (KT) have been improved significantly with advances in drugs for the induction and maintenance of immunosuppression and the development of immune-monitoring methods for sensitization and rejection [1]. However, chronic use of immunosuppressive agents can result in infection, malignancy, and metabolic derangement associated with cardiovascular complications [2]. Moreover, currently used immune suppressants do not prevent chronic rejection, which is the most important cause of late allograft loss [3].

Over the last several years, immune tolerance induction to overcome such complications or limitations of immune suppressants has been attempted in solid organ transplantation. Indeed, successful cases of immune tolerance induction through mixed chimerism after combined hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) and KT have been reported in a few centers [4,5]. However, there are still many obstacles and limitations to the combined HSCT and KT protocols in current use, and long-term immune tolerance was found only in a minor proportion of the patients in those trials.

Here, we introduce our experiences with a method to achieve immune tolerance through the formation of mixed chimerism after combined HSCT and KT from a human leukocyte antigen (HLA)-haploidentical sibling donor. This trial was approved by the Institutional Review Board of Seoul St. Mary's Hospital (KC12EISE0635).

A 40-year-old woman with end-stage renal disease caused by focal segmental glomerulosclerosis was admitted for KT. Her potential donor was an HLA-haploidentical brother. Panel reactive antibody was 0% for both class I and II, and crossmatch tests were negative for T and B cells.

Our center's protocol for immune tolerance induction is shown in Fig. 1. Briefly, beginning 18 days before transplantation, the donor received granulocyte-colony stimulating factor at 10 μg/kg subcutaneously for 5 days. CD34+-enriched peripheral blood stem cells were harvested, and peripheral T cells were depleted using a Clini-MACS bead kit (Miltenyi Biotec, Bergisch Gladbach, Germany) and cryopreserved until they were infused. The recipient was admitted 7 days before transplantation, and fludarabine was started at a dose of 30 mg/m2 for 4 days (days –6 to –3). Antithymocyte globulin was infused at 2.5 mg/kg for 2 days (days –4 to –3), and total nodal irradiation (750 cGy) was performed on day –2. For infection prophylaxis, fluconazole, sulfamethoxazole/trimethoprim, and acyclovir were used from day –5 to 6 months posttransplantation. Immunosuppressants, namely tacrolimus (target trough blood level of 8 to 12 ng/mL), mycophenolate mofetil (1.5 g/day), and steroids were started 2 days before KT (as in conventional KT). The collected donor peripheral blood stem cells were infused the following day.

Figure 1.

Immune tolerance induction protocol. The conditioning regimen consisted of fludarabine (30 mg/m2) administered intravenously for 4 days (from day –5 to –2), antithymocyte globulin (2.5 mg/kg) administered intravenously for 2 days (on day ...

Our immune monitoring protocol was as follows. First, chimerism was measured every week for 1 month and every 3 months thereafter by DNA genotyping of simple sequence-length polymorphic markers that encoded short tandem repeats. Second, the mixed lymphocyte reaction (MLR), an ImmuKnow study, and immune cell monitoring were performed before transplantation, every week for 1 month posttransplantation, and every 3 months thereafter. Third, protocol kidney biopsies were scheduled 3 and 6 months after KT and just before cessation of the immunosuppressive agent. We planned to taper the immunosuppressant dose beginning 3 months after KT and to discontinue the immunosuppressants within 1 year after KT.

After transplantation, the renal allograft and bone marrow function recovered well (Fig. 2). Additionally, multilineage mixed chimerism developed successfully and was maintained until 8 weeks after KT (Fig. 3A). Even after the disappearance of chimerism, a one-way MLR still showed a low response to the donor, implying sustained suppression of donor-specific allo-immune responses (Fig. 3B). During the follow-up period, the patient did not experience graft-versus-host disease or any serious infectious complication, except for an episode of cytomegalovirus viremia accompanied by transient pancytopenia 2 months after transplantation.

Figure 2.

Clinical course of the patient. The serum creatinine level (red) decreased immediately after kidney transplantation (KT) and was maintained below 1 mg/dL until 127 days after discontinuation of the immunosuppressants (ISs) (arrow, discontinuation of immunosuppression; ...

Figure 3.

Results of immune monitoring. (A) The percentage of donor chimerism in the total peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs, red), T cells (blue), B cells (green), and natural killer (NK) cells (black) indicates that successful mixed chimerism was achieved, ...

Beginning 3 months after KT, we gradually reduced the dose of the immunosuppressant and discontinued it at 229 days after noticing a low donor-specific response in the MLR. We did not perform protocol biopsies because of thrombocytopenia. However, a kidney biopsy performed 44 days after discontinuation of immunosuppression (i.e., 273 days after KT) showed no evidence of acute rejection. At that time, the MLR still showed a low response to the donor. At 127 days after discontinuation of immunosuppressant (356 days after KT), the serum creatinine level increased abruptly from 0.85 to 2.94 mg/dL, and a kidney biopsy showed acute T cell-mediated rejection, type IIA. Donor-specific anti-HLA antibody was not detected. We began steroid pulse therapy followed by antithymocyte globulin administration and initiated maintenance immunosuppression again 366 days after KT (137 days after discontinuation of immunosuppression). After the antirejection treatment, the serum creatinine level decreased to 1.41 mg/dL and was maintained stably until 407 days after KT.

In this case, mixed chimerism was achieved successfully and lasted for 8 weeks after combined KT and HSCT. The MLR showed a sustained low response to the donor even after mixed chimerism disappeared, lasting for 12 months. Additionally, an allograft biopsy performed 44 days after discontinuation of the immunosuppressant showed no evidence of rejection, and the allograft function was stable until 4 months after immunosuppression was stopped. During the follow-up period, the patient had no donor-specific anti-HLA antibodies. Taken together, all of these findings suggest that immune tolerance was successfully induced temporarily. However, this state was not permanent, and the patient required maintenance immunosuppression again 4 months after the discontinuation of immunosuppressants.

The failure to maintain long-term immune tolerance in this case requires consideration of two issues. The first is the role of mixed chimerism in the maintenance of immune tolerance. It is evident that development of mixed chimerism is essential for the induction of early-stage immune tolerance in solid organ transplantation. However, whether durable mixed chimerism is necessary for permanent immune tolerance is still debated. In a previous report from Massachusetts General Hospital [5], an immune-tolerant state was maintained despite transient mixed chimerism. The proposed mechanism for that was the upregulation of a regulatory T cell population with suppressive capacity and peripheral deletion of donor-specific T cells by the transplanted renal allograft. In contrast, another group proposed that durable mixed chimerism was essential for the long-term maintenance of immune tolerance [4]. Thus, in this case, whether the disappearance of mixed chimerism was significantly associated with the loss of immune tolerance or other unknown mechanisms are involved remains unclear. Indeed, the underlying mechanism for the maintenance of immune tolerance remains to be fully determined.

The second issue that needs to be considered is whether a monitoring tool to measure immune tolerance is needed. As described above, detection of mixed chimerism does not always coincide with an immune-tolerant state because immune tolerance may persist after the disappearance of macrochimerism [5]. However, there is no available method to confirm the state of immune tolerance after the disappearance of mixed chimerism. In this case, we suspected that immune tolerance was maintained for 9 months, even after the disappearance of mixed chimerism. However, the patient required maintenance immunosuppression again due to allograft rejection, despite the fact that the MLR still showed a low donor-specific allo-immune response. If we possessed a tool to accurately measure immune tolerance, we could have determined the time point at which the tolerance state was broken and thus could have started immunosuppressive therapy before the development of rejection.

In summary, we have reported a case in which immune tolerance was successfully induced by the development of mixed chimerism using combined HSCT and KT. However, the mixed chimerism and immune tolerance were not durable, and the patient returned to maintenance immunosuppression 137 days after discontinuation of the initial immunosuppression therapy. This case suggests that future studies should focus on the development of an effective induction protocol for more stable immune tolerance and monitoring methods to accurately measure immune tolerance.


A wide apple germplasm is present in Italy in which numerous local genotypes of specific cultivation environment have to be still evaluated for fruit quality attributes. This is the case of a long-established fruit area located in central Italy (Tuscany) where several ancient apple varieties survive with the perspective to be re-introduced for their excellent quality. The objective of this work was to determine over a 2-year period the physicochemical traits, total antioxidant capacity (TAC), and polyphenols (TP) content of three old local apple varieties: 'Paganina', 'Paradisa' and 'Rosa'. These characteristics were also assessed after 90 and 150 days at 4 °C cold storage, in normal atmosphere refrigerated cellars. For comparison purpose, the commercial apple cultivar 'Fuji' was considered. In general, the old varieties showed valuable quality properties, particularly due to a greater antioxidant power of fruits, although a variability between the two crop seasons, characterized by different weather conditions, was observed. After a dry summer, 'Rosa' showed very high TAC and TP values (2-fold higher than other varieties) that, after longperiods of cold storage, markedly decreased. These losses were not so noticeable in the others, suggesting a tendency to maintain a major stability during storage. These findings could meet the preference of demanding consumers for healthier foods who appreciate fresh fruits with protective properties by free radicals scavenging activity. Moreover, farmers who are focused on nearby and niche markets could have interesting in these local varieties to promote their valorization.


We outline the rationale for reopening the issue of the spatiality of the 'urban' in urban politics. There is a long tradition of arguing about the distinctive political qualities of urban sites, practices and processes. Recent work often relies on spatial concepts or metaphors that anchor various political phenomena to cities while simultaneously putting the specificity of the urban itself in question. This symposium seeks to extend debates about the relationship between the urban and the political. Instead of asking 'what is urban politics?', seeking a definition of the urban as a starting point we begin by asking 'where is urban politics?'. This question orients all of the contributions to this symposium, and it allows each to trace diverse political dimensions of urban life and living beyond the confines of 'the city' as classically conceived. The symposium engages with 'the urban question' through diverse settings and objects, including infrastructures, in-between spaces, professional cultures, transnational and postcolonial spaces and spaces of sovereignty. Contributions draw on a range of intellectual perspectives, including geography, urban studies, political science and political theory, anthropology, cultural studies, sociology, planning and environmental studies — indicating the range of intellectual traditions that can and do inform the investigation of the urban/political nexus.


Objective To report a case of vocal cord actinomycosis and provide a systematic review of the literature to provide a reference for its diagnosis and management. Review methods Relevant cases from a PubMed search were reviewed for age/gender, risk factors, clinical manifestations, and treatment. Results Thirty-two cases of laryngeal actinomycosis have been reported in the literature. Most (80%) cases presented in patient with known risk factors. The majority presented with dysphonia (61.5%). Thirteen (58.3%) involved the true vocal cords. Penicillin based therapy was treatment of choice. Conclusion A structured assessment revealed 32 cases of laryngeal actinomycosis in the literature. Actinomycosis should be considered on the differential, even in healthy individuals with symptoms of laryngeal impairment.


This paper presents the results of investigations on topology optimizations in extrusion dies. The change of material viscosity of finite elements in the numerical model is utilized to allow or to block the material flow through the finite elements in simplified two-dimensional extrusion models. Two different optimization procedures are presented. In the first part of the paper dead zones in a flat and in a porthole die were improved by enhance the streamlining of the extrusion die. In the second part an evolutionary optimization algorithm has been used to optimize the extrusion die topology in order to reduce the difference between the strand exit velocities in a multi extrusion process. Finally, both methods were sequentially combined.


Forces of the independent Zulu kingdom inflicted a crushing defeat on British imperial forces at Isandlwana in January 1879. The Zulu Army was not, however, a professional force, unlike its British counterpart, but was the mobilized manpower of the Zulu state. Ian Knight details how the Zulu army functioned and ties its role firmly to the broader context of Zulu society and culture. The Zulu army had its roots in the early groups of young men who took part in combats between tribes, but such warfare was limited to disputes over cattle ownership, grazing rights, or avenging insults. In the early nineteenth century the Zulu nation began a period of rapid expansion, and King Shaka began to reform his forces into regular military units. Ian Knight charts the development and training of the men that formed the impi which later operated so successfully under King Cetshwayo. He analysis the Zulu's fighting methods, weapons and philosophy, all of which led to the disciplined force that faced the British army in 1879.


Tuberculosis is a major and growing problem worldwide, and much effort has gone into understanding the pathogenesis of the disease. One of the perplexing issues is the role of macrophage apoptosis in vivo. Apoptosis of cultured macrophages has been observed in response to infection; however, the relevance of this response in vivo is unclear, and there are conflicting reports on whether apoptosis is more beneficial to the bacteria or the host. The Mycobacterium 19 kDa lipoprotein is a potent inducer of macrophage apoptosis in vitro and so we wanted to examine the role of this protein in vivo. To do this we used a M. marinum-zebra fish infection model of mycobacterial pathogenesis and compared the ability of wild-type versus 19 kDa lipoprotein-deficient (lpqH-) bacteria to induce apoptosis. We examined induction of apoptosis in a murine macrophage cell line (J774) and in zebra fish embryos using TUNEL labeling with fluorescent microscopic and flow cytometric analysis of the murine macrophages and TUNEL labeling with fluorescent microscopic examination of the embryos. Results suggest that the level of apoptosis induced by infection with the lpqH- strain of M. marinum was not reduced compared to the level of apoptosis induced by infection with the wild-type M. marinum in the murine macrophages. In the zebra fish embryos, Mycobacterium-induced granulomas infected with the lpqH- strain were not any less likely to be TUNEL + than the aggregates formed in response to the wild-type infection (p = .47), but the number of TUNEL + cells in each aggregate was slightly lower in the lpqH- infection (p = .018). Taken all together, these results lead us to believe that the lpqH gene in M. marinum is not necessary to induce apoptosis in macrophages in vitro or in vivo.


Over the last five years New Zealand schools have set up digital classrooms. In a digital classroom, sets of computers are installed in classrooms and connected to the school's network. The reasons for the schools setting up digital classrooms vary; from a marketing point of view to attract students to genuine teachers who are convinced that Information and Communication Technology (ICT) improves learning in the classroom. There appears to be little co-ordination between schools regarding digital classrooms. The classrooms are autonomous and have continued to develop independently.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the critical success factors for the implementation of a digital classroom. Relevant factors such as resources, class organization, pedagogy, funding and support were investigated. A collective case study approach was used. Six classrooms in four schools were researched and compared. Interviews were carried out with six teachers and the students in all six classrooms were surveyed. A case study methodology was used from which a profile of each classroom was developed. The results of the research outline the success factors in the digital classroom model and provide a definition of the digital classroom.
The research showed that the literature both supports and refutes the impact of ICT on learning. Learning theory is outlined and its relevance to digital classrooms explained. There is very little research available on digital classrooms in the New Zealand context and this study makes a start in contributing to this field.

The key to the success of a digital classroom is the teacher and the type of pedagogy that is used in the classroom. The teacher needs to take a facilitator role, implementing a constructivist learning environment where the student interacts seamlessly with the ICT in a rich multimedia learning environment. To be effective
the ICT must be transparent. The inquiry process is an effective pedagogy to use with ICT. The study found that each classroom was at a different stage along the constructivist continuum. The most effective classroom had the teacher in a facilitator role and the students had freedom to learn using the digital tools. Digital classrooms have the potential to merge the new learning styles of today's students with the power of the new emerging digital tools to produce a new generation of independent literate problem solving students.


Graph partition is a key component to achieve workload balance and reduce job completion time in parallel graph processing systems. Among the various partition strategies, edge partition has demonstrated more promising performance in power-law graphs than vertex partition and thereby has been more widely adopted as the default partition strategy by existing graph systems. The graph edge partition problem, which is to split the edge set into multiple balanced parts with the objective of minimizing the total number of copied vertices, has been widely studied from the view of optimization and algorithms. In this paper, we study local search algorithms for this problem to further improve the partition results from existing methods. More specifically, we propose two novel concepts, namely adjustable edges and blocks. Based on these, we develop a greedy heuristic as well as an improved search algorithm utilizing the property of max-flow model. To evaluate the performance of our algorithms, we first provide adequate theoretical analysis in terms of approximation quality. We significantly improve the previous known approximation ratio for this problem. Then we conduct extensive experiments on a large number of benchmark datasets and state-of-the-art edge partition strategies. The results show that our proposed local search framework can further improve the quality of graph partition by a wide margin.


This dissertation outlines the drivers and barriers of renewable energy in the electrification of Vanuatu and provides recommendations as to how the drivers can be harnessed and barriers overcome. It is based on a review of academic and other literature, observations during work undertaken by the author in Vanuatu, and a survey of renewable energy professionals in the Pacific region. It concludes that the drivers and barriers prevalent in Vanuatu, a least developed country and small island developing state, may be of greater magnitude than some other developing countries due to particular cultural, geographical, historical, and political circumstances. Moreover, some of the drivers of renewable energy development can exacerbate these barriers, e.g. a strong willingness by donor aid agencies to undertake renewable energy projects and an influx of foreign aid may be premature and unwise when there is insufficient absorptive capacity. Furthermore, as renewable energy is only one part of the solution to mitigating against climate change and the social and environmental impacts of using fossil fuels, as well as reducing the current economic dependency on petroleum products, it should be viewed holistically alongside other complementary endeavours. Implementing strategies to improve energy efficiency, energy conservation, energy demand management, and petroleum procurement also assist in solving these problems and may allow enough time for sufficient absorptive capacity in renewable energy to develop. However, this capacity should not be developed in isolation, but rather using a long term approach in conjunction with broader developments in education, health, governance and infrastructure that is complementary to that of the supply of electricity, e.g. information and communication technologies, roads, shipping, supply chains, and water supplies. In this context, the dissertation recommends that a number of policies and measures be implemented to ensure the further development of renewable energy in the electrification of Vanuatu.


Background Previous epidemiologic studies of overall alcohol intake and basal cell carcinoma (BCC) are inconsistent, with some evidence for differences by type of alcoholic beverage. While alcohol may enhance the carcinogenicity of ultraviolet (UV) light, this has not been evaluated in existing epidemiologic studies. Objective To evaluate alcohol intake in relation to early-onset BCC, and explore potential interactions with UV exposure. Methods BCC cases (n=380) and controls with benign skin conditions (n=390) under age 40 were identified through Yale Dermatopathology. Participants provided information on lifetime alcohol intake, including type of beverage during an in-person interview. Self-report data on indoor tanning and outdoor sunbathing were used to categorize UV exposure. We calculated odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) using unconditional multivariate logistic regression in the full sample and in women only. Results There was no statistically significant association between lifetime alcohol intake and early-onset BCC overall (above median intake vs. no regular alcohol intake OR 1.10, 95% CI 0.69-1.73) or in women only (OR 1.21, 95% CI 0.73-2.01). Similarly, intake of red wine, white wine, beer or hard liquor and mixed drinks was not associated with early-onset BCC. However, in our full population, but especially in women, we observed a positive association between alcohol and BCC in those with the highest UV exposures (OR 3.09, 95% CI 1.26-7.59). Conclusions Although we did not observe an association between lifetime alcohol intake and early-onset BCC, there was a positive association in those with relatively high UV exposures from indoor tanning/sunbathing.


World population has reached to 7.2 billion in 2014 and is expected to reach 9.6 billion by 2050 (United Nations 2014). In order to feed this growing population, global food production needs to increase by 70 per cent (FAO 2009). At present, about 800 million people are living with hunger; which means one in nine is undernourished (FAO, IFAD & WFP 2015). In addition, due to increasing urbanization, changes in lifestyle and consumption patterns, the demand for certain types of products such as meat, milk and eggs will steadily increase. (World Health Organization 2003). Food security is among the topics high on the agenda for many governments around the world. For countries with limited available natural resources such as land, water, forests and so on, increasing their food production will be a challenge. In addition, climate change will pose another constraint, as extreme weather events such as floods, storms, and drought will not only become more frequent, but also more severe in the near future (IPCC 2014). As a result, this is expected to overall negatively affect food production and all dimensions of food security. A food supply chain or food system refers to the processes that include agricultural production, post harvest handling and storage, processing and packaging, distribution and consumption. Each process in the food supply chain is connected, hence changes on one part will be reflected on other parts in particular as changes in price of end products. Both push and pull processes are in place: while growers, processors or retailers push the food products to the market, the consumers initiate "pull" processes by demanding food that can satisfy their needs and preferences. We report preliminary findings from the Safeguarding Food and Environment in Qatar (SAFE-Q) project, funded by the Qatar National Research Fund, and jointly undertaken by Georgetown University School of Foreign Service in Qatar, Cranfield University and Brunel University in the UK and Western Sydney University in Australia. The project involves undertaking a detailed analysis of supply and demand sides, examining the causes of food waste occurring during distribution, transportation and storage as well as during food preparation, cooking and consumption. Here, we report findings from interviews we conducted with the stakeholders on the supply side. We conducted interviews in October and November 2015 with distributors, restaurants, hotels as well as non-governmental organisations. In these interviews we asked whether the food was being discarded in the day-to-day operations of the company, followed by the main reasons for this food waste. We also presented the participants with factors that were identified in an earlier stage of the research as being contributors to the food waste and asked the cause and effect relationships between these factors. Following the factor-specific questions, we inquired about initiatives to reduce food waste in the company, as well as the relevant stakeholders that should be reached out to minimise food waste in general. Finally, we asked about potential solutions to food waste situation, and how the participant observes the future of food waste in Qatar. The factors that we have asked to the participants on the supply side were as follows: Packaging, Government legislation, Arab culture, Certification, Competition, Planning, Food safety standards/regulations, Import controls, Food labelling, Logistics infrastructure, Food handling, Promotions, Quality control, Seasonality of demand, Shelf life management, Stock management, and Temperature management. Throughout these interviews we gained insights into the previously identified factors leading to waste in Qatar. For example, food handling was elaborated as staff's lack of knowledge about the food product, lack of knowledge about the storage conditions of the food product. In relation to the seasonality of demand, inability to anticipate market demand was highlighted together with lack of skills for forecasting the demand. Another interesting finding was related to the shelf-life of products, the retailers commented that the shelf-life regulations were different from the rest of the countries in the Gulf region. For example, a canned food item would have a shelf-life of 1.5 years in Qatar whereas its shelf-life would be 2 years in other Gulf countries. Such discrepancies lead to food items being discarded in Qatar although they may still be fit for sale elsewhere in the region. This also had impact on what is being imported into the country, for example it was difficult to convince some producers to prepare the same product with two different expiry dates; one for the Gulf region and one specific to Qatar. One possible explanation to this discrepancy of expiry dates was suggested to be the legislator's desire to prevent bulk-buying on the consumption side, but this is yet to be confirmed with further research. Food labelling was one of the factors elaborated in many of the interviews in different aspects. For example, a significant amount of food is being wasted due to poor labelling; lack of the necessary information on the label. Sometimes the importers were unaware of the sensitivities in Qatar: a reported incident included the suggestion to eat the food with wine for example, and this resulted in the food products' being rejected at the port even though the product itself did not contain any alcohol. Another case mentioned involved a product's brand name familiarity with bacon, although the product did not contain any meat. In terms of suggested solutions to the food waste problem on the supply side, the preliminary data analysis found that the sector in general would benefit from training in food handling, purchasing, procurement, and storage conditions. The participants acknowledged a general lack of expertise in supply chain management and logistics. Another aspect was related to legislation and a single responsible authority for food control in the country. Although the interviews focused on the supply side, participants also commented in general on the awareness raising campaigns, particularly targeted at schools and young people. References FAO. 2009. How to feed the world in 2050. Rome. FAO, IFAD and WFP. 2015. The State of Food Insecurity in the World 2015. Rome. United Nations. 2014. The World Population Situation in 2014. A Concise Report. New York. World Health Organization. 2003. Diet, nutrition and the prevention of chronic diseases. Report of a Joint WHO/FAO Expert Consultation. WHO Technical Series.


The existence of a specialized imitation module in humans is hotly debated. Studies suggesting a specific imitation impairment in individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) support a modular view. However, the voluntary imitation tasks used in these studies (which require socio-cognitive abilities in addition to imitation for successful performance) cannot support claims of a specific impairment. Accordingly, an automatic imitation paradigm (a 'cleaner' measure of imitative ability) was used to assess the imitative ability of 16 adults with ASD and 16 non-autistic matched control participants. Participants performed a prespecified hand action in response to observed hand actions performed either by a human or a robotic hand. On compatible trials the stimulus and response actions matched, while on incompatible trials the two actions did not match. Replicating previous findings, the Control group showed an automatic imitation effect: responses on compatible trials were faster than those on incompatible trials. This effect was greater when responses were made to human than to robotic actions ('animacy bias'). The ASD group also showed an automatic imitation effect and a larger animacy bias than the Control group. We discuss these findings with reference to the literature on imitation in ASD and theories of imitation.


Microarray data profiles gene expression on a whole genome scale, therefore, it provides a good way to study associations between gene expression and occurrence or progression of cancer. More and more researchers realized that microarray data is helpful to predict cancer sample. However, the high dimension of gene expressions is much larger than the sample size, which makes this task very difficult. Therefore, how to identify the significant genes causing cancer becomes emergency and also a hot and hard research topic. Many feature selection algorithms have been proposed in the past focusing on improving cancer predictive accuracy at the expense of ignoring the correlations between the features. In this work, a novel framework (named by SGS) is presented for stable gene selection and efficient cancer prediction . The proposed framework first performs clustering algorithm to find the gene groups where genes in each group have higher correlation coefficient, and then selects the significant genes in each group with Bayesian Lasso and important gene groups with group Lasso, and finally builds prediction model based on the shrinkage gene space with efficient classification algorithm (such as, SVM, 1NN, Regression and etc.). Experiment results on real world data show that the proposed framework often outperforms the existing feature selection and prediction methods, say SAM, IG and Lasso-type prediction model. Keywords—Gene Selection, Cancer Prediction, Lasso, Clustering, Classification.


Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+) is an important topic in the debate on policies to mitigate climate change. This is the first study to test and compare the environmental impact of different REDD+ payment schemes in the field, and provide some insights on the effectiveness of different policies with respect to the permanence of forest-based emission reductions. This study implements a stated preference experiment of time allocation in the unique setting of the Kasigau Corridor REDD+ Project in Kenya, where charcoaling is a major source of forest degradation. The impact on time allocation is analyzed under the presumption that a hypothetical agricultural policy or an eco-charcoaling policy was introduced. We find that a policy that indexes eco-charcoal payments to charcoalers' opportunity costs is the most effective policy in providing permanence in REDD+: it lowers the amount of labor allocated to charcoaling even at high charcoal prices.


In this paper, we develop a theory of individual choice called melioration, which implies that choices distributed over a period of time may be reliably and predictably suboptimal, in terms of the person's own preferences. Consider some typical examples of distributed choices: the expenditure rate on various non-durables; frequency of athletic exercise; rate of work in free-lance type occupations; allocation of leisure time; rate of savings (or dissavings); expenditures on lottery tickets, and other forms of gambling. When people express dissatisfaction about their choices, their discontent seems clustered around these sorts of distributed choices. For example, complaints that one is working too hard (or not hard enough), exercising too little (or too much), wasting time, overeating, overspending, and so on are commonplace. The next two sections of the paper spell out the basic theory we are proposing. The following section then applies the theory to "pathological" consumption patterns, and shows that one should find a general underinvestment in those activities that exhibit increasing average returns to rate of consumption, and an overinvestment in activities that have an addiction-like interaction between value and rate. The final section compares the theory with other approaches to suboptimal choice.


Objectives : To determine the prevalence of impacted canines among 17-25 year old Sudanese University students.  Materials and Methods : Descriptive cross-sectional study in University of Khartoum, Sudan.  2401 students were selected according to random stratified sampling technique and screened under natural day light. All students with un erupted permanent canines were referred to the Orthodontic Department for clinical examination and radiographic investigations.  Results :  Forty nine students (2%), 10 males and 39 females out of 2401 students were reported to have at least one impacted canine. Males to females ratio was approximately 1:4. Impacted canines were more common in the maxilla (1.6%) than in the mandible (0.33%).  Majority of the cases with impacted canines (73.5%) had unilateral impaction p<0.05, whereas 24.5 % had bilateral impactions and only 2% had three impacted canines. location of the impaction either: palatal, Buccal or in the line of arch and the palatal impactions were the most common one (45%), whereas buccal and in the line of arch impaction were found in 20% and 35% respectively.  Retained deciduous canines were observed in most of the cases with impacted canines (81.6%).  Conclusion :  Prevalence of impacted canines was noticeable and comparable to the findings reported in other populations. The study gives a clue about the magnitude of the problem. However, strong conclusion can not be drawn since the sample is not representative to the whole Sudanese population.  Further study is essential for a great sample from different provinces of the Sudan in order to draw a real conclusion.


Sphagnum farming is defined as the sustainable production of non-decomposed Sphagnum biomass on a cyclical and renewable basis. In this article, the influence and necessity of mowing graminoid plants to optimise Sphagnum growth in Sphagnum farming basins are examined. Repeated mowing was applied to reduce graminoid plant cover at two different stages of the production cycle (one-year-old and seven-year-old Sphagnum moss carpet at the beginning of the experiment) at an experimental Sphagnum farm in eastern Canada. Sphagnum growth (cover, biomass, moss layer thickness) was measured after three years of mowing. In addition, a greenhouse experiment was carried out to determine whether there is a threshold for graminoid plant cover beyond which mowing becomes necessary. Sphagnum cover and biomass were not affected by repeated mowing, even if mowing reduced the cover of graminoid plants. Thus, it appears that mowing is unnecessary if the dominant vascular species is a graminoid plant such as Eriophorum angustifolium, which accumulates minimal amounts of litter. Furthermore, high cover of Eriophorum angustifolium (up to 85 %) did not affect Sphagnum cover in a density-controlled greenhouse experiment. When the specific goal is Sphagnum fibre production, decisions about control of graminoid plants should be made after considering the cover, life form and litter accumulation potentials of the dominant graminoid species involved.


This is a powerful exploration of the debilitating impact that politically-correct "multiculturalism" has had upon higher education and academic freedom in the United States. In the name of diversity, many leading academic and cultural institutions are working to silence dissent and stifle intellectual life. This book exposes the real impact of multiculturalism on the institution most closely identified with the politically correct decline of higher education--Stanford University. Authored by two Stanford graduates, this book is a compelling insider's tour of a world of speech codes, "dumbed-down" admissions standards and curricula, campus witch hunts, and anti-Western zealotry that masquerades as legitimate scholarly inquiry. Sacks and Thiel use numerous primary sources--the Stanford Daily, class readings, official university publications--to reveal a pattern of politicized classes, housing, budget priorities, and more. They trace the connections between such disparate trends as political correctness, the gender wars, Generation X nihilism, and culture wars, showing how these have played a role in shaping multiculturalism at institutions like Stanford. The authors convincingly show that multiculturalism is not about learning more; it is actually about learning less. They end their comprehensive study by detailing the changes necessary to reverse the tragic disintegration of American universities and restore true academic excellence.


Self-Serv aims to enable the declarative composition of new services from existing ones, the multiattribute dynamic selection of services within a composition, and peer-to-peer orchestration of composite service executions. Self-Serv adopts the principle that every service, whether elementary or composite, should provide a programmatic interface based on SOAP and the Web Service Definition Language. This does not exclude the possibility of integrating legacy applications, such as those written in CORBA, into the service's business logic. To integrate such applications, however, first requires the development of appropriate adapters. The paper considers how the mechanism for composing services in Self-Serv is based on two major concepts: the composite service and the service container.


Leptin induces weight loss in rodents via its effects on food intake and energy expenditure. High-fat diets induce weight gain, but the mechanism is not well understood. Previous studies have not found an effect of dietary fat content on fasting leptin. There is a nocturnal increase of leptin, however, which is related to insulin responses to meals. We have reported that adipocyte glucose utilization is involved in insulin-induced leptin secretion in vitro. Accordingly, high-fat, low-carbohydrate (HF/LC) meals, which induce smaller insulin and glucose responses, would produce lower leptin concentrations than low-fat, high-carbohydrate (LF/HC) meals. Blood samples were collected every 30-60 min for 24 h from 19 normal-weight (BMI, 24.2 +/- 0.7 kg/m2; percent body fat = 31 +/- 1%) women on 2 days (10 days apart) during which the subjects were randomized to consume three isocaloric 730-kcal meals containing either 60/20 or 20/60% of energy as fat/carbohydrate. Overall insulin and glycemic responses (24-h area under the curve [AUC]) were reduced by 55 and 61%, respectively, on the HF/LC day (P < 0.0001). During LF/HC feeding, there were larger increases of leptin 4-6 h after breakfast (38 +/- 7%, P < 0.001) and lunch (78 +/- 14%, P < 0.001) than after HF/LC meals (both P < 0.02). During LF/HC feeding, leptin increased from a morning baseline of 10.7 +/- 1.6 ng/ml to a nocturnal peak of 21.3 +/- 1.3 ng/ml (change, 10.6 +/- 1.3 ng/ml; percent change, 123 +/- 16%; P < 0.0001). The amplitudes of the nocturnal rise of leptin and the 24-h leptin AUC were 21 +/- 8% (P < 0.005) and 38 +/- 12% (P < 0.0025) larger, respectively, on the LF/HC day. In summary, consumption of HF/LC meals results in lowered 24-h circulating leptin concentrations. This result may be a consequence of decreased adipocyte glucose metabolism. Decreases of 24-h circulating leptin could contribute to the weight gain during consumption of high-fat diets.


Built-in self-test (BIST) techniques constitute an attractive and practical solution to the difficult problem of testing VLSI circuits and systems. Input vector monitoring concurrent BIST schemes can circumvent problems appearing separately in online and in offline BIST schemes. An important measure of the quality of an input vector monitoring concurrent BIST scheme is the time required to complete the concurrent test, termed concurrent test latency. In this paper, a new input vector monitoring concurrent BIST technique for combinational circuits is presented which is shown to be significantly more efficient than the input vector monitoring techniques proposed to date with respect to concurrent test latency and hardware overhead trade-off, for low values of the hardware overhead.


Traditionally, game-keepers and agriculturalists have controlled predators using lethal methods, but there are circumstances under which these may be ineffective or inappropriate for animal welfare or conservation reasons. Generalised aversion is potentially a form of non-lethal control, in which predators are conditioned to avoid foul-tasting bait, causing them subsequently to generalise this avoidance to similar, but untreated, prey, thereby affording it protection. In this exploratory study, a group of captive red foxes (Vulpes vulpes) was successfully conditioned to avoid untreated milk after drinking milk containing BitrexTM, a bitter substance that they were unable to detect except by taste. Our foxes were members of a family group and so housed together to reduce stress, and therefore the individuals' responses to the various treatments may not have been independent. As a result, we combined data from the three animals, and our most conservative analyses consider the sampling population to be this fox group; we do not make inferences about foxes in general, but confine them to this fox-group. This trial was a pilot to reveal the potential for future work on wild animals. Successful application of generalised aversion to non-lethal predator control has far-reaching implications for the sport hunting industry, nature reserve management and the conservation of threatened predators requiring control, as well as clear animal welfare benefits.


Abstract Neotropical leaf-cutting ants (tribe Attini) live in obligate symbiosis with fungus they culture for food. To protect themselves and their fungus garden from pathogens, they minimize the entry of microorganisms through mechanical and chemical means. In this study, focusing on the species Acromyrmex subterraneus and A. octospinosus, (Hymeoptera: Formicidae). Self- and allo-grooming behavior were quantified and it was found that A. octospinosus workers spend less time in self-grooming than A. subterraneus. In the experimental absence of fungus in A. subterraneus, the times spent in these two behaviors are not affected; however workers spend significantly more time immobile. Hygienic and trophallaxis behaviors were examined as well as the possibility that workers exchange food, and the grooming behavior of foraging and non-foraging workers were compared. Behavioral observations revealed that large workers spent more time grooming than small workers, and more than 62% of replete foragers passed collected liquid food via trophallaxis to a nestmate. However, trophallaxis was rarely observed between non-forager workers. These results suggest that trophallaxis permits the exchange of alimentary liquid between colony members, but it is not important for spreading the colony odor signature.


OBJECTIVE
We describe the sociodemographic characteristics and determinants of pesticide exposure in agricultural workers applying pesticides.

METHODS
The workers selected were included in a case-control study carried out in the Autonomous Community of Valencia in Spain. Contact was made by telephone and individuals who had been involved in agricultural work during the relevant period of exposure were interviewed face-to-face to gain information on the following determinants of pesticide exposure: crops and periods worked, mixing of products, treatment equipment, participation in the washing of equipment, use of personal protection during the treatments and knowledge of the risks of pesticide exposure.

RESULTS
Eighty-nine workers, aged between 16 and 46 years old, were included. Most of the interviewees had primary education or less. Pesticide treatments were mostly applied on high crops (82%), with manual equipment (61%) and throughout the year (45%). Workers frequently performed tasks involving additional exposure to pesticides (mixing chemicals, 66%, or washing equipment, 60%). Sixty-five percent of the workers used no personal protection or used it defectively. No differences were found in personal protection use according to age, family income or education. Most of the workers (90%) reported knowledge of the health risks of pesticide exposure and 21% of them rated the risk as null.

CONCLUSIONS
Workers involved in pesticide application use personal protection measures very defectively. There is a clear need to develop specific prevention programs for these workers. The determinants of pesticide exposure in agricultural workers described in this study should be properly assessed in epidemiological studies of the health effects of pesticides on agricultural workers.


T he hydrochloride salt and the z (cis-) stereoisomer of endoxifen with potential antineoplastic activity. Endoxifen, the active metabolite of tamoxifen, competitively inhibits the binding of estradiol to estrogen receptors, thereby preventing the receptor from binding to the estrogen-response element on DNA and thus reducing DNA synthesis. Unlike tamoxifen, however, which relies on CYP2D6 activity for its conversion to the active metabolite endoxifen, the direct administration of endoxifen bypasses the CYP2D6 route. As CYP2D6 activity can vary widely among individuals due to genetic CYP2D6 polymorphisms, endoxifen is therefore theoretically more potent and more uniform in its bioavailability across patient populations. Qeios · Definition, February 7, 2020


The three-dimensional continuum solutions are used to examine the physical insight of a first order dynamic subgrade model, originally applied by Novak for dynamic pile response analysis. These solutions logically explain the reason why this model is a good approximation for frequencies above the fundamental natural frequency of the soil medium but a poor approximation below this frequency. Ground motions at low frequencies often significantly affect the earthquake responses of very flexible structures. Therefore, this first order model may not be applicable in such a case. In order to improve the situation, a second order model is proposed for the dynamic response analysis of pile foundations. The proposed model is found to perform well for all frequencies including the static condition. Its behavior in response to dynamic loading is discussed.


The problem of computing free energy differences due to isotopic substitution in chemical systems is discussed. The shift in the equilibrium properties of a system upon isotopic substitution is a purely quantum mechanical effect that can be quantified using the Feynman path integral approach. In this paper, we explore two developments that lead to a highly efficient path integral scheme. First, we employ a mass switching function inspired by the work of Ceriotti and Markland [ J. Chem. Phys. 2013, 138, 014112] that is based on the inverse square root of the mass and which leads to a perfectly constant free energy derivative with respect to the switching parameter in the harmonic limit. We show that even for anharmonic systems, this scheme allows a single-point thermodynamic integration approach to be used in the construction of free energy differences. In order to improve the efficiency of the calculations even further, however, we derive a set of free energy derivative estimators based on the fourth-order scheme of Takahashi and Imada [ J. Phys. Soc. Jpn. 1984, 53, 3765]. The Takahashi-Imada procedure generates a primitive fourth-order estimator that allows the number of imaginary time slices in the path-integral approach to be reduced substantially. However, as with all primitive estimators, its convergence is plagued by numerical noise. In order to alleviate this problem, we derive a fourth-order virial estimator based on a transferring of the difference between second- and fourth-order primitive estimators, which remains relatively constant as a function of the number of configuration samples, to the second-order virial estimator. We show that this new estimator converges as smoothly as the second-order virial estimator but requires significantly fewer imaginary time points.


Based on an analysis of the Spanish census and the January 1, 2005 municipal register and on exploratory fieldwork in Catalonia, this paper combines ethnography and demography, in conjunction with current Spanish reunification law, to examine the dynamics of what appears to be high fertility among Gambian immigrants living in Spain. We suggest that this high fertility rate reflects several things. One is the high costs of living in Spain for an unskilled, often-undocumented, but also relatively-longstanding SubSaharan group from a homeland with high rates of fertility: a homeland with which close ties remain vital for migrants in highly marginal conditions. Another is the replacement, in some cases, of older wives by younger ones from Africa, resulting in high rates of reproduction for short slices of time by a circulating pool of young women. We focus, however, on the role of Spanish and European policies themselves in shaping these numbers, particularly those policies that place restrictions on the free movement of people. We conclude that the most interesting demographic facet of this population may not be high fertility but rather the paradoxical dynamics of child accumulation in particular geographic regions as an artifact of Spanish law itself.


OBJECTIVE
The objectives of this study were to evaluate the impact of two X-ray repair cross complementing 1 (XRCC1) gene polymorphisms (Arg194Trp and Arg399Gln) on the risk of development of colorectal cancer (CRC) and to assess the expression levels of microRNA-21 (miR-21) in CRC patients.

MATERIALS AND METHODS
A case-control cross sectional study was conducted on 50 CRC patients and 50 cancer-free subjects. DNA and miR-21 were extracted from whole blood samples. The expression levels of the XRCC1 polymorphisms and miR-21 were assessed by real-time PCR in all subjects of the study.

RESULTS
Genotype analysis revealed a significant association between CRC risk and both the Arg194Trp genotype (OR=11.407, 95% CI=4.039-32.221, p<0.001) and the Arg399Gln genotype (OR=3.778, 95% CI= 1.6-8.919, p=0.002). The expression levels of circulating miR-21 were able to detect CRC cases significantly (p=0.022) with a sensitivity of 82% and a specificity of 56% (Area under the curve (AUC)=0.633) but were unable to distinguish between early and late cases (AJCC classification) (p=0.194).

CONCLUSION
The XRCC1 Arg194Trp and Arg399Gln polymorphisms both confer high susceptibility for the development of CRC. Circulating miR-21 expression levels are a potentially diagnostic non-invasive genetic marker of CRC.


Previous publications resulting from this study dealt with, certain aspects of the interaction of normally incident waves with a porous structure. Madsen and White (1976a), hereafter referred to as (I), developed a semi-empirical procedure for the prediction of reflection coefficients of rough impermeable slopes. Madsen (1974) with, discussion by Kondo (1975) and Closure by Madsen (1976), collectively referred to as(ll)hereafter, developed an explicit solution for the transmission and reflection coefficients of homogeneous rectangular crib-style breakwaters. When viewing the interaction of incident waves with, a trapezoidal, multilayered breakwater as a problem of energy dissipation, the problem treated in (II) may he regarded as an idealized analysis accounting for the internal dissipation of energy within the structure, whereas (I) may be regarded as an idealized analysis of the energy dissipation on the seaward face of the breakwater, i.e., the external energy dissipation. The present paper presents a synthesis of the results obtained in (I) and (II) into an approximate procedure for the prediction of wave reflection from and transmission through trapezoidal, multilayered breakwaters. The present paper presents only the major points of the approximate procedure. Thus, extensive references to (I) and (II) are made and only the determination of the hydraulically equivalent breakwater is presented in some detail. For a presentation of the entire development of this model for the reflection and transmission characteristics of trapezoidal, multilayered breakwaters the reader is referred to Madsen and White (1975) or Madsen and White (1976b) where detailed numerical examples of the use of the procedure may also be found.


The Earth's upper atmosphere at high latitudes is a complicated region that is under the influence of many competing forces. For one, it is where the atmosphere becomes partially ionised, and thus subjected to the electromagnetic influences of the coupled solar wind-magnetosphere system. In contrast, neutral particles strongly feel the effects of non-magnetic forces, such as those due to temperature gradients and the Coriolis effect. Once ion-neutral collisions are then taken into account, the result is a global scale "washing machine" of charged and neutral particles, moving through various different spin cycles of coupling strength. Firstly, it is the inherent differences between neutral and plasma flows that result in one of the largest atmospheric sinks of magnetospheric energy: Joule heating. It has sometimes been assumed in previous studies that the neutral wind is slow enough to be treated as if it was stationary. However, we show in Chapter 3 that this is not the case statistically using plasma velocity data from the Super Dual Auroral Radar Network (SuperDARN) and an empirical neutral wind model (HWM14). Overall, the inclusion of neutral winds can lead to global Joule heating estimates that differ by as much as 18% from calculations assuming they are stationary. We also present common scenarios by which the neutral wind can provide both a net increase or decrease to heating rates, depending on season and geomagnetic activity level. In Chapter 4, neutral wind velocity measurements from an all-sky Fabry-Perot Interferometer known as SCANDI are presented for a period where the plasma velocity varied greatly in magnitude. We show that over the relatively small region observed (about 1000 km in diameter) for the event in question, the time it took for the neutrals to be fully accelerated or decelerated by a change in the plasma varied by as much as 30 minutes. Compared to the average neutral wind response time of around 75 minutes, this is quite a large amount of variability for regions at mesoscale separations. This has implications for how closely coupled the ionosphere and thermosphere are on a global scale, and shows the importance of carefully taking into account the current states of both. Finally, an aurorally active period that occurred towards the end of the event presented in Chapter 4 is examined more closely in Chapter 5. We saw that coinciding with the onset of poleward moving auroral forms, the neutrals rapidly accelerated in the direction of the plasma much faster than prior to the aurora. We propose that due to the increased ionisation from particle precipitation, combined with the rapid transient plasma bursts in the poleward direction, the strength of ion-neutral coupling was enhanced significantly. This also happened during a transition of the IMF By component, showing for the first time a pseudo coupling of the thermosphere directly to the solar wind.


The Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act of 2005 provided new requirements for bankruptcy filers and gave the U.S. Trustee Program (USTP) new responsibility. Individual filers must now receive credit counseling during the 180 days before filing. USTP is charged with approving and reapproving counseling providers. This report examines steps USTP can take to develop measures of effectiveness of prebankruptcy credit counseling.


Severe windstorms that swept through three counties in northwestern Pennsylvania on July 21 and 22, 2003, caused extensive blowdown in many northern hardwood stands containing an extensive component of black cherry, Prunus serotina Ehrh. Although many species were affected by the storm, black cherry is the most valuable timber species in the region. A number of factors prevented salvage until 3 years after the storm. The purposes of this study were to identify the wood-boring insects that attacked damaged cherry and to estimate the value lost due to delayed salvage. The long-horned beetle Saperda imitans Felt and Joutel (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae) and the ambrosia beetle Xyleborinus saxeseni (Ratz.) (Coleoptera: Curculionidae: Scolytinae) were the most abundant wood borers reared from wind-thrown cherry. We also monitored both changes in the population of the bark beetle Phoeotribus liminaris (Ratz.) and the damage it caused to live residual cherry. Based on the average depth of S. imitans galleries and associated stain, the estimated grade loss of a 25-cm (10 in.) cherry log (large end) after slab removal was approximately 27% and for a 102-cm (40 in.) log it was 3.6%. Wood borer galleries occurred throughout the first 5.2 m (17 ft) of the butt log as well as in the upper bole and larger branches. The density of ambrosia beetle galleries on wind-thrown trees was highest on trees with dying and dead epicormics than on trees with live epicormics and higher on trees suspended off the ground. Catches of X. saxeseni in ethanol-baited, Lindgren funnel traps increased significantly from 2005 to 2006 as did numbers of P. liminaris and the gum spot damage these insects did to residual live cherry in 2005 compared with that in 2004. Results of this study indicate that the extent of insect damage after this abiotic disturbance was influenced by the time of year the damage occurred relative to the temporal activity of the insects involved and emphasizes the importance of swift salvage.


Abstract Previous work on lipase catalyzed esterification of glycerol with fatty acids in w/o microemulsions gave monoglyceride as the main reaction product. Only traces of triglyceride were obtained. We show here that the reason triglycerides are not formed in these systems is that the diglyceride formed in the oil–water interfacial zone partitions into the continuous hydrocarbon domain. It is then inaccessible to the enzyme. The yield of triglyceride is increased by using longer hydrocarbons as the oil component. These have poorer solvency for mono- and diglycerides. When the hydrocarbon chain length exceeds that of the glyceride acyl groups, triglyceride is the main reaction product.


The pathogenesis of many acute and chronic lung diseases remains a mystery. However, recent years have seen a rapidly increasing interest in the role of proteolytic enzymes and their inhibitors in modifying the inflammatory, destructive and reparative changes that occur in the lung. Much of this interest owes its existence to two observations in the early 1960s: firstly, the recognition that subjects with an inherited deficiency of α 1 -antitrypsin (α 1 -AT; the main serum inhibitor of proteolytic enzymes) had a high incidence of pulmonary emphysema [1], and secondly the demonstration by Gross et al. [2] that a proteolytic enzyme (papain) was capable of producing lesions similar to emphysema in experimental animals. These observations ultimately led to the proteinase—anti-proteinase theory of emphysema, which predicts that a state of balance occurs in the healthy lung in which the proteolytic enzyme inhibitors functionally equal or exceed the enzymes. Destructive lung disease occurs when the enzymes functionally exceed the inhibitors such that they remain active within the lung, resulting in digestion of connective tissue. This general concept of a disturbed proteinase—anti-proteinase balance within the lung has been recently applied to many other lung diseases, and some will be mentioned later. However, it is in the study of chronic bronchitis and emphysema that the concept has become most well established.


Deliverable D2.3 of Project HELP (ENHANCED COMMUNICATIONS IN EMERGENCIES BY CREATING AND EXPLOITING SYNERGIES IN COMPOSITE RADIO SYSTEMS), FP7-SEC-2010-1, PROJECT NUMBER 261659


This article is an empirical study of the effect of Bell Atlantic Corp. vs. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544 (2007), and Ashcroft vs. Iqbal, 129 S. Ct. 1937 (2009), two recent Supreme Court cases that portend the decline of "notice pleading" in federal civil practice.The article analyzes how Twombly and Iqbal have begun to dismantle the regime of notice pleading by not only discarding the "no set of facts" standard of Conley vs. Gibson, 355 U.S. 41 (1957), but by changing or ignoring other principles that federal courts have followed for decades on 12(b)(6) motions. The statistical study then examines how Twombly and Iqbal may have affected federal district court rulings on 12(b)(6) motions in practice.The statistical analysis of 1,039 cases shows that 49% of 12(b)(6) motions were granted (with or without leave to amend) in the cases selected (from May 2005 to August 2009). Further, the rate of granting such motions increased from 46% of motions decided under Conley, to 48% of motions decided under Twombly, to 56% of motions decided under Iqbal. A multinomial logistic regression indicates that under Twombly, the odds that a 12(b)(6) motion would be granted with leave to amend, rather than denied, were 1.81 times greater than under Conley, holding all other variables constant. Under Iqbal, the odds that a 12(b)(6) motion would be granted with leave to amend, rather than denied, were over four times greater than under Conley, holding all other variables constant. Moreover, the largest category of cases in which 12(b)(6) motions are filed was constitutional civil rights. Motions to dismiss in constitutional civil rights cases were granted at a higher rate (53%) than in cases overall (49%), and the rate of granting 12(b)(6) motions in constitutional civil rights cases increased in the cases selected from Conley (50%) to Twombly (55%) to Iqbal (60%).The article concludes that Twombly and Iqbal have resulted in a noticeable increase in the granting of 12(b)(6) motions by district courts, and suggests that such a result, if desirable, should be accomplished by the normal rule-amendment process.


BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE
Acute and long-term effects of contact transscleral cyclodiathermy (CTCD) were studied in rabbits.

MATERIALS AND METHODS
In the acute phase, three evenly spaced applications were placed at the limbus in each of four quadrants using the Ophthalmic Diathermy TR4000 (MIRA, Inc., Waltham, MA). Each quadrant of 17 eyes of 13 Dutchbelted rabbits was treated with radio frequencies (RFs) of 1.0 to 4.5, for times of 0.5, 0.75, 1.0 to 3.0, and 4.0 to 10.0 seconds. Eyes were then immediately enucleated and fixed in Karnovsky's solution after the rabbits had been sacrificed with 3 ml of pentobarbital sodium. In the longitudinal phase, four groups of six rabbits each were treated with 20 evenly spaced applications at the limbus at one of four settings: 1.5 RFs/4 seconds, 2.0 RFs/3 seconds, 2.5 RFs/2 seconds, or 3.0 RFs/2 seconds. Intraocular pressures were measured on alternate days for 1 week prior to treatment and for 4 weeks after treatment, following which the eyes were enucleated and fixed in Karnovsky's solution.

RESULTS
Gross examination of the acute phase eyes revealed blanching of the ciliary processes at RF settings of 2.5 and higher with exposure times of 1.5 seconds or longer. Gross and light microscopic studies showed that levels of destruction correlated positively with RF settings and exposure times. Higher RF levels resulted in scleral coagulation necrosis on light microscopy. In addition, there was coagulation necrosis of the pigmented and nonpigmented ciliary epithelium and stroma. Longitudinal phase study showed a significant decrease in intraocular pressure (IOP) in the four groups of rabbits treated over the 4-week follow-up period (P = .005, multivariate analysis of variance [MANOVA]). Rabbits treated at higher RF levels sustained a greater IOP-lowering effect (P = .025, MANOVA). Gross and light microscopic examination revealed focal atrophy, fusion, and fibrosis of the ciliary processes.

CONCLUSION
Nonpenetrating CTCD results in focal destruction of the ciliary body in rabbits. The authors found that significant reduction in IOP was possible over the 4-week follow-up period in the Dutch-belted rabbits treated, with greater IOP and tissue effects at higher RF settings.


Mechanochemical signal transduction occurs when mechanical forces, such as fluid shear stress, are converted into biochemical responses within the cell. The molecular mechanisms by which endothelial cells (ECs) sense/transduce shear stress into biological signals, including the nature of the mechanosensor, are still unclear. G proteins and G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) have been postulated independently to mediate mechanotransduction. In this study, we used in situ proximity ligation assay (PLA) to investigate the role of a specific GPCR/Gαq/11 pair in EC shear stress-induced mechanotransduction. We demonstrated that sphingosine 1-phosphate (S1P) stimulation causes a rapid dissociation at 0.5 min of Gαq/11 from its receptor S1P3, followed by an increased association within 2 min of GPCR kinase-2 (GRK2) and β-arrestin-1/2 with S1P3 in human coronary artery ECs, which are consistent with GPCR/Gαq/11 activation and receptor desensitization/internalization. The G protein activator AlF4 resulted in increased dissociation of Gαq/11 from S1P3, but no increase in association between S1P3 and either GRK2 or β-arrestin-1/2. The G protein inhibitor guanosine 5'-(β-thio) diphosphate (GDP-β-S) and the S1P3 antagonist VPC23019 both prevented S1P-induced activation. Shear stress also caused the rapid activation within 7 s of S1P3/Gαq/11 There were no increased associations between S1P3 and GRK2 or S1P3 and β-arrestin-1/2 until 5 min. GDP-β-S, but not VPC23019, prevented dissociation of Gαq/11 from S1P3 in response to shear stress. Shear stress did not induce rapid dephosphorylation of β-arrestin-1 or rapid internalization of S1P3, indicating no GPCR activation. These findings suggest that Gαq/11 participates in the sensing/transducing of shear stress independently of GPCR activation in ECs.


A 67-year-old woman was taken to hospital by ambulance after collapsing at home. She had complained of general ill-health for a number of weeks. Large bowel obstruction was diagnosed. In view of the fact that she was febrile and hypotensive, intravenous fluid was commenced and antibiotics administered. She failed to respond and died later that day. Autopsy showed the rectum, sigmoid and the lower part of the descending colon to be enormously distended with an average external diameter of 300mm (Figure 1: Enormously distended rectum, sigmoid and descending colon, protruding out of the pelvis into the peritoneal cavity and compressing loops of small bowel). The distended large bowel contained impacted hard faecal material. The mucosa showed extensive ulceration. The bowel was also perforated at the recto sigmoid junction. Secondary pelvic peritonitis was noted. Death was attributed to septic shock, secondary to peritonitis following bowel perforation. Discussion Faecal impaction is a consequence of constipation. The most important risk factors are inadequate dietary fibre and low level of hydration. Lack of mobility because of aging, stroke or spinal cord injury may also lead to faecal impaction. This is due to colonic mass movement retardation and muscle weakness in the abdominal and the pelvis. Medications such as opiate analgesics, anticholinergic agents, calcium channel blockers, antacids, and iron preparations can also lead to gastrointestinal motility retardation and faecal impaction. Paradoxically, laxative-dependent patients can be at risk of developing faecal impaction because such patients often become unable to produce a normal response to colonic distention [1,2]. Faecal impaction is a relatively common gastrointestinal disorder often seen in frail elderly patients. It is found in almost 50% of patients in geriatric wards and nursing homes. It can dramatically impair quality of life and cause significant morbidity but is seldom fatal [3]. Typical symptoms of faecal impaction are similar to those of intestinal obstruction from other causes. Symptoms often include abdominal pain and dissention, nausea, vomiting, and anorexia. The disease is often recurrent with up to 50% of patients with faecal impaction have a history of prior impactions. Complications of faecal impaction include stercoral ulceration, fistula formation, megacolon, and colonic perforation. Some patients may present with paradoxical diarrhoea and faecal incontinence [1,4]. Examination of the abdomen may reveal a malleable, tubular structure in the recto sigmoid area. Signs of perforation (tenderness or peritoneal signs) are generally absent. Although most impactions occur in the rectal vault, the absence of palpable stool on digital rectal examination does not rule out faecal impaction. Plain abdominal films to search for intraluminal faeces or signs of obstruction are indicated [5]. Treatment is aimed at relieving the major complaint and correcting the underlying pathophysiology to prevent recurrences. Faecal impaction in the rectum often requires digital fragmentation and mechanical removal [1,2]. Oral medications with polyethylene glycol solutions containing electrolytes may be used to soften or wash out proximal stool.3 The presence of bowel obstruction as evidenced by dilated small bowel or colon with air-fluid levels contraindicates attempts at proximal softening or washout using oral solutions [6]. When the impaction has been adequately treated, possible aetiologies are explored. A total colonic evaluation should be performed to reveal anatomic abnormalities. Endocrine and metabolic screening is also indicated [6]. In the absence of an anatomic abnormality, a bulking agent or an osmotic agent is administered to produce soft regular bowel movements. Other risk factors such as depression, immobility, lack of exercise, and inadequate access to toilet facilities should also be corrected [2].

References
1.       Araghizadeh F (2005) Fecal impaction. Clin Colon Rectal Surg 18: 116-119.
2.       Tracey J (2000) Fecal impaction: not always a benign condition. J Clin Gastroenterol 30: 228-229.
3.       De Lillo AR1, Rose S (2000) Functional bowel disorders in the geriatric patient: constipation, fecal impaction, and fecal incontinence. Am J Gastroenterol 95: 901-905.
4.       Schwartz J, Rabinowitz H, Rozenfeld V, Leibovitz A, Stelian J, et al. (1992) Rectovaginal fistula associated with fecal impaction. J Am Geriatr Soc 40: 641.
5.       Gurll N, Steer M (1975) Diagnostic and therapeutic considerations for fecal impaction. Dis Colon Rectum 18: 507-511.
6.       Read NW, Abouzekry L, Read MG, Howell P, Ottewell D, et al. (1985) Anorectal function in elderly patients with fecal impaction. Gastroenterology 89: 959-966.
7.       Wrenn K (1989) Fecal impaction. N Engl J Med 321: 658-662.
Ib Ibrahim Zardawi
School of Medicine and Public Health
University of Newcastle
Australia


Coarse sediment transfer in upland gravel-bed river systems is often neglected in the design and operation of river management schemes. Yet, it is increasingly attributed to problems within upland environments including bank erosion and enhanced flood risk. Developing a sufficient understanding of coarse sediment transfer and channel change requires strategic field monitoring. Predicting future channel change and flood risk under varying management options requires numerical modelling. This thesis employs a combined field monitoring and numerical modelling approach to explore the relationship between coarse sediment transfer, lateral channel change, river engineering and flood risk. Intensive field monitoring is used to understand sediment transfer and channel change. Methods include repeat cross-sectional resurvey, bank erosion pins and bank-top surveys, and sediment impact sensors. These data are used to illustrate the spatial and temporal variability of in-channel sedimentation and rates and mechanisms of bank erosion. When analysed further, these data explain patterns of sedimentation and demonstrate implications of coarse sediment accumulation for flood risk. The data are then used in the development and application of a quasi two-dimensional model of channel change. The model couples a one-dimensional sediment routing model with a lateral adjustment component to simulate patterns of downstream fining alongside vertical and lateral channel changes. By using a split channel approach, asymmetrical width adjustments are simulated based on critical shear stress thresholds. Lateral differences in bed elevation and curvature are used to distribute shear stress across the channel. Simulations are run to explore scenarios including changing the flow regime, removing bank protection and implementing a river engineering scheme on a reach with high sedimentation and bank erosion problems. The results highlight the potential impact that poor river management can have on upland rivers, demonstrating enhanced bank erosion upstream and greater sedimentation downstream of the engineered reach. The accumulation of sediment results in increased flood risk.


Distal to a chronic coronary artery stenosis, structural remodeling of the microvasculature occurs. The microvascular functional changes distal to the stenosis have not been studied in detail. We tested the hypothesis that microvascular structural remodeling is accompanied by altered regulation of coronary vasomotor tone with increased responsiveness to endothelin-1. Vasomotor tone was studied in coronary microvessels from healthy control swine and from swine 3 to 4 months after implantation of an occluder that causes a progressive coronary narrowing, resulting in regional left ventricular dysfunction and blunted myocardial vasodilator reserve. Arterioles (≈200-&mgr;m passive inner diameter at 60 mm Hg) were isolated from regions perfused by the stenotic left anterior descending and normal left circumflex coronary arteries and studied in vitro. Passive pressure–diameter curves demonstrated reduced distensibility of subendocardial left anterior descending compared with subendocardial left circumflex or control arterioles, suggestive of structural remodeling. Myogenic responses were blunted in subendocardial left anterior descending compared with left circumflex arterioles, reflecting altered smooth muscle function. However, vasodilator responses to nitroprusside and bradykinin were not different in the endocardium, suggesting preserved endothelium and smooth muscle responsiveness. Finally, vasoconstrictor responses to endothelin-1 were enhanced in left anterior descending arterioles compared with left circumflex or control arterioles. Regional myocardial vascular conductance responses to bradykinin and endothelin in vivo confirmed the in vitro observations. In conclusion, inward remodeling of coronary microvessels distal to a stenosis is accompanied by exaggerated vasoconstrictor responses to endothelin-1. These structural and functional alterations may aggravate flow abnormalities distal to a chronic coronary artery stenosis.


Abstract. For planning purposes 42 km coast line of the Black Sea, starting at the Bosporus going in West direction, with a width of approximately 5 km, was imaged by WorldView-2. Three stereo scenes have been oriented at first by 3D-affine transformation and later by bias corrected RPC solution. The result is nearly the same, but it is limited by identification of the control points in the images. Nevertheless after blunder elimination by data snooping root mean square discrepancies below 1 pixel have been reached. The root mean square discrepancy at control point height reached 0.5 m up to 1.3 m with a base to height relation between 1:1.26 and 1:1.80. Digital Surface models (DSM) with 4 m spacing have been generated by least squares matching with region growing, supported by image pyramids. A higher percentage of the mountainous area is covered by forest, requiring the approximation based on image pyramids. In the forest area the approximation just by region growing leads to larger gaps in the DSM. Caused by the good image quality of WorldView-2 the correlation coefficients reached by least squares matching are high and even in most forest areas a satisfying density of accepted points was reached. Two stereo models have an overlapping area of 1.6 km times 6.7 km allowing an accuracy evaluation. Small, but nevertheless significant differences in scene orientation have been eliminated by least squares shift of both overlapping height models to each other. The root mean square differences of both independent DSM are 1.06m or as a function of terrain inclination 0.74 m p 0.55 m  tangent (slope). The terrain inclination in the average is 7° with 12% exceeding 17°. The frequency distribution of height discrepancies is not far away from normal distribution, but as usual, larger discrepancies are more often available as corresponding to normal distribution. This also can be seen by the normalized medium absolute deviation (NMAS) related to 68% probability level of 0.83m being significant smaller as the root mean square differences. Nevertheless the results indicate a standard deviation of the single height models of 0.75 m or 0.52 m p 0.39* tangent (slope), corresponding to approximately 0.6 pixels for the x-parallax in flat terrain, being very satisfying for the available land cover. An interpolation over 10 m enlarged the root mean square differences of both height models nearly by 50%.


Aneuploidy is a well known chromosomal abnormality, and it is considered as a major cause of congenital birth defects and miscarriage. The present study aims to examine micronucleus frequency (MN), oxidative stress and antioxidant activity in chromosomal aneuploidy disorders including Down syndrome (DS), Klinefelter (KF) and Turner syndrome (TS), comparing to healthy controls matched age group. Peripheral blood samples were collected from 50 subjects, including, 20 normal healthy control and 30 patients with Down, Klinefelter and Turner syndromes. Micronucleus level was scored for each subject. Biochemical parameters, including lipid peroxide (LPO), nitric oxide (NO), total antioxidant capacity (TAC) were determined .The activity of paraoxonase1 (PON1) was also detected in blood serum for the three genetic diseases. DS and KF syndrome cases had an elevated count of MN (13.27 ± 0.59, 14.30±1.29 respectively vs. 1.80 ± 0.19; P < 0.05). However, Turner patients recorded an insignificant change in micronucleus frequency. In addition, significant decrease in TAC and PON1 was recorded in all patients comparing with normal controls (p≤0.05). While, NO and MDA product declared significant increase in DS, KF and Turner syndrome as compared to normal control group. Thus, it could be concluded that the MN, antioxidants and oxidative stress biomarkers assays are a powerful tools for detecting genetic disorders in chromosomal aneuploidy patients.


Background: Only few papers have investigated the impact of multiple sclerosis (MS), especially MS-related fatigue and the impact of the quality of sleep on the quality of life (QoL) in MS patients. Objective: The objective of this study was to measure the quality of life in MS patients and the impact of disability, fatigue and sleep quality, using statistical modeling. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted and data was collected from 141 MS patients, who were referred to the Mottahari Clinic, Shiraz, Iran, in 2005. Data on health-related quality of life (MSQoL-54), fatigue severity scale (FSS), and Pittsburgh sleep quality Index (PSQI) were obtained in the case of all the patients. Epidemiology data concerning MS type, MS functional system score, expanded disability status scale (EDSS) etc. were also provided by a qualified neurologist. Spearman α coefficient, Mann-Whitney U test, and linear regression model were used to analyze the data. Results: The mean ±SD age of 141 MS patients was 32.6±9.6 year. Thirty five (24.8%) of them were male and the others were female. Eighty two (58.1%) of the patients had EDSS score of ≤ 2, 36 (25.5%) between 2.5 and 4.5, and 23 (16.3%) ≥ 5. As per PSQI scores, two (1.4%) of the patients had good sleep, 16 (11.3%) had moderate sleep and 123 (87.2%) had poor sleep. There was a significant high positive correlation between the quality of mental and physical health composite scores (r = 0.791, P<0.001). There was a significant negative correlation between the quality of physical score and age (r = -0.88, P<0.001), fatigue score (r = -0.640, P<0.001), EDSS score (r = -0.476, P<0.001) and PSQI (sleep quality r = -0.514, P<0.000). Linear regression analysis showed that PSQI score, EDSS, and fatigue score were predictors in the model between the quality of physical score and covariates (P<0.001). Linear regression model showed that fatigue score and PSQI were predictors in the model between the quality of mental score and covariates (P<0.001). Discussion and Conclusion: In conclusion, it may be said that MS patients had poor and moderate quality of mental and physical health. The quality of life was impaired as seen by PSQI, EDSS, and FSS. It is our suggestion that these patients require the attention of health care professionals, to be observed for the need of possible psychological support.


Oxygen and hydrogen isotopes in snow were measured in weekly profiles during the growth and decline of a sloped subalpine snowpack, southern Idaho, 2011–2012. Isotopic steps (10‰, δ18O; 80‰, δD) were preserved relative to physical markers throughout the season, albeit with some diffusive smoothing. Melting stripped off upper layers without shifting isotopes within the snowpack. Meltwater is in isotopic equilibrium with snow at the top but not with snow at each respective collection height. Transport of meltwater occurred primarily along pipes and lateral flow paths allowing the snowpack to melt initially in reverse stratigraphic order. Isotope diffusivities are ~2 orders of magnitude faster than estimated from experiments but can be explained by higher temperature and porosity. A better understanding of how snowmelt isotopes change during meltout improves hydrograph separation methods, whereas constraints on isotope diffusivities under warm conditions improve models of ice core records in low‐latitude settings.


For the wireless communication in radio frequency range, IEEE 802.11 is one of the many standards available. IEEE 802.11b defines the Medium Access Control Layer [MAC] for wireless local area networks. The wireless local area network, WLAN is dominated by IEEE 802.11 standard. It becomes one of the main focuses of the WLAN research. Now most of the ongoing research projects are simulation based as their actual hardware implementation is not cost effective. The main core of the IEEE 802.11b standard are the CSMA\CA, Physical and MAC layers. But only MAC layer for transmitter is modeled in this paper using the VHDL. The VHDL (Very High Speed Hardware Description Language) is defined in IEEE as a tool of creation of electronics system because it supports the development, verification, synthesis and testing of hardware design, the communication of hardware design data and the maintenance, modification and procurement of hardware. It is a common language for electronics design and development prototyping The main purpose of the IEEE 802.11 standard is to provide wireless connectivity to devices that require a faster installation, such as Laptops, PDA's or generally mobile devices inside a WLAN. MAC procedures are defined here for accessing the physical medium, which can be infrared or radio frequency. Here Wi-Fi MAC Transmitter module is divided in to 5 blocks i.e. Data Unit Interface block, Controller block, Pay Load Data Storage block, MAC Header Register block, Data Processing block. In this paper, we are considering only two blocks i.e.


In recent years, there has been a strong interest in indirect measures of nonresponse bias in surveys or other forms of data collection. This interest originates from gradually decreasing propensities to respond to surveys parallel to pressures on survey budgets. These developments led to a growing focus on the representativeness or balance of the responding sample units with respect to relevant auxiliary variables. One example of a measure is the representativeness indicator, or R-indicator. The R-indicator is based on the design-weighted sample variation of estimated response propensities. It pre-supposes linked auxiliary data. One of the criticisms of the indicator is that it cannot be used in settings where auxiliary information is available only at the population level. In this paper, we propose a new method for estimating response propensities that does not need auxiliary information for non-respondents to the survey and is based on population auxiliary information. These population-based response propensities can then be used to develop R-indicators that employ population contingency tables or population frequency counts. We discuss the statistical properties of the indicators, and evaluate their performance using an evaluation study based on real census data and an application from the Dutch Health Survey.


Plants with higher glutamine synthetase (GS) activity in photosynthetic tissues than below-ground structures (high leaf:root (L:R) GS activity) show growth advantages over plants with a low L:R GS activity ratio. The benefits of a high L:R GS activity ratio are well documented in agri- cultural systems, but little is known about the ecology of GS partitioning in natural systems. To deter- mine the ecological significance of GS partitioning, we measured above- and below-ground GS activity in Spartina grasses field-collected from a Maine salt marsh and others raised in a growth chamber from seed. The more stress-tolerant, faster growing S. alterniflora had a higher L:R GS activ- ity than S. patens in chamber- and marsh-grown plants throughout the growing season. Additionally, we compared GS partitioning in native and introduced subspecies of Phragmites australis. While we did not find a significant difference between the subspecies, the L:R GS activity in both native and introduced reeds was among the highest reported. Our results indicate that high L:R GS activity corresponds with observed stress tolerance, growth and competitive ability in both natural and agricultural systems.


With gender roles often reversed and common practices thrown out the window, dating is far different from the way our parents remember it.  With all of this "out with the old, in with the new" business, is there any part of dating that should remain the same?  Yes.  Take a look at these important rules that you shouldn't break.


Spoken term detection (STD) is a key technology for spoken information retrieval. As compared to the conventional speech transcription and keyword spotting, STD is an open-vocabulary task and has to address out-of-vocabulary (OOV) terms. Approaches based on subword units, e.g. phones, are widely used to solve the OOV issue; however, performance on OOV terms is still substantially inferior to that of in-vocabulary (INV) terms. The performance degradation on OOV terms can be attributed to a multitude of factors. One particular factor we address in this paper is the unreliable confidence estimation caused by weak acoustic and language modeling due to the absence of OOV terms in the training corpora. We propose a direct posterior confidence derived from a discriminative model, such as a multi-layer perceptron (MLP). The new confidence considers a wide-range acoustic context which is usually important for speech recognition and retrieval; moreover, it localizes on detected speech segments and therefore avoids the impact of long-span word context which is usually unreliable for OOV term detection. In this paper we first develop an extensive discussion about the modeling weakness problem associated with OOV terms, and then propose our approach to address this problem based on direct poster confidence. Our experiments carried out on spontaneous and conversational multi-party meeting speech, demonstrate that the proposed technique provides a significant improvement in STD performance as compared to the conventional lattice-based confidence, in particular for OOV terms. Furthermore, the new confidence estimation approach is fused with other advanced techniques for OOV treatment, such as stochastic pronunciation modeling and discriminative confidence normalization. This leads to an integrated solution for OOV term detection that results in a large performance improvement.


Signs, Dialogue and Ideology illustrates and critically examines — both historically and theoretically — the current state of semiotic discourse from Peirce to Bakhtin, through Saussure, Levinas, Schaff and Rossi-Landi to modern semioticians such as Umberto Eco.
Ponzio is in search of a method to construct an appropriate language to talk about signs and ideology in this "end of ideology" era. Ponzio aims at an orientation in semiotics based on dialogism and interpretation by calling attention to the widespread transition from the semiotics of decodification to the semiotics of interpretations of signs which are not constrained by the dominant process of social reproduction. To this end the author draws on the literature on 'dialogue', 'otherness', 'linguistic work', 'critique of sign fetishism', and 'interpretative dynamics'.
Critique of identity and critique of the subject reaffirm the 'objective', the material, the signifiant , the interpreted sign, the opus; i.e. the 'Otherness' as opposed to the expectation of exhaustiveness in the creation and interpretation of sign products.


In the field of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), several control processes must be active to maintain safe, autonomous flight. When flying multiple UAVs simultaneously, these aircraft must be capable of performing mission tasks while maintaining a safe distance from each other and obstacles in the air. Despite numerous proposed collision avoidance algorithms, there is little research comparing these algorithms in a single environment. This paper outlines a system built on the Robot Operating System (ROS) platform that allows for control of autonomous aircraft from a base station. This base station allows a researcher to test different collision avoidance algorithms in both the real world and simulated environments. Data is then gathered from two prominent collision avoidance algorithms based on safety and efficiency metrics. These simulations use different configurations based on airspace size and number of UAVs present at the start of the test. The two algorithms tested in this paper are based on artificial potential fields and inverse proportional navigation. Artificial potential fields maintain strong performance across all categories because of the algorithms handling of many special cases. Inverse proportional navigation outperformed artificial potential fields by handling all scenarios with perfection. Furthermore, artificial potential fields failed to handle all of the stressful simulations, especially when the airspace became congested, while inverse proportional navigation handled all scenarios. While artificial potential fields is able to handle up to sixteen aircraft on a 500 meter square field and thirty-two aircraft safely on a 1000 meter square field, inverse proportional navigation is able to handle up to thirty-two aircraft on both a 500 meter square field and a 1000 meter square field.


In order to understand the evolutionary pathway to the capability for language, we must first clearly understand the functional capabilities that the child brings to the task of language acquisition. Behavioral studies provide insight into infants' ability to extract statistical and distributional structure directly from the auditory signal, and their capabilities to construct relations between this structure and the structure extracted from perceptual systems. At the interface of these two processes lies a conceptual scene representation that can be accessed by both, and that importantly provides a means for the two systems to constructively interact. Recent studies have begun to make progress in simulating infants' capabilities to extract statistical structure (e.g. word segmentation and lexical categorization) directly from the speech sound sequence. The current research examines how this structure interacts with perceptual structure at the level of the conceptualized scene. In particular we demonstrate how the grounding of words and sentences in conceptualized visual scenes permits the system to construct the appropriate relations between words and their referents, and sentences and theirs (structured conceptualizations of scenes representing agents, objects and actions) in the initial phases of acquisition of syntactic structure. These studies simulate behavioral observations of the trajectory of infants' linguistic acquisition of concrete nouns, followed by concrete verbs and then more abstract nouns and verbs, in parallel with the development of first simple and then more complex syntactic structures. The relevance of these results to infant language acquisition behavior will be discussed. While this research yields interesting new results in characterizing the grounding of language in conceptualized scenes, it also identifies serious limitations of the current methods that will be discussed, along with the associated future extensions.


Change seems inevitable in our current world of work. Whether it is workforce restructuring, new products and services, changes to ICT, a change in leadership, new customers and staff, varied supply chains, a change in equipment used, new locations where work is performed - the change is endless. As an Occupational Therapist I have seen the impact on workers and the organisation when change is managed poorly. It can lead to an absence from work, psychological and physical injury or illness, poor workplace dynamics, reduced workplace productivity, an increase in worker and customer complaints, and the lodgement of workers' compensation claims. The following is a summary of what I see as the key features of successfully managing a change initiative. When change isn't managed well, unfortunately the impact on workers and the organisation can be significant.