Background:Risk prediction models have been developed to identify those at increased risk for emergency admissions, which could facilitate targeted interventions in primary care to prevent these events. Objective:Systematic review of validated risk prediction models for predicting emergency hospital admissions in community-dwelling adults. Methods:A systematic literature review and narrative analysis was conducted. Inclusion criteria were as follows; Population: community-dwelling adults (aged 18 years and above); Risk: risk prediction models, not contingent on an index hospital admission, with a derivation and ≥1 validation cohort; Primary outcome: emergency hospital admission (defined as unplanned overnight stay in hospital); Study design: retrospective or prospective cohort studies. Results:Of 18,983 records reviewed, 27 unique risk prediction models met the inclusion criteria. Eleven were developed in the United States, 11 in the United Kingdom, 3 in Italy, 1 in Spain, and 1 in Canada. Nine models were derived using self-report data, and the remainder (n=18) used routine administrative or clinical record data. Total study sample sizes ranged from 96 to 4.7 million participants. Predictor variables most frequently included in models were: (1) named medical diagnoses (n=23); (2) age (n=23); (3) prior emergency admission (n=22); and (4) sex (n=18). Eleven models included nonmedical factors, such as functional status and social supports. Regarding predictive accuracy, models developed using administrative or clinical record data tended to perform better than those developed using self-report data (c statistics 0.63–0.83 vs. 0.61–0.74, respectively). Six models reported c statistics of >0.8, indicating good performance. All 6 included variables for prior health care utilization, multimorbidity or polypharmacy, and named medical diagnoses or prescribed medications. Three predicted admissions regarded as being ambulatory care sensitive. Conclusions:This study suggests that risk models developed using administrative or clinical record data tend to perform better. In applying a risk prediction model to a new population, careful consideration needs to be given to the purpose of its use and local factors.


Entropy is a fundamental property of data and a key metric in many scientific and engineering fields. Entropy estimation has been extensively studied, but almost always under the assumption that there is a single data stream, seen in its entirety by one node running the estimation algorithm. Multiple distributed data sources are becoming increasingly common, however, with applications in signal processing, computer science, medicine, physics, and more. Centralizing all data can be infeasible, for example in networks of battery or bandwidth limited sensors, so entropy estimation in distributed streams requires new, communication-efficient approaches. We propose a practical communication-efficient algorithm for continuously approximating the entropy of distributed streams, with deterministic, user-defined error bounds. Unlike previous streaming methods, it supports deletions and variable-sized time-based sliding windows, while still avoiding communication when possible. Moreover, it optionally incorporates a state-of-the-art entropy sketch, allowing for both bandwidth reduction and monitoring very high dimensional problems. Finally, it provides the approximation to all nodes, rather than to a centralized location, which is important in settings such as wireless sensor networks. Evaluation on several public datasets from real application domains shows that our adaptive algorithm can often reduce the number of messages by two orders of magnitude, compared to centralizing all data in one node.


This research examined the effects of motion expectations on memory for static pictures. The central hypothesis was that as implied motion for a picture increases, memory distortions will also increase in the direction of implied motion. A secondary hypothesis predicted that people will find pictures with increased implied motion more interesting than pictures with less implied motion. Experiment 1 established a methodology for measuring memory distortion in art images. Performance on a "same-different" recognition task measured specific memory distortions for three pictures. In experiment 2, implied motion was varied by using combinations of pictorial devices that imply motion (action lines, posture, orientation, and multiple images). Memory distortion was tested using the methodology established in experiment 1. Participants also rated the amount of implied motion in each picture and level of interest for each picture. Results showed that the more motion devices were contained in a picture, the more memory was distorted in the direction of motion. In addition, as the number of motion devices increased, the amount of iv motion and interest rated for the pictures increased. Interest and motion ratings were positively correlated. However, neither motion nor interest ratings were significantly related to performance on the memory distortion task using a correlational analysis across individual pictures. Experiment 3 used a new set of line drawings of the human body. This set contained more realistic figures, fading action lines and fading multiple images. Participants found this set of pictures more interesting than the previous experiment, but there were no overall differences in motion ratings and memory distortions. However, for particular pictures, differences were found. Thus we can conclude that not all motion devices are alike, and depending on the way they are produced, they can influence perception and memory. Overall, the results supported the hypothesis that as implied motion increases, memory distortions increase in pictures. Results also provided some evidence that the amount of implied motion in a picture may affect a person's level of interest for the picture. These findings contribute to the growing body of knowledge that expectations about motion affect basic perception and representation of visual pictures. Jennifer Freyd for her guidance, support, and enthusiasm for this research. In addition, thanks goes to John McConnell for his patience with all my computer questions these many years, and to Dr. Kean Chew and Dr. Robert Mauro for their statistical advice. viii DEDICATION This dissertation is dedicated to my …


Abstract. Vertical shear in the zonal plasma drift speed is apparent in incoherent and coherent scatter radar observations of the bottomside F region ionosphere made at Jicamarca from about 1600–2200 LT. The relative importance of the factors controlling the shear, which include competition between the E and F region dynamos as well as vertical currents driven in the E and F regions at the dip equator, is presently unknown. Bottom-type scattering layers arise in strata where the neutral and plasma drifts differ widely, and periodic structuring of irregularities within the layers is telltale of intermediate-scale waves in the bottomside. These precursor waves appear to be able to seed ionospheric interchange instabilities and initiate full-blown equatorial spread F . The seed or precursor waves may be generated by a collisional shear instability. However, assessing the viability of shear instability requires measurements of the same parameters needed to understand shear flow quantitatively - thermospheric neutral wind and off-equatorial conductivity profiles. Keywords. Ionosphere (Equatorial ionosphere; ionospheric irregularities) – Space plasma physics (Waves and instabilities)


This paper first presents an analysis of the global thermal field in many core processors in deep nanometer (to 16nm) nodes under power and thermal budget. We show that the thermal field can have significant spatiotemporal non-uniformity along with high maximum temperature. We propose spatiotemporal power multiplexing as a proactive method to reduce spatial and temporal temperature gradients. Several power multiplexing policies are evaluated for a 256 core many-core processor in 16nm nodes which demonstrate that the simple cyclic core-activation can achieve highly uniform thermal field with low maximum temperature.


What does it mean for a sovereign nation to be in debt? What does it mean to be sovereign in the context of debt? Which debts must be paid and which debts can be disavowed? What is the role of law, in particular the High Court of Australia, in rendering Australian sovereign debt invisible? Why has the notion of 'sovereign debt' become synonymous with countries like Greece while other sovereign debts remain invisible? In this article I interconnect the seemingly unrelated debt crises of Greece and Australia. I take a critical legal approach to the effaced debt scenario of colonial Australia and the imperialising economic order in contemporary Greece in order to extend, in cultural and racial terms, the discussions possible on sovereign


The effect of steaming duration on the linear expansion of "keropok"
in relation to microstructure of starch in "keropok" gel was investigated .
Tapioca starch (Manihot esculen tus), sago starch (Metroxylon sagu) and
wheat starch (Triticum aestivum) were used . Linear expansion of "keropok"
was best when the starch granules were fully gelatinized and expanded to
their largest sizes. It was found that 20 to 30 minutes steaming was
sufficient to cook the gel (40 mm diameter). When starch granules swell,
water is absorbed. The entrapped water molecules contribute to higher
linear expansion, due to the steam released from water in the starch
granules during frying in oil. "Keropok" made from tapioca starch gave the best expansion at 20-30 minutes steaming, and prolonged steaming led to
reduced expansion due to fragmentation of the starch granules.
The protein contents of native starches and flours were negatively
correlated to swelling power of starches and linear expansion of "keropok".
Among the six varieties of starches and flours, swelling power and solubility
of tapioca starch and flour and sago starch were relatively higher than that
of cereal starches (wheat starch , wheat flour and rice flour), and gave
better linear expansions. There was positive correlation between
amylose/amylopectin leaching and linear expansion of "keropok". The ratio
of amylose and amylopectin did not contribute to expansion .
The centre of the "keropok" gel containing 0-10% fish did not
gelatinize after steaming for 2 hr. This may be due to the effect of water
movement during steaming. The water-holding capacity (WHC) of "keropok"
dough increased with increasing fish content. WHC of the dough with 1 5%
fish was significantly (P<0.05) higher than that of the dough with 1 0% fish.
Consequently, water movement may be limited by the fish protein-starch
network in the "keropok" dough with high fish content. This was supported
by moisture profile analyses. Scanning electron microscopy results showed
that the fish-protein network started to build up at a fish : starch ratio of
1 5:85. Rheological properties changed markedly with different fish : starch
ratios. The value of storage modulus (G'),loss modulus (G") and complex viscosity (11*) in the doughs containing 15% fish and above were noticeably
higher than that containing 10% fish due to the fish protein network formation.


The rising prevalence of childhood obesity and the associated complications confer significant burden on health care system. The study aims to investigate the probable risk factors of obesity in Hong Kong children and the effectiveness of management in an ambulatory care setting. The dietary and activity pattern in the group of obese children and adolescents aged 7 to 18 years old were compared to a non- obese group. We found that the obese children consumed more calorie dense food items, had less moderate or vigorous exercise and spent more time in television viewing. Parental obesity was also a significant factor. Intervention in an ambulatory clinic did improve the degree of obesity, the eating and lifestyle behaviour in the group reviewed in the study. However most of the children referred to the clinic had already defaulted and some of the studied patients developed new complications of obesity. Thus implementation of primary and secondary preventive measures in the community targeting on the probable risk factors is likely an important alternative to combat the problem of obesity in children and adolescents.


Background and Aim: Considering that the knowledge of, and attitude towards, sexuality is a key factor influencing sexual behavior, the main objective of this survey was to determine the bases of sexual knowledge and formation of attitude towards sexual script in women of reproductive age in Kashan City, Iran. Materials and Methods: This was a cross-sectional study including 500 women of reproductive age referring to all health centers in Kashan Iran, selected by simple random sampling,. The data collection tool was the Sexual Knowledge and Attitude Scale (SKAS). The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, correlation and regression model. Results: The age range of the majority of the participants (51.9%) was 26-35 years, and the educational level of 39.9 % of them was high school education. The majority of them had a high level of sexual knowledge and attitude (51.4% and 62.9% respectively). The Pearson correlation test showed a significant positive correlation between knowledge and attitude of the women (p<0.05), and based on the multivariate regression analysis their knowledge score correlated with education and economic status and their sexual attitude scores with age and education. Conclusion: The participating women were young and educated and their knowledge and attitude scores were high. However, they had erroneous attitudes and ideas, such as a feeling of shame and anxiety at intercourse, considering initiation in sexual relation responsibility of the man, and considering childbearing as the main purpose in sexual relations. It is essential to design and implement appropriate educational programs to help the women change their attitudes and ideas.


Preeclampsia is one of the most feared pregnancy complications, with a risk of maternal and fetal death and with no ideal therapy readily available. The cause of this strictly pregnancyrelated disease is still unknown and is therefore a great challenge to all researchers in the field of pregnancy-related pathophysiology. Today, the dominating theory of the origin of preeclampsia is defective initial placentation with insufficient penetration of the trophoblasts, leading to impaired maternal blood flow through narrow spiral arteries. However, the cause of this defective trophoblast behavior is not known. The maternal immune system has been proposed to have an influence on both the placentation and the subsequent systemic reactions. Therefore, it is very interesting to study the maternal immune system during preeclampsia, in hope of achieving a better understanding of this puzzling disease. Earlier studies have suggested that normal pregnancy requires a shift to a Th2/antiinflammatory type of immunity, at least directed towards the fetus and placenta, while some pregnancy complications, such as preeclampsia, could be due to a skewed Th1/proinflammatory type of immunity. However, the results from earlier studies designed to test the Th1/Th2 hypothesis in preeclampsia have not been consistent. Therefore, the aim of this thesis was to examine if established preeclampsia is associated with increased innate inflammatory responses and a deviation of adaptive responses towards Th1 when compared with normal pregnancy. Enumerations of cytokine-producing cells from peripheral blood did not show any difference in the production of IFN-γ, IL-4, IL-10 and IL-12 between women with preeclampsia and normal pregnancies. However, a decrease in the spontaneously produced levels of IL-5 was detected in cell cultures on peripheral blood mononuclear cells in women with preeclampsia. Furthermore, a decreased production of IL-10 in response to paternal antigens, believed to represent the fetus, was also detected for the preeclamptic women. Serum analysis showed increased levels of the pro-inflammatory mediators IL-6 and IL-8 during preeclampsia. Also, preeclamptic women displayed increased serum levels of the soluble IL-4 receptor, but no difference in the levels of IL-4 compared to normal pregnant women. This was an elusive finding, since the receptor was originally thought to reflect the levels of IL-4, but has recently been shown to have both agonistic and antagonistic properties on the IL-4 levels. Further studies of the local immune responses in the placenta showed no difference in the immunohistochemical staining of IL-4 and TNF-α between women with preeclampsia and women with normal pregnancies. In general, there were no hallmarks of abnormal morphology in the placental sections examined, regardless of diagnosis. In conclusion, the decreased levels of IL-10 in response to paternal antigens and the systemically increased levels of IL-6 and IL-8 suggest a specific decrease in antiinflammatory responses towards fetal antigens, together with a systemic activation of proinflammatory mediators during preeclampsia. Furthermore, the decreased production of IL-5 also indicates, at least partly, decreased Th2 responses in the established preeclampsia.


The paper includes the various methods which are related to object detection and tracking in live video surveillance to detect the object like the face or can be used to detect the people, cars in a security camera. These days we can easily find that people are following social distancing due to COVID -19. This paper point towards the various methods of detecting the object (classification) and tracking (GMM tracking). This paper points toward the detection of movable objects in the live video monitoring then tracking will track the moving object. Detecting a moving object is really a very big task and it the origin of the method. Object detection is really difficult to implement which depends upon the shape size and color of the object. In this paper, we will study the background subtraction using the pixel-based method, optical flow method, color-based method gradient-based method and frame differencing. We will also study tracking methods like kernel-based method silhouette-based method, and point-based methods.


With the availability of powerful computational and communication systems, scientists now readily access large, complicated derived datasets and build on those results to produce, through further processing, yet other derived datasets of interest. The scientific processes used to create such datasets must be clearly documented so that scientists can evaluate their soundness, reproduce the results, and build upon them in responsible and appropriate ways. Here, we present the concept of an analytic web, which defines the scientific processes employed and details the exact application of those processes in creating derived datasets. The work described here is similar to work often referred to as ¿scientific workflow,¿ but emphasizes the need for a semantically rich, rigorously defined process definition language. We illustrate the information that comprises an analytic web for a scientific process that measures and analyzes the flux of water through a forested watershed. This is a complex and demanding scientific process that illustrates the benefits of using a semantically rich, executable language for defining processes and for supporting automatic creation of process provenance metadata.


Application-level checkpointing has been one of the most popular techniques to proactively deal with unexpected failures in supercomputers with hundreds of thousands of cores. Unfortunately, this approach results in heavy I/O load and often causes I/O bottlenecks in production runs. In this paper, we examine a new thread-based application-level checkpointing for a massively parallel electromagnetic solver system on the IBM Blue Gene/P at Argonne National Laboratory and the Cray XK6 at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. We discuss an I/O-thread based, application-level, two-phase I/O approach, called "threaded reduced-blocking I/O" (threaded rbIO), and compare it with a regular version of "reduced-blocking I/O" (rbIO) and a tuned MPI-IO collective approach (coIO). Our study shows that threaded rbIO can overlap the I/O latency with computation and achieve near-asynchronous checkpoint with an application-perceived I/O performance of over 70 GB/s (raw of 15 GB/s) and 50 GB/s (raw I/O bandwidth of 17 GB/s) on up to 32K processors of Intrepid and Jaguar, respectively. Compared with rbIO and coIO, the threading approach greatly improves the production performance of NekCEM on Blue Gene/P and Cray XK6 machines by significantly reducing the total simulation time from checkpoint blocking reduction. We also discuss the potential strength of this approach with the Scalable Checkpoint Restart library and on other full-featured operating systems such as that to be deployed on the upcoming Blue Gene/Q.


OBJECTIVE
The present study examines the LH secretory process in hyperprolactinaemic women before, during and after bromocriptine therapy, using restrictive clinical selection criteria as well as improved methodological tools.

PATIENTS AND DESIGN
Six women (aged 20-40 years) with microprolactinomas (mean +/- SE prolactin, PRL: 2478 +/- 427 mU/l, range: 1370-3800 mU/l) and four age- and sex-matched healthy controls were admitted to the study. After an overnight fast, all patients and controls had blood samples withdrawn at 10 minute intervals for 6 h (during saline infusion) from 0800 h to 1400 h to determine serum LH and PRL concentrations. After baseline evaluation, patients were treated with bromocriptine, which was started at a daily dose of 1.25 mg for 7 days; the dose was then increased to 2.5 mg daily for the next 7 days and subsequently to 2.5 mg twice daily. PRL levels were evaluated at weekly intervals after the beginning of bromocriptine therapy for the duration of the study. The 6 h pulsatility study was repeated on four patients during treatment at a time when PRL levels were decreased, although not normalized (PRL range: 450-1350 mU/l) and, on four patients, with the attainment of normal serum PRL levels (PRL < 450 mU/l) in the early follicular phase of the menstrual cycle (days 2-5). The LH instantaneous secretion rate was reconstructed by a nonparametric deconvolution method. In addition to pulse analysis made using the program DETECT, the evaluation of the secretion rate yielded the pulse frequency as well as the pulse amplitude distribution.

RESULTS
Each time series was submitted to deconvolution analysis using a nonparametric method in order to estimate the instantaneous secretion rate (ISR). Hyperprolactinaemic patients had very few high-amplitude LH pulses above 0.2 IU/(l minutes) before treatment (average frequency: 0.83 +/- 0.40 pulses/6 h) and at the intermediate evaluation (0.25 +/- 0.25 pulses/6 h). In both cases, the pulse frequency was significantly lower than in controls (P < 0.05 and P < 0.01, respectively). When PRL was normalized, the number of high-amplitude LH pulses (4.25 +/- 1.03 pulses/6 h), became statistically different from the pulse number before (P < 0.01) and during (P < 0.01) therapy; in particular the pulse frequency after therapy rose to a level not statistically different from that in controls.

CONCLUSION
The present study shows the presence of reduced LH pulsatility in hyperprolactinaemic women that recovers completely to within the physiological distribution when PRL levels are normalized by bromocriptine therapy.


Aim

The aims of this paper were to catalogue a complete list of all the alphabetical names for vitamins that have appeared in the scientific literature, provide the citations of their first use and seek explanations for any apparent gaps in the naming system.

Methods

The names of known vitamins and pseudo-vitamins were identified from standard nutrition textbooks, historical monographs and several review articles. If the first citation for the alphabetical vitamin name was not found in these sources, additional searches were conducted in the Scopus and Medline databases, in Google and Google Scholar, using the names of vitamins as search terms.

Results

Sixty-seven different alphabet-based vitamin names were tabulated, including where possible the scientific and alternative names, a description of the source substance, physiological roles and the first citation of the alphabetical name. The results show that all the letters of the alphabet have been used to describe putative vitamin compounds. The simple alphabetical naming system proposed by Drummond in 1920 lasted for less than a decade. A number of other systems have been used based on the name of the discoverer, the source of the material or its physiological function.

Conclusions

Using simplified alphabetical names may assist in nutrition communication and education of the general public, but dietitians need to be careful to maintain a clear understanding of the proper biochemical distinctions and nomenclatures of the known vitamins, especially when writing for academic publication.


Abstract. Microbial gene expression was followed for 23 days within a mesocosm (M1) isolating 50 m3 of seawater and in the surrounding waters in the Noumea lagoon, New Caledonia, in the southwest Pacific as part of the VAriability of vertical and tropHIc transfer of diazotroph derived N in the south wEst Pacific (VAHINE) experiment. The aim of VAHINE was to examine the fate of diazotroph-derived nitrogen (DDN) in a low-nutrient, low-chlorophyll ecosystem. On day 4 of the experiment, the mesocosm was fertilized with phosphate. In the lagoon, gene expression was dominated by the cyanobacterium Synechococcus, closely followed by Alphaproteobacteria. In contrast, drastic changes in the microbial community composition and transcriptional activity were triggered within the mesocosm within the first 4 days, with transcription bursts from different heterotrophic bacteria in rapid succession. The microbial composition and activity of the surrounding lagoon ecosystem appeared more stable, although following similar temporal trends as in M1. We detected significant gene expression from Chromerida in M1, as well as the Noumea lagoon, suggesting these photoautotrophic alveolates were present in substantial numbers in the open water. Other groups contributing substantially to the metatranscriptome were affiliated with marine Euryarchaeota Candidatus Thalassoarchaea (inside and outside) and Myoviridae bacteriophages likely infecting Synechococcus, specifically inside M1. High transcript abundances for ammonium transporters and glutamine synthetase in many different taxa (e.g., Pelagibacteraceae, Synechococcus, Prochlorococcus, and Rhodobacteraceae) was consistent with the known preference of most bacteria for this nitrogen source. In contrast, Alteromonadaceae highly expressed urease genes; Rhodobacteraceae and Prochlorococcus showed some urease expression, too. Nitrate reductase transcripts were detected on day 10 very prominently in Synechococcus and in Halomonadaceae. Alkaline phosphatase was expressed prominently only between days 12 and 23 in different organisms, suggesting that the microbial community was not limited by phosphate, even before the fertilization on day 4, whereas the post-fertilization community was. We observed high expression of the Synechococcus sqdB gene, only transiently lowered following phosphate fertilization. SqdB encodes UDP-sulfoquinovose synthase, possibly enabling marine picocyanobacteria to minimize their phosphorus requirements by substitution of phospholipids with sulphur-containing glycerolipids. This result suggests a link between sqdB expression and phosphate availability in situ. Gene expression of diazotrophic cyanobacteria was mainly attributed to Trichodesmium and Richelia intracellularis (diatom–diazotroph association) in the Noumea lagoon and initially in M1. UCYN-A (Candidatus Atelocyanobacterium) transcripts were the third most abundant and declined both inside and outside after day 4, consistent with 16S- and nifH-based analyses. Transcripts related to the Epithemia turgida endosymbiont and Cyanothece ATCC 51142 increased during the second half of the experiment.


This article sets out to interpret the personage of St. Bernard of Clairvaux as a symbol of self-knowledge, within a metaphysical interpretation - of a Platonic kind - of the Divine Comedy. The Divine Comedy, interpreted in terms of its metaphysical significance, represents a progressive itinerary of coming to know the foundations of reality in general and of the human being in particular, both in relation to the good and to virtue and in relation to evil and sin. It is within such an itinerary of metaphysical knowing of the principles of being, that we show how there comes about a process of self-knowing, in accordance with the fundamental message of the Platonic tradition, in which knowledge by the human being of the foundations of reality, inasmuch as it is knowledge of his own origins, accompanies a process of self-knowledge, gnothi seauton. The personage of St. Bernard of Clairvaux, on account of the role that it plays in the mediaeval tradition and in the "economy" of Dante's work, can be interpreted as the symbol of this supreme union between the human being?s knowledge of the foundations of being and his knowledge of himself, accompanying Dante into the contemplation of the One and Triune God, in which there is the archetype of humanity itself, thefundamental Truth of the human being.


Cooperation in transboundary river basins is challenged by the riparian countries' differing needs for water use. This is the case especially in Amu Darya Basin in Central Asia, where upstream Tajikistan is building the Rogun Hydropower Plant (RHP) to increase its energy security, while the downstream countries oppose the plant due to the feared negative impacts to their irrigated agriculture. Several experimental scenarios illustrate how the concept of benefit sharing could be used as a framework to investigate these water-energy-agriculture linkages in a transboundary context. Using a hydro-economic model, we investigate the economic benefits of various scenarios emphasizing agricultural and/or energy production, thus benefiting the riparian countries uniquely. Subsequently, we discuss how benefit-sharing arrangements with different forms of compensations could be used as a mechanism to facilitate transboundary cooperation. Our results indicate that several scenarios have a potential to increase the total energy-agriculture benefits in the basin. Yet, agreeing on the actual benefit-sharing mechanism between the countries poses special challenges as each may require countries to give up some of their anticipated maximum potential benefits. The presented scenarios provide a potential starting point for debates over benefit-sharing arrangements across countries needing to address the water-energy-agriculture nexus.


The fluorine incorporation into HfO2 with oxygen vacancies has been investigated using first principles calculations. The authors show that atomic fluorine can efficiently passivate the neutral oxygen vacancy with excess energies of 4.98 and 4.39eV for threefold- and fourfold-coordinated oxygen vacancy sites, respectively. The introduction of fluorine elevates the vacancy induced state into conduction band by transferring the neutral vacancy state to positively charged state, and thus removes the gap state which causes trap-assisted tunneling. The HfO2 band gap is not narrowed after fluorine incorporation.


GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT Abstract Sulfur-based reactions play an increasing role in macromolecular syntheses. The present article focuses on recent work from this laboratory that has led to advances in several areas of the field of sulfur chemistry for the synthesis of macromolecular structures with various topologies ranging from linear to networks. Two different classes of photopolymerizations, namely radical and cationic photopolymerizations can be initiated by sulfur-based thioxanthone and triaryl sulfonium salts, respectively. Also described is the structural variation that may affect the spectral sensitivity and efficiency in the related photopolymerizations. An independent part of the article consists of a bird's eye view of various modification processes of polythiophenes. A special emphasis is devoted to the incorporation of polypeptides into these sulfur-based conjugated polymers and their biosensing applications. Thiol-ene chemistry is also discussed in terms of its effect and utilization for the synthesis of telechelic polymers and star copolymers. Finally, recently developed thiol-benzoxazine chemistry offering a facile and an efficient route to exploring the many possibilities in macromolecular synthesis is described.


Nitric oxide (NO) is a gas that transmits signals in an organism. Signal transmission by a gas that is produced by one cell and which penetrates through membranes and regulates the function of another cell represents an entirely new principle for signaling in biological systems. NO is a signal molecule of key importance for the cardiovascular system acting as a regulator of blood pressure and as a gatekeeper of blood flow to different organs. NO also exerts a series of other functions, such as acting a signal molecule in the nervous system and as a weapon against infections. NO is present in most living creatures and made by many different types of cells. NO research has led to new treatments for treating heart as well as lung diseases, shock, and impotence. Scientists are currently testing whether NO can be used to stop the growth of cancerous tumors, since the gas can induce programmed cell death, apoptosis. This book is the first comprehensive text on nitric oxide to cover all aspects - basic biology, chemistry, pathobiology, effects on various disease states, and therapeutic implications. It is edited by Nobel Laureate Louis J. Ignarro, editor of the Academic Press journal, "Nitric Oxide"'; and authored by world experts on nitric oxide. It includes an overview of basic principles of biology and chemical biology; and, covers principles of pathobiology, including the nervous system, cardiovascular function, pulmonary function, and immune defense.


The Thalamus in Fear and Memory The medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) mediates the cognitive control of many high-level brain functions. However, it is unclear which synaptic projections from the mPFC to subcortical regions are critical for maintaining the proper balance between retention and generalization of fear memory details. Using an array of behavioral, physiological, and anatomical techniques, Xu and Südhof (p. 1290) describe a neural circuit that controls memory generalization and specificity. This circuit involves the nucleus reuniens (NR), a thalamic nucleus of largely unknown function. Optogenetic activation of NR neurons in awake behaving mice revealed the role of the NR in fear memory generalization. Projections to and from the nucleus reunions in the thalamus regulate the specificity of contextual fear memory. Increased fear memory generalization is associated with posttraumatic stress disorder, but the circuit mechanisms that regulate memory specificity remain unclear. Here, we define a neural circuit—composed of the medial prefrontal cortex, the nucleus reuniens (NR), and the hippocampus—that controls fear memory generalization. Inactivation of prefrontal inputs into the NR or direct silencing of NR projections enhanced fear memory generalization, whereas constitutive activation of NR neurons decreased memory generalization. Direct optogenetic activation of phasic and tonic action-potential firing of NR neurons during memory acquisition enhanced or reduced memory generalization, respectively. We propose that the NR determines the specificity and generalization of memory attributes for a particular context by processing information from the medial prefrontal cortex en route to the hippocampus.


Background: Concern has been raised that the workload of community pharmacists (CPs) is linked to the occurrence of dispensing errors (DEs). One aspect of workload that has not yet been measured in this setting, but has been linked to errors in other industries, is mental workload (MWL). Aims: (1) Measure the relationship between MWL and DEs during a routine pharmacy task, the final accuracy check, which research suggests is critical to DE prevention. (2) Quantify the role that expertise plays in this relationship. (3) Explore CPs and pharmacy students' experiences of MWL and DEs. Methods: A mixed methods approach was taken and three studies were conducted. In study one, CPs (n=104) and students (n=93) checked dispensed items for DEs. Participants took part in one of four conditions (distraction, no distraction, dual-task or single-task) and their DE detection and MWL was measured. Study two was a diary study of CPs' (n=40) MWL during a day in their "real-life" practice. Study three presented an interpretative phenomenological analysis of CPs' (n=14) and students' (n=15) experiences of MWL and DEs. Main findings: Study one found that high MWL was related to reduced DE detection, but only for students, confirming the important role of expertise. Distractions did not affect DE detection but was linked to increased MWL. Study 2 highlighted specific times of the day when CPs' MWL was exceptionally high. Study 3 found several factors which increased MWL, including the lack of control CP's had over their workload, difficulties communicating with prescribers and targets. Conclusions: MWL has been found to be a useful tool for measuring the impact of workload on pharmacy safety. The findings are linked to current work design and human factors theory and suggestions are made for how CPs' work could be redesigned to reduce their MWL and improve safety.


Genetic algorithms have been demonstrated to be a robust method for the calculation of the refractive-index profile of annealed germanium-doped flame-hydrolysis deposited (FHD) silica layers using measurements of the effective refractive indexes of the different modes of propagation. A nonuniform refractive-index profile in depth was obtained, which agrees well with the germanium concentration and density profiles measured for the films.


A 29 year old man presented to the emergency department with increasing pain, redness, and swelling of his right middle finger. Two weeks previously he had been bitten during an alleged assault, but had not sought medical attention.

Examination of the digit showed a discharging sinus at the distal inter-phalangeal joint level on the dorsal surface, with swelling, localised erythema, tenderness, and reduced active and passive motion (30 degrees active and passive flexion compared with 45 degrees on the opposite side).⇑⇑

Systemically, the patient was apyrexial and had normal vital signs. Routine investigations showed a normal white cell count, a C reactive protein of 52 (normal range: < 5 mg/L). He had two radiographs taken—anteroposterior and lateral. The lateral radiograph is shown.

(1) What does the radiograph show?

(2) Based on the case history and radiograph, what diagnosis does this patient have?

(3) What other investigations may be helpful?

(4) How might this patient be managed?

(5) What are the possible complications of this presentation?

(6) What are the micro-organisms typically isolated in a bite injury?

(1) This is a lateral radiograph of a right index finger, showing soft tissue swelling, …


The ATISS measurement drone, developed at the University of Applied Sciences Wildau, is an electrical powered motor glider with a maximum take-off weight of 25 kg including a payload capacity of 10 kg. Two 2.5 kW engines enable ultra short take-off procedures and the motor glider design results in a 1 h endurance. The concept of ATISS is based on the idea to strictly separate between aircraft and payload functions, which makes ATISS a very flexible research platform for miscellaneous payloads. ATISS is equipped with an autopilot for autonomous flight patterns but under permanent pilot control from the ground. On the basis of ATISS the project SALSA was undertaken. The aim was to integrate a system for digital terrain modelling. Instead of a laser scanner a new design concept was chosen based on two synchronized high resolution digital cameras, one in a fixed nadir orientation and the other in a oblique orientation. Thus from every object on the ground images from different view angles are taken. This new measurement camera system MACS-TumbleCam was developed at the German Aerospace Center DLR Berlin-Adlershof especially for the ATISS payload concept. Special advantage in comparison to laser scanning is the fact, that instead of a cloud of points a surface including texture is generated and a high-end inertial orientation system can be omitted. The first test flights show a ground resolution of 2 cm and height resolution of 3 cm, which underline the extraordinary capabilities of ATISS and the MACS measurement camera system.


OBJECTIVE
To identify the most common methods used by surgeons to place finger-trap sutures (FTS), and determine their influence on the biomechanical properties of constructs.

STUDY DESIGN
Questionnaire and experimental study.

METHODS
Six commonly used FTS methods (A-F) were identified from literature review and questionnaire. Constructs made with 3-metric nylon suture and 18-French polyurethane esophagostomy tubing were tested in axial loading to failure. Two patterns (B and D) selected based on common use and biomechanical performance were further tested, with 2, 4, and 8 repeats along the tube. Displacement, load, and energy at failure were compared between constructs, and failure mode was video recorded.

RESULTS
Patterns E and F were susceptible to slipping (P < .001). Patterns A and D were stiffer than pattern E, and patterns A-D were stiffer than pattern F (P = .012). Patterns A and B had less extension than pattern E and F, and patterns A-D had less extension than pattern F (P = .002). 87.5% of FTS failed by breaking at the first suture knot. The number of repeats had no effect on FTS performance, but catastrophic failure occurred in 2 constructs with 2 repeats.

CONCLUSION
The mechanical behavior of suture-tube constructs and failure mode is affected by the FTS pattern. Patterns E and F are not advocated due to suture slippage. The number of repeats may not affect the FTS performance, but a minimum of 4 repeats is recommended. Overall, patterns B, C, and D performed the best in axial loading.


The orthodoxy of supply chain management (SCM) emphasises competitive advantage through increased operational efficiency and market responsiveness from production and distribution processes into the hands of consumers. It anticipates that future competition will be between chains rather than between firms. While well established in other industry sectors, the SCM concept is newly developed in the Australian agri-food sector. Critical review of the concept has identified key issues of power among channel members, processes of chain initiation and innovation, and the inability of SCM to offer a viable business strategy for some firms. Building on those insights, this paper examines the supply chain concept for horticulture. Horticultural products are characterised by perishability, heterogeneity and lags in production response to market signals. Producers' profits are vulnerable to quantity, timing of supply and product specification. Many supply chains in smaller industries are loose, fragmented, interwoven, unstable and unique! Firms operating within these environments need an astute understanding of the chains, the hierarchy of channel members and their relative position. Effective business strategies - for individual firms and supply chains - need to be developed and redeveloped to accommodate the dynamic nature of horticulture. Two case studies are discussed as contributions to this early stage of the theoretical development of supply chain management. The SCM concept also has implications for horticultural researchers, involving a wider range of industry stakeholders, technical problems and research skills. As for business management, the usefulness of the concept will depend on its capacity to increase responsiveness to customers' preferences and customer value.


Suspended cohesive sediments commonly occur in flocculated form. The flocculation process significantly increases particle size, settling velocity, and settling flux in comparison to unflocculated particles. To better understand suspended particles, a new instrument for in situ imaging using digital inline holography is presented and evaluated. With a resolution of 7.4 µm per pixel and a field of view of 7.4 × 7.4 mm, the instrument generates sharply focused images of particles from approximately 20 µm to 7 mm in diameter at up to 25 frames per second. A significant advantage of holography over current imaging systems is that in‐focus images are obtained over a substantial depth of field. Contained in small‐diameter cylindrical housings, the instrument presents minimal flow disruption and is easily deployable. Digitally recorded holograms are reconstructed and analyzed for number and size of particles in a fully automated manner. To assess the systems' potential, particle size distributions for two grades of quartz sand are compared with those from a laser diffraction particle sizer and are found to exhibit good similarity. To simultaneously estimate particle size and settling velocity, a modification to the system is demonstrated in which settling particles are automatically tracked and sized. The resulting relationships between settling velocity and effective density as functions of particle size are characteristic of suspended cohesive sediments and empirical power‐law descriptors of these relationships show excellent agreement with previously published studies.


Post-operative pain is best managed by a multi-disciplinary team approach. An extensive review of the literature indicated that little is known about the roles of surgeons, anaesthetists, and pharmacists regarding post-operative pain management in Ghana. Therefore, this study was undertaken in order to fully understand how health professionals perceive their roles and the challenges that influence their decisions about post-operative pain management. A qualitative approach with a focused ethnographic design was employed involving eleven in-depth individual interviews. Purposive sampling approach was employed. The study was conducted at a tertiary hospital in Accra, Ghana. The study revealed that surgeons and anaesthetists practised pre-emptive analgesia by administering intra-operative analgesia, giving nerve blocks, and infiltrating surgical wounds. Sometimes, epidural analgesia and perfusers were used for patients who could afford them, particularly if they were expected to experience severe post-operative pain. Challenges reported by all the participants related to inadequate personnel, opioid effect and availability, inadequate training and collaboration, and effects of organisational culture were identified. It was concluded that effective collaboration among health professionals could enhance post-operative pain management. There is a need for enhanced commitment, in order to provide more effective post-operative pain management. Keywords : Qualitative research, health team, surgery, and ethnography.


The majority of traffic fatalities in Australia occur at night. The death rate is estimated to be between three to four times higher at night than during the day. In recent a survey across Australia, it has been noted that the standards for road-marking, in the area of night time visibility, are either set at very low performance levels or are non existent. There have been many studies and experiments that demonstrate that accident rates can be significantly further reduced if the road markings were to be maintained to safer standards. This paper presents some of the results from this and other recent global research, and looks at how road-markings can figure in reducing crashes. It suggests that the measure of road-marking performance for both day and night, and in both wet and dry conditions, should be used as a tool in future accident investigations. The statistics would then become more meaningful, the fatalities and serious injuries could be reduced, and the cost benefit of safer performing road-markings may then be realised.


Denis Victor Cowen (1917-2007) was one of South Africa's most brilliant jurists, who made important contributions not only in the fields of constitutional law and negotiable instruments, for which he is best known as a result of his published books, but also in such subjects as jurisprudence, environmental law, sectional title, town planning and statutory interpretation. Many of his writings and addresses on these topics were published in legal and other professional journals, pamphlets and booklets, or not published at all. I have long thought that a comprehensive selection of his writings that were not readily available merited publication in book form. Early in the 1990s I suggested to his daughter Susannah, then a law student at the University of Cape Town, that she undertake the task of compiling a selection of her father's essays on law. The book under review is the result.


We evaluate the fermionic two-loop QCD corrections to the heavy-quark pair production process in the quark-antiquark channel. We obtain analytic results which are valid for any value of the Mandelstam invariants s and t, and of the heavy quark mass m. Our findings confirm previous results for the analytic evaluation in the small-mass limit and numerical results for the exact amplitude. We furthermore provide the expansion of the two-loop amplitude at the production threshold s gtrsim 4m2.


Summary The process of questioning the authority of academic history—in the form in which it emerged at the turn of the 19th century—began in the 1970s, when Hayden White pointed out the rhetorical dimension of historical discourse. His British colleague Alun Munslow went a step further and argued that the ontological statuses of the past and history are so different that historical discourse cannot by any means be treated as representation of the past. As we have no access to that which happened, both historians and artists can only present the past in accordance with their views and opinions, the available rhetorical conventions, and means of expression. The article revisits two examples of experimental history which Munslow mentioned in his The Future of History (2010): Robert A. Rosenstone's Mirror in the Shrine (1988) and Hans Ulrich Gumbrecht's In 1926 (1997). It allows reassessing their literary strategies in the context of a new wave of works written by historians and novelists who go beyond the fictional/factual dichotomy. The article focuses on Polish counterfactual writers of the last two decades, such as Wojciech Orliński, Jacek Dukaj, and Aleksander Głowacki. Their novels corroborate the main argument of the article about a turn which has been taking place in recent experimental historying: the loss of previous interest in formal innovations influenced by modernist avant-garde fiction. Instead, it concentrates on demonstrating the contingency of history to strategically extend the unknowability of the future or the past(s) and, as a result, change historying into speculative thinking.


This thesis examines the history of public holidays and celebrations in the colony of Otago, New Zealand, during the nineteenth century. It takes an ethnographic approach, using personal accounts, images, material objects and contemporary newspapers to explore these events from the colonists' point of view. The study is organised into six sections, each examining a different type of occasion, selected on the basis of their significance to the colonists. The events studied include Presbyterian communion seasons, Christmas and Easter, New Year, harvest celebrations, Otago Anniversary Day, and celebrations and commemorations of the monarchy. Each occasion is explored with a view to the two major themes of the thesis, ethnicity and religion. This study concludes that, contrary to the assumption of many historians, religion did not decline in importance during the nineteenth century; there is no clear evidence of 'secularisation.' Religion pervaded colonial life, and remained an important factor in all public events. Whether they were regular churchgoers or not, the great majority of colonists held certain religious beliefs, for example, that God controlled the natural world. All of the holidays examined in this thesis included some form of religious service, and investigating these provides a valuable insight into religious practice in the colony during this period. Another major finding ofthis thesis is that Pakeha culture contained much variety. Rather than importing a pre-existing monolithic British culture, colonists brought with them a range of distinctly varied regional cultures, which persisted in the colonial context. Holiday practices were one of the most visible elements of this variety, clearly displaying the different ethnicities of the colonists. Holidays could be used to assert a particular ethnic identity, and on occasion they became sites of cultural contest. Commemorations of the British monarchy were the only holidays to effectively overcome the various ethnic and sectarian divisions of nineteenth-century Otago, uniting all residents, including Maori and Chinese, in remarkable displays of community cohesion. The new physical and social environment of the Otago colony presented challenges to some traditional holiday practices. Yet while the colonists altered some traditions to fit their new environment, others remained remarkably similar to those in iii their source cultures. The colonists remained deeply attached to their accustomed holiday practices, which, as part of the colonising process, helped them feel more at home in their new environment. In their holidays and celebrations, the Otago colonists revealed the things they valued most: their Christian religion, their imported ethnicities, their local community, the fruits of the land and their labour, and the British empire. Major themes in New Zealand historiography, which suggest that nineteenth-century New Zealand was a society experiencing rapid secularisation and searching for national identity, simply do not account for the realities of life in colonial Otago.


A new patented method for the synthesis of nanosized powders of indium(III) hydroxide and oxide using the strong base anion exchange resin AV-17-8 as a precipitate agent was proposed. The effect of anions of the initial indium salt and the influence of the process duration, temperature, and counterions of resin such as hydroxide or carbonate on the yield of indium(III) hydroxide during the anion resin exchange precipitation were investigated by scanning electron microscopy, electrical conductivity measurement method, and atomic absorption analysis. Based on the obtained data, the mechanism of the anion resin exchange precipitation of indium(III) hydroxide was suggested. The products were characterized by X-ray diffraction, thermogravimetric analysis/differential scanning calorimetry, elemental analysis, Brunauer–Emmett–Teller, and transmission electron microscopy. It was found that impurity-free monophasic In2O3 powders with an average particle size of 10–15 nm and specific surface area of 62–73 m2/g were formed after heat treatment of as-prepared products at 400 °C.


We propose a flat lensing effect using a periodic loss-modulated material. In particular, we consider a two-dimensional square and rhombic arrangement of lossy cylinders embedded in a host media with the same refractive index. The effect is predicted by the dispersion curves obtained by a coupled mode expansion of Maxwell equations and by numerical beam propagation experiments. From both analytical and numerical studies, we show that, for a range of frequencies, light beams undergo negative diffraction on propagation through the loss-modulated medium, providing a window of high transmission. The phase shifts accumulated by negative diffraction within the structure are then compensated by normal diffraction, leading to substantial focalization beyond it.


Dreistadt is an educational MOO (Multi User Domain, Object Oriented) for language learning. It presents a virtual world in which learners of German communicate with their fellow learners, teachers and native language users in other locations via the Internet. While the original Dreistadt had an artificial command language for interaction with the system, we have provided it with natural language processing capabilities, in order to allow a more seamless linguistic interaction. For this purpose, an NLP interface for controlled German has been added. The student's natural language commands are translated to system internal instructions by a set of syntactic, semantic and pragmatic analysis tools. The system is capable of handling pronouns and other referring expressions by applying domain knowledge and includes an inferencing component based on predicate logic.


This study reports plastic ingestion in various fish found from coastal and offshore sites in Scottish marine waters. Coastal samples consisted of three demersal flatfish species (n = 128) collected from the East and West coasts of Scotland. Offshore samples consisted of 5 pelagic species and 4 demersal species (n = 84) collected from the Northeast Atlantic. From the coastal fish sampled, 47.7% of the gastrointestinal tracts contained macroplastic and microplastic. Of the 84 pelagic and demersal offshore fish, only 2 (2.4%) individuals from different species had ingested plastic identified as a clear polystyrene fibre and a black polyamide fibre. The average number of plastic items found per fish from all locations that had ingested plastic was 1.8 (±1.7) with polyamide (65.3%), polyethylene terephthalate (14.4%) and acrylic (14.4%) being the three most commonly found plastics. This study adds to the existing data on macroplastic and microplastic ingestion in fish species.


Gambling and video game playing represent two leisure activities in which adolescents and young adults participate. There are psychological and behavioural parallels between some forms of gambling (e.g., slot machines, video lottery terminals, electronic gambling machines) and some types of video games (e.g., arcade games). Both activities operate on behavioural principles of variable reinforcement schedules in order to reward and prolong play and use exciting and stimulating sound and light effects within game play. Additionally, both activities have similar negative effects associated with excessive play (e.g., poor academic performance, moodiness, loss of interest in activities previously enjoyed, and interpersonal conflict). Thus, there is concern that children and adolescents who are attracted to video games, for both psychological rewards and the challenge, may be at greater risk to gamble. We examined the gambling and video game playing behaviour among 1,229 adolescents and young adults. Results indicate that gamblers, relative to non-gamblers, were more likely to play video games. Video game players were more likely than nonplayers to gamble. Both social and problem gamblers had higher rates of video game playing than did non-gamblers, and addicted gamers had higher rates of gambling than did social and non-gamers. Results from the current study suggest significant overlap in youth participation in both gambling activities and video game playing. These results have implications for future research and the treatment of problem gambling and video game addiction.


This paper first sets a definition of corporate social responsibility (CSR) as an extended model of corporate governance and then accounts for a voluntary approach to CSR, meant as voluntary compliance with CSR strategic management standards, in terms of an economic theory of self-regulation. The paper argues that extended fiduciary duties toward all the firm's stakeholders are needed because of the same neo-institutional analysis of the firm that justifies it as a unified system of governance of economic transactions based on authority relations and residual rights of control. The key concept here is that of abuse of firm's authority vis-a-vis the stakeholders who hold incomplete contracts with the firm. Extended fiduciary duties are singled out from the model of a Social Contract amongst the firm's stakeholders. This provide for a clear cut and calculable criterion of strategic management no less able to set a bottom-line to the firm management than the profit maximisation principle, while being able of answering legitimate claims of fair treatment from all the firm's stakeholders. Such a task is accomplished by an application of the theory of bargaining games to the Social Contract of the firm, which employs the Nash-Harsanyi bargaining solution as a normative criterion for strategic management and corporate governance, providing an answer to the deficit of uniqueness problem raised by Michael Jensen (2001) against the notion of stakeholders value. Then, the paper distinguishes two models of self regulation (the discretionary one, and the explicit-norms-cum-self-enforcement one) and argues that while incomplete contracts and imperfect knowledge debar form resorting to reputation effects in order to support discretional self-regulation, on the contrary an explicit standard for CSR strategic management, based on general and abstract business ethics principles and precautionary protocols and rules of behaviour - both publicly shared by stakeholders and firms through social dialog - make possible to put again at work the reputation mechanism inducing endogenous incentives of compliance with a voluntary standard. The paper here suggests how (by both fuzzy logic and default reasoning ) a CSR Strategic Management Standard may work as a cognitive gap filling tool with respect to the firm's commitments and the stakeholders' expectations in presence of incomplete information. Moreover recent developments in the theory of conformist non-purely-self-interested preferences add motivational force to the basic result about self-enforcement of a CSR management standard. The paper concludes with a collusion-proof design of intermediate social bodies (civil society institutions) that may answer the demand for assurance and external verifiability of CSR standards compliance by independent third-parties.


O'CONNOR, KAITLYN From Victims to Victimizers: The Evolution of Modern Algerian Politics. Department of Political Science, June 2009. ADVISOR: Professor Michelle Angrist This thesis explores the evolution of modern Algerian politics and the transition of the Algerian government from a colonized nation to a free state. In the second half of the 20 century Algeria was plagued with war and violence from both internal and external enemies. The Algerian War for Independence and the Algerian Civil War are frequently viewed as two separate conflicts with little or no ties yet after researching the two, one can draw a large number of parallels leading to the conclusion that the actions of the French in the War for Independence were strikingly similar to those of the Algerian administration in the 1990s. In addition, it can be claimed that the actions of the FLN in the 1950s greatly influenced the FIS policy of the 1990s. Finally, it could also be hypothesized that had the French pulled out of Algeria after the first year of the "Phony War" in 1955, the course of Algerian politics would have been altered significantly towards a more peaceful outcome. It is not solely the actors in the conflicts that remained similar, but tactics and events as well as political actions and propaganda transcended the thirty years between the conflicts. When finally given the chance to be a free nation, the FLN and Algerian administration knew of no other way to govern than that of its European predecessor while the FIS knew of no other way to express its discontent than through a violent revolution like that of the FLN. The victims of the War for Independence now became the victimizers, with a new organization garnering sympathy for their cause. After nearly fifty years of political liberation, the Algerians have created a


For refugees and asylum seekers, application of the so-called persecutor bar is tantamount to a death sentence. However, the Board of Immigration Appeals -- without any real deliberation--has arrived at an interpretation of a generic-relief, burdenshifting regulation to allow for application of the persecutor bar based upon very little evidence. Even mere membership in a group with a poor human rights record has been held sufficient to switch the burden of proof and apply the bar. While the recent holding of Matter of Negusie, 27 I&N Dec. 347 (June 28, 2018) can be read and understood largely as a victory for refugees on the question of the duress defense to the bar, that decision is under review by the AG. Additionally, more work is needed to solidify capacious procedural safeguards in the application of the bar ab initio before adjudicators even reach questions of duress. Safeguards are crucial because the current procedures allow adjudicators to apply the bar merely where there is possible assistance in persecution. Given the dearth of past scholarly attention devoted to procedural application of the persecutor bar, this article aims to contribute to this nascent, timely, and largely-untouched discussion. I argue here that it is only where the record contains a preponderance of the evidence to allow an adjudicator to find actual assistance in persecution -- and the applicant is given fair notice and opportunity to respond--that the statute, case law, and international law allow the persecutor bar to be applied.


Abstract. Iron chemistry measurements were conducted during summer 2007 at two distinct locations in the Baltic Sea (Gotland Deep and Landsort Deep) to evaluate the role of iron for cyanobacterial bloom development in these estuarine waters. Depth profiles of Fe(II) were measured by chemiluminescent flow injection analysis (CL-FIA). Up to 0.9 nmol Fe(II) L−1 were detected in light penetrated surface waters, which constitutes up to 20% to the dissolved Fe pool. This bioavailable iron source is a major contributor to the Fe requirements of Baltic Sea phytoplankton and apparently plays a major role for cyanobacterial bloom development during our study. Measured Fe(II) half life times in oxygenated water exceed predicted values and indicate organic Fe(II) complexation. Potential sources for Fe(II) ligands, including rainwater, are discussed. Fe(II) concentrations of up to 1.44 nmol L−1 were detected at water depths below the euphotic zone, but above the oxic anoxic interface. Mixed layer depths after strong wind events are not deep enough in summer time to penetrate the oxic-anoxic boundary layer. However, Fe(II) from anoxic bottom water may enter the sub-oxic zone via diapycnal mixing and diffusion.


Focus on user experience (UX) has been a growing trend in service design (SD), as it has various benefits. As it will be demonstrated in this paper, developing an efficient, yet usable crisis management service requires a deep understanding of the experience of all stakeholders involved in the crisis. While many SD studies have proposed different principles, practices and tools, there is a lack of a practical comprehensive design framework that empowers designers to integrate effectively UX in the SD lifecycle. In this paper we propose a methodological framework called UXD-IS (User eXperience Design of Interactions and Services) that combines UX characterization and touchpoints analysis. The framework has been validated through a case study related to flooding crisis management. The investigations reveal that the framework is a powerful support tool during the first phases of the development of a new service or the improvement of an existing one.


Background Epidemiological studies have shown a high incidence of anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injuries among competitive alpine skiers. Little is known about modifiable risk factors and there is still equivocal discussion about the gender-related risk factors. Objective To determine the relationship between ACL injuries and internal risk factors among competitive junior alpine skiers. Design Retrospective data analyses of a cohort. Participants 175 female and 195 male competitive alpine ski racers between the ages of 14 and 19. Assessment of risk factors Athletes of the Skigymnasium Stams underwent a test battery three times annually from 1996 to 2006. Norm profiles were established and Z score transformations normalised the different age groups. In the case of an ACL injury the last test result before the injury was compared with the norm values. Main outcome measurements Physical parameters between injured and non-injured athletes. Results Between 1996 and 2006, 57 ACL injuries occurred. The injury rate in females was 2.1 times greater than in males. The binary logistic regression revealed Nagelkerkes R2 of 0.368 and 0.236 for men and women, respectively. Z scores for relative leg force, ratio of absolute flexion/extension force, relative core strength and reactive strength index were predictive variables for men. Z scores of all these predictive variables except relative leg force were higher (p<0.05) in the non-injured group than in the injured group. Ratio of absolute flexion/extension force and absolute core strength were predictive covariates for women. Z scores for absolute core strength were higher in the non-injured group (p<0.01). Conclusion The risk of injury was higher in females compared with males. Findings suggest that core and leg strength are critical factors for ACL injuries in young ski racers. Targeted evidence-based preventative training programs must include these aspects.


The following study investigates how to use social media to increase consumer loyalty to a brand. With the increasing trend in the utilization of social media practices in the fields of public relations and marketing, it is becoming significantly important to understand how to effectively reach and communicate with consumers through this medium. Sashi states (2012) "the interactive nature of social media (its ability to establish conversations among individuals, firms in communities of sellers and customers, and involve customers in content generation and value creation) has excited practitioners with its potential to better serve customers and satisfy their needs" (p. 254). This study focuses on the necessary tools, tactics, and strategies that should be utilized through social media in order to increase consumer loyalty.


This study explores the use of Free Choice Profiling (FCP) methodology for the qualitative behaviour assessment of emotional expression in the domestic dog (Canis familiaris). Qualitative behaviour assessment is based upon the integration of many pieces of information that in conventional quantitative approaches are recorded separately or not at all. Observers are asked to focus on an animal's interaction with its surrounding environment, and to describe the animal's expressive demeanor, or 'body language'. A specific characteristic of FCP methodology is that it allows observers the freedom to devise their own descriptive terms, and then to use these personal terms to quantitatively score observed subjects. Application of FCP to qualitative behaviour assessment in animals was originally tested for pigs, and more recently for dairy cows, horses, and ponies. The goal of this study was to apply FCP to the domestic dog, and to investigate the inter-observer reliability of assessments of emotional expression in 10 individual Beagles by a group of 18 untrained observers. The data was analysed using Generalised Procrustes Analysis (GPA), a multivariate statistical technique associated with FCP. The observers achieved highly-significant agreement in their assessments of the dogs' expressions, thereby establishing the applicability of this methodology for the first time in the domestic dog.


Background: Insomnia and poor sleep quality are common problems in patients with cancer. It interferes with the coping ability, symptoms, and treatment outcomes. The Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) is a reliable, valid instrument to assess the quality of sleep in patients with cancer. Patients and Methods: The study was conducted at the department of medical oncology of a tertiary cancer care center. Consecutive eligible participants were recruited and evaluated for sleep quality using PSQI questionnaire. The questionnaire was administered only once with the questions evaluating to the quality of sleep over the last 1 month. A PSQI total score of ≤5 was suggestive of good quality of sleep and a score of >5 was indicative of poor quality of sleep. Results: Ninety-two consecutive consenting cancer patients admitted for chemotherapy participated in the study. Thirty-one (33.7%) patients had early cancer and 35 (38%) patients had Stage IV metastatic disease. Thirty-six (39.1%) patients reported sleep of <6 h and 30 (32.6%) patients had impaired functioning during day due to sleepiness. Fifty-three (57.6%) patients had poor total PSQI score, of which 39 (73.5%) were female and 14 (26.5%) were male. The study showed no correlation of the PSQI scores with the stage of the disease, and the prior treatment received. Conclusions: The study showed that Indian cancer patients have short sleep duration and poor quality of sleep. A higher prevalence of sleep disturbances was seen among female cancer patients. PSQI questionnaire can be a cost-effective way of screening cancer patients for poor quality of sleep.


Background : The existence of OCD-like symptom in patients with opium addiction , , the lack of a coherent, and shows the necessity of this study. The aim of this research is to study of prevalence of obsessive-compulsive disorder in patients with opioid dependency that refer to the addiction clinics affiliated to the lorestan university of medical sciences.
Materials and Methods: This research is a cross-sectional descriptive study. In this study, 200 patients with opioid dependency who attended to the addiction clinics affiliated to the Lorestan University of Medical Science were selected by convenience sampling method from December to February in 2013. Data collected by using instruments including Demographic Questionnaire and Zohar-fineberg screening questionnaire obsession. Descriptive and inferential statistical indicators by spss-20 software were used for data analysis.
Results: In this study all participants were man. The mean and standard deviation of the respondents' age and term drug abuse were in order 41/72±11/96 and 12/02±8/87. Patients were % 71 married, % 56 self-employed and in terms of education % 43 level of diploma. Also, 31 patients were with (% 15/05) obsessive-compulsive disorder and 169 patients were (% 84/5) without obsessive-compulsive disorder.
Conclusion: In creating drug abuse disorder, other disorders and symptoms may contribute and have important roles. Therefore, diagnosis and attention to it is important. Accordingly, clinical specialists on the results of such research design appropriate clinical trials or modify of existing interventions.
Keywords: substance abuse disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, opium addiction.


The book's essays take a multidimensional approach to the accountability matrix in Brazil. The first section of the book investigates the complex interrelationships among representative institutions, electoral dynamics, and public opinion. In the second section, authors address nonelectoral dimensions of accountability, such as the role of the media, accounting institutions, police, prosecutors, and courts. In the final chapter, the editors reflect upon the policy implications of the essays, considering recommendations that may contribute to an effective fight against political corruption and support ongoing accountability, as well as articulating analytical lessons for social scientists interested in the functioning of accountability networks.Brazil, the world's fourth largest democracy, has been plagued in recent years by corruption scandals. "Corruption and Democracy in Brazil: The Struggle for Accountability "considers the performance of the Brazilian federal accountability system with a view to diagnosing the system's strengths, weaknesses, and areas of potential improvement; taking stock of recent micro- and macro-level reforms; and pointing out the implications of the various dimensions of the accountability process for Brazil's democratic regime."Timothy Power and Matthew Taylor have produced a compelling, comprehensive volume on accountability dynamics in Brazil that will inform future policy and research regarding corruption. The analyses in this book raise important questions for practitioners and for the general public. In pursuit of answers to these questions, this team of researchers does not sugarcoat matters. They document dimensions of improved accountability as well as resilient dynamics of impunity. This well-organized book is accessible to academics, policy makers, and students." --Charles H. Blake, James Madison University"Corruption stories are often told as lurid tales of individual greed. This book persuasively insists instead that corruption and the responses to it are embedded deep in national institutions--one might say they are politics by other means. This first-rate collection presents a powerful analysis of recent Brazilian democracy in practice, showing how accountability institutions have greatly strengthened since the transition to democracy, while remaining weak in ways that undermine citizens' trust in their government. While closely focused on Brazil, the book also embodies an approach worth emulating for studying corruption elsewhere." --Kathryn Hochstetler, University of Waterloo"By focusing on the largest democracy in Latin America, Brazil, a country with both a history vexed by political corruption and an elaborate web of accountability-enhancing institutions and organizations, Timothy Power and Matthew Taylor have produced a study of extraordinary value for comparative politics. They have gathered a rich array of original research by top scholars on major areas of the network of accountability. Each chapter answers the editors' core questions regarding how corruption operates, can be detected, and is preventable, while making clear those aspects that remain a drag on Brazil's quality of democracy." --Alfred P. Montero, Carleton College"This is a timely, insightful, and cohesive volume that will greatly benefit students of Brazil and analysts of corruption in developing countries. The authors are very much on top of their subject matter, much of which is not easily accessible in the academic literature despite the emphasis on corruption being so pervasive and harmful." --Wendy Hunter, University of Texas, Austin


Summary Background/Aim:Residual cysts comprise approximately 10% of all odontogenic cysts. They are more commonly seen in 4th-6th decades of life, and occur due to incomplete previous surgical removal of a radicular cyst; or due to left epithelial remnants stimulated by tooth extraction. These lesions are often treated with enucleation. However, this procedure is not always the ideal treatment solution for elderly people due to the presence of physical and mental disorders, and risk of jaw fracture. Case Report: In this case report, the successful treatment of a large residual cyst in the symphysis of a 93 year-old female patient by performing decompression alone is presented. A plastic drain was placed on the wall of the cyst to allow irrigation. Regeneration was observed in the cyst cavity 3 months after surgery. The 1-year follow up showed that the majority of the cyst cavity was filled with new bone. Conclusions: In elderly patients, large inflammatory cysts can be successfully treated with decompression considering the limited regeneration capacity and difficulties in follow-up.


This paper presents an assessment of a selection software tools for urban design confronting their capabilities with the goals of the CityInduction research project. The goal of this paper is the assessment of existing platforms for computer aided urban design to select one as the basis for implementing the urban design model proposed in the CityInduction project. This model includes three sub-models that support the formulation of design programs from contextual information, the exploration of designs solutions through a grammarbased generative approach, and the validation of designs against the program through the use of evaluation tools. To each of these sub-models corresponds a module in the envisioned platform and so, existing platforms are assessed in terms of their ability to support the implementation of each module. The current goal is a proof-of-concept implementation, but the final goal is the development of a complete platform for supporting urban design.


Between c.1540 and 1640 at least 2500 Welsh students entered
Oxford and Cambridge universities and the inns of court in London.
Oxford had attracted many Welshmen in the middle ages, and continued
to receive the majority, who were at their greatest proportion to the
total student body in the 1590s. The popularity of Cambridge and
the inns emerged after 1600, centring on the admission of wealthier
students. Relative to population, North Wales counties were better
represented. Approximately two—fifths of registered university
Welsh entrants graduated B.A. or higher, and about one—fifth of the
inns' Welsh intake became barristers.
Areal affinities figured significantly in Welsh associations
with particular inns and colleges. Some colleges offered scholarships
and fellowships to the Welsh, and new endowments strengthened
these links. The presence of Welsh officials represented another
bond, while the cautions and guarantor schemes, especially at the
inns, further embodied areal ties. Kindred loyalties also counted.
This influx in admissions coincided with advances in Welsh
schooling, which leading social groups supported. Important
university bequests followed to assist Welsh students, notably at
Jesus College, Oxford, and St. John's College, Cambridge. Informal
financial contributions to the inns helped Welshmen there.
Interest in higher education was reflected in the professions.
The quality of the Welsh clergy improved by the early seventeenth
century, though there was still a dearth of divinity graduates,
and many Welsh students gained better preferment in England. The
traditional Welsh association with ecclesiastical and civil law
was superseded by the superior attraction of the common law, many
barristers benefiting from the new Welsh courts system.
University and inn alumni were prominent among Welsh members
of Parliament and among justices of the peace by the 1630s. The
educational experience contributed to Welsh cultural change, challenging
the preconceptions of bardic learning and promoting new
literature and values.


Design Research (DR) creates, builds, and evaluates innovative artifacts such as constructs, models, methods, and instantiations as well as operational information systems. It also investigates approaches, methods, behaviors, and processes related to design. Although the design research paradigm as an engineering approach in Information Systems (IS) research has been actively discussed in recent years (Hevner et al., 2004), comparatively little design related research has made its way into the IS community by means of widely recognized and outstanding publications. Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) Research is concerned with the ways humans interact with information, technologies, and tasks; especially in business, managerial, organizational, and cultural contexts (Zhang et al., 2002). Despite the realization that it is important for HCI research to focus on all issues that occur along the lifecycles of any information and communication technology (ICT) artifacts, IS scholars have traditionally put less effort into the design and development stage and more effort into the use and impact stage (Zhang and Li, 2005; Zhang et al., 2009).


Agricultural sector occupies a key position in the Indian economy. It provides employment to about 65 percent of the working population of India. It is but natural that the problems of farmers are addressed with a sense of urgency. Agriculture being a State subject, the bulk of public investment in agriculture takes place at the level of States and the Central Government supports the States as a catalyst. Being the backbone of the Indian economy, agriculture has all along been treated as a priority sector for the allocation of institutional credit. The low growth rate of agriculture in the past few years has further strengthened the channels of credit flow to this sector. Micro credit has emerged as a visible credit channel to the poor as their access to conventional credit channels is constrained by the requirement of collateral and high transaction cost. Micro finance is routed through self-help groups (SHGs). Over the years, SHG -- Bank Linkage Programme -- which includes commercial banks, regional rural banks and co-operative banks -- has emerged as the major micro finance programme in the country. This volume contains 12 well-researched papers, authored by experts in the field of agricultural finance, which provide an in-depth analysis of current state of agricultural/rural finance in India, emergence of micro finance, financial inclusion efforts and related matters.


Young prisoners need guidance, direction and assistance from parents and the immediate environment in order to develop into more mature. Some of the problems experienced by young prisoners are not able to accept themselves and difficult circumstances to direct behavior so that affects the psychological well-being. Psychological well-being is a condition in which an individual can accept themselves and be able to rise from its current state. This article discusses the basic concepts of psychological well-being and the importance of guidance and counseling services.


Angle-resolved low coherence interferometry is used to detect pre-cancerous basal epithelial cells in intact, unstained animal tissues via quantitative nuclear morphology measurements. Recent results are presented which demonstrate the ability to assess the efficacy of chemopreventive agents. Feasibility of clinical measurements in human tissues is demonstrated by real-time measurements.


Language is subjected to a double definition process: by the static reality characteristic of the system, due to inertia to change, and by its permanent character regarding the language acts producing, through speaking. Because it is under the pressure of concrete communicative needs, a language is subjected to a continuous dynamics assuring the language progress or regress, both aspects, together with neutral modifications, actually meaning, in the Darwinist perspective, the language evolution. The article, thus, comes with a necessary conceptual delimitation between the language evolution and progress, on the one hand, but also between causes which determine the evolution and the evolution in itself, as a process.

Linguistics has faced radically different approaches on its topic of study, natural human language; the perspectives on language differ from the relationships network which make the elements creating one language or another to get the quality of systems, to a product of man's will and freedom, because the language cannot be separated from the speakers' freedom, or to the attention paid to meanings, these being always socially constituted, based on the interactions between a community members. In such a diversity where divergence dominates convergence, this article intends, in subsidiary, to fix, from an diachronic perspective, the definition of linguistics as being, in fact, the history of evolutions the language has met since its beginnings.


This paper is an attempt to partially delineate the salient features of Islamic law from a Qur'anic perspective. It seeks to clarify that every human society necessitates that there exist a system of rules without which there can be no public order but chaos. It also shows that in Islam, there is no separation of religion from morals, worldly affairs and from politics. Islam is an all-embracing religion consisting of a set of laws and injunctions which are requisite for the establishment of an ideal society. Therefore, all the laws and injunctions which are of a practical character and which should be applied to human society can be subsumed under the general rubric 'law.' The paper continues by discussing the sources of Islamic law and its goals.


In current automatic speech recognition (ASR) systems, the energy is not used as part of the feature vector in spite of being a fundamental feature in the speech signal. The noise inherent in its estimation degrades the system performance. In this report we present an alternative approach for introducing the energy into the system so that it can help to enhance recognition. We present the experimental results of an ASR system based on dynamic Bayesian networks (DBNs) using the energy as an auxiliary variable. DBNs belong to the same family of statistical models as hidden Markov models (HMMs). However, DBNs are a more general framework and they allow more flexibility in defining new probabilistic relations between variables. We tried different network topologies and we noticed the benefit of conditioning the feature vector on the energy. Furthermore, hiding the value of the energy in recognition also improved the recognition performance.


Objective Subchondral bone modifications occur early in the development of osteoarthritis (OA). The level of bone resorption might impact cartilage remodeling. We therefore assessed the in vivo and in vitro effects of targeting bone resorption in OA and cartilage metabolism. Methods OA was induced by meniscectomy (MNX) in ovariectomized osteopenic mice (OP) treated with estradiol (E2), pamidronate (PAM), or phosphate buffered saline (PBS) for 6 weeks. We assessed the subchondral bone and cartilage structure and the expression of cartilage matrix proteases. To assess the involvement of bone soluble factors in cartilage metabolism, supernatant of human bone explants pre-treated with E2 or PAM were transferred to cartilage explants to assess proteoglycan release and aggrecan cleavage. OPG/RANKL mRNA expression was assessed in bone explants by real-time quantitative PCR. The role of osteoprotegerin (OPG) in the bone-cartilage crosstalk was tested using an OPG neutralizing antibody. Results Bone mineral density of OP mice and osteoclast number were restored by E2 and PAM (p<0.05). In OP mice, E2 and PAM decreased ADAMTS-4 and -5 expression, while only PAM markedly reduced OA compared to PBS (2.0±0.63 vs 5.2±0.95; p<0.05). OPG/RANKL mRNA was increased in human bone explants treated with both drugs (2.2–3.7-fold). Moreover, supernatants from bone explants cultured with E2 or PAM reduced aggrecan cleavage and cartilage proteoglycan release (73±8.0% and 80±22% of control, respectively, p<0.05). This effect was reversed with osteoprotegerin blockade. Conclusion The inhibition of bone resorption by pamidronate in osteopenic mice alleviates the histological OA score with a reduction in the expression of aggrecanases. Bone soluble factors, such as osteoprotegerin, impact the cartilage response to catabolic factors. This study further highlights the importance of subchondral bone in the regulation of joint cartilage damage in OA.


Abstract This study is based on the Natural Semantic Metalanguage (NSM) theory as proposed by Wierzbicka (1996a) considering the indication that children can master universal semantic features earlier. It results in the universal primitive hypothesis in semantic acquisition by children The mastery of words of Balinese language of 4-6 year old children are predominated by verb (42.07%), followed by noun then (36.55%). However, noun is in higher frequency of use (34.95%) than the verb (30.98%). Among all the words by the children, physical words used are 88.80% and mental words used are 11.20%. The most predominant linguistic idiosyncrasy in the Balinese language of children is overgeneralization. Based on the analysis, it is known that the semantic primes in Balinese is represented by the neutral style or kepara for such vocabulary style is unmarked and generic. There are sixty semantic primes found in Balinese. Out of which the 4-6 year old children are able to produce 58 semantic primes in their utterances. The semantic primes which are not produced by the Balinese children in such a case are AKLINYENGAN 'A MOMENT' and MIRIB 'MAYBE'. The disappearance of semantic primes AKLINYENGAN is due to the uncertainty of the lexical reference and similarly MIRIB 'MAYBE' disappears because of the cognitive limitedness of the children so that they are not able to use the knowledge they have in order to predict what is going to happen. The canonic sentence is a distributional pattern of the semantic primes in the linguistic expression of reality. The semantic primes of Balinese having the widest distribution are ICANG 'I' and BENA 'YOU'. The 4-6 year old children are not able to build up a sentence using ICANG 'I' and BENA 'YOU' as psychological objects.


This paper provides a comprehensive analysis of the energy efficiency performance for different relaying schemes over the non-Gaussian power line communication (PLC) channel. Specifically, amplify-and-forward (AF), decode-and-forward (DF), selective DF (SDF) and incremental DF (IDF) relaying systems are investigated. For a more realistic scenario, the power consumption profile of the PLC modems is assumed to consist of both dynamic and static power. For each system, we derive accurate analytical expressions for the outage probability and the minimum energy-per-bit performance. For the sake of comparison and completeness as well as to quantify the achievable gains, we also analyze the performance of a single-hop PLC system. Monte Carlo simulations are provided throughout this paper to validate the theoretical analysis. Results reveal that AF relaying over the non-Gaussian PLC channel does not always enhance the performance and that the IDF PLC system offers the best performance compared to all other schemes considered. It is also shown that increasing the channel variance, which is related to the PLC network branching, and impulsive noise probability can considerably deteriorate the system performance. Furthermore, when the end-to-end distance is relatively small, it is found that the single-hop PLC approach can perform better than AF relaying.


Abstract. Cyclones, which develop over the western Mediterranean and move northeastward are a major source of extreme weather and known to be responsible for heavy precipitation over the northern side of the Alpine range and Central Europe. As the relevant processes triggering these so-called Vb events and their impact on extreme precipitation are not yet fully understood, this study focuses on gaining insight into the dynamics of past events. For this, a cyclone detection and tracking tool is applied to the ERA-Interim reanalysis (1979–2013) to identify prominent Vb situations. Precipitation in the ERA-Interim and the E-OBS data sets is used to evaluate case-to-case precipitation amounts and to assess consistency between the two data sets. Both data sets exhibit high variability in precipitation amounts among different Vb events. While only 23 % of all Vb events are associated with extreme precipitation, around 15 % of all extreme precipitation days (99 percentile) over the northern Alpine region and Central Europe are induced by Vb events, although Vb cyclones are rare events (2.3 per year). To obtain a better understanding of the variability within Vb events, the analysis of the 10 heaviest and lowest precipitation Vb events reveals noticeable differences in the state of the atmosphere. These differences are most pronounced in the geopotential height and potential vorticity field, indicating a much stronger cyclone for heavy precipitation events. The related differences in wind direction are responsible for the moisture transport around the Alps and the orographical lifting along the northern slopes of the Alps. These effects are the main reasons for a disastrous outcome of Vb events, and consequently are absent in the Vb events associated with low precipitation. Hence, our results point out that heavy precipitation related to Vb events is mainly related to large-scale dynamics rather than to thermodynamic processes.


The parallel ON- and OFF-center signals flowing from retina to brain suggest the operation of a complementarity mechanism. This paper shows what such a mechanism can do in higher-level visual processing. In the proposed mechanism, inhibition and excitation, both feedforward, coequally compete within each hierarchical level to discriminate patterns. A computer model tests complementarity in the context of an adaptive, self-regulating system. Three other mechanisms (gain control, cooperativity, and adaptive error control) are included in the model but are described only briefly. Results from simulations show that complementarity markedly improves both speed and accuracy in pattern learning and recognition. This mechanism may serve not only vision but other types of processing in the brain as well.