This paper will examine developments in the Internet marketplace that limit and condition access in light of growing incentives to offer prioritized management and delivery at a premium price. Commercially-driven interconnection and compensation arrangements support biased networks rather than open ones. Single ventures, such as Amazon, Facebook, Google and Netflix have exploited, "winner take all" networking externalities resulting in the creation of dominant platforms and walled gardens. Advocates for network neutrality claim that limited and "pay to play" access will threaten a competitive marketplace of ideas by imposing higher costs on unaffiliated, disfavored and cash-poor content providers. Opponents argue that Internet Service Providers ("ISPs") should have the flexibility to customize services and accrue marketplace rewards for superior products and services.
The paper identifies four types of government responses to price and quality of service discrimination that can exploit, or remedy choke points within the Internet ecosystem where large volumes of traffic have to traverse a single ISP network, or service provider platform. Governments can refrain from regulating access and accept aspects of market concentration as proper rewards to ventures offering desirable content and carriage services. Alternatively, they can impose access neutrality requirements to offset harmful discrimination and market dominance. Between these poles, governments can apply antitrust/competition policy remedies, or rely on expert regulatory agencies to respond to complaints.
The paper examines case studies where ventures have created walled gardens and platforms as an intermediary between consumers and content providers. In some instances, government-imposed remedies offered a solution to a transitory, or possibly nonexistent problem. In other instances, governments have created an administrative process for responding to complaints and resolving valid disputes.
The paper concludes that governments should have a duty to remedy marketplace distortions generated by firms operating platforms in an anticompetitive manner. Rather than anticipate such an outcome, governments should offer remedies when and if they receive valid complaints documenting harm to consumers and competitors. Additionally, regulators should implement robust transparency and truth in billing safeguards that possibly can prevent most conflicts, or help identify practices that harm consumers and competitors.


The response of an Antarctic benthic community to iceberg disturbance was investi- gated using underwater photographs (1 m 2 each) on the SE Weddell Sea shelf. This study: (1) char- acterises composition, coverage, number of patches and area of sessile benthic fauna, (2) describes faunal heterogeneity using MDS ordination and identifies 'structural taxa' of each recovery stage, and (3) analyses changes of growth-form patterns during Antarctic recovery. We observed changes in the space occupation of benthic organisms along the recolonisation stages. Uncovered sediment characterised the early stages ranging from 98 to 91% of the coverage. The later stages showed high (70.5%) and intermediate (52.5%) values of benthic coverage, where demosponges, bryozoans and ascidians exhibited a high number of patches and taxa. Several 'structural species' were identified among the stages, and information is provided on their coverage, number of patches and area. Over- all, maximum areas of patches increased as recovery proceeded. Early stages were characterised by the presence of pioneer taxa, which only partly covered the bottom sediment but were locally abun- dant (e.g. the bryozoan Cellarinella spp. and the gorgonian Primnosis antarctica with a maximum coverage of 13 and 3%, and 51 and 30 patches m -2 , respectively). Soft bush-like bryozoans, sheet-like sabellid polychaetes, and tree-like sponges, gorgonians, bryozoans and ascidians were the first colonisers. Mound-like sponges and ascidians as well as tree-like organisms with a long lifespan and different reproductive strategies defined the late stages. We conclude by comparing the selected 'structural species' and relating their life-history traits to differences in distribution in the course of Antarctic recovery.


In this paper, a new class of finite-dimensional repetitive controllers for robot manipulators is proposed. The global asymptotic stability is proved for the unperturbed system. The passivity-based design of the proposed repetitive controller avoids the problem of tight stability conditions and slow convergence of the conventional, internal model-based, repetitive controllers. The passive interconnection of the controller and the nonlinear mechanical systems provides the same stability conditions as the controller with the exact feed-forward compensation of robot dynamics. The simulation results on a three degrees of freedom spatial manipulator illustrate the performances of the proposed controller.


It is well known that two or more genes can interact so as to enhance or suppress incidence of disease, such that the observed phenotype differs from when the genes act independently. The effect of a gene allele at one locus can mask or modify the effect of alleles at one or more other loci. Discovery and characterization of such gene interactions is pursued as a valuable aid in early diagnosis and treatment of disease. Also it is hoped that the characterization of such interactions will shed light on biological and biochemical pathways that are involved in a specific disease, leading to new therapeutic treatments. Much attention has been focused on the application of machine learning approaches to detection of gene interactions. Our method is based upon training a supervised learning algorithm to detect disease, and then quantifying the effect on prediction accuracy when alleles of two or more genes are perturbed to unmutated in patterns so as to reveal and characterize gene interactions. We utilize this approach with a support vector machine. We test the versatility of our approach using seven disease models, some of which model gene interactions and some of which model biological independence. In every disease model we correctly detect the presence or absence of 2-way and 3-way gene interactions using our method. We also correctly characterize all of the interactions as to the epistatic effect of gene alleles in both 2-way and 3-way gene interactions. This provides evidence that this machine learning approach can be used to successfully detect and also characterize gene interactions in disease.


This study characterizes a transgenic animal model for the troponin T (TnT) mutation (I79N) associated with familial hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. To study the functional consequences of this mutation, we examined a wild type and two I79N-transgenic mouse lines of human cardiac TnT driven by a murine α-myosin heavy chain promoter. Extensive characterization of the transgenic I79N lines compared with wild type and/or nontransgenic mice demonstrated: 1) normal survival and no cardiac hypertrophy even with chronic exercise; 2) large increases in Ca2+ sensitivity of ATPase activity and force in skinned fibers; 3) a substantial increase in the rate of force activation and an increase in the rate of force relaxation; 4) lower maximal force/cross-sectional area and ATPase activity; 5) loss of sensitivity to pH-induced shifts in the Ca2+ dependence of force; and 6) computer simulations that reproduced experimental observations and suggested that the I79N mutation decreases the apparent off rate of Ca2+ from troponin C and increases cross-bridge detachment rateg. Simulations for intact living fibers predict a higher basal contractility, a faster rate of force development, slower relaxation, and increased resting tension in transgenic I79N myocardium compared with transgenic wild type. These mechanisms may contribute to mortality in humans, especially in stimulated contractile states.


Aquatic organisms respond to metal exposures by modulating uptake, elimination and detoxification capacity and, therefore, it is difficult to link accumulation within fish to adverse chronic effects. When fish are exposed to sublethal concentrations of metal, physiological responses follow a damage-repair scenario with rapid uptake into the gills followed by transfer via the circulatory system and accumulation into key organs such as the liver and kidney. Anthropogenic sources of cadmium (Cd) arise mainly from mining, smelting, and refining sulphide ores of Zn, Pb and Cu (Norton et al., 1990). The free divalent ion (Cd) is the toxic form of Cd in water. Cd competes with calcium ions (Ca) for binding sites and transport channels across the basolateral membrane of the gill. Ambient Ca is the primary cation responsible for reduced Cd toxicity to species of trout, during both acute and chronic waterborne exposures. The objective of this research was to examine the dynamics of chronically accumulated Cd within tissues of rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) during chronic (one month) sublethal waterborne exposures to Cd (0.75 and 2.0 ng/L) in both moderately hard (140 mg/L as CaC03) and moderately soft (50 mg/L as CaC03) water. Accumulation was assessed on a tissue (gills, liver and kidney) and subcellular levels. Tissues accumulated Cd in a timeand dosedependent manner. Results indicate that fish exposed to sublethal Cd concentrations in moderately soft water attained higher amounts of Cd in gills, and more Cd bound to metal-sensitive fractions (mitochondria and proteins) in all tissues in comparison to fish exposed to Cd in moderately hard water. Early mortality and ion-loss may link to accumulation in metal-sensitive fractions (particularly within the gills). However, Cd concentrations in metal-sensitive fractions continued to rise throughout both sublethal exposures suggesting damage-repair mechanisms other than metallothionein are induced, or threshold Cd concentrations in tissues and metalsensitive fractions associated with adverse effects have not been exceeded. The kidney appeared to be most capable organ to offer protection from Cd accumulation in metal-sensitive fractions, as Cd dissipated from metal-sensitive fractions with time and dose. Also kidneys displayed the highest capacity to induce detoxification of Cd by metallothionein.


Microfossil-bound organic matter represents an important archive of surface ocean environmental information. Sedimentary nitrogen (N) isotope reconstructions of surface nitrate consumption and nitrogen source changes are made using fossil diatom (autotrophs) and planktic foraminiferal (heterotrophs)-bound organic matter with success. However, because diatoms and planktic foraminifera are poorly preserved and sedimentary organic matter content is near zero during the late Eocene, our ability to examine nutrient dynamics across this important climate transition is limited. Here we present new data exploring the use of N isotope records from radiolarian tests. A comparison of surface ocean nitrate and core top bulk and radiolarian N isotope values (as δ15N) from the equatorial Pacific indicates that radiolarian-N records δ15N variability with fidelity but that a significant offset exists between bulk sedimentary and diatom δ15N values and those measured from radiolarians (~7.1 ± 1.1‰). A downcore profile of radiolarian δ15N values is compared to siliceous microfossil assemblage changes across the Eocene-Oligocene boundary. Average of radiolarian-bound δ15N values is 0.5 ± 2.0‰, which, when corrected using the offset derived from the modern surface samples, suggests that the mean nitrogen isotopic composition of the early Cenozoic eastern Pacific was not significantly different from today. The overall trend, of decreasing δ15N values with decreasing export productivity, is consistent with either a regional decline in pelagic denitrification or a large-scale change in nutrient sources to the eastern equatorial Pacific (EEP), both linked to the cooling climate and changing intermediate water circulation. Decreasing/low δ15N values cooccur with high radiolarian species turnover at ~35.5 and 34 Ma, suggestive of a significant ecological change in the EEP, consistent with cooling and water mass distribution changes. The preliminary results suggest that radiolarian-bound organic nitrogen represents another promising archive and underscores the fact that the different microfossil fractions must be separated to ensure robust results.


In this paper, we report, for the first time to our knowledge, the modeling and the design of a miniaturized integrated optical sensor, based on a multiple quantum-well (MQW) microring laser, to be used in gyroscope systems. The device can be fully integrated on a single chip and used either in low (e.g., vehicles for land transport) or high (e.g., ships, airplanes, spaceborne platforms) sensitivity navigation systems. The model includes the influence of some physical effects, such as quantum noise, lock in, thermal effect, and sidewall roughness-induced losses. Very good performance has been obtained in terms of gyro quantum limit, operating regions of detectable velocity, thermal range of operation, and power consumption. The proposed architecture shows significant manifold advantages with respect to other existing optical solutions: no polarization-induced noise, no use of frequency-locking techniques, negligible bending losses, high cavity quality factor, complete evaluation of the rotation speed, predictable thermal variation of the gyro scale factor, and very high dynamic range.


Shock absorbers are essential to vehicle comfort and handling. Most shock absorbers use passive or "semi-active" valves to produce reactive force with limited ride benefits while dissipating hydraulic power as heat. Fully-active suspensions can fundamentally eliminate the discomfort of bumps and provide superior handling and safety. Existing active suspensions consume large amounts of power and are expensive and unwieldy. If these challenges are addressed, fully-active suspensions could revolutionize the ride control industry.A compact and full-active suspension system, GenShock, is being developed by Levant Power. The patented system relies upon an electrohydraulic power pack coupled with a gerotor motor/pump. Energy consumption is minimized by regenerative harvesting from suspension dynamics. The system is based around a proprietary electrohydraulic motor/pump mechanism that can both semi-actively damp body and wheel motion while recovering energy, and actuate to drive the wheel and chassis.This article describes the use of computational fluid dynamics (CFD) in the development and optimization of hydraulic components in GenShock. The CFD software PumpLinx enabled the complex non-linear GenShock system to be simulated within 5% of experimental tests, and enabled a threefold increase in system efficiency. Parametric simulations predict the torque, power, leakage behavior, and hydrodynamics of the system including effects of aeration and cavitation. Detailed analysis and correlations between experimental data and simulations are presented.Copyright © 2013 by ASME


Coronavirus is a pandemic that affects the respiratory system causing cough, shortness of breath, and death in severe cases. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests are used to diagnose coronavirus. The false-negative rate of these tests is high, so there needs a supporting method for an accurate diagnosis. CT scan provides a detailed examination of the chest to diagnose COVID, but a single CT scan comprises hundreds of slices. Expert and experienced radiologists and pulmonologists can diagnose COVID from these hundreds of slices, but this is very time-consuming. So an automatic artificial intelligence (AI) based method is required to diagnose coronavirus with high accuracy. Developing this AI-based technique requires a lot of resources and time, but once it is developed, it can significantly help the clinicians. This paper used an Automated machine learning (AutoML) technique that requires fewer resources (optimal architecture trials) and time to develop, resulting in the best diagnosis. The AutoML models are trained on 2D slices instead of 3D CT scans, and the predictions on unknown data (slices of CT scan) are aggregated to form a prediction of 3D CT scan. The aggregation process picked the most occurred case, whether COVID or non-COVID from all CT scan slices and labeled the 3D CT scan accordingly. Different thresholds are also used to label COVID or non-COVID 3D CT scans from 2D slices. The approach resulted in accuracy and F1-score of 89% and 88%, respectively. Implementation is available at github.com/talhaanwarch/mia-covid19


Education and training must extend beyond initial qualifying courses into post qualifying professional development throughout a social worker's career if practice is to be most effective in meeting clients' needs. In the United Kingdom a Framework for Post Qualifying Education and Training was introduced from 1990. Revised frameworks have been put in place from autumn 2007 in each of the four home countries of the UK. This paper reflects on lessons learned in implementing these post qualifying frameworks in Northern Ireland. Within the overarching theme of relevance to practice, issues are drawn out under three main themes: (1) partnership working between employers and universities including the importance of leadership from policy makers and senior managers; (2) assessing competence including providing an Independent Assessment Route to increase access and to benchmark professional standards; and (3) meeting service needs including specifying learning outcomes to cover a range of practice contexts and accrediting employer-based programmes. Meeting service needs more closely is identified as a key issue driving the new Northern Ireland Post Qualifying Framework introduced in 2007.


The importance of the elapsed time between initial presentation of upper gastrointestinal bleeding (UGIB) and the performance of a gastroscopy remains poorly understood, despite being the focus of much research and consistent recommendations across societies.1–4 Furthermore, as in other areas of medicine, the improved efficacy observed in randomised controlled trials (RCTs) of patients presenting with non-variceal UGIB may not translate into similar benefits in a real-life setting. The national audit by Hearnshaw et al (published online) thus provides a plethora of important observational information, including insights into after-hours endoscopy.5 These new data need to be interpreted in light of existing guidelines and their supportive evidence. Although the evidence discussed below pertains to all patients presenting with UGIB, for the most part it does not specifically address patients with a high likelihood of bleeding from complications of portal hypertension (usually ∼10–15% of all patients with UGIB6 7).

A multidisciplinary approach with timely involvement of a trained endoscopist and endoscopy assistant is widely recommended1–4; such involvement may entail after-hours availability, since early endoscopy is the cornerstone of treatment for patients with acute non-variceal UGIB. Indeed, the performance of an early gastroscopy allows for safe and prompt discharge of patients classified as low risk, improves patient outcomes for patients classified as high risk and reduces resource utilisation for patients classified as either low or high risk.4 The definition of early endoscopy varies widely among studies, from 2 to 24 h after presentation to the emergency department.3 4 8 9 The improvement in outcomes attributable to performing endoscopic haemostasis in patients with high-risk endoscopic lesions has been shown.10–14 Yet it is important to realise that the benefits attributable to early endoscopy relate to both its diagnostic and therapeutic roles in managing patients with non-variceal UGIB.

Several …


Cardiac copper deficiency elicits a circulating signal that leads to an increase in circulating copper and in the abundance of a copper transporter in liver and intestine. Copper, an essential cofactor for various enzymes, is absorbed through the intestine and transported to the liver for storage, with a small amount mobilized into the circulation to supply peripheral tissues (see Culotta). The heart is particularly sensitive to copper deficiency, which leads to cardiac hypertrophy and other defects in cardiovascular function. Kim et al. generated transgenic mice that specifically lacked the copper transporter Ctr1 in cardiac tissue (Ctr1hrt/hrt mice) and found that they showed decreased cardiac copper accumulation, compared with wild-type littermates, and severe cardiomyopathy. Similarly, loss of cardiac Ctr1 in 2- or 7-month old mice led to their subsequent development of cardiomyopathy. Unexpectedly, however, Ctr1hrt/hrt mice showed a decrease in liver copper content and an increase in serum copper. Moreover, mice lacking cardiac Ctr1 showed a substantial increase in the abundance of the ATP7A copper-exporting ATPase in liver and intestine. ATP7A, known for its role in absorption of copper from the intestine, had not previously been implicated in hepatic copper handling and, indeed, its abundance in wild-type adult mouse liver was modest. When human umbilical vein endothelial cells or a human epithelial cell–like cell line were treated with serum from Ctr1hrt/hrt mice, they showed an increase in ATP7A abundance, compared to cells treated with serum from control mice, as well as an increase in the abundance of the copper chaperone CCS (suggestive of decreased copper content). The authors thus conclude that cardiac copper deficiency elicits a circulating signal that leads to an increase in the abundance of ATP7A in liver and intestine, thereby enabling increased copper uptake and mobilization into the circulatory system. B.-E. Kim, M. L. Turski, Y. Nose, M. Casad, H. A. Rockman, D. J. Thiele, Cardiac copper deficiency activates a systemic signaling mechanism that communicates with the copper acquisition and storage organs. Cell Metab. 11, 353–363 (2010). [PubMed] V. Culotta, Speaking from the heart: Systemic copper signaling. Cell Metab. 11, 343–344 (2010). [PubMed]


Daily or casual passenger vehicles in cities have negative burden on our finite world. Transport sector has been one of the main contributors to air pollution and energy depletion.

Providing alternative means of transport is a promising strategy perceived by motor manufacturers and researchers. The paper presents the battery electric vehicles-BEVs bibliography that starts with the early eras of invention up till 2015 outlook. It gives a broad overview of BEV market and its technology in a chronological classification while sheds light on the stakeholders' focus attentions in each stage, the so called, Focus-Attention-Scale-FAS. The attention given in each era is projected and parsed in a scale graph, which varies between micro, meso,
and macro-scale. BEV-system is on the verge of experiencing massive growth; however, the system entails a variety of substantial challenges. Observations show the main issues of BEVsystem that require more attention followed by the authors' recommendations towards an emerging market.


There remains a great deal of confusion in the industry about the
state of patent litigation and IPR disclosures around VP8. To
facilitate greater understanding, Duane Morris LLP drafted a paper
that summarizes the current state of disclosures and patent litigation
based on publically available materials, and has posted a
comprehensive report on the Internet. This Internet Draft provides a
high level summary of that report. Cisco Systems requested and funded
Duane Morris to prepare this report.


Abstract. The assessment of the vulnerability of communities prone to landslide related disasters is a topic that is growing in importance. Few studies discuss this issue and limited research has been carried out on the relationship between types of landslide and their potential impact on buildings and infrastructure. We outline a framework to undertake an assessment of the vulnerability of buildings to landslide utilising a similar framework used for assessing the vulnerability of buildings to tsunami damage. The framework is based on the development of an "elements at risk database" that takes into consideration the characteristics and use of the buildings, their importance for the local economy and the characteristics of the inhabitants (population density, age and so forth). The attributes that affect vulnerability are imported and examined within a GIS database which is used to visualise the physical, human and economic vulnerability. The results may have important implications for disaster management and emergency planning, and the database can be used by various end-users and stakeholders such as insurance companies, local authorities and the emergency services. The approach presented here can be integrated in to a wider more detailed "Framework for Landslide Risk and Vulnerability Assessment for Communities". We illustrate the potential of this framework and present preliminary results from Lichtenstein, Baden Wurttemberg, Germany.


High free-stream turbulence along a gas turbine airfoil and strong secondary flows along the endwall have both been reported to increase convective heat transfer significantly. This study superimposes high free-stream turbulence on the naturally occurring secondary flow vortices to determine the effects on the flowfield and the endwall convective heat transfer. Measured flowfield and heat transfer data were compared between low free-stream turbulence levels (0.6 percent) and combustor simulated turbulence levels (19.5 percent) that were generated using an active grid. These experiments were conducted using a scaled-up, first-stage stator vane geometry. Infrared thermography was used to measure surface temperatures on a constant heat flux plate placed on the endwall surface. Laser-Doppler Velocimetry (LDV) measurements were performed of all three components of the mean and fluctuating velocities of the leading edge horseshoe vortex. The results indicate that the mean flowfields for the leading edge horseshoe vortex were similar between the low and high free-stream turbulence cases. High turbulence levels in the leading edge-endwall juncture were attributed to a vortex unsteadiness for both the low and high free-stream turbulence cases. While, in general, the high free-stream turbulence increased the endwall heat transfer, low augmentations were found to coincide with the regions having the most intense vortex motions.


In the pre-mRNA splicing field the term 'pseudoexons' has been introduced to describe all those sequences usually localised deep in intronic regions that resemble real exons in appearance but are ignored by the spliceosomal machinery. Although we now know that some of these sequences are important for regulatory purposes it is also true that aberrant pseudoexon activation is increasingly described as one of the major causes of human disease. Several recent studies on pseudoexon inclusion–exclusion mechanisms have allowed researchers to gain further insight with regards to the mechanism that the spliceosome uses to discriminate between true and false exons during the normal splicing process. Most importantly, the newly gained knowledge regarding pseudoexon biology has been extensively exploited to devise novel therapeutic strategies aimed at inhibiting their inclusion in human patients.

Key Concepts:

Pseudoexons (also known as 'false exons') are very abundant in all eukaryotic genes, especially those harbouring long intronic sequences.

In normal conditions, pseudoexon inclusion in mature mRNAs is efficiently inhibited.

Mutational events that activate aberrant pseudoexon inclusion are a common source of disease-causing mutations in humans.

A variety of novel therapeutic approaches principally based on antisense oligonucleotide (AON) technology is currently being developed to inhibit their inclusion in human patients.

Keywords:

pseudoexons;
exons;
introns;
pre-mRNA splicing;
genetic disease;
gene therapy


Permanent magnet synchronous motor(PMSM) is a exceedingly efficient motor and is successfully operated in a wide range of speed. Various types of permanent magnet synchronous motors are accessible in the market offering advantages of direct on line starting as induction motor and effectively running on synchronous speed. Major disadvantages of PMSM is uncertainty of successfully synchronization, loading capability during asynchronous as well as synchronous period. The present market potential for motors places a high value of operating efficiency , reliability, variable speed operation, low running temperature, quiet operation and minimum cost. In comparison to induction motor , PMSM provides the peculiarity of consumer prerequisite along with high power density and high power factor. The advancement in the design technologies and magnetic material allows the achievement of souk ambition at even higher temperature without much more permanent magnetization loss. This paper presented the investigations of new structures appearing in scientific literature carried out by the researchers to obtain multi-objective optimal design for PMSM. Index Terms Permanent Magnet Synchronous Motors, Axial Flux Geometry, Radial Flux Geometry, Torque, Efficiency Power Factor And Hybrid Models


Givon's new book re-casts pragmatics, and most conspicuously the pragmatics of sociality and communication, in neuro-cognitive, bio-adaptive, evolutionary terms. The fact that context, the core notion of pragmatics, is a framing operation undertaken on the fly through judgements of relevance, has been well known since Aristotle, Kant and Peirce. But the context that is relevant to the pragmatics of sociality and communication is a highly specific mental operation — the mental modeling of the interlocutor's current, rapidly shifting belief-and-intention states. The construed context of social interaction and communication is thus a mental representation of other minds. Following a condensed intellectual history of pragmatics, the book investigates the adaptive pragmatics of lexical-semantic categories — the 1st-order framing of "reality", what cognitive psychologists call "semantic memory". Utilizing the network model, the book then takes a fresh look at the adaptive underpinnings of metaphoric meaning. The core chapters of the book outline the re-interpretation of "communicative context" as the systematic, on-line construction of mental models of the interlocutor's current, rapidly-shifting states of belief and intention. This grand theme is elaborated through examples from the grammar of referential coherence, verbal modalities and clause-chaining. In its final chapters, the book pushes pragmatics beyond its traditional bounds, surveying its interdisciplinary implications for philosophy of science, theory of personality, personality disorders and the calculus of social interaction.


The article explores the relationship between economics and moral philosophy. Starting point of the analysis is the question of whether legal policy should be guided purely by considerations of efficiency (as, for example, Richard Posner argues) or also (or exclusively) by considerations of fairness. The article discusses the two main philosophical movements underlying this question: the Kantian rights-based approach and the utilitarian (consequentialist) view. It concludes that neither approach succeeds in substantiating the claim that certain values (individual liberties vs. the greatest good for the greatest number) can be accorded exclusivity or absolute truth. The views can, therefore, not predetermine the issue of whether efficiency considerations should govern the legislative process and the application of the law. Rather, depending on the circumstances of the case, different interests have to be balanced. These general considerations are then applied to specific problems involving, inter alia, the value of human life, the Learned-Hand formula, and the concept of cheapest cost avoider.


• The financial planning profession's body of knowledge consists of a mix of consensus-based best practices and research-based findings founded upon formal standards of evidence. Even a cursory examination of that body of writing and codified practice, however, reveals the former to vastly dominate the latter. • The scientific method provides a framework for validating the profession's best practices, so that practitioners can have confidence that their "best" practices are based on the "best" evidence. • If financial planning is to leave its adolescent stage of development and achieve its full potential as a learned profession, three requirements must be met: - It will require a commitment by all practitioners to stay abreast of new research, without regard to whether or not it qualifies for CE credit. - It will require practitioners to possess or acquire the ability to read and critically evaluate that research and a commitment by financial planning educational programs to impart those skills to students. - It will require a commitment on the part of practitioners to partner with academics in identifying the profession's most important questions and designing research initiatives to answer them.


Digital 3D documentation methods such as Image-Based Modelling (IBM) and laser scanning have become increasingly popular for the recording of entire archaeological sites and landscapes, excavations and single finds during the last decade. However, they have not been applied in any significant degree to miniature incisions such as graffiti. In the same period, Reflectance Transformation Imaging (RTI) has become one of the most popular methods used to record and visualize this kind of heritage, though it lacks the benefits of 3D documentation. The aim of this paper is to introduce two new ways of combining IBM and RTI, and to assess these different techniques in relation to factors such as usability, time-efficiency, cost-efficiency and accuracy. A secondary aim is to examine the influence of two different 3D processing software packages on these factors: The widely used MetaShape (MS) and a more expensive option, RealityCapture (RC). The article shows that there is currently no recording technique that is optimal regarding all four aforementioned factors, and the way to record and produce results must be chosen based on a prioritization of these. However, we argue that the techniques combining RTI and IBM might be the overall best ways to record miniature incisions. One of these combinations is time-efficient and relatively cost-efficient, and the results have high usability even though the 3D models generated have low accuracy. The other combination has low time- and cost-efficiency but generates the most detailed 3D models of the techniques tested. In addition to cost-efficiency, the main difference between the 3D software packages tested is that RC is much faster than MS. The accuracy assessment remains inconclusive; while RC generally produces more detailed 3D models than MS, there are also areas of these models where RC creates more noise than MS.


Due to the high incidence of ill health and disability amongst their contemporaries, older people are likely to be involved in informal caring relationships. Due to the limited nature of post-retirement incomes, such carers are also likely to be relatively poor. In spite of this, little attention has been given to the role of older carers or to the influence of material deprivation upon this role. Drawing on fieldwork interviews with a sample of older co-resident carers and the secondary analysis of official statistics, this research aims to redress this 'ageless' and 'classless' analysis of informal care. While the original intention of the research was to focus solely on the way in which material resources went on to affect caring in older age, subsequent analysis revealed a complex interaction between material circumstances, physical pathology, culture and attitude. The concept of resources was therefore broadened to incorporate these issues and the study's materialist focus has been supplemented by a consideration of the age-based specificity in the way in which respondents manage and experience their financial situation and caring role. The thesis concludes with a consideration of the implications of these findings for future policy, literature and research. Thus, it is suggested that in view of the high degree of interdependence in caring relationships, intervention should focus less on the conflicting needs of care providers and care receivers and more on their commonality and their shared need for adequate and appropriate support. Similar synthesis is required in the exploration of poverty, older age and caring and also in the three generations of thought that have engaged in this exploration. In the light of this synthesis, it is argued that the 'relative autonomy' of the age dynamic should be recognised and responded to by researchers, practitioners and policy makers alike.


Abstract Halloysite with tubular morphology is formed in a wide range of geological environments from the alteration of various rock types. Intrusive acidic coarse-grained rocks, such as granites, pegmatites and anorthosite, with large potash and sodic feldspars contents, are subsequently altered to kaolinite, halloysite and other clay minerals by weathering or shallow hydrothermal fluid activity. Processing to separate the halloysite-kaolinite fraction from the altered host rock provides a product which can be used as a paper filler and in ceramics and fibreglass, among other uses, with various deposits in Brazil, China, Thailand and elsewhere. In the Kerikeri-Matauri Bay district of Northland, North Island, New Zealand, volcanic alkali rhyolite was extruded as domes and cooled rapidly with fine-grained feldspar subsequently altered to halloysite. The IMERYS plant in Matauri Bay separates the clay from the quartz-cristobalite matrix with an ∼20% yield of halloysite. The principal market is for high-quality porcelain and bone china that require low levels of Fe2O3 and TiO2. Deposits with high levels of halloysite occur in China, Turkey and the USA. The Dragon mine in Utah, USA was recently reopened by Applied Minerals Inc. and now produces halloysite from zones of up to 100% white halloysite. Smaller occurrences of tubular halloysite are mined in China, Turkey and elsewhere from masses of comparatively pure clay that appear to have crystallized directly from solutions in which Al and Si were soluble.


The study is focused on structural aspects of interaction between silencing suppressor p19 and CUG-repeating small RNAs. The work involves crystal structure determination of a protein-unbound RNA form and RNA fragments of various lengths (19, 20, 21 nucleotides) complexed with p19-suppressor. Results prove the ability of silencing suppressor p19 to bind CUG-repeating small RNAs, as well as reveal features of U•U mismatches flanked by Watson-Crick C•G base pairs in p19-bound and p19-unbound states. In addition, structural data reveal a p19 specific site for anchoring extra nucleotides in small RNAs. In general, the study extends our knowledge about the mechanism of small RNA recognition by silencing suppressor p19.


Saponins are natural surfactants, with molecules composed of a hydrophobic steroid or triterpenoid group, and one or several hydrophilic oligosaccharide chains attached to this group. Saponins are used in cosmetic, food and pharmaceutical products, due to their excellent ability to stabilize emulsions and foams, and to solubilize bulky hydrophobic molecules. The foam and emulsion applications call for a better understanding of the surface properties of saponin adsorption layers, including their rheological properties. Of particular interest is the relation between the molecular structure of the various saponins and their surface properties. Here, we study a series of eight triterpenoid and three steroid saponins, with different numbers of oligosaccharide chains. The surface rheological properties of adsorption layers at the air–water interface, subjected to creep-recovery and oscillatory shear deformations, are investigated. The experiments showed that all steroid saponins exhibited no shear elasticity and had negligible surface viscosity. In contrast, most of the triterpenoid saponins showed complex visco-elastic behavior with extremely high elastic modulus (up to 1100 mN m−1) and viscosity (130 N s m−1). Although the magnitude of the surface modulus differed significantly for the various saponins, they all shared qualitatively similar rheological properties: (1) the elastic modulus was much higher than the viscous one. (2) Up to a certain critical value of surface stress, τC, the single master curve described the dependence of the creep compliance versus time. This rheological response was described well by the compound Voigt model. (3) On increasing the surface stress above τC, the compliance decreased with the applied stress, and eventually, all layers became purely viscous, indicating a loss in the layer structure, responsible for the elastic properties. The saponin extracts, showing the highest elastic moduli, were those of Escin, Tea saponins and Berry saponins, all containing predominantly monodesmosidic triterpenoid saponins. Similarly, a high surface modulus was measured for Ginsenosides extracts, containing bidesmosidic triterpenoid saponins with short sugar chains.


Non-enolizable thioketones and 1,2-epoxycycloalkanes undergo a Lewis acid catalyzed addition reaction to give 1,3-oxathiolanes. Appropriate reaction conditions are CH2Cl2 as the solvent, BF 3.Et2O as the Lewis acid, and a temperature between -78° and r.t. Under the reaction conditions, the 1,3-oxathiolanes are only moderately stable. They decompose to yield the corresponding epithiocycloalkane and ketone. In general, 1,3- dithiolanes are isolated as minor products or, after prolonged reaction, as the main product. These secondary products are formed via the Lewis acid catalyzed reaction of the intermediate epithiocycloalkane and a second molecule of the thioketone. In the reaction of thiobenzophenone and 1,2-epoxycyclohexane, trans-8,8-diphenyl-7,9-dioxabicyclo[4.3.0]nonane is formed in small amounts as an additional side product (Scheme 12). In all cases, the newly formed heterocycle and the carbocycle are trans-fused. This result is consistent with a nucleophilic ring-opening of the complexed oxirane by the thioketone via inversion of the configuration and subsequent formation of the O(1)-C(2) bond of the 1,3-oxathiolane (Scheme 13). The surprising formation of the fused 1,4-oxathiepan derivative 23 (Scheme 9) is in accordance with an ionic reaction mechanism (cf. Scheme 15).


Academic) Caffeine substantially affects cardiovascular functioning, yet wide variability exists in caffeine control procedures in cardiovascular reactivity (CVR) research. This study was conducted in order to identify a minimal abstention duration in habitual coffee consumers whereby CVR is unconfounded by caffeine; Six hours was hypothesized (average half-life). Thirty nine subjects (mean age: 20.9; 20 Women) completed a repeated measures study involving hand cold pressor (CP) and memory tasks. Caffeinated and decaffeinated coffee were administered. The following CV indices were acquired during baseline, task, and recovery epochs prior to coffee intake, 30 minutes-, and six hours post-intake: Heart rate (HR), high frequency heart rate variability (hfHRV), root mean squared successive differences (RMSSD), systolic and diastolic blood pressures (SBP, DBP), mean arterial pressure (MAP), pre-ejection period (PEP), left ventricular ejection time (LVET), and total peripheral resistance (TPR). Results support the adequacy of a six-hour abstention in controlling for caffeine-elicited CVR changes. The current study contributes to methodological endeavors in psychophysiology. Further investigations are crucial in establishing ideal caffeine controls, which would promote increasingly valid and reliable cross-study results. CONTROLLING CAFFEINE iii Controlling for Acute Caffeine Intake in Cardiovascular Reactivity Research Shara Soyini Grant


In recent years, even if Fiber Reinforced Polymer (FRP) composites have been widely used for strengthening of civil buildings, a new generation of materials has been studied and proposed for historical masonry construction. These buildings, mainly made of stone work, are common in many areas of Europe and Asia and recent earthquakes has been the cause of many catastrophic failures. The brittleness of unreinforced historic masonry can be considerably reduced using new retrofitting lighter-weight materials such FRP, even if limitations were evidenced due to material and mechanical compatibility with poor substrates. Thus, fibrous reinforcements were used as long fibres incorporated into a cement or lime matrix, which better match with the properties of ancient masonry. The use of low strength fibers such as glass and basalt, respect to carbon, in presence of an alkaline matrix brought out durability issues, due to the chemical vulnerability of common glass and basalt fibres. The objective of this research is to explore the effects of selected aqueous environments and fatigue loading on the mechanical and physical properties of composite grids, made of E-CR (Electrical/Chemical Resistance) glass fibers and epoxy-vinylester resin, used as tensile reinforcement in new composite reinforced mortar systems. Glass-fiber-reinforced polymer (GFRP) coupons were subjected to tensile testing and a severe protocol of durability tests, including alkaline environment and fatigue tensile loads. Accelerated ageing tests were used to simulate long-term degradation in terms of chemical attack and consequent reduction of tensile strength. The ageing protocol consisted of immersion at 40 °C in alkaline bath made by deionized water and Ca(OH)2, 0.16% in weight, solution for 30 days. GFRP specimens aged and unaged were also tested under tensile fatigue cycles up to 1,000,000 cycles and a nominal frequency of 7.5 Hz. After this severe conditioning the tests indicate a good tensile strength retention of the GFRP in absence of fatigue loads, while a significant loss in fatigue life was experienced when both alkaline exposure and fatigue loads were applied.


A number of methods for cooperative localization has been proposed, but most of them provide only location estimate, without associated uncertainty. On the other hand, nonparametric belief propagation (NBP), which provides approximated posterior distributions of the location estimates, is expensive mostly because of the transmission of the particles. In this paper, we propose a novel approach to reduce communication overhead for cooperative positioning using NBP. It is based on: i) communication of the beliefs (instead of the messages), ii) approximation of the belief with Gaussian mixture of very few components, and iii) censoring. According to our simulations results, these modifications reduce significantly communication overhead while providing the estimates almost as accurate as the transmission of the particles.


The American Diabetes Association currently recommends an A1C goal of less than 7 percent. However, many patients are unable to achieve this goal by using oral drug combinations or diet and exercise, leaving insulin as the only treatment option. In most cases, insulin is initiated later in therapy because of its inconvenience and adverse effects (e.g., weight gain, hypoglycemia, possible role in atherogenesis). Although insulin effectively helps patients attain glucose goals, the search for new agents continues. Two injectable agents, pramlintide and exenatide, were approved in 2005 for the treatment of diabetes. Pramlintide, indicated for use in patients with type 1 and 2 diabetes, is a synthetic analogue of human amylin that acts in conjunction with insulin to delay gastric emptying and inhibit the release of glucagon. Exenatide, a glucagon-like peptide-1 mimetic, has multiple mechanisms for lowering glucose levels, including the enhancement of insulin secretion, and is indicated for use in patients with type 2 diabetes. Clinical trials have shown that both agents reduce, by a statistically significant degree, A1C levels (0.3 to 0.7 percent more than placebo), fasting plasma glucose levels, and body weight (3 to 5 lb [1.4 to 2.3 kg]). No studies have examined their effects on diabetic complications, cardiovascular disease, or overall mortality. Pramlintide and exenatide may help make glycemic goals more attainable.


Although mortgage-backed securities ("MBS") and other financial products that nearly caused the collapse of the global financial system could not have been issued without attorneys, the legal profession's role in the financial crisis has received relatively little scrutiny. This Article focuses on lawyers' preparation of MBS offering documents that misrepresented the lending practices of mortgage loan originators. While attorneys may not have known that many MBS would become toxic, they lacked incentives to inquire into the shoddy lending practices of prominent originators such as Washington Mutual Bank ("WaMu") when they and their clients were reaping considerable profits from MBS offerings. The subprime era illustrates that attorneys are unreliable gatekeepers of the financial markets because they will not necessarily acquire sufficient information to assess the legality of the transactions they are facilitating. The Article concludes by proposing that the Securities and Exchange Commission impose heightened investigative duties on attorneys who work on public offerings of securities.


The dark energy dominated warm dark matter (WDM) model is a promising alternative cosmological scenario. We explore large-scale structure formation in this paradigm. We do this in two different ways: with the halo model approach and with the help of an ensemble of high-resolution N-body simulations. Combining these quasi-independent approaches leads to a physical understanding of the important processes which shape the formation of structures. We take a detailed look at the halo mass function, the concentrations and the linear halo bias of WDM. In all cases we find interesting deviations with respect to cold dark matter (CDM). In particular, the concentration-mass relation displays a turnover for group scale dark matter haloes, for the case of WDM particles with masses of the order of mWDM˜ 0.25 keV. This may be interpreted as a hint for top-down structure formation on small scales. We implement our results into the halo model and find much better agreement with simulations. On small scales, the WDM halo model now performs as well as its CDM counterpart.


In the European Monetary Union (EMU) development of unit-labour costs and inflation rates differs substantially among regions. This shows that the different wage determination models in the EMU did not converge to create a EMU-wide coherent wage bargaining system. The result are huge regional imbalances. Germany the biggest economy and the country with the lowest increase in unit-labour costs in EMU already realises big and increasing current account surpluses against other EMU countries. Spain, Italy or Portugal suffer from big current account deficits. The financial power of the European centre is too limited to prevent increasing regional problems. What is needed in Europe is a deeper institutional and political integration to combine functional monetary, fiscal, wage and regional policies.


In May 2000, 25 representatives of Southeast European non-governmental
organizations met in Romania to discuss the impact the Stability Pact for South
Eastern Europe has on the region's civil society and the potential for cross-border
activities. This four-day meeting was organized by the Foundation for Democratic
Change (Bucharest), and the Berghof Research Center for Constructive Conflict
Management (Berlin) and took place in the picturesque mountains of Sinaia
(Carpathian Mountains). During several working sessions held in a creative
atmosphere the participants developed a list of recommendations concerning the
support of civil society in the region.


Title of Thesis: An Extensible Order Promising and Revenue Management Test-bed Frederick Faber, 2005 Advisor: Michael Ball, Ph.D. Institute for Systems Research Over the last quarter century it has become increasingly vital for large-scale businesses to exploit revenue management strategies. This is a consequence of thinning profit margins that have diminished from the effects of several pervasive trends. Among these trends are the globalization of markets, the regulation of particular industries, and, especially in the airline industry, the introduction of heightened security standards. To keep pace with this volatile landscape, revenue management and order promising policies rapidly have become more complex. Correspondingly, testing such policies has become increasingly difficult. This thesis presents an extensible test-bed designed to facilitate testing complex revenue management and order promising policies. The testbed was modeled and built using an agent-oriented architecture in order to reflect real-life business environments accurately. We describe the design and construction of the test-bed in this thesis. We then present case studies to highlight its capabilities. An Extensible Order Processing and Revenue Mangement Testbed


For all intents and purposes, the neoconservative era in Canada has concluded. When Finance Minister Paul Martin stands up on budget night in the House of Commons in February 2000, the first budget of the new millennium may give Canadians some insight into where Canada is heading in the 21st century. Then again, if recent budgets are indicators, it will likely not. The budget - the key government statement of policy intent - will likely reflect Canadians' ambivalence about what policy approach will succeed neoconservatism. The Liberal government lacks vision and seems incapable of, or disinterested in, leading a real public debate about Canada's future direction. Public policy in Canada over the last 50 years has been framed by a series of three policy strategies. Each had a raison d&re, tactics and a flaw that led to its replacement by a new strategy - to address this flaw. The experiences of the Depression and the Second World War framed the Keynesian era (1945-1975), which focussed on maintaining employment and economic and social security via countercyclical budgeting and the construction of the welfare state. This framework was undermined by international economic developments and Keynesianism's asymmetrical character in dealing less successfully with inflation than with unemployment. The post-Keynesian era (1975-1984) focussed on containing inflation and on increasing capacity to deal with the international economy. It flirted with planning, and introduced interventionist programmes and institutions. This era exposed Canadians' ambivalence about the roles of the state and the market. Half-hearted planning respected the authority of the market, resulting in weak economic growth, low productivity gains, increased public expenditures and decreased revenues, and the era's Achilles heel - ballooning deficits. The "neoconservative" era (1985-1998) focussed on the deficit, which was seen to reflect the failures of the previous eras. The market's authority was elevated and the state's economic responsibilities were diminished. The deficit was eliminated, by dismantling programs, regulations and institutions. Neoconservatism has had some success within its framework, including four consecutive balanced budgets, reasonable growth, failing unemployment, and the reincarnation of a discourse of balanced budgets, sound finance and a limited government. But this discourse has been weakening. First, there has been concern that the costs of neoconservatism have been too high, particularly in areas like health care and education. Second, the economy has suffered in some dimensions: a record low dollar, poor productivity performance and a declining standard of living for many. The Achilles heel of the neoconservative era has been the creation of an existential policy vacuum - a sense of aimlessness and lack of policy purpose in the globalised market environment. The deficit has been eliminated as a policy focus, but no replacement like unemployment or inflation has emerged around which to focus policy attention in the new policy era. …


Real-time analysis is vital to network security and management. Solutions are required that are scalable to modern network speeds while remaining flexible to ensure the latest analysis techniques can be implemented. This paper presents the Internet Traffic And Content Analyser (ITACA), an extendable general analysis tool that enables the implementation of plugins to perform specific tasks. Designed with a modular architecture akin to hardware, it is shown, with experiments on real network traffic, to outperform Bro and Snort IDSs in terms of throughput and scalability while offering increased flexibility for real-time analysis.


A number of face recognition methods have been proposed. These methods fall into two broad approaches, namely, holistic-based and local-feature-based. Most of holistic-based methods can be classified into two categories, PCA-based and frequency-based categories. This paper introduces a comparison between two holistic-based methods that represent both categories - namely Standard Eigenface method from the PCA-based category and Holistic Fourier Invariant Features (Spectroface) from the frequency-based category. These two methods are tested separately against five main face recognition problems - namely the 3D pose, facial expressions, nonuniform illumination, translation, and scaling - using suitable database(s) for each problem. The results show that the Spectroface method outperforms the Eigenface method in the 3D pose, facial expressions, nonuniform illumination, and translation problems. However, there is no significant difference between both methods in the scaling problem. Finally, in the facial expressions problem, the comparison shows that applying the frequency-based method on the low subband of the wavelet transform is much better than applying the PCA-based method on it.


India's "backstage" relationship with the DPRK is an important case study from not only a historical perspective, but also as an insight into successful diplomatic relations. As one of the few countries with strong ties in both Koreas, India is a relevant example of how to "manage North Korea" as the United States normalizes diplomatic relations with Cuba and Iran. The lessons of India's past can be applied to contemporary times. The analysis of this relationship regarding solely North Korea has yet to be formalized and explored in an academic sense. With only a handful of substantive pieces written, it is important to review the diplomatic ties between these two nations from a "how to" perspective and understand the best way to utilize their future relations based on their history, including from the US perspective. With next to no formal academic research on the DPRK-India diplomatic ties outside of a few short think-tank articles, this paper will allow researchers to be more aware of this blossoming affiliation, relevant literature and ever-growing importance for the future of the DPRK. This paper facilitates discussion and interest between the two nations as the DPRK continues to define itself under Kim Jung Un's rule; additionally regarding the current US perspective in relation to Cuba and the Iran Nuclear Deal.


Understanding the fine-structure molecular architecture of bacterial epidemics has been a long-sought goal of infectious disease research. We used short-read-length DNA sequencing coupled with mass spectroscopy analysis of SNPs to study the molecular pathogenomics of three successive epidemics of invasive infections involving 344 serotype M3 group A Streptococcus in Ontario, Canada. Sequencing the genome of 95 strains from the three epidemics, coupled with analysis of 280 biallelic SNPs in all 344 strains, revealed an unexpectedly complex population structure composed of a dynamic mixture of distinct clonally related complexes. We discovered that each epidemic is dominated by micro- and macrobursts of multiple emergent clones, some with distinct strain genotype–patient phenotype relationships. On average, strains were differentiated from one another by only 49 SNPs and 11 insertion-deletion events (indels) in the core genome. Ten percent of SNPs are strain specific; that is, each strain has a unique genome sequence. We identified nonrandom temporal–spatial patterns of strain distribution within and between the epidemic peaks. The extensive full-genome data permitted us to identify genes with significantly increased rates of nonsynonymous (amino acid-altering) nucleotide polymorphisms, thereby providing clues about selective forces operative in the host. Comparative expression microarray analysis revealed that closely related strains differentiated by seemingly modest genetic changes can have significantly divergent transcriptomes. We conclude that enhanced understanding of bacterial epidemics requires a deep-sequencing, geographically centric, comparative pathogenomics strategy.


Refrigeration, Air Conditioning and Heat Pumps, Fifth Edition, provides a comprehensive introduction to the principles and practice of refrigeration. Clear and comprehensive, it is suitable for both trainee and professional HVAC engineers, with a straightforward approach that also helps inexperienced readers gain a comprehensive introduction to the fundamentals of the technology. With its concise style and broad scope, the book covers most of the equipment and applications professionals will encounter. The simplicity of the descriptions helps users understand, specify, commission, use, and maintain these systems. It is a must-have text for anyone who needs thorough, foundational information on refrigeration and air conditioning, but without textbook pedagogy. It includes detailed technicalities or product-specific information. New material to this edition includes the latest developments in refrigerants and lubricants, together with updated information on compressors, heat exchangers, liquid chillers, electronic expansion valves, controls, and cold storage. In addition, efficiency, environmental impact, split systems, retail refrigeration (supermarket systems and cold rooms), industrial systems, fans, air infiltration, and noise are also included. Full theoretical and practical treatment of current issues and trends in refrigeration and air conditioning technology Meets the needs of industry practitioners and system designers who need a rigorous, but accessible reference to the latest developments in refrigeration and AC that is supported by coverage at a level not found in typical course textbooks New edition features updated content on refrigerants, microchannel technology, noise, condensers, data centers, and electronic control


DETECTION AND TRANSMISSION OF EXTRACELLULAR FACTOR PRODUCING STREPTOCOCCUS SUIS SEROTYPE 2 STRAINS IN PIGS INTRODUCTION Streptococcus suis (S.suis) has been implicated in the etiology of many diseases among which meningitis in pigs. The virulent extracellular factor-positive strains of S.suis serotype 2 (S.suis2EF+) have frequently been isolated from diseased. Sows carrying S.suis strains in their tonsils are considered the most important source of infection for their susceptible offspring. DETECTION OF STREPTOCOCCUS SUIS To be able to perform transmission studies, a well-defined diagnostic method was needed. We estimated the sensitivity and specificity of a polymerase chain reac-tion assay (PCR) on swabs taken from live sows. The estimated sensitivity of PCR on swabs was 0.63 (). The PCR on the whole tonsil removed after euthanasia had a higher sensitivity of 0.88 (). The specificities of both tests were around 0.96. The sensitivity of swabs can be further increased by using a slightly more invasive technique like tooth-brushes. To perform test-characterization without a golden standard, Bayesian statis-tical analysis has been increasingly used. One of the assumptions when performing a Bayesian analysis is that the tests must be conditionally independent given the dis-ease status. In our model there was only an indication for moderate conditional de-pendence particularly between Tonsil-PCR and Tonsil-BE for true positives (6.8 %). Theoretically, dependency between tests can always be parameterized, but this will lead to wider credibility intervals and thus reduce the advantages of Bayesian analy-sis. PREVENTION AND CONTROL We investigated whether S.suis2EF+ can translocate from the intestinal tract to the internal organs of pigs. Weaned pigs were transported in a truck to induce stress. Half of them were inoculated with a high amount of S.suis2EF+ through a canula placed in the proximal jejunum to exclude the tonsil as infection route. After eutha-nasia, in three animals S.suis2EF+ was re-isolated from organs in contrast to control animals, indicating intestinal bacterial translocation. To prevent S.suis intestinal translocation at farms with severe streptococcus related disease problems after weaning, management must emphasize on improving the process of weaning, such as early habituation to solid food uptake and minimizing of moving and mixing of piglets. We examined the effect of a combination of a killed S.suis 2 EF+ whole-cell vaccine combined with amoxicillin on the S.suis2EF+ carrier status of sows and their offspring housed in individual farrowing rooms. Four weeks postpartum S.suis2EF+ could not be detected in the tonsils of the seven treated sows, but the tonsils of all seven untreated sows remained positive. However, only one of the litters of these untreated sows became infected. This showed that the incidence of vertical transmis-sion in farrowing pens is low. None of the litters of the treated sows became in-fected. CONCLUDING Farming systems with lower stock densities, less mixing and strictly spatial separation of age groups can reduce the risk of outbreaks of meningitis caused by S.suis. Vaccination strategies can support the prevention of disease outbreaks. Nevertheless, incidental cases of meningitis will remain because of the persistence of carriers of pathogenic S.suis strains.


The article highlights gender codes in design, particularly in web design, by means of current examples. Different aspects of gender-specific design are looked at in detail and their inherent problems discussed: on the one hand the development of a special solution (gender-specific for women), on the other hand, web design with reduced functionality and simplification of information (i.e. image representation) which sometimes even leads to a negation of technology. The article illustrates that gender codes and stereotypical role models can be embodied on different design levels of web design (use and artefact): in structure/navigation, in creative elements by the use of shape, colour and imagery and on a textual level. These design decisions have an impact on the power of users to act, their individual gender identity and the structural gender identity/social perception of gender. The article demonstrates that gender codes in current web design are very present and aims to sensitize the topic.


A simple interferometric polarimeter with an integrated calibration scheme is proposed for accurate and fast mapping of the state of polarization (SOP). Conventional single-shot polarimeters that detect the amplitude and phase of orthogonally polarized field components by interferometry using Fourier fringe analysis suffers from errors caused by the imperfect reference beam and ambiguity in the spatial carrier frequency in the fringe pattern. In the proposed system, the integrated calibration scheme eliminates those error sources and enables accurate measurement of SOP without prior knowledge of the reference beam and the spatial carrier frequency.


Analyses of the rearrangement status of the TCRgamma and TCRdelta chain loci in progenies of individual gammadelta thymocytes showed a hierarchy of the different Vgamma and Vdelta gene segments to participate in a recombination reaction. Moreover, individual TCRgamma chains only pair efficiently with a variable number of TCRdelta chains. Interestingly, these two parameters are inversely correlated such that the TCRgamma and TCRdelta chains that rearrange more often show a higher level of restriction in their pairing capabilities. Our data suggest that these mechanisms, together with a natural variation affecting the expected frequencies at which rearrangement of different Vgamma gene segments give raise to functional TCRgamma chains, have coevolved to maximize the diversity of the gammadelta TCR repertoire minimizing the risk that a gammadelta T cell will express more than one TCR specificity at the cell surface, despite the fact that multiple TCRgamma rearrangements take place in the same progenitor cell.


This paper introduces the concept of change communities in philanthropy. As they reshape social realities, many philanthropists realize that not everything can be accomplished alone. Increasingly, philanthropists therefore start to build "change communities" - groups of experts and wealthy individuals who collaborate toward a common philanthropic objective, committing financial resources, personal networks, and know-how. Depending on cause and ambition level, coordinating one's actions through such a donor collaborative or social investor club can be either highly rewarding or a waste of time. Traditionally, it had been rare for the ten largest funders to a specific cause to know each other and co-invest. This is now changing. As they construct new social realities, philanthropists increasingly adopt a problem-solving approach and ask: who needs to be in the room and with whom do we need to partner to turn the tide on a complicated social issue such as a HIV/AIDS or climate change? The paper analyzes the prospects of change communities and collaborative strategies in philanthropy in the context of shifting organizational boundaries and the rise of entrepreneurship. To be truly effective, today's and tomorrow's philanthropists need to factor in an underlying transformation into their social change equations: profound organizational change affects the nonprofit sector as it globalizes. Part, but not all, of this change can be subsumed under the heading social entrepreneurship. Similar to organizations in the private and the public sector, grant-making and grant-seeking nonprofits operate today in a globalizing field of forces to which they need to respond by redesigning and restructuring their core activities and value chains. What are the implications for civil society organizations' ability to be effective partners in a change community on any given social or environmental issue?


The immune system is a dynamic system that is designed to respond rapidly to potential harmful stimuli. Following activation tight control mechanisms are in place to avoid collateral damage. Cardiac surgery is well known to induce an acute systemic inflammatory response and therefore, elective cardiac surgery creates an opportunity to study the inflammatory response in human in detail, from its initiation through the peak of inflammation up to recovery. So to restore the dynamic immunological equilibrium; 'What goes up must come down'.

In this thesis we illustrate how the immune system of children responds to two different aspects of pediatric cardiac surgery, both known to disturb the immunological equilibrium. In the first part of this thesis the immediate inflammatory response due to surgery is investigated with an emphasis on endogenous feedback mechanisms. In the second part of this thesis we investigate how the developing immune system copes with total thymectomy due to neonatal cardiac surgery.

We describe two intrinsic regulatory mechanisms detectable immediately after the onset of the systemic inflammatory response due to pediatric cardiac surgery. First, monocytes exhibit a reduced responsiveness to toll like receptor stimulation. This reduced responsiveness is due to active regulation maintained predominantly through the IL-10/STAT3 pathway. Secondly, the regulatory transcription factor FOXP3 is upregulated in T cells. These FOXP3+ T cells remain unresponsive to TCR stimulation, like true FOXP3+ regulatory T cells (Treg), though show a reduced capacity to inhibit effector T cells. A reduced regulatory capacity of healthy Treg can be induced through exposure to plasma taken from patients after cardiac surgery. This implies a plasma mediated regulation of Treg during the peak of a systemic inflammatory response after pediatric cardiac surgery.

Neonatal cardiac surgery often necessitates removal of the complete thymus to gain access to the surgical site. We studied the short and long term effects of neonatal thymectomy. In the first years after neonatal thymectomy, the immune system is unable to maintain naive T cell numbers. From approximately 5 years onwards we found evidence of renewed thymic activity. Although naive T cells subsequently return to normal healthy numbers, the effect of neonatal thymectomy on functionality of the T cell compartment requires further studies. The FOXP3+ Treg population is crucial for immune homeostasis in most inflammatory conditions. Peripheral proliferation of Treg cells counteracts the effect of loss of thymopoiesis, which illustrates the relative plasticity of the human immune system. However, changes in composition of the Treg population do warrant further investigation in the long-term functional effects of neonatal thymectomy following cardiac surgery.


I present an acoustic analysis of variable vowel raising in rural Mexican Spanish. This process involves the mid vowels, /e/ and /o/, in unstressed post-tonic positions and their variable realizations as [e, i] or [o, u], respectively. I perform a sociophonetic analysis using the formant values of the relevant vowels and then examine the influence of social networks on this phenomenon. This study represents the first systematic description of vowel raising in the region. Additionally, I use social factors, such as time spent in and out of the community, to create social networks that capture subtle social differences. The results show more /e/ than /o/ raising and less raising overall for participants who have more interactions outside of Michoacan.


Since the launch of the first artificial satellite – Sputnik 1 – by the Soviet Union in 1957, and the landing of the first human on the Moon in 1969, astronauts and other spaceflight participants have travelled to the International Space Station, probes and rovers have explored the solar system and have landed on planets, comets and asteroids, and instruments, such as the Kepler Space Telescope, have discovered exoplanets. The next decade of space exploration will again take humans to the Moon, with the objective to go further towards Mars. New space activities are being developed by States and private entities that will involve space mining and human settlements on celestial bodies. These future space programmes will have to be conducted with caution in order not to unduly damage the unique and fragile space environment and to conduct space exploration in a sustainable way for present and future generations. In this context, this article examines the main provisions of the current international space legal framework applicable to the space environment. Since States are obligated to explore and use outer space in accordance with international law, we will assess which principles of international environmental law are possibly adaptable to space activities. We will also address the relevant international guidelines and policies in the field of planetary protection, in particular the Committee on Space Researchs (COSPAR's) Planetary Protection Policy (PPP).
space exploration, planetary protection, environmental law, space law, policy


EDITORIAL
Buffalo and cattle are playing main role in production of dairy items in Pakistan. It is our main animal in terms of milk production and has higher production potential. Buffalo farming is playing a pivotal role in the national economy of Pakistan by producing significant proportion of milk, meat and draught power. Total population of buffalo in Pakistan was 36.6 million (Economic Survey of Pakistan, 2015-16). The milk production in Pakistan during 2014-2015 was 54,328 thousand tones and the contribution of buffalo was 33,137 thousand tones (Economic Survey of Pakistan, 2015-16). Average milk produced by buffalo and cow was recorded as 180 and 135 liters per month, respectively (Neelam and Khan, 2017).
Water buffalo (Bubalus bubalis) is very important because of its high milk yield to meet the protein requirement. In Pakistan, various causes attributed to low productivity in livestock are due to unfavorable climate condition,  low animal genetic potential, insufficient feed supplies, failure of the genetic improvement program and lack of proper healthcare facilities.
Livestock diseases are common and widespread, and an important factor contributing to low productivity. A variety of parasites particularly helminthes harbor the gastrointestinal tract (GIT) of animals affecting the health status of animals and cause enormous economic losses to the livestock industry (Rafiullah et al., 2011). The effects of infections caused by parasites are decrease in milk production, reduced product quality and quantity and increase mortality rate (Gupta et al., 1978; Soulsby, 1982). Therefore, it is important to control the parasites of the gastrointestinal tract through better management as in developed countries, and knowledge on prevalence of these parasites is very necessary.
A study was designed to find out the prevalence of G. explantum at Sihala Slaughter House, Rawalpindi. Sixty three livers were found infected by G. explanatum among three hundred livers examined and the prevalence rate was 21.24% (Muhammad et al., 2015).
In our study, a total of 289 rumens and reticulums of buffaloes were examined for the presence of Paramphistomum cervi by visiting local abattoirs. The results revealed that 17.3 percent buffalos were infected by P.  cervi in central Punjab. Highest average worm burden was found in Sargodha and lowest in Mandi Bahauddin (Iqbal et al., 2013).
The histology of trematodes, collected from approximately 50 buffaloes, has been carried out for identification, resulting 25 percent Gigantocotyle explanatuminfection in naturally infected water buffaloes in central Punjab. The highest average worm burden was found in Sargodha followed by Faisalabad (Iqbal et al., 2014a).
A total of 265 rumens and reticulums of buffaloes were examined for the presence of Gastrothylax crumenifer and infection rate recorded was 18.8% in central Punjab. It was found that buffaloes aged 22 years have the highest worm burden (Iqbal et al., 2014b).
The heavy losses due to parasitic disease cause great damage to livestock field. The epidemiological information of parasitic burden is helpful in the development of rational control measure against parasites in water buffalos. In Pakistan, basic village farmers do not have much knowledge regarding these endoparasites and as a consequence, Pakistan faces a lot of economic loss every year. So, it is required to take immediate steps for reduction of infectious rate. The availability of fresh water snails serving as intermediate host, existence of extensive water channel system and poor grazing management of animals being practiced in these areas should be managed to control the trematode infections.
It is recommended that farmers who rear buffaloes should improve the provision of feeds to their animals so that the animals can have good body condition that confers some level of resistance against parasitic infections. Besides, they should be able to regularly treat their animals with the appropriate anthelmintics or vaccines if available and awareness should be spread on the prevention and control methods of gastrointestinal parasites.


There are at least three requirements for an economy to maintain stable prices. Policy markers and opinion formers must understand that inflation brings no medium or long-term economic benefit; the causes of inflation -- monetary growth -must be also be understood; and there needs to be a stable and credible institutional structure that will deliver a sound monetary policy. This book brings together two classic IEA papers by Nobel Prize winner Milton Friedman with a new work by Charles Goodhart who is a Bank of England Advisor and former member of the Monetary Policy Committee. In doing so, 'Money, Inflation and the Constitutional Position of the Central Bank' provides a thorough yet accessible text appropriate for anybody who wants to understand inflation and how it should be controlled. Friedman's paper, 'Unemployment Versus Inflation?' is a lucid explanation of why higher inflation does not lead to lower unemployment, and his 'The Counter-Revolution in Monetary Theory', the first Wincott lecture, explains why excess monetary growth is the only cause of sustained inflation. Goodhart's paper 'The Constitutional Position of the Central Bank' was the 32nd Wincott Memorial Lecture. It explains how the Institutional arrangements for central banks should be developed to deliver stable prices and, importantly, to influence inflation expectations. Professor Geoffrey Wood sets the historical perspective in his introduction and also links the work of Goodhart and Friedman to the current thinking of the new Governor of the Bank of England, Mervyn King.


A receptor for lactate may mediate its effects on regulation of lipolysis. Liu et al. used a classical biochemical purification approach to identify a ligand in extracts of porcine brain that could activate the heterotrimeric guanine nucleotide–binding protein (G protein)–coupled receptor (GPCR) GPR81 from various species when those receptors were expressed in Chinese hamster ovary cells. GPR81 is found most abundantly in adipose tissue. Nuclear magnetic resonance analysis revealed that the activating fractions contained highly purified L-lactate. L-Lactate activated GPR81, as detected by assays of guanosine triphosphate-γS binding, inhibition of accumulation of adenosine 3′,5′-monophosphate, or receptor internalization with a median effective concentration (EC50) of 5 mM, which is much higher than that required for most ligands of GPCRs. However, the authors point out that resting concentrations of lactate in human plasma are 0.5 to 2 mM and can increase to 20 mM after intense anaerobic exercise. L-Lactate inhibited lipolysis in differentiated mouse 3T3-L1 cells (an adipocyte cell line) and in primary cultures of human adipocytes. Adipocytes from GPR81 knockout mice showed no effect of L-lactate on lipolysis, but lipolysis in these cells remained responsive to insulin and other stimuli. The authors conclude that GRR81 is a receptor for lactate that may account for roles of lactate in metabolic regulation. It has been proposed that lactate produced during extreme exercise may act to limit lipolysis. This could be helpful because production of adenosine triphosphate from free fatty acids is less efficient than that from pyruvate (in term of amounts of oxygen required). Thus, limiting the release of free fatty acids would be appropriate when the rate of glycolysis (which produces lactate) exceeds that of mitochondrial respiration. Lactate is also produced by adipocytes under metabolic load—for example, after a meal, when glucose is abundant. The authors note that in this case, L-lactate may act as an autocrine signal to suppress lipolysis. C. Liu, J. Wu, J. Zhu, C. Kuei, J. Yu, J. Shelton, S. W. Sutton, X. Li, S. J. Yun, T. Mirzadegan, C. Mazur, F. Kamme, T. W. Lovenberg, Lactate inhibits lipolysis in fat cells through activation of an orphan G-protein-coupled receptor, GPR81. J. Biol. Chem. 284, 2811–2822 (2009). [Abstract] [Full Text]


Incremental stability describes the asymptotic behavior between any two trajectories of a dynamical system. Such properties are of interest, for example, in the study of observers or synchronization of chaotic systems. In this paper, we develop the notions of incremental stability and incremental input-to-state stability (ISS) for discrete-time systems. We derive Lyapunov function characterizations for these properties as well as a useful summation-to-summation formulation of the incremental stability property.


The Commerce geophysical lineament is a northeast-trending magnetic and gravity feature that extends from central Arkansas to southern Illinois over a distance of ≈400 km. It is parallel to the trend of the Reelfoot graben, but offset ≈40 km to the northwest of the western margin of the rift floor. Modeling indicates that the source of the aeromagnetic and gravity anomalies is probably a mafic dike swarm. The age of the source of the Commerce geophysical lineament is not known, but the linearity and trend of the anomalies suggest a relationship with the Reelfoot rift, which has undergone episodic igneous activity. The Commerce geophysical lineament coincides with several topographic lineaments, movement on associated faults at least as young as Quaternary, and intrusions of various ages. Several earthquakes (M b > 3) coincide with the Commerce geophysical lineament, but the diversity of associated focal mechanisms and the variety of surface structural features along the length of the Commerce geophysical lineament obscure its relation to the release of present-day strain. With the available seismicity data, it is difficult to attribute individual earthquakes to a specific structural lineament such as the Commerce geophysical lineament. However, the close correspondence between Quaternary faulting and present-day seismicity along the Commerce geophysical lineament is intriguing and warrants further study.


Using computer simulations we explore the dynamics of nonlinear pulsed Bessel-like beams arising from axicon-focused Gaussian beams and circularly apodized beams propagating in air. These pulses exhibit similar self-action. We also note that noninear behavior can occur for these pulses in the absence of significant plasma density. This is especially interesting in light of recent experimental observations of self-guiding without plasma.


Speech translation (ST) is an enabling technology for cross-lingual oral communication. A ST system consists of two major components: an automatic speech recognizer (ASR) and a machine translator (MT). Nowadays, most ASR systems are trained and tuned by minimizing word error rate (WER). However, WER counts word errors at the surface level. It does not consider the contextual and syntactic roles of a word, which are often critical for MT. In the end-to-end ST scenarios, whether WER is a good metric for the ASR component of the full ST system is an open issue and lacks systematic studies. In this paper, we report our recent investigation on this issue, focusing on the interactions of ASR and MT in a ST system. We show that BLEU-oriented global optimization of ASR system parameters improves the translation quality by an absolute 1.5% BLEU score, while sacrificing WER over the conventional, WER-optimized ASR system. We also conducted an in-depth study on the impact of ASR errors on the final ST output. Our findings suggest that the speech recognizer component of the full ST system should be optimized by translation metrics instead of the traditional WER.


Barley, being a tremendous opportunities crop, we are far back regarding study, research and utilization. An experiment was conducted 2014-2015 to evaluate the barley genotypes for their yield attributing traits and correlation and causation. Eleven yield contributing traits viz., days to booting, heading and flowering; peduncle length, spike length, plant height, flag leaf area, flag leaf-1 area, thousand grain weight, biological weight and yield per hectare were recorded. High significant variation among genotypes was found for traits under study. Genotypes SBYT3-13#1115 (1960 kg), 14-SB-NAK-MR#17 (1760 kg) and AM POP#26 (1660 kg) were found to be superior for their per se performance based on grain yield per hectare, yield attributing and other quantitative traits. Thousand grains weight (0.333) had positively highest significant correlation with grain yield per hectare followed by spike length (0.310). Grain yield per hectare showed negative highly significant correlation with days to flowering (-0.796) followed by days to heading (-0.761) and days to booting (-0.663). Peduncle length (0.229), plant height (0.226), biological weight (0.181) and flag leaf area (0.032) were positively correlated with grain yield per hectare while flag leaf-1 area(-0.029) was negatively correlated. Thus, selection for genotypes with higher thousand grain weight and spike length accommodating earlier days to flowering, heading and booting is a prerequisite for attaining improvement in grain yield per hectare. Int J Appl Sci Biotechnol, Vol 4(4): 529-536


The Politics of Piracy: Intellectual Property in Contemporary China. By Andrew C. Mertha. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 2005. Pp. xvii+241. $32.50 cloth. Mertha's book The Politics of Piracy maps out the hotly contested debate over intellectual property that has taken place between the United States and China over the past 20 years. Based upon years of fieldwork and hundreds of interviews with trade representatives, policy makers, and business owners in the United States and China, it is perhaps the definitive work on the relationship between the United States and China on issues of intellectual property. The text focuses primarily on how outside pressure impacted the development of Chinese intellectual property law and the evolution of a Chinese bureaucracy to deal with copyrights, patents, and trademarks. However, this text also sheds light on what types of diplomatic pressures successfully make an impact on Chinese policy. Thus, while Mertha focuses exclusively on intellectual property, the lessons learned can be more generally applied. The book offers an exhaustive description of several areas of Chinese bureaucracy that help clarify the decisionmaking structure of Chinese politics. Mertha begins with a straightforward question: Has external pressure changed China's approach to intellectual property rights (p. 3)? The text is designed to answer this question while also describing the vast and complex bureaucracy in charge of intellectual property in China. The United States sought to change China's approach to intellectual property through negotiation and trade sanctions. Mertha follows the history of these negotiations in the first two chapters, ultimately concluding that intellectual property policy as implemented in China is a result of U.S. pressure. In fact, it is doubtful that China would have enacted intellectual property laws at all without U.S. pressure (p. 76). The heart of Mertha's text follows the implementation of copyright, patent, and trademark laws through the maze of Chinese bureaucracy. There is a different bureaucratic structure in place for each type of intellectual property. By looking at the successes and failures of each regime, it is possible to get a sense for what has worked in terms of outside pressure. For example, outside pressure has not been as successful for copyright enforcement because of the politically sensitive nature of cultural materials. The Chinese have an interest in maintaining "social order" through censorship, including censorship of U.S. cultural goods (p. 152). While this may work to U.S. advantage because socalled pirated works will be targeted, it also puts U.S. industries in a touchy position because legitimate products can also be censored. To make matters worse, official limits on U.S. cultural products create the conditions for a black market in pirated cultural goods (p. 152). This catch-22 makes the use of U.S. pressure difficult. If too much is said, negotiators risk increasing Chinese barriers to the importation of legal goods. If too little is said, they risk losing market share to the black market. Either way, defining the appropriate use of outside pressure in the copyright arena has been politically charged and often backfires. Unlike copyright, which is generally handled from the top down and is subject to political manipulation from higher levels of the bureaucracy, trademark enforcement is most effective because private firms representing foreign companies are able to work with local actors to conduct raids and confiscate goods (p. 200). Trademark enforcement works because local authorities are involved in the process. Mertha suggests that pressuring the Chinese government from above is not the most efficient option, but building coalitions at the local level is a helpful strategy. …


Abstract The major lithologic subdivisions of the "Wolfcamp" strata in the western part of the Delaware basin are described. Also presented is the probable stratigraphic relationship of these strata to equivalent beds present on the Northwestern shelf and in outcrops to the northwest and west. The term "Wolfcamp" is used as an operational unit and may contain some beds slightly older and/or younger than the lower Permian Wolfcamp Series. The top of the "Wolfcamp" in the basin is the top of the "3rd Bone Spring Sand" (or Dean) — a regional subsurface marker within the western Delaware basin. On the adjacent platform the "Wolfcamp" is bounded on the top by the Drinkard Sandy Member of the Yeso Formation-a regional subsurface marker on the Northwestern shelf. The base of the "Wolfcamp" commonly is defined by a regional unconformity which overlies rocks ranging in age from Late Pennsylvanian to Precambrian. "Wolfcamp" strata in the western Delaware basin locally exceed 6000 feet in thickness and are among the least wellknown sequences in the basin. These strata are generally dark colored and the carbonates are generally lime packstones, wackestones, and mudstones. The "basinal Wolfcamp" can be subdivided into (1) a lower detrital unit which is quite variable in thickness and lithology, (2) a middle sequence of lime-shale-lime which is somewhat more uniform in thickness and lithology, and (3) the "3rd Bone Spring Sand" which is quite uniform in thickness and lithology. All of these units probably were deposited in a basinal (relatively deep water) environment. Deposits of the lower detrital unit range from conglomerate to feldspathic sandstone to shale and tended to level out the irregular basin floor topography created by Late Pennsylvanian-Early Permian tectonism. Taken as a whole, the "basinal Wolfcamp" records a transition from a period of active tectonism to one of relative stability. In contrast, "Wolfcamp" strata on the Northwestern shelf are generally light colored, the carbonates are commonly dolostone, and most of the rocks have grain-supported textures. The "shelf Wolfcamp" strata were probably deposited in environments ranging from nonmarine to shallow water marine. The "shelf Wolfcamp" can be subdivided into (1) a lower clastic unit which locally exceeds 2,000 feet in thickness north of the Huapache fault zone, (2) the Abo-Hueco Formations, a thick carbonate tongue grading northwestward into Abo red beds, (3) the lower carbonate-evaporite member of the Yeso Formation, and (4) the Drinkard Sandy Member of the Yeso Formation. Correlation between "basinal Wolfcamp" and "shelf Wolfcamp" sequences is difficult. Details of the stratigraphic relationships in these sequences are complex and as yet poorly understood. The lower clastic unit of the "shelf Wolfcamp" is similar in age and closely resembles, in lithologic variation (red beds to clean carbonates) and tectonic setting, the Laborcita Formation in the northern Sacramento Mountains. The Abo-Hueco carbonate tongue represents a major marine transgressive-regressive cycle. The lower member of the Yeso represents a similar cycle which terminated in the deposition of the Drinkard. The Drinkard Sandy Member is believed to represent the remnant of great quantities of very fine sand and silt which were transported across the Northwestern shelf to the Delaware basin where it accumulated as the 3rd Bone Spring Sand.


— A new type of wrist-mounted robot, the Supernumerary Robotic (SR) Fingers, is proposed to work closely with the human hand and aid the human in performing a variety of prehensile tasks. For people with diminished functionality of their hands, these robotic fingers could provide the opportunity to live with more independence and work more productively. A natural and implicit coordination between the SR Fingers and the human fingers is required so the robot can be transformed to act as part of the human body. This paper presents a novel control algorithm, termed "Bio-Artificial Synergies", which enables the SR and human fingers to share the task load together and adapt to diverse task conditions. Through grasp experiments and data analysis, postural synergies were found for a seven-fingered hand comprised of two SR Fingers and five human fingers. The synergy-based control law was then extracted from the experimental data using Partial Least Squares (PLS) regression and tested on the SR Finger prototype as a proof of concept.


A wiretap protocol is a pair of randomized encoding and decoding functions such that knowledge of a bounded fraction of the encoding of a message reveals essentially no information about the message, while knowledge of the entire encoding reveals the message using the decoder. In this paper, the notion of efficiently invertible extractors is studied and it is shown that a wiretap protocol can be constructed from such an extractor. Then, invertible extractors for symbol-fixing, affine, and general sources are constructed and used to create wiretap protocols with asymptotically optimal trade-offs between their rate (ratio of the length of the message versus its encoding) and resilience (ratio of the observed positions of the encoding and the length of the encoding). The results are further applied to create wiretap protocols for challenging communication problems, such as active intruders who change portions of the encoding, network coding, and intruders observing arbitrary Boolean functions of the encoding.