Does maternal education have an impact on children's educational outcomes even at the very low levels found in many developing countries? We use instrumental variables analysis to address this issue in Pakistan. We find that children of mothers with some education spend 72 more minutes per day on educational activities at home. Mothers with some education also spend more time helping their children with school work. In the subset that have test scores available, children whose mothers have some education have higher scores by 0.23–0.35 standard deviations. We do not find support for channels through which education affects bargaining power within the household.


When amorphious polyethylene terephthalate is subjected to a tensile load of 2 to 4 x 108 dynes per square centimeter wthin the approximate temperature range 40�to 70�C, an unusual optical effect occurs. The transparent polymer film is suddenly transformed into a brilliantly reflecting strip with the luster of silver. Extensive formation of voids accounts for the unorthodox behavior.


The problem of reconstructing the and-or expression of a partially defined positive Boolean function (pdpBf) is solved by adopting a novel algorithm, denoted by LSC, which combines the advantages of two efficient techniques, Logical Analysis of Data (LAD) and Shadow Clustering (SC). The kernel of the approach followed by LAD consists in a breadth-first enumeration of all the prime implicants whose degree is not greater than a fixed maximum d. In contrast, SC adopts an effective heuristic procedure for retrieving the most promising logical products to be included in the resulting and-or expression. Since the computational cost required by LAD prevents its application even for relatively small dimensions of the input domain, LSC employs a depth-first approach, with asymptotically linear memory occupation, to analyze the prime implicants having degree not greater than d. In addition, the theoretical analysis proves that LSC presents almost the same asymptotic time complexity as LAD. Extensive simulations on artificial benchmarks validate the good behavior of the computational cost exhibited by LSC, in agreement with the theoretical analysis. Furthermore, the pdpBf retrieved by LSC always shows a better performance, in terms of complexity and accuracy, with respect to those obtained by LAD.


We propose a novel band-rejection fiber filter based on a Bragg fiber of transversal resonant structure, which can also be used as a fiber sensor. Defect layers are introduced in the periodic high/low index structure in the cladding of the Bragg fiber. Coupling between the core mode and the defect mode results in large confinement loss for some resonant wavelengths inside the band gap of the Bragg fiber. A segment of the Bragg fiber of transversal resonant structure can be used as a band-rejection fiber filter, whose characteristics are mainly determined by the defect layer. The loss peak wavelength of the Bragg fiber is dependent on the refractive index and the thickness of the defect layer which indicates its applications of refractive index and strain sensing.


Background: Human alpha 1-antitrypsin (AAT) is a potent inhibitor of multiple serine proteases, and protects tissues against their harmful effects. Individuals with reduced or abnormal production of this inhibitor need intravenous administration of exogenous protein. In this study, we employed the methylotrophic (methanol utilizing) yeast Pichia pastoris ( P. pastoris ) as a preferential host for efficient production and secretion of recombinant AAT. Furthermore, we examined different strategies to maximize the yield of the secreted protein. Results: Our findings revealed that optimizing the codon usage of AAT gene for P. pastoris had positive effects on the level of secreted AAT under the control of inducible alcohol oxidase 1 (AOX1) and constitutive glycerol aldehyde phosphate dehydrogenase (GAP) promoters. Compared to AOX1, the GAP promoter increased the yield of AAT by more than two fold. It was also demonstrated that the human AAT native signal sequence was more effective than the well-known yeast signal sequence, alpha mating factor (α-MF). Doubling gene dosage nearly doubled the production of AAT, though dosages exceeding this limit had negative effects on the yield. Conclusion: P. pastoris is shown to be an efficient expression system for production of recombinant and biologically active AAT. Also different strategies could be used to elevate the amount of this secretable protein.


Weather affects the breeding success of White Stork Ciconia ciconia, but the effect has not been studied in the context of different food resources or habitat quality. The aim of this study was to determine whether the impact of weather conditions on breeding success was dependent on habitat quality The effect of weather on reproduction was analysed in two populations that differed significantly in the availability of suitable feeding habitats. Multiple regression analyses revealed that of the weather variables analysed (average temperature and rainfall in April, May and June), rainfall in May and temperature in June explained a significant part of the variation in numbers of fledged chicks per pair, but only in the population with poorer food resources. The lack of weather influence in the population with richer food resources was tentatively explained by the larger brood sizes. More effective heat conservation in larger broods, and thus lower chick mortality during cold weather, could be the underlying mechanism for the different response to weather in the two populations.


Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA) is specified as downlink multiple access scheme in 3GPP LTE which divides the available bandwidth into multiple narrow orthogonal frequency bands. Thus, there is no ISI (Inter Symbol Interference) within the cell boundary. As the whole frequency spectrum is available in a cell site there would be greater chance of ICI (Intercell Interference) among the cell edge users of adjoining cells if frequency bands are allocated without any arrangement. This ICI can be mitigated with the help of different arrangements of frequency bands allocations and possibly with different transmission power distinguishing between the cell centre users and cell edge users. In this thesis work different ICI mitigation techniques are analyzed with different frequency allocation schemes and transmission power, and also different radio resource scheduling algorithms are analysed to enhance bandwidth efficiency and throughput.


A differential energy based fault protection in microgrid is presented in this paper. Initially the currents at the respective buses are retrieved and processed through a novel time-frequency transform known as S-transform to generate time-frequency contours. Spectral energy content of the time-frequency contours of fault current signals are calculated and differential energy is computed to register the fault patterns in the microgrid at grid-connected and islanded mode. The proposed scheme is tested for different shunt faults (symmetrical and unsymmetrical) and High Impedance Faults (HIF) in the microgrid with radial and loop structure. The results based on extensive study indicate that the differential energy based protection scheme can reliably protect the microgrid against different fault situations.


Checklists of isopods currently reported for the polar and temperate waters of the East Pacific, in depths of 200 m or less, are presented, and compared with an updated list of species known to the eastern tropical pacific (ETP). A total of 213 species are recorded for the northern subregion (Arctic, Aleutian, and Oregonian Prov- inces), 133 for the southern subregion (Peru-Chile, Temperate Transitional, and Magellan Provinces) and 134 for the ETP. In total, 420 species are known to occur in the East Pacific. Considering the entire East Pacific region, the isopods fauna is dominated by the Cymothoida (36.4% of total), followed by the Asellota (21.9 %), the Valvifera (17.3%), the Sphaeromatidea (16.2 %), the Oniscidea (6.2%), the Limnoriidea (1.4%) and the Microcerberidea (0.5 %). The northern and southern polar-temperate faunae include a total of 340 species, with only seven species in common. The northern and southern subregions share only 34 out of 160 genera ; of these, 103 occur in the northern subregion, 76 in the ETP and 65 in the southern subregion. The southern and northern subregions share 34 genera and 21 genera are shared by the three subregions, of which 12 belong to the Cymothoida. Forty-three families are registered in the East Pacific, 41 in the northern subregion and only 22 in the southern subregion, of which 18 are common to both. Comparatively, the ETP contains 25 families and 12 families are found in all three subregions. An analysis by provinces indicates that, according to our present knowledge, the highest number of species in the East Pacific is recorded in the Oregonian Province (140 species), followed by the Californian (128), Cortes (95), Magel- lan (75), Temperate-Transitional (61), Aleutian (61), Mexican (53), Panamic (52), Peru-Chile (43), and Arctic (15) provinces. Sixteen species are reported for the Galapagos, 10 each for the Juan Fernandez and Guadalupe Islands. A cluster analysis based on presence-absence of species revealed four major groups among the 10 previously recog- nized provinces, both when species and genera were used. The grouping of provinces into southern, ETP and north- ern subregions appears well defined and with comparable values of the similarity index, with the exception of the Arctic Province.


The plant genus Palisota (family Commelinaceae, or spiderwort family) consists of approximately 20 species and is distributed throughout the forests of tropical Africa. The genus exhibits several unusual morphological characteristics, and as a result has been difficult to classify based on morphology. Molecular phylogenetic studies have placed it near the base of Commelinaceae, but the exact placement of Palisota within the family is not clear. As the African continent has become more arid in recent geological times, the forests have receded, reducing the habitat for Palisota species and potentially impacting speciation and extinction rates within the genus. The goal of this study is to sequence the chloroplast-encoded gene rbcL in several additional species of Palisota and its relatives in order to: 1) determine the phylogenetic relationship of the genus with respect to other members of Commelinaceae; 2) evaluate phylogenentic relationships among species of Palisota; and 3) infer relative speciation/extinction rates within the genus. Additionally, we are exploring the use of other molecular regions for phylogenetic analysis with the genus.


Context. Star forming regions may share many characteristics, but the specific interplay between gravity, magnetic fields, large-scale dynamics, and protostellar feedback will have an impact on the star formation history of each region. The importance of feedback from outflows is a particular subject to debate, as we are yet to understand the details of their impact on clouds and star formation.
Aims. The Pipe Nebula is a nearby molecular cloud hosting the B59 region as its only active star-forming clump. This paper focuses on the global dynamics of B59, its temperature structure, and its outflowing gas, with the goal of revealing the local and global impact of the protostellar outflows.
Methods. Using HARP at the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope, we have mapped the B59 region in the J = 3 → 2 transition of 12CO to study the kinematics and energetics of the outflows, and the same transitions of 13CO and C18O to study the overall dynamics of the ambient cloud, the physical properties of the gas, and the hierarchical structure of the region.
Results. The B59 region has a total of ~30 M⊙ of cold and quiescent material, mostly gravitationally bound, with narrow line widths throughout. Such low levels of turbulence in the non-star-forming regions within B59 are indicative of the intrinsic initial conditions of the cloud. On the other hand, close to the protostars the impact of the outflows is observed as a localised increase of both C18O line widths from ~0.3 km s-1 to ~1 km s-1, and 13CO excitation temperatures by ~2–3 K. The impact of the outflows is also evident in the low column density material which shows signs of being shaped by the outflow bow shocks as they pierce their way out of the cloud. Much of this structure is readily apparent in a dendrogram analysis of the cloud and demonstrates that when decomposing clouds using such techniques a careful interpretation of the results is needed.
Conclusions. The low mass of B59 together with its intrinsically quiescent gas and small number of protostars, allows the identification of specific regions where the outflows from the embedded sources interact the dense gas. Our study suggests that outflows are an important mechanism for injecting and sustaining supersonic turbulence at sub-parsec size scales. We find that less than half of the outflow energy is deposited as turbulent energy of the gas, however this turbulent energy is sufficient to slow down the collapse of the region.


L'Europe et les pays arabes du Golfe: Des partenaires distants, by Bichara Khader. Paris and Ottignies: Publisud-Quorum-Cermac, 1994. 233 pages. Append. to p. 239. Contents to p. 244. FF174. L'Europe et la Mediterranee: Geopolitique de la proximite, by Bichara Khader. Paris: L'Harmattan, and Louvain: Cermac, 1994. 336 pages. Append. to p. 376. Contents to p. 378. n.p. paper. Bichara Khader, a professor and director of research at the Catholic University of Louvain, has made something of a cottage industry of the production of books and articles on the relations between Western Europe and the Arab world, drawing lessons from and for both sides. These two recent publications can hardly avoid repetition and overlapping with their predecessors and with each other. The centrality of oil supply and oil prices and of the political factors underlying such cataclysmic events as the Gulf War of 1991 are never lost from view. Common threads, both in interpreting the past and prescribing for the future, run through both volumes. The one on the Mediterranean was written "under the direction" of the author/editor, but the names of his collaborators are not attached to individual chapters, and we may assume that the main lines of argument, along with writing and re-writing, are his own. For the specialist, there is much that is elementary; but there is no denying the author's solid knowledge of his subject to support his often controversial opinions. One great value of the volume on Europe and the Gulf states lies in its detailed chronicle of the negotiations between the European Union and the Gulf Cooperation Council leading to the comprehensive agreement they signed in June 1988, not an earth-shaking document, but one on which further cooperation could be built. Another is the plenitude of economic information in the form of tables provided to illustrate and buttress the text. A third is the way in which the author probes the effects of the "reverse oil shocks" of the mid1980s on the psyche as well as the economies of the Arab nations, factors insufficiently recognized and appreciated in the West. The author would like to see the European Union, or individual West European governments, make their own direct arrangements with the Gulf states on price and deliveries over the long term. France and Italy have at times been intrigued by the idea, but in the end market forces have prevailed, not to mention the power of the big international oil companies and of the United States. Between Europe and the oil-producing countries of the Gulf there has been the unresolved question of petrochemical industries. The logical route to diversification and future security, as the Gulf states see it, lies in the development of new industries based on their major resource, notably refining and petrochemicals. …


In this article I analyze a model of interest group influence on legislative voting through information transmission. The model shows how interest groups may manipulate voting coalitions to their advantage by crafting different messages to target different winning coalitions. Furthermore, if access to legislators is costly, the interest groups prefer to coordinate with allied legislators by providing them with information that helps them to persuade less sympathetic legislators. The model reconciles informational theories of lobbying with empirical evidence suggesting that interest groups predominantly lobby those who already agree with them. The model also makes new predictions about the welfare effects of interest group influence: from an ex ante perspective, informational lobbying negatively effects the welfare of legislators. The results highlight the need for more theories of persuasion that take collective choice institutions into account.The appendices for this paper are available at the following URL: http://ssrn.com/abstract=2612162


Motorcyclists are very vulnerable road users. In Victoria, riders account for 15% of deaths and serious injuries. Over 30% of motorcycle crashes occur at intersections (VicRoads Road Crash Information System (RCIS)). Roundabouts are considered a lSafe System solutionr for intersections because they constrain speeds and impact angles to within biomechanically tolerable levels. VicRoads Safer Roads Infrastructure Program Guidelines (2012) estimate that a roundabout will reduce overall casualty crashes by 85%. Although roundabouts are a positive road safety treatment for motorcyclists they do not show as dramatic a reduction in road trauma as they do for cars. Scully et al. (2006) and Schoon and van Minnen (1993) estimate that roundabouts only reduce causality crashes for motorcyclists by between 36% and 77%. Between 2008 and 2012, there were 159 motorcyclists killed and seriously injured at roundabouts in Victoria. This represents 25% of all serious and fatal crashes at roundabouts (RCIS). This paper reviews roundabout design, maintenance and operation that may influence motorcycle safety. This includes turbo-roundabouts. It also reports the results of an in-depth engineering investigation of some roundabouts in Victoria where motorcycle crashes have occurred. Factors identified and discussed include; geometric design, sight distance, lighting, pavement markings, signing, landscaping, street furniture, speed limits and surface issues. This paper begins the work requested in the 2013 Austroads report Improving the Performance of Safe System Infrastructure wherein it states: lDespite the positive [road safety] results, the two-wheeler risks at roundabouts need to be further reduced in order to reach the Safe System objectives.r


Abstract : Over the last few years the Software Engineering Institute has investigated the high maturity practices of Maturity Level 4 and 5 software organizations via assessments, site visits, workshops, and surveys. This report summarizes the observations from the 1999 survey of high maturity organizations. Areas covered in the survey include management, engineering, tools and technology, quantitative analysis, and people issues. A specific area of interest is statistical process control, which is addressed in some detail in this report, but the observations cover a variety of engineering and management practices, including issues outside the scope of the Capability Maturity Model for Software.


We present the results of a systematic investigation of the magnetic properties of the three-dimensional Kondo topological insulator SmB6 using magnetization and muon-spin relaxation/rotation (μSR) measurements. The μSR measurements exhibit magnetic field fluctuations in SmB6 below ∼15 K due to electronic moments present in the system. However, no evidence for magnetic ordering is found down to 19 mK. The observed magnetism in SmB6 is homogeneous in nature throughout the full volume of the sample. Bulk magnetization measurements on the same sample show consistent behavior. The agreement between μSR, magnetization, and NMR results strongly indicate the appearance of intrinsic bulk magnetic in-gap states associated with fluctuating magnetic fields in SmB6 at low temperature.


A photographic and written examination of paradox in relation to the photograph This research aims to illuminate the relationship between paradox and photography, elaborated via Julia Kristeva's notion of the abject. Paradox is considered in relation to photography in terms of repeated and unresolved debates about the status of the photograph as either an 'index of reality' (Bate, 2004, p. 1) or as a sign. The significance of this research lies in its re-motivation of abjection in terms of paradox, not in order to resolve such debates but, rather, to illuminate the importance of such unresolved contradictions in terms of photography's often powerful affect and meaning. Situated within the paradigm of qualitative research, the research employs the theoretical perspective of post-structuralist psychoanalysis, combined with the methodology of critical analysis, as an approach appropriate to illuminating latencies within representation. Photographs by Jeff Wall, Pat Brassington, Patricia Piccinini, Roger Ballen, and Bill Henson, are critically analysed as informationrich case studies of the use of photographic paradox. The creative component of the research is presented in the form of a web site consisting of photographs and animations of photographs, that collide aesthetic constructions of the body as an objective, external, object of an other's vision with a more sensory, and personal, experience of the body as the site of inner subjectivity. As such, the camera lens functions as a metaphor for each of these constructions, while body parts and fluids vie with objects of memory and optical imaging, repeating and transforming existing objects into new aesthetic forms. As with the case studies of photographic paradox, this photographic project makes explicit the workings of paradox, revealing repeated and unresolved contradictions that serve to create contemplative and often powerfully affective experiences of viewing.


Hit and Run accidents are of particular concern, partly because of the suspicion that many drivers who Hit and Run do so because they had been acting illegally. This report presents the results of a study of British accident data from 1990-2002 that investigates the incidence and character of these accidents. Hit and Run accidents tend to be less severe than other accidents, probably because a vehicle that is capable of being driven away after an accident can only have sustained relatively light damage. They occur mainly on Built-Up roads (those with a speed limit of at most 40mph): seven out of eight Hit and Run accidents occurred on these roads in 2001. Hit and Run accidents formed a constant fraction of the accident total until 1998, but this fraction has since risen rapidly for non-fatal accidents on Built-Up roads; however, there were only slight increases on Non Built-Up roads and no increases on motorways. Young men were the most likely to Hit and Run: nearly 12 per cent of male drivers up to 20 years old Hit and Ran, and over 10 per cent of those aged 21-30. The percentages rose rapidly for these groups between 1997 and 2001. (A)


Background:  The use of dietary restrictions for hospital patients is common. Gastrointestinal patients are at high risk of malnutrition (Thomas & Bishop, 2007). In this study, surgical patients included those under the Enhanced Recovery After Surgery programme, which promotes feeding on the day of surgery because this has been shown to increase recovery time and shorten hospital stays (Lassen et al., 2005). The Malnutrition Universal Screening Tool (MUST) is used to assess risk of malnutrition and to determine the necessity of a dietitian referral (Stratton et al., 2004). This study aimed to quantify the duration of dietary restrictions and the frequency of dietetic referrals of patients on a gastrointestinal ward, which included surgical patients.

Methods:  Data were collected from University College London Hospital over a 5-week period on a gastrointestinal ward. Nursing handover notes were used to identify and track patients undergoing any dietary restriction and all of these patients were included in the data collection. The restrictions were nil by mouth, sips only, clear fluids only or free fluids only. Whether patients were referred to Dietetic services was also recorded. The ward was visited 4 days every week to confirm the accuracy of nursing handover notes from nursing staff and doctors. MUST scores were noted and compared to incidents of referrals to a dietitian. All data were anonymised at the end of the collection period. Frequency data were used and mean (SD) values for duration of restricted diets calculated.

Results:  Eighty-three patients had completed periods of dietary restrictions (i.e. beginning and end date) with 24 of those patients undergoing two or more different types of dietary restriction.

   Number of patients Mean (SD) number of days of dietary restriction
Nil by mouth 52 1.6 (1.0)
Sips 32 3.4 (2.0)
Clear fluids  3 3.3 (1.5)
Free fluids 23 1.9 (0.9)

Thirty-two patients were screened with MUST. Only 15 out of 83 patients were referred to dietetic services eight of which were not screened with MUST. Patients were restricted to sips the longest, which lasted up to 9 days, whereas nil by mouth duration was shortest. The mean (SD) length of time of dietary restriction was 3.0 (2.2) days (range 1–12 days).

Discussion:  Some patients were left on restricted diets despite lack of evidence to support such practice. For example, one patient was restricted to sips for 9 days after a Whipples operation, whereas three patients awaiting nasojejunal or percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy tube reinsertions due to blockage, waited between 3 and 5 days for the procedures. Although the total number of patients in need of dietetic input was not ascertained, patients that were not referred were identified as being in need of nutrition support.

Conclusions:  Some gastroenterology patients have restricted diets for unnecessarily long periods of time, even though they are vulnerable to malnutrition. Despite this, relatively few patients are screened for the risk of malnutrition or referred to dietitians although there is a clinical need.

References  Guyton, A.C. & Hall, J.E. (2006) Textbook of Medical Physiology, 11th edn. China: Elsevier.

Stratton, R.J., Hackston, A., Longmore, D., Dixon, R., Price, S., Stroud, M., King, C. & Elia, M. (2004) Malnutrition in hospital outpatients and inpatients: prevalence, concurrent validity and ease of use of the 'malnutrition universal screening tool' ('MUST') for adults. Br. J. Nutr.92(5), 799–808.

Lassen, K., Hannemann, P., Ljungqvist, O., Fearon, K., Dejong C.H.C, von Meyenfeldt, M.F., Hausel, J., Nygren, J., Andersen, J. & Revhaug, A. (2005) On behalf of the Enhanced Recovery After Surgery (ERAS) Group. Patterns in current perioperative practice: survey of colorectal surgeons in five northern European countries. BMJ 330, 1420–1421.

Thomas, B. & Bishop, J. (2007) The Manual of Dietetic Practice, 4th edn. Oxford: Blackwell Synergy.


Much remains to be discovered about the biodiversity of coral reefs in Malaysia, making this area a priority for coral reef research. This thesis aims to provide insights into the patterns of reef coral species richness and the degree of reef connectivity across Malaysia. For the species richness study, the scleractinian coral families Fungiidae, Agariciidae and Euphylliidae were selected as model taxa. Species of these families have a wide geographical distribution in the Indo-Pacific, and they can be found in a large range of reef habitats, from shallow coastal reefs to deep offshore environments. The connectivity of reefs were inferred by examining the genetic population structures of three reef invertebrate species, the mushroom coral Heliofungia actiniformis, the blue seastar Linckia laevigata, and the boring giant clam Tridacna crocea. Data on coral species and specimens of reef invertebrates were collected from reef areas along a geographical range from east to west Malaysia. Reef coral species richness patterns were revealed and indicated common and rare species, as well as potential endemics. Factors to explain the population structure and connectivity patterns across Malaysia are discussed. The findings in this thesis may be relevant for conservation and management of coral reef areas in Malaysia.


Background: Gastrointestinal tumors (GISTs) have attained significance in recent years because of their dramatic response to imatinib. Imatinib acts by inhibiting the proliferation and inducing apoptosis of GIST cells which express by activating c-kit mutation. GISTs with activating c-kit mutation show positivity for CD117 marker immunohistochemically. In this study, we analyzed the mesenchymal tumors of gastrointestinal tract morphologically and immunohistochemically. Materials And Methods: In this single-institutional retrospective study from January 1995 to April 2010, 52 mesenchymal tumors of gastrointestinal tract were included. Initially they were grouped under smooth muscle and stromal tumors based on their morphology and immunoreactivity for smooth muscle markers. Later on, they were subjected to additional immunostaining by CD117. Based on this, the mesenchymal tumors were reclassified. Results: In our study, the median age was 50 years (range 20-86 years). Stomach was the most common site ( n = 13). After CD117 immunostaining, 16 cases which were originally grouped under smooth muscle tumors were reclassified as GISTs. Conclusion: GISTs showing CD117 positivity are the largest group of mesenchymal tumors of gastrointestinal tract. Categorization of tumors as GIST helps to consider the patients for potential imatinib therapy.


T cell repertoires observed in response to immunodominant and subdominant peptides include private, i.e., specific for each individual, as well as public, i.e., common to all mice or humans of the same MHC haplotype, Vα-Jα and Vβ-Dβ-Jβ rearrangements. To measure the impact of N-region diversity on public repertoires, we have characterized the αβ TCRs specific for several CD4 or CD8 epitopes of wild-type mice and of mice deficient in the enzyme TdT. We find that V, (D), J usage identified in public repertoires is strikingly conserved in TdT°/° mice, even for the CDR3 loops which are shorter than those found in TdT+/+ animals. Moreover, the 10- to 20-fold decrease in αβ T cell diversity in TdT°/° mice did not prevent T cells from undergoing affinity maturation during secondary responses. A comparison of the CDR3β in published public and private repertoires indicates significantly reduced N-region diversity in public CDR3β. We interpret our findings as suggesting that public repertoires are produced more efficiently than private ones by the recombination machinery. Alternatively, selection may be biased in favor of public repertoires in the context of the interactions between TCR and MHC peptide complexes and we hypothesize that MHCα helices are involved in the selection of public repertoires.


Abstract. Dawn–dusk asymmetries are ubiquitous features of the coupled solar-wind–magnetosphere–ionosphere system. During the last decades, increasing availability of satellite and ground-based measurements has made it possible to study these phenomena in more detail. Numerous publications have documented the existence of persistent asymmetries in processes, properties and topology of plasma structures in various regions of geospace. In this paper, we present a review of our present knowledge of some of the most pronounced dawn–dusk asymmetries. We focus on four key aspects: (1) the role of external influences such as the solar wind and its interaction with the Earth's magnetosphere; (2) properties of the magnetosphere itself; (3) the role of the ionosphere and (4) feedback and coupling between regions. We have also identified potential inconsistencies and gaps in our understanding of dawn–dusk asymmetries in the Earth's magnetosphere and ionosphere.


We present an all-fiberized power-scalable, sub-nanosecond mode-locked laser based on a frequency-shifted-feedback ring cavity comprised of an erbium-doped fiber, a downshifting acousto-optic modulator (AOM), and a bandpass filter (BPF). With the aid of the frequency-shifted feedback mechanism provided by the AOM and the narrow filter bandwidth of 0.45 nm, we generate self-starting, mode-locked optical pulses with a spectral bandwidth of ~0.098 nm and a pulsewidth of 432 to 536 ps. In particular, the output power is readily scalable with pump power while keeping the temporal shape and spectral bandwidth. This is obtained via the consolidation of bound pulse modes circulating at the fundamental repetition rate of the cavity. In fact, the consolidated pulses form a single-entity envelope of asymmetric Gaussian shape where no discrete internal pulses are perceived. This result highlights that the inclusion of the narrow BPF into the cavity is crucial to achieving the consolidated pulses.


Partial discharge (PD) is one of the most popular failure or breakdown that can happen at high voltage (HV) equipment. PD is the fault that causes the insulation breakdown occurred between two electrodes. It happened or occurred because of the improper insulation, ageing, environment effect and manufacturing defects. The loss of the power will affect consumer and system operation. One of the technique that can measure or detect the PD is by using ultra high frequency (UHF) method for HV equipment insulation condition monitoring and assessment. In this paper, the application of UHF method have been reviewed as the best method to detect PD in transformer, GIS and cable. The UHF method for every electrical equipment is described in order to detect the PD and the laboratory result shows that this method can be considered as suitable technique. Based on this review, the new design in UHF sensor is required in order to improve the sensitivity and bandwidth for PD detection in HV equipment. The valuable parameter such as size and PD frequency range can be used for early stage of designing new the UHF sensor.


ABSTRACT Historically trans people have often wrongly been advised that the gender role transition process would result in the breakdown of their relationships, and couples have often been provided with little support through this process. This paper presents an in-depth narrative analysis of the accounts of six cisgender women who have been partnered with trans individuals. It focuses on the support that non-trans partners accessed while their partner progressed through their gender transition. Support was deemed important by all participants in relation to their aim of remaining together with their partners. In terms of whom they accessed support from, participants spoke about interactions with other people in similar situations, with professional therapists, with the Gender Identity Clinics (GICs), and with their partners. In regard to therapy, some reported that their partner's transition was a topic they did not need to discuss. Many reported they had to take an "educator" role in therapy, suggesting that more training for therapists is required. Those who attended GICs with their partner were ambivalent about whether they would have utilised support there if it had been available there, stating that locally situated support was preferable. The paper draws out the clinical implications in relation to these areas.


Abstract. The emissions of nitrous oxide (N2O) and leaching of nitrate (NO3)
from agricultural cropping systems have considerable negative impacts on
climate and the environment. Although these environmental burdens are less per unit area in organic than in non-organic production on
average, they
are roughly similar per unit of product. If organic farming is to maintain
its goal of being environmentally friendly, these loadings must be
addressed. We discuss the impact of possible drivers of N2O emissions
and NO3 leaching within organic arable farming practice under European
climatic conditions, and potential strategies to reduce these. Organic
arable crop rotations are generally diverse with the frequent use of legumes,
intercropping and organic fertilisers. The soil organic matter content and the
share of active organic matter, soil structure, microbial and faunal
activity are higher in such diverse rotations, and the yields are lower, than in
non-organic arable cropping systems based on less diverse systems and
inorganic fertilisers. Soil mineral nitrogen (SMN), N2O emissions and
NO3 leaching are low under growing crops, but there is the potential
for SMN accumulation and losses after crop termination, harvest or
senescence. The risk of high N2O fluxes increases when large amounts of
herbage or organic fertilisers with readily available nitrogen (N) and
degradable carbon are incorporated into the soil or left on the surface.
Freezing/thawing, drying/rewetting, compacted and/or wet soil and
mechanical mixing of crop residues into the soil further enhance the risk of
high N2O fluxes. N derived from soil organic matter (background
emissions) does, however, seem to be the most important driver for N2O
emission from organic arable crop rotations, and the correlation between
yearly total N-input and N2O emissions is weak. Incorporation of N-rich plant residues or mechanical weeding followed by bare fallow conditions increases the
risk of NO3 leaching. In contrast, strategic use of deep-rooted crops
with long growing seasons or effective cover crops in the rotation reduces
NO3 leaching risk. Enhanced recycling of herbage from green manures,
crop residues and cover crops through biogas or composting may increase N
efficiency and reduce N2O emissions and NO3 leaching. Mixtures
of legumes (e.g. clover or vetch) and non-legumes (e.g. grasses or
Brassica species) are as efficient cover crops for reducing NO3
leaching as monocultures of non-legume species. Continued regular use of
cover crops has the potential to reduce NO3 leaching and enhance soil
organic matter but may enhance N2O emissions. There is a need to
optimise the use of crops and cover crops to enhance the synchrony of
mineralisation with crop N uptake to enhance crop productivity, and this
will concurrently reduce the long-term risks of NO3 leaching and
N2O emissions.


This paper describes the design and first results of an information system (SIGLIC) that supports the new integrated management program (SIGA) to improve the access to surgery in Portugal. SIGIC, the Ministry of Health's agency responsible for access to surgery management, started re-thinking the system in 2005 by redefining key processes and workflows. The designed information system SIGLIC integrates all hospitals with surgery with every other hospital, where it picks the data to allow the search for optimal solutions for each patient. In the context of SIGIC (Waiting List for Surgery's Integrated Management System) "access" means to assure the treatment by services in terms of quality, standards, equity, process and transparency. The existence of a significant number of patients waiting for treatment that exceed the clinical acceptable times has ominous consequences not only for the individuals (increasing suffering, reduce treatment success, more complex treatments) but also for the society (more expensive use of resources, higher absenteeism, etc), which made the government to create SIGIC program. SIGIC's goals are to reduce waiting time for surgery, to apply identical standards to all patients, to profit from good use of resources and, to create a national structure of homogeneous information based in a system of data collection. The methodology followed was to: a) "survey of information systems and technology in Demand/Supply/Resources"; b) "institutionalization and monitoring of procedural standards for management of the Waiting List for Surgery (WLS)", c) provide "evaluation by results" and, d) "Correction of deviations to the standard". To fulfill SIGIC's objectives it was created a management model (SIGA) and SIGLIC to support it. By now 57 public hospitals and 96 private clinics and hospitals (with convention in SIGIC) had joined the SIGIC network. The Information model include the following items: information on patients and events to allow "Process management", "clinical information" for "Disease Management" and "financial data" to allow management between the health units, from which data is gathered to improve access management. The information is recorded by hospitals in accordance with a set of standards and integrated into the central database of SIGIC. The quality of integrated information from the hospitals is guaranteed by a set of tools to validate its consistency, rejecting non-compliant data. The information is recorded in hospitals throughout the process of managing the patient on WLS and integrated daily in the central database. The results since 2005 show the importance of an integrated information system to overcome the bureaucracy: There was a 36% improvement in number of scheduled surgical episodes and 60% reduction in days on waiting time.


Historians of premodern Chinese urbanism have long assumed that the origins of the Chinese imperial city plan stem from a passage in the Kaogong Ji (Record of Trades) section of the classical text Rituals of Zhou which describes the city of the King of Zhou. Taking this description as the single source of all Chinese capitals, these historians have gone on to write that any Chinese imperial city constructed during the last 2,000 years not only has much in common with any other one, but that all have been built according to a single scheme. Yet the plans of the two most important Chinese imperial cities, Chang9an in the 7th to 9th century, and Beijing after the 14th century, indicate that a crucial feature of the Chinese imperial urban plan, the position of the imperial palaces, is in the north center at Chang9an and roughly in the exact center at Beijing, thereby dispelling the myth of the direct descent of all Chinese imperial city plans from the King of Zhou9s city. Moreover, an examination of excavated cities of the first millennium B. C. shows that the Chang9an plan, the Beijing plan, and a third type, the double city, have their origins in China before the 1st century A. D., when the Kaogong Ji is believed to have been written. Moreover, all three city plan types can be traced through several thousand years of Chinese city building. After stating the hypothesis of three lineages of Chinese imperial city building, the paper illustrates and briefly comments on the key examples of each city type through history. More than 20 cities are involved in understanding the evolution of the imperial Chinese plans. Thus this paper also includes many Chinese capital plans heretofore unpublished in a Western language. The plan of Chang9an is different from that of Beijing because the latter city was built on the ruins of a city designed anew by the Mongol ruler of China, Khubilai Khan, with the intent of adhering to the prescribed design of the Kaogong Ji; whereas Chang9an was built according to a plan used by native and non-Chinese rulers of China only until the advent of Mongolian rule (with one exception.) Finally, this paper examines the assumption that there was little variation in Chinese imperial city building. A main reason for the assumed uniformities in Chinese capitals is because the imperial city is traditionally one of the most potent symbols of imperial rule, such that digression from it might imply less than legitimate rulership. Thus it can be shown that Chinese and non-Chinese dynasties had their actual city schemes amended for the historical record through the publication of fictitious city plans.


Loess accumulated in the Negev desert during the Pleistocene and primary and secondary loess remains cover large parts of the landscape. Holocene loess deposits are however absent. This could be due low accumulation rates, lack of preservation, and higher erosion rates in comparison to the Pleistocene. This study hypothesized that archaeological ruins preserve Holocene dust. We studied soils developed on archaeological hilltop ruins in the Negev and the Petra region and compared them with local soils, paleosols, geological outcrops, and current dust. Seven statistically modeled grain size end-members were identified and demonstrate that the ruin soils in both regions consist of mixtures of local and remote sediment sources that differ from dust compositions deposited during current storms. This discrepancy is attributed to fixation processes connected with sediment-fixing agents such as vegetation, biocrusts, and/or clast pavements associated with vesicular layers. Average dust accretion rates in the ruins are estimated to be ~0.14 mm/a, suggesting that ~30% of the current dust that can be trapped with dry marble dust collectors has been stored in the ruin soils. Deposition amounts and grain sizes do not significantly correlate with wind intensity. However, precipitation may have contributed to dust accretion. A snowstorm in the Petra region delivered a significantly higher amount of sediment than rain or dry deposition. Snowfall dust had a unique particle size distribution relatively similar to the ruin soils. Wet deposition and snow might catalyze dust deposition and enhance fixation by fostering vegetation and crust formation. More frequent snowfall during the Pleistocene may have been an important mechanism of primary loess deposition in the southern Levant.


India's history, its people and the phenomenon of various personal laws make it an ideal legal system for comparison with South Africa. There is a generally applicable Indian law that applies to all Indians irrespective of their religion. In the personal law sphere, we find a system of concurrent personal laws that applies to members of the various communities in India. As part of this personal law system, is an optional secular system of personal law. On the other hand, the religious communities of South Africa are served by a national law (state law), which purports to be secular, and by the customs and usages of religious communities (non-state law). As South Africa is in the process of recognising Islamic marriages, a comparison between the South African situation and other jurisdictions grappling with similar issues, is apposite. In this contribution the following is investigated: the meaning of 'personal law' in India, the variety of personal law systems applicable in India and the circumstances surrounding the so-called Uniform Civil Code debate. Finally, a conclusion as to the suitability of the Indian model for South Africa is assessed.


The responses of two cultivars of soybean (Merr.) to a chilling treatment (4 C for first hour of imbibition) were compared. The germination of cv. Biloxi was unaffected by the treatment, while the germination of cv. Fiskeby was reduced. The phospholipid fatty acids of dry axes of the two cultivars were very similar, and, thus, could not be correlated with their responses to chilling. The fatty acid composition of chilling-tolerant Biloxi did not change over a subsequent 23-hour warm incubation, but there was a marked reduction in the unsaturated fatty acids of chilling-sensitive Fiskeby after 12 hours, which may be a symptom of deterioration. Protein synthesis in both cultivars was reduced by the chilling treatment. Redrying of Biloxi axes up to 18 hours after the onset of imbibition had no effect on their germination upon rehydration. Germination of Fiskeby axes was reduced by redrying after 8 hours of imbibition. After 7 months of dry storage of intact seeds, the sensitivity of the axes to chilling was retested. Biloxi axes had become chilling-sensitive, while the germination of Fiskeby axes was reduced to zero by the chilling treatment. A hypothesis is presented that imbibitional chilling sensitivity is an indication of reduced vigor, axes with a high vigor can tolerate the stress, while those without cannot.


Financial discussion boards (FDBs) have been widely used for a variety of financial knowledge exchange activities through the posting of comments. Popular public FDBs are prone to being used as a medium to spread false financial information due to larger audience groups. Although online forums are usually integrated with anti-spam tools, such as Akismet, moderation of posted content heavily relies on manual tasks. Unfortunately, the daily comments volume received on popular FDBs realistically prevents human moderators to watch closely and moderate possibly fraudulent content, not to mention moderators are not usually assigned with such task. Due to the absence of useful tools, it is extremely time consuming and expensive to manually read and determine whether each comment is potentially fraudulent. This paper presents novel forward and backward analysis methodologies implemented in an Information Extraction (IE) prototype system named FDBs Miner (FDBM). The methodologies aim to detect potentially illegal Pump and Dump comments on FDBs with the integration of per-minute share prices in the detection process. This can possibly reduce false positives during the detection as it categorises the potentially illegal comments into different risk levels for investigation purposes. The proposed system extracts company's ticker symbols (i.e. unique symbol that represents and identifies each listed company on stock market), comments and share prices from FDBs based in the UK. The forward analysis methodology flags the potentially Pump and Dump comments using a predefined keywords template and labels the flagged comments with price hike thresholds. Subsequently, the backward analysis methodology employs a moving average technique to determine price abnormalities and backward analyse the flagged comments. The first detection stage in forward analysis found 9.82% of potentially illegal comments. It is unrealistic and unaffordable for human moderators or financial surveillance authorities to read these comments on a daily basis. Hence, by integrating share prices to perform backward analysis can categorise the flagged comments into different risk levels. It helps relevant authorities to prioritise and investigate into the higher risk flagged comments, which could potentially indicate a real Pump and Dump crime happening on FDBs when the system is being used in real time.


High capacitance/capacity electrodes are in urgent demand to increase the charge storage capability of energy storage devices. However, there are some scientific and technical challenges for a large amount of charges to be transported through the devices because the kinetic resistances and volume change issues may limit the performance of devices. 3D conductive scaffolds are usually developed to build rapid electron/ion pathways and accommodate volume changes. Using a templated electrodeposition and hydrothermal synthesis technique, we developed a composite electrode consisting of NiCo2O4 nanowires on ultralight nickel foam. The NiCo2O4 nanowires provide a large surface for rapid charge transports. The ultralight nickel foam electrically wires NiCo2O4 and accommodates the volume expansion of NiCo2O4 during lithiation. The composite electrode demonstrates a high performance microstructure for ideal pseudocapacitors and lithium ion anodes. It not only enhances the utilization of active materials but also increases the electrode based specific capacitance by one order of magnitude as compared to the widely used nickel foam. More importantly, the ultralight nickel foam supported structure could further be extended to other high capacitance/capacity metal oxide materials for pseudocapacitors and lithium-ion battery applications.


A cornerstone result in distributed computing is the impossibility of solving consensus using only read and write operations in asynchronous systems where processes may fail. The impossibility of solving consensus led to the study of sub-consensus coordination tasks, namely tasks that are weaker than consensus. Two archetypal sub-consensus tasks are k-set agreement and M -renaming. In k-set agreement, n processes must decide on at most k of their input values; while n-set agreement is trivially solvable by each process deciding on its input, (n − 1)-set agreement is unsolvable. In M -renaming, processes decide on distinct names in a range of size M . When M is only a function of the total number of processes in the system, we call the task nonadaptive renaming, while if M is also a function of the number p of participants in the execution, we refer to the task as adaptive renaming. For any value of n, (2n− 1)-nonadaptive renaming is solvable, but surprisingly, (2n− 2)-nonadaptive renaming is not solvable if n is a prime power and solvable otherwise. For general values of n, the only previously known lower bound on the number of names necessary for nonadaptive renaming is n+ 1. For adaptive renaming, (2p− 1)-adaptive renaming is known to be solvable, while (2p− dp/n−1e)-adaptive renaming is not solvable. Most previous impossibility proofs for (n− 1)-set agreement, and all previous impossibility proofs for (2n − 2)-nonadaptive renaming, use nontrivial topological tools and notions in an innovative way. Nevertheless, the use of topological notions makes the interaction between the impossibility proofs and the operational arguments harder to understand, and makes the proofs less accessible to distributed computing researches. We present simple proofs for the above mentioned impossibility results: n processes cannot solve (n − 1)-set agreement, and cannot solve (2p − dp/n−1e)-adaptive renaming; if n is a prime power, n processes cannot solve (2n − 2)-nonadaptive renaming. For general values of n, we give a lower bound for nonadaptive renaming, which is proved using a reduction between nonadaptive renaming for di erent numbers of processes, and using results about the distribution of prime numbers. Our proofs consider a restricted set of executions, and combine simple operational properties of these executions with elementary counting arguments, to show the existence of an execution violating the task's requirements. This makes the proofs easier to understand, verify, and hopefully, extend. 1 T ec hn io n C om pu te r Sc ie nc e D ep ar tm en t M .S c. T he si s M SC -2 01 311 2 01 3


The famine in southern Sudan is threatening the lives of more than half a million southerners, especially in Bahr El Ghazal province. The famine has provoked a debate into its causes. Most commentators in the United Kingdom accused the war of being the main culprit. A few days ago, in the House of Commons, a conservative MP stood up and said that the war in the Sudan, and all wars in Africa for that matter, are caused by the political vacuum left behind by colonial powers and wondered if something could be done about that! Clare Short, the Minister for Overseas Development, called the Hounrable Gentleman foolish to ask implicitly for the return of colonialism. The war and the famine, she said, are the responsibility of the leadership on both sides of the conflict. They have to stop the war now and everything would go back to normal. She sat down happy in the feeling that she had defeated the argument of her conservative opponent. The war, according to Clare Short, is all about African leaders. The BBC, however, knew better. Commenting on the pictures of emaciated southern Sudanese children, its newsreader described the war as between Muslim Arabs in the north and Christian Africans in the south. The war is thus a religious and ethnic war. All three interpretations belong to traditional schools of conflict analysis, which explain all armed conflicts in Africa as ethnic, tribal, cultural, religious, etc. These interpretations throw the stick of ethnicity at all conflicts and see there, it devours them all. This is not only unhelpful, but could seriously hamper efforts at genuine conflict management and conflict resolution. A study of all three major violent conflicts in the Sudan shows the futility of this traditional approach to conflict analysis and conflict resolution.


What is the minimum dimension of a niche space necessary to represent the overlaps among observed niches? This book presents a new technique for obtaining a partial answer to this elementary question about niche space. The author bases his technique on a relation between the combinatorial structure of food webs and the mathematical theory of interval graphs. Professor Cohen collects more than thirty food webs from the ecological literature and analyzes their statistical and combinatorial properties in detail. As a result, he is able to generalize: within habitats of a certain limited physical and temporal heterogeneity, the overlaps among niches, along their trophic (feeding) dimensions, can be represented in a one-dimensional niche space far more often than would be expected by chance alone and perhaps always. This compatibility has not previously been noticed. It indicates that real food webs fall in a small subset of the mathematically possible food webs. Professor Cohen discusses other apparently new features of real food webs, including the constant ratio of the number of kinds of prey to the number of kinds of predators in food webs that describe a community. In conclusion he discusses possible extensions and limitations of his results and suggests directions for future research.


SARS-CoV-2 infection leads to severe disease associated with cytokine storm, vascular dysfunction, coagulation, and progressive lung damage. It affects several vital organs, seemingly through a pathological effect on endothelial cells. The SARS-CoV-2 genome encodes 29 proteins, whose contribution to the disease manifestations, and especially endothelial complications, is unknown. We cloned and expressed 26 of these proteins in human cells and characterized the endothelial response to overexpression of each, individually. Whereas most proteins induced significant changes in endothelial permeability, nsp2, nsp5_c145a (catalytic dead mutant of nsp5) and nsp7 also reduced CD31, and increased von Willebrand factor expression and IL-6, suggesting endothelial dysfunction. Using propagation-based analysis of a protein–protein interaction (PPI) network, we predicted the endothelial proteins affected by the viral proteins that potentially mediate these effects. We further applied our PPI model to identify the role of each SARS-CoV-2 protein in other tissues affected by COVID-19. Overall, this work identifies the SARS-CoV-2 proteins that might be most detrimental in terms of endothelial dysfunction, thereby shedding light on vascular aspects of COVID-19.


The biosorption of lead by the brown alga Sargassum filipendula was studied. pH 4.0 was the optimum value for the biosorption of lead. Isotherms indicated that for solutions containing 0.03 ± 0.001 up to 3.27 ± 0.04 mmol/L of lead, 2.0g/L was the optimum biomass concentration. The Langmuir model was fitted to represent the experimental data, and the kinetics of biosorption presented equilibrium in 30 min. The continuous system operated for 56 hrs presenting a 100% binding of ionic lead, which corresponds to an accumulation of 168 g lead, equivalent to a load of 1.7 mmol ionic lead/g Sargassum filipendula. The results that were obtained in a continuous system showed a gradual saturation of the biomass in the reactors.


The last few decades have seen dramatic growth in the scale of production and the use of polybrominated diphenylethers (PBDEs) as flame retardants. Consequently, PBDEs such as BDE-47, BDE-99, BDE-153 and BDE-209 have been detected in various environmental matrices. These compounds have also been linked with the disruption of the endocrine systems of man and wildlife. The present research work is aimed at determining the concentration of (PBDEs) in landfill leachates in Tshwane Municipality. A simulated landfill leachate was used to optimise various chromatograph parameters such as oven temperature programme, injector and detector temperature, carrier gas flow rate, and the limit of detection. A Varian GC coupled with ECD detector was used for the analysis. An effective method of recovery was developed using petroleum ether instead of hexane/acetone as reported by the literature. Recoveries of BDE-47 -99 and 209, each at a fortification level of 5ng and 6ng respectively, were in the range of 97.5% to 123% and relative standard deviation of 6 to 12 (n=3). The method developed was applied to leachate samples collected from two landfill sites producing leachates (Temba and Soshanguve) in the Municipality. Results obtained are 0.90 and 0.13mg/l for BDE-47 and 0.48 and 0.21 mg/l for BDE-99 respectively. BDE-209 was not detected. Compared to other studies these concentrations are significantly higher than those reported for Japanese landfill sites. Therefore, there is cause for concern if these leachates were to infiltrate into groundwater. © 2006 WIT Press WIT Transactions on Biomedicine and Health, Vol 10, www.witpress.com, ISSN 1743-3525 (on-line) Environmental Toxicology 253 doi:10.2495/ETOX060251


Polygonal meshes provide an efficient representation for 3D shapes. They explicitly captureboth shape surface and topology, and leverage non-uniformity to represent large flat regions as well as sharp, intricate features. This non-uniformity and irregularity, however, inhibits mesh analysis efforts using neural networks that combine convolution and pooling operations. In this paper, we utilize the unique properties of the mesh for a direct analysis of 3D shapes using MeshCNN, a convolutional neural network designed specifically for triangular meshes. Analogous to classic CNNs, MeshCNN combines specialized convolution and pooling layers that operate on the mesh edges, by leveraging their intrinsic geodesic connections. Convolutions are applied on edges and the four edges of their incident triangles, and pooling is applied via an edge collapse operation that retains surface topology, thereby, generating new mesh connectivity for the subsequent convolutions. MeshCNN learns which edges to collapse, thus forming a task-driven process where the network exposes and expands the important features while discarding the redundant ones. We demonstrate the effectiveness of MeshCNN on various learning tasks applied to 3D meshes.


From material collected in open waters of the NW and Equatorial Pacific Ocean the detailed morphology of brachidiniaceans based on two specimens of Asterodinium gracile is reported for the first time. SEM observations showed that the straight apical groove, the morphological characters and orientation of the cell body were similar to those described for species of Karenia. Brachidinium and Asterodinium showed high morphological variability in the length of the extensions and intermediate specimens with Karenia. Karenia-like cells that strongly resemble Brachidinium and Asterodinium but lacking the extensions co-occurred with the typical specimens. The life cycle and morphology of Karenia papilionacea should be investigated under natural conditions because of the strong similarity with the brachidiniaceans.


In this paper, we show how the intersection of chains of multimodal cohesive ties with choices of relations among sequences of filmic units provides a strong foundation for constructing filmic narrative. Until now bridging the gap between narrative concerns and fine-grained analysis of complex multimodal artefacts such as films has been difficult: fine-grained analyses tend to lose themselves in the wealth of detail revealed and high-level narrative analyses are often pulled towards subjective interpretations. Our definition and use of the constructs of multimodal filmic cohesion and of logical sequential filmic relations establishes functional analytic categories anchored both below, in the fine-grained detail of film, and above, in the range of interpretations that they delimit. We propose this as one way in which we can move towards a more empirically-grounded notion of transmedial narration.


OBJECTIVES
To assess the physical and psychological effects across 11 weeks of music-exercise sessions, the participants' training experience, and attitudes towards physical activity. The effect of different music information was also investigated.

METHODS
Overall, 146 sedentary volunteers were randomized into 4 exercise groups and each group received different music information. Physical capacity and psychological measures were obtained.

RESULTS
Increased performance in oxygen uptake and flexibility and decreased blood pressure was found. Participants reported increased wellbeing and body-awareness, and an intention to remain physically active. No differences between groups were found.

CONCLUSION
Music-exercise can be recommended to promote physical activity among sedentary individuals. The amount of musical information in synchronous music seems not to have any effects on self-selected intensity or physiological benefits.


A new generative adversarial network is developed for joint distribution matching. Distinct from most existing approaches, that only learn conditional distributions, the proposed model aims to learn a joint distribution of multiple random variables (domains). This is achieved by learning to sample from conditional distributions between the domains, while simultaneously learning to sample from the marginals of each individual domain. The proposed framework consists of multiple generators and a single softmax-based critic, all jointly trained via adversarial learning. From a simple noise source, the proposed framework allows synthesis of draws from the marginals, conditional draws given observations from a subset of random variables, or complete draws from the full joint distribution. Most examples considered are for joint analysis of two domains, with examples for three domains also presented.


Time-lapse microscopy reveals how Notch integrates signals from Delta molecules on the same cell with those from a neighboring cell. Members of the Notch family of proteins are single-pass transmembrane receptors whose ligands are members of the Jagged and Delta-like families. Binding of Delta on the surface of a cell to Notch on the surface of an adjacent cell (a trans interaction) triggers the proteolytic processing of Notch; its intracellular domain is cleaved and translocates to the nucleus to activate target gene expression. Notch signaling is important in determining cell fate and in defining boundaries between neighboring cells during development. Binding of Delta to Notch on the same cell (a cis interaction) inhibits Notch signaling; however, how Notch integrates cis and trans signals is unclear. Sprinzak et al. used time-lapse microscopy and a fluorescence-based Notch reporter system to quantify the response of Notch to Delta molecules presented in either state. Delta presented in trans generated a graded response in Notch signaling. When presented in cis, Delta inhibited Notch signaling; however, titration of the amount of Delta resulted in a sharp Notch response. The authors developed a model that suggested that, when Delta is more abundant than Notch on the same cell, Notch signaling is blocked and the cell becomes a "sender" of signals, through Delta, to neighboring cells. When the relative protein abundance is reversed, however, the cell becomes a "receiver," with Notch responding in a graded manner to Delta on an adjacent cell. The authors suggest that, through this switch mechanism, Notch-Delta signaling between adjacent cells is amplified, which helps to sharply define cell boundaries within a developing tissue. D. Sprinzak, A. Lakhanpal, L. LeBon, L. A. Santat, M. E. Fontes, G. A. Anderson, J. Garcia-Ojalvo, M. B. Elowitz, Cis-interactions between Notch and Delta generate mutually exclusive signalling states. Nature 465, 86–90 (2010). [PubMed]


By combining the data from the 1992, 1995, 1998, 2001 and 2004 Survey of Consumer Finances, this study investigated racial differences in households' financial asset allocation over the years. This study categorized the financial assets into four categories: equities held directly or indirectly, bonds held directly or indirectly, cash account and other financial asset. Based on Heckman Selection model, the probability of having each financial asset category and the ratio of financial asset invested in each category were regressed on year, race, other demographic variables (age, education, gender, marital status and number of kids), socio-economic variables (income, wealth, working status, having defined benefit plans vs. having defined contribution plans, inheritance, homeownership and business ownership) and an attitudinal factor (risk tolerance). Race has four categories: white, black, Hispanic and others. To fully analyze racial differences in holding each of the four financial asset categories, 20 interaction terms of the four racial categories and five years (1992, 1995, 1998, 2001 and 2004) are included in each model to examine the racial differences in holding of each financial asset category over time.


We have studied patterns of synaptic activity in rabbit ciliary ganglion cells by intracellular recording in vivo, and have examined the morphology of functionally characterized neurones by intracellular injection of horseradish peroxidase. Nearly all of the neurones studied (293 of 300) received tonic synaptic input from preganglionic neurones. This tonic activity was not decreased by darkness or by acute optic nerve section. The rate of tonic synaptic activity recorded in the vast majority of neurones (94%) changed in response to retinal illumination. Most ganglion cells showed an increased rate; some cells, however, showed decreased activity during illumination. The rate of synaptic activity recorded in ciliary neurones tended to be progressively higher in neurones with more complex geometries. Neurones with similar reflex properties included cells that lacked dendrites and cells with complex dendritic arborizations; conversely, neurones with similar geometries often had different reflex characteristics. The synaptic activity arising from different preganglionic axons innervating the same ganglion cell was not temporally linked in any obvious way. The relevance of these results to the regulation of the number of axons that innervate target neurones is discussed.


Identification and mitigation of leaks of subsurface fluids such as hydrocarbons at many heavy-oil fields is a first-order concern to operating companies, their regulators and the public. A variety of leaks have been documented at heavy-oil fields in Alberta (Canada) and California (USA). Although the petroleum geology and tectonic framework of fields in these areas differ significantly, production-related uplift of overburden and dilation of pre-existing fractures due to cyclic steam injection are likely to have facilitated the leakage events. As a result, integration of overburden characterization and monitoring with management of steam pressures may provide an effective means of risk mitigation of major leakage events.


Potato granules from different sources were found, on extrusion, to produce potato snacks of variable quality. In some instances strip formation was unsatisfactory, in other instances blistering of the snack occurred on frying. In total, about 20-25 batches of potato granules were examined and classified in relation to these two phenomena. The amylose/amylopectin ratios of these samples of potato granules were determined by the semi-micro potentiometric iodine titration technique, but it was found that there was no significant differences in the amylose/amylopectin ratio in relation to the extrusion behaviour of the granules.
The determination of the amount of free starch present outside the potato granules also did not show any clear differences between the satisfactory and unsatisfactory potato granules, though the extract from the unsatisfactory potato granules tended to indicate that they contained more lipid than the satisfactory ones.
The unsatisfactory potato granules yielded a higher amount of total extractable soluble starch than their satisfactory counterpart, for the same variety of potato granules. The amount of soluble starch increased on extrusion and it was also found to be related to the breaking strength of the extrudate and their blistering behaviour. A stronger strip which gave a higher amount of soluble starch possessed a greater tendency to blister. Addition of PSA additives to potato granules prior to extrusion increased the soluble starch content, but the degree of blistering was suppressed.
Gel permeation chromatography experiments showed that the starches extracted from inside the potato granules consisted of mostly high molecular weight macromolecules (very similar to that of amylopectin) and a smaller quantity of low molecular weight macromolecules similar to amylose. The soluble starch extracted from the outside of potato granules also consisted of a greater amount of high molecular weight macromolecules whereas, after extrusion, a greater quantity of smaller molecular weight macromolecules was found to be present which presumably had been expressed from the granules and was assisting in forming the network, binding the potato granules together to form a coherent strip.
Determination of the total phosphate and glucose-6-phosphate contents of both potato granules and extracted starches did not show any correlation between the satisfactory and unsatisfactory potato granules. The quantities of phosphate present were small (0.8%).
Studies were conducted to elucidate the differences in the cell wall material between satisfactory and unsatisfactory potato granules. Results showed only minimal differences in both the amount of cell wall material and the composition of neutral sugars in the cell wall extract of different potato granule samples.
Investigations of the macromolecular order in the granules were pursued along several lines. By x-ray diffraction it was found that the manufactureof potato granules by the add-back process produced changes in the molecular order of the starch component transforming the B-type x-ray pattern of native potato starch to, in the potato granules, the A-type typically found in cereal starches. The differences in molecular order of the starch component between the satisfactory and unsatisfactory potato granules were also investigated using infra-red spectroscopy and differential scanning calorimetry besides x-ray diffractometry. However, there was no simple correlation with either the crystal type or relative crystallinity of potato granules and their extrusion behaviour. Infra-red studies also did not reveal any differences in the spectra nor the absorbance values at wavelengths of 935, 855 and 760 cm-1.
D.S.C. and x-ray results, followed subsequently by lipid analysis, established that the unsatisfactory behaviour of certain batches of potato granules was due to the presence of excess GMS (>0.3%), which prevented the formation of a coherent strip, whereas satisfactory granules had a normal amount of GMS (0.3%) which was not detected by either D.S.C. or x-ray techniques. The excess GMS of unsatisfactory granules when monitored as the unassociated material (by the M L peak), was found to decrease with storage time.
Extrusion of satisfactory potato granules, when examined by D.S.C. was accompanied by an increase in the amylose-lipid complex (V-amylose) as indicated by the M A-L peak and this was further enhanced on the addition of PSA additives. However, the formation of the V-amylose complex was not very evident in the x-ray patterns. X-ray crystallinity studies indicated that the extrudates exhibited a lower order and it was presumed that there was less x-ray order in the V- than in the A-form. The crystallinity of potato granule samples were found to be affected by their moisture content, the highest crystallinity was achieved with samples having approximately 38% moisture.
NMR experiments in conjunction with heating experiments which had been designed to ascertain the amount of bound water before and after heating the granules to 90°C, indicated that although the bound water content before heating did not show any clear differences between satisfactory and unsatisfactory samples, there was a tendency for the unsatisfactory granules to show a slight decrease in bound water after heating. Experiments using varying amounts of water revealed that the spin-spin relaxation time (T2) increased with the water content of both satisfactory and unsatisfactory granules. The increase was greater for the satisfactory granules at 65% and 55% moisture content and lower for 45% and 35% moisture content, compared to the unsatisfactory granules.
A mathematical model has been constructed which assumed that blistering was the consequence of an over-strong intergranular network which had a low permeability for water vapour. The experimental physical constraints of time, temperature and water content when introduced into the model showed that the blistering phenomenon could readily be explained.
It was finally concluded that unsatisfactory strip formation was a consequence of the presence of excess GMS while blistering occurred when extrusion yielded a higher intergranular polysaccharide network (as evidenced by the amount of the total soluble starch).


Abstract The formation cross section of the nuclide production of proton-induced reactions with intermediate energy is important for a variety of applications. For instance, the mass and charge distribution of residual products produced in the spallation reactions needs to be studied because it can provide useful information for the disposal of nuclear waste and residual radioactivity generated by the spallation neutron target system. With our current work, we have developed the Many Stage Dynamical Model (MSDM) based on the Cascade-Exciton Model (CEM). By introducing Mshnik's recent work on the CEM code, the MSDM code and the Quantum Molecular Dynamics (QMD) plus Statistical Decay Model (SDM) (QMD+SDM) and QMD plus FISSION (QMD+FISSION) models are adopted; we use them to investigate the mass distribution of Nb, Au, and Pb of proton-induced reactions with energies from 100 MeV to 3 GeV. The agreement between the developed MSDM simulations and the measured data as well as the QMD+FISSION model are good in the energy range of 100 MeV to 3 GeV, and deviations mainly show up in the mass range of 90 to 140 in the high energy of protons incident on the Au and Pb target for the MSDM and QMD+FISSION model simulations. The QMD+SDM can reproduce only part of the spallation fragments and cannot reproduce the fission fragments of the measured data.


C-type lectin receptors activate protein kinase C δ in a Syk-dependent manner to stimulate NF-κB signaling in response to fungi. The C-type lectin receptors (CLRs) are pattern recognition receptors that recognize β-glucan carbohydrates in fungal cell walls. Ligand binding to the CLR Dectin-1 leads to activation of the tyrosine kinase Syk, nuclear factor κB (NF-κB) signaling, and the expression of genes that encode proinflammatory cytokines. Dectin-1–dependent activation of NF-κB depends on the cytosolic adaptor protein CARD9. Strasser et al. stimulated mouse bone marrow–derived dendritic cells (BMDCs) with the CLR ligand zymosan to investigate the receptor-proximal signaling events that linked Syk activation to CARD9. Zymosan stimulated the tyrosine phosphorylation of protein kinase C δ (PKCδ) in a Syk-dependent manner. Stimulation of BMDCs from PKCδ-deficient mice with zymosan or the Dectin-1–specific ligand curdlan resulted in decreased production of proinflammatory cytokines compared with that of wild-type BMDCs; however, deficiency in other PKC isoforms had no effect. Loss of PKCδ in BMDCs did not inhibit the phagocytosis of zymosan particles or the Dectin-1–dependent production of reactive oxygen species. PKCδ-deficient BMDCs showed defective Dectin-1–dependent NF-κB activation, and in vitro kinase assays showed that PKCδ phosphorylated CARD9. Zymosan stimulated the formation in wild-type BMDCs of a complex containing CARD9, its effector protein Bcl-10, and the kinase TAK1, which leads to NF-κB activation; however, loss of PKCδ blocked the assembly of this complex. Infection of wild-type BMDCs with Candida albicans (which is recognized by Dectin-1) resulted in the production of proinflammatory cytokines; however, infected PKCδ-deficient BMDCs produced decreased amounts of cytokines. PKCδ-deficient mice infected with C. albicans had lower survival rates than those of infected wild-type mice. Together, these data suggest a specific role for PKCδ in mediating the Syk-dependent activation of NF-κB signaling in response to stimulation of CLRs. D. Strasser, K. Neumann, H. Bergmann, M. J. Marakalala, R. Guler, A. Rojowska, K.-P. Hopfner, F. Brombacher, H. Urlaub, G. Baier, G. D. Brown, M. Leitges, J. Ruland, Syk kinase-coupled C-type lectin receptors engage protein kinase C-δ to elicit Card9 adaptor-mediated innate immunity. Immunity 36, 32–42 (2012). [PubMed]


Five well-ordered authigenic glauconite samples from the Belfast Member of the Brassfield Formation in south-central Ohio yield a Rb-Sr isochron age of 337 ± 27 m.y. and an initial 87 Sr/86 Sr ratio of 0.7118 ± 0.0043 (2σ uncertainties). This glauconite age is 20% to 25% younger than the approximate stratigraphic age of the Belfast Member determined by fossil correlation, and it probably represents a geologic event in the postdepositional history of the sedimentary strata. This event is interpreted as an uplift of the pre-Mississippian units composing the Cincinnati arch, the glauconites having isotopically equilibrated their strontium with that of associated fluid phases and carbonates within the Belfast Member at the time of uplift.


Controlling dynamics of industrial robots is one of the most important and complicated tasks in robotics. In some works[3,7], there are algorithms of the manipulators steering with flexible joints or arms. However, introducing them to calculation of trajectory results in complicated equations and a longer time of counting. On the other hand, works [4,5,6]show that improvement of the tool path is possible thanks to the previousidentification of the robot errors and their compensation. This text covers application of Largest Lyapunov Exponent (LLE) as a criterion for control performance assessment (CPA) in a real control system. The main task is to find a simple and effective method to search for the best configuration of a controller in a control system. In this context, CPA criterion based on calculation of LLE by means of a new method [9–11] is presented in the article.


From the perspective of interoperability, Cognitive Radio (CR) is widely studied as an emerging alternative for public safety communications. Spectrum sensing is one of key functionalities enabling the opportunistic spectrum utilization for CR systems. The energy-based cooperative spectrum sensing is mostly adopted in current CR prototype systems due to the low complexity and high detection speed. The cooperative spectrum sensing performance is influenced by the number of collaborative CRs. However, the number of CRs is dynamically changing due to the dynamic behavior of public safety personnel. We study the dynamic behavior of CRs and also derive the exact analytical closed-form expressions for the sensing performance. These expressions lay the framework for utilizing the optimization tools to efficiently guarantee the global optimality for the system parameter design.


Two series of model compounds were devised to follow the attenuation of substituent effects with an interposed methylene group: short-chain aliphatic compounds 1 and derivatives of bicyclo[2.2.2]octane 5 . In all compounds, chlorine atom acts as substituent and charged oxygen atom as the functional group; the interaction of both is measured by the reaction energy of the isodesmic reaction calculated at the B3LYP/AUG-cc-pVTZ//B3LYP/6-311+G(d,p) and/or B3LYP/6-311+G(d,p) levels. Attenuation of the substituent inductive effect with the distance is less steep than observed previously in solution. It depends also markedly on the conformation but cannot be reproduced, not even approximately, by the electrostatic formula. Only for simple regular conformations, it can be described approximately by an exponential function with the transmission factor for one methylene group equal to 0.74. The behavior of isolated molecules differs in this case distinctly from the reactivity in solution. Nevertheless, the significance of the two formulas, electrostatic and exponential, is similar in the isolated molecules and in solution. These formulas represent only two different, rather crude mathematical approximations and cannot be given any physical meaning.


Making enforcement decisions under conditions of uncertainty is a central problem in antitrust policy, as it is in other domains. Particularly in high technology markets characterized by rapid rates of innovation, traditional analytical approaches struggle to identify potentially anticompetitive behavior with fidelity. A growing body of antitrust scholarship addresses this issue from the perspective of decision theory, but sustained attention has yet to be paid to the equally critical question of institutional design — i.e., how antitrust institutions should be structured to reduce or at least manage uncertainty. This Article leverages research undertaken in other substantive areas to provide a preliminary analysis exploring how antitrust institutions are transforming to respond to the volatile markets characteristic of the 21st century economy. With the antitrust law of mergers as its focus, this Article suggests that high-innovation markets immerse competition agencies in uncertainty to such an extent that the agencies themselves must employ an entrepreneurial approach in order to assess competitive effects. That approach, implemented through a number of novel policies, mirrors an "experimentalist" institutional form that has been identified in other areas, ranging from privately-ordered corporate alliances to public regulatory regimes, such as environmental protection. Experimentalist institutions create a decision-making framework that allows agencies to construct case-specific analytical models that capture the dynamics of high-innovation markets while avoiding the problem of being overwhelmed by the enormous amount of information produced through the course of a merger investigation. Given the widespread consensus on the general substantive ends, if not the details, of antitrust law, this overlooked institutional transformation is one of the most important topics in contemporary competition policy.This institutional transformation is more emergent than complete, however. Progress towards a more experimentalist approach to merger review is partial, and in that respect the institutional infrastructure of merger review is out of balance. My analysis introduces a number of new policy issues to consider for completing the institutional evolution of merger review, including rebalancing the exchange of information between merging parties and the agency, introducing real-time judicial oversight of disputes between merging parties and an agency during an investigation, and further expanding the scope of contingent remedies.


Tunable selectivity provides a relatively simple and inexpensive way to manipulate peak positions and gain resolution in chromatographic separations. Length tuning utilizes two columns of different polarities connected in series. Selectivity is manipulated by changing the relative lengths of the two columns. However, a direct correlation is not seen between relative length and effective contribution due to gas compression effects. Rather, a direct correlation is observed between the carrier gas transport time through a segment of column (relative to the total carrier gas transport time) and the effective contribution of that segment. This relationship has been used to predict retention data for analytes in a target mixture, and to determine the combination of columns that would result in the best resolution overall. Further examination reveals that at a given length fraction, the effective contributions of the columns in series are independent of inlet pressure. The relative resolution, a measure of peak separation independent of peak width, is thus constant. In contrast, the resolution calculated using the Purnell Equation does depend on inlet pressure, in accordance with the plate height measured for each individual column and its fractional contribution to a tandem-column separation. Retention factors, peak widths, and plate heights for aromatic molecules of varying functionality, and homologous series of alkanes and alcohols were measured over a range of pressures using both individual columns and several different tandem-column combinations. Measured values of overall plate height and resolution closely matched theoretical predictions and it was determined that theoretical surface plots could be used to accurately predict optimal length fractions for separation. Degree Type Open Access Senior Honors Thesis Department Chemistry Subject Categories Chemistry This open access senior honors thesis is available at DigitalCommons@EMU: http://commons.emich.edu/honors/236 RESOLUTION MODELING OF LENGTH TUNING IN GAS CHROMATOGRAPHY


Summary: I was commissioned in 1994 by the European Commission to lead a project that would produce distance learning materials on cancer education for post-basic nurses across the European Union. In facilitating the process with a group representing eleven countries I adopted an approach based on democracy, participation and experiential learning. The process was researched using grounded theory and aimed to discover the conditions required for collaborative working within the EU and with applications to other settings. The early chapters reflect both the concerns for the project and the interrelated but separate issues of research method and methodology. Regarding the former the original aims and commitments are set against the constraints imposed by funding and budgeting issues, translation difficulties and the challenges presented by dissemination. The context in which the research arose is given within a brief history of the project, set against the background in which this and similar projects were being funded by the Commission during the early 1990s. A review of the technical literature focuses on the Commission's own evaluations of public health projects in the first two action phases 1990 - 2000 and the subsequent adaptations to funding criteria from lessons learned. The embeddedness of the research within the project implementation creates complexities that are addressed first by a number of narratives that seek to elucidate antecedents. Brief auto/biographies underpin and provide a rationale for the development of the methodology that informed the implementation of the project. Narratives provide the platform for the ensuing exploration of foreshadowed problems that led to theoretical sensitivity. The case is made for the adoption of grounded theory methodology, acknowledging the procedural as well as epistemological challenges this poses. Later chapters track the development of the emerging theory by providing thick description about the data, its collection and analysis, as the techniques progress from open coding to explicit theory formation. Early themes deriving from theoretical sensitivity are re-assessed and some original concepts earn their way into the theory whilst others are rejected or transformed. The formal expression of the necessary conditions for collaborative project working in the EU is synthesised in chapter 12 in which the proposition is made for a theory of Facilitative Leadership. The case is made for a substantive theory that approaches multi area formality through its wider applicability across similar settings. The dissonance created for the social scientist in choosing to adopt the original model of grounded theory in its entirety is pervasive throughout the thesis. This theme is addressed explicitly in the closing chapter, in which the major elements of both the project and the research are re-assessed.


The aim of the present study is to exploring benzene, ethyl acetate and ethanol fraction of methanolic leaf extract of Stevia rebaudiana for antidiabetic activities in streptozotocin induced diabetic rats. The acute toxicity studies of different fractions showed that all fractions at the dose of 2000 mg/kg did not show any toxic effects. one day single dose study showed Ethyl Acetate Fraction (EAFSR) at dose of 200 and 400 mg/kg, p.o. decreased blood glucose level significantly (p<0.05) in diabetic rats. Three weeks repeated treatment with EAFSR at dose of 200 mg/kg, p.o. lowered blood glucose by 39% on day 21 as compared to control group and GLB Glibenclamide (500 μg/kg) lowered blood glucose by 52% in streptozotocin induced diabetic rats. Treatment with EAFSR exhibited significant changes of lipid profile in diabetic rats (p<0.05) TG, TC, Low Density Lipoprotein (LDL) and Very Low Density Lipoprotein (VLDL) reduced by 19%, 19%, 32% and 18% respectively whereas High Density Lipoprotein (HDL) was increased by 28%. Glyburide at dose of 0.25 mg/kg, p.o. decreased TG, TC, LDL and VLDL by 31%, 29%, 47% and 31% respectively and increased HDL by 40%. EAFSR and GLB treatments enhance insulin level by 68% and 53%, total protein increased by 24% and 25%, albumin decreased by 35% and 43%, urea decreased by 37% and 45%, total hemoglobin increased by 24% and 44%, glycosylated haemoglobin decreased by 41% and 52% and WBCs increased by 23% and 44% respectively. EAFSR seems to have GLB like potential and emerged as a potential candidate for management of diabetes mellitus.


Objective This study sought to demonstrate causal effects of exposure to Natural American Spirit (NAS) advertising content on misinformed beliefs of current and former smokers, and to empirically establish these beliefs as a mechanism driving intentions to use NAS. Methods Our study employed a randomised experimental design with 1128 adult daily, intermittent and former smokers. We compared participants who were exposed to NAS advertisements or claims made in the advertisements with those in a no-message control group to test the effects of NAS advertising content on inaccurate beliefs about NAS and attitudes and intentions towards the product. Results One-way analysis of variance revealed that exposure to NAS advertisements produced inaccurate beliefs about the composition of NAS cigarettes among current and former smokers (p<0.05). Planned contrasts indicated a compilation of arguments taken directly from NAS advertisements resulted in significantly greater beliefs that NAS cigarettes are healthier/safer than other cigarettes (for former smokers, t(472)=3.63, p<0.001; for current smokers, t(644)=2.86, p=0.004), demonstrating that suggestive claims used in the brand's marketing have effects on beliefs not directly addressed in the advertisements. Regression and mediation analyses showed that health-related beliefs predict attitudes towards NAS for current and former smokers, and mediate intentions to use NAS. Conclusions The findings of this study provide causal support for the need for further regulatory action to address the potentially harmful ramifications of claims used in NAS advertising.


This article uses a case study of Bass to examine the business and accounting history of trade mark defence in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. We employ a variety of business, legal and parliamentary records to discuss the measures they adopted to prevent trade mark infringement. The central arguments of this article are that Bass's trade marks were susceptible to infringement because of weaknesses in its business structure, and these, in turn, necessitated a robust defence of its trade marks both before and after the Trade Marks Act, 1875. Of particular interest, we demonstrate that Bass's reliance on the free trade was financially successful, in marked contrast to the predictions of Chandler, and the financial performance of the big London brewers who relied heavily on tied estates.


Plant phenotypes are often descriptive, rather than predictive of crop performance. As a result, extensive testing is required in plant breeding programs to develop varieties aimed at performance in the target environments. Crop models can improve this testing regime by providing a predictive framework to (1) augment field phenotyping data and derive hard-to-measure phenotypes and (2) estimate performance across geographical regions using historical weather data. The goal of this study was to parameterize the Agricultural Production Systems sIMulator (APSIM) crop growth models with remote sensing and ground reference data to predict variation in phenology and yield-related traits in 18 commercial grain and biomass sorghum hybrids. Genotype parameters for each hybrid were estimated using remote sensing measurements combined with manual phenotyping in West Lafayette, Indiana in 2018. The models were validated in hybrid performance trials in two additional seasons at that site and against yield trials conducted in Bushland, Texas between 2001 and 2018. These trials demonstrated that (1) maximum plant height, final dry biomass, and radiation use efficiency (RUE) of photoperiod sensitive and insensitive forage sorghum hybrids tended to be higher than observed in grain sorghum, (2) photoperiod sensitive sorghum hybrids exhibited greater biomass production in longer growing environments, and (3) the parameterized and validated models perform well in above ground biomass simulations across years and locations. Crop growth models that integrate remote sensing data offer an efficient approach to parameterise larger plant breeding populations.