EMOTIONAL HEALTH AND WEIGHT GAIN: A PROSPECTIVE STUDY OF MIDDLE-AGED WOMEN Ann Bahr Department of Exercise Sciences Master of Science The objective of this study was to investigate the extent to which risk of gaining weight or body fat is affected by emotional health in women. A secondary objective was to determine the influence of age, baseline weight and body fat, physical activity (PA), energy intake, and changes in PA and energy intake, on the relationship between emotional health and gains in weight and body fat. The study was a prospective cohort investigation over 20 months of 256 healthy, non-obese females (age: 35-45 y, BMI < 30 kg/m). All subjects were assessed for several variables using objective measurements at baseline and again at 20 months. Emotional health was assessed using the General Well-Being Schedule. Body fat percentage was indexed using the Bod Pod. PA was measured objectively using MTI (CSA) accelerometers, and energy intake was measured using weighed, 7-day food records. The results of the study demonstrated that risk of gains in weight and body fat were no greater in depressed women compared to their counterparts. However, 171 (66.8%) subjects demonstrated less than positive (LTP) emotional health at baseline, and 37.4% of these subjects gained weight during the 20-month study. Conversely, 85 (33.2%) subjects had positive emotional health at baseline, but only 23.5% gained weight over the investigational period. With no variables controlled, women with LTP emotional health had 59% greater risk of weight gain over the study period than women with positive emotional health (RR 1.59, 95% CI = 1.04-2.44). Women with LTP emotional health were at no greater risk of gains in body fat percentage than women with positive emotional health (RR 0.96, 95% CI = 0.70-1.33). After adjusting for each potential confounder individually, risk of gaining weight or body fat did not change. However, after adjusting for all of the potential confounders simultaneously, risk of weight gain was weakened (RR 1.43, 95% CI = 0.93-2.21). These results seem to demonstrate that middle-aged women with LTP emotional health may be at increased risk of gaining weight compared to women with positive emotional health.


In the study of Chinese law, the theme of "central-local relations" has rarely been the focus of theoretical, empirical, or even doctrinal analysis. Instead, scholars have privileged judicial institutions, general discourses about the rule of law, and their relations to authoritarianism as themes for inquiry. This is of course not unlike the study of legal systems elsewhere: the literatures on federalism and on the rule of law, while each vast in themselves, rarely overlap. In this chapter, I summarize arguments I make elsewhere that the allocation of power and responsibilities among different tiers of government has in fact had major influences on the rule of law in China. Specifically, extraordinary legislative centralization has resulted in a radical short supply of legal rules in virtually all areas of governance. Meanwhile, the extraordinary decentralization of policy implementation has directly reduced compliance with and enforcement of the laws, and indirectly undermined the development of legal institutions and the legal profession. The adverse consequences of legislative centralization and enforcement decentralization are also mutually reinforcing. Overall, these twin arrangements may have held back the development of the rule of law to a greater degree than even China's authoritarian government itself would like.


Housing cooperatives have emerged in the context of housing challenges in the urban areas as a strategy for securing low-cost housing accommodation in peri-urban Harare. They constitute vehicles that allow people to pool resources and secure tenure. The paper explains the "politics of peri-urban housing" in contemporary Zimbabwe by looking into the resurgence of these new forms of housing cooperatives. The paper compares five sites in Harare (Whitecliffe, Hatcliffe, Caledonia, and Southlea Park and Hopley in Harare South) to provide insights into the politics of peri-urban housing and security of tenure. We argue that political identity, networks, and participation have been at the core of these housing cooperatives as residents sought to secure tenure in the peri- urban areas by enhancing citizenship rights.


The demand for efficient communication and data storage is continuously increasing and signal representation and compression are important factors in digital communication and storage systems.This work deals with Frame based signal representation and compression. The emphasis is on the design of frames suited for efficient representation, or for low bit rate compression, of classes of signals.Traditional signal decompositions such as transforms, wavelets, and filter banks, generate expansions using an analysis-synthesis setting. In this thesis we concentrate on the synthesis or reconstruction part of the signal expansion, having a system with no explicit analysis stage. We want to investigate the use of an overcomplete set of vectors, a frame or an overcomplete dictionary, for signal representations and allow sparse representations. Effective signal representations are desirable in many applications, where signal compression is one example. Others can be signal analysis for different purposes, reconstruction of signals from a limited observation set, feature extraction in pattern recognition and so forth.The lack of an explicit analysis stage originates some questions on finding the optimal representation. Finding an optimal sparse representation from an overcomplete set of vectors is NP-complete, and suboptimal vector selection methods are more practical. We have used some existing methods like different variations of the Matching Pursuit (MP) [52] algorithm, and we developed a robust regularized FOCUSS to be able to use FOCUSS (FOCal Underdetermined System Solver [29]) under lossy conditions.In this work we develop techniques for frame design, the Method of Optimal Directions (MOD), and propose methods by which such frames can successfully be used in frame based signal representation and in compression schemes. A Multi Frame Compression (MFC) scheme is presented and experiments with several signal classes show that the MFC scheme works well at low bit rates using MOD designed frames. Reconstruction experiments provides complimentary evidence of the good properties of the MOD algorithm.


The theory of contrary opinion predicts price reversals following extremes in market sentiment. This research tests a survey-based sentiment index's usefulness as a contrary indicator across 28 U.S. futures markets. Using rigorous time-series tests, the sentiment index displays only a sporadic and marginal ability to predict returns, and in those instances the pattern is one of return continuation--not reversals. Therefore, futures traders who rely solely upon sentiment indices as contrary indicators may be misguided.


My article offers a comparative analysis of autobiographical works by Susan Suleiman, Andrei Codrescu and Kapka Kassabova with a three-pronged interest. First, I aim to further the discussion about exilic identities emerging from Eastern Europe; second, I show the "shifting national, global imaginaries" that post-1989 Eastern European exiles' life writing registers; and third, I analyze how Suleiman, Codrescu and Kassabova negotiate affective attachments withtheir "native" Eastern European countries in the aftermath of the Cold War. I consider their life writing important as it captures the overlappings and complicities between apparently opposite regimes — nazism, communism and/or post-communism — and in so doing they animate a historical imaginary of the recent past in Eastern Europe. Their trajectories of exile and return become a lens for the larger variations of exilic subjectivity in post-cold war Eastern Europe.


In the morning of February 15th 2005, during excavation works in an underground gypsum quarry at Moncalvo (Monferrato area, Asti, Northern Italy), a water-bearing fracture was intercepted at level 134 m a.s.l. During the night a large amount of water (approximately 60,000 m3) and mud invaded the quarry tunnels reaching a height of 139 m a.s.l. the morning of the day after. Meanwhile a large sinkhole (20 m wide and 10 m deep) formed on the surface. Hydrogeological surveys were immediately carried out to follow the quickly evolving situation, while speleological and geomorphological fieldwork was made possible only seven months later. Two important caves were discovered both showing clear evidence of a hypogenic origin with sculpted morphologies due to slowly flowing water under pressure. The sinkhole formed by the collapse of one of the main chambers of the biggest of these caves, when buoyant support provided by the water started to decrease due to lowering of the virtual water table. The recharge of this karst system is from below and only very minor quantities of infiltration water come from the above lying surface, as has also been confirmed by hydrochemical analysis. This hypogene karst is completely invisible at the surface and develops entirely underground showing no relation whatsoever with the surface. Its presence is therefore extremely difficult to reveal and such types of karst can thus make up extremely dangerous situations. This is the first example of hypogene gypsum cave related to ascending waters in Italy.


In this paper, knowledge transfer is defined as a process of disseminating both technological and theoretical understanding as well as enhancing both industrial and academic knowledge through conducted research to project partners collaborating within a research project. To achieve this, a new methodology called 'user groups' is introduced. It facilitates knowledge transfer between project participants in collaborative research programs engaging both experienced and unexperienced partners regardless of level of input. The introduced methodology 'user groups' provides tools for collaborating with several research partners even though their levels of engagement in the project and prior research experience may vary without dividing them into separate groups. It enables all project partners to gain new knowledge and by so doing extending the knowledge society. The case study shows that the eight engaged companies are able to cooperate, achieve their own objectives and, both jointly and individually, contribute to the overall project goals.


This study was carried out to investigate proximate composition, bread characteristics and sensory evaluation of cocoyam-wheat composite breads at different levels of cocoyam flour substitution for human consumption.A whole wheat bread (WWB) and cocoyam-composite breads (CCB1,CCB 2 and CCB 3) were prepared in triplicate at 0, 10, 20 and 30% levels of cocoyam flours substitution respectively and assessed for proximatecomposition, bread characteristics and sensory attributes.The results indicate that carbohydrate, crude fiber, and ash contents of the cocoyam-composite breads increased significantly (p<0.05) while the moisture and protein contents decreased significantly with progressive increase in the cocoyam flour substitution. The significant (p<0.05) highest ash, fibre and carbohydrate values of 1.61, 1.54 and 70.40 g/100g dm respectively were observed in 30% cocoyam-wheat composite bread compared to lowest values of1.15, 0.29 and 63.25 g/100g dm, respectively in 100% wheat bread. The significant (p<0.05) higher moisture and protein values of 20.99 and 12.54 g/100g dm were observed in 100% wheat bread compared to lowest values of 17.31 and 9.04 g/100g dm, respectively in 30% cocoyam-wheat composite bread. Bread characteristics showed that, the loaf weight of cocoyam composite breads increased significantly (p<0.05) while loaf volume and specific loaf volume decreased significantly (p<0.05) with increasing cocoyam flour substitution The significant (p<0.05) highest loaf weight of 229.33 g was observed in 30% cocoyam-wheat composite bread compared to 208.33, 221.67 and 225 g observed in 100% wheat bread, 10 and 20% cocoyam-wheat composite breads respectively. The highest loaf volume and specific loaf volume of 800 and 3.49 cc were observed in 100% wheat bread compared lowest values of 580 and 2.78 cc respectively observed in 30% cocoyam-wheat composite bread. The sensory evaluation showed no significant (p>0.05) differences in sensory attributes of taste, aroma and acceptability between the 100% wheat and 10% cocoyam-wheat composite breads (p<0.05). In conclusion, this study has shown that the use of cocoyam flour in bread making is feasible and that incorporation of up to 10% of the flour into wheat flour produced acceptable bread with similar taste and aroma comparable to 100% wheat bread. Nevertheless, it is important to consume this bread with other protein rich diet in order to supplement the reduction resulted from substitution.


A contact pheromone produced by females induces aggression in male squid. Pheromones regulate various animal behaviors, including male aggression that is associated with mating. During their annual spawning gatherings, females deposit fertilized egg masses on the ocean floor and may mate many times during the spawning period. Male squid who are visually attracted to fertilized egg masses approach them and touch them with their heads and tentacles. Physical contact with the eggs triggers fighting behaviors that include arm raising, fin beating, and chasing, lunging at, and grappling with other males. This transition from schooling to fighting behaviors continues until spawning ends. Cummins et al. used reverse-phase high-performance liquid chromatography (RP-HPLC) to identify a protein called β-microseminoprotein (β-MSP) as the egg-localized trigger for male aggression in the squid Loligo pealeii. Contact with egg capsules enclosed in clear glass flasks that had been coated with plain agarose did not elicit male aggression, but contact with eggs in flasks coated in agarose that contained recombinant β-MSP did. Although the β-MSPs of chordates are primarily known as components of seminal fluid, Loligo β-MSP was secreted by the reproductive exocrine glands of females and incorporated into the outer membranes of egg capsules as they were laid. β-MSPs are rapidly evolving proteins, and the authors hypothesize that this contact pheromone may have evolved to ensure species-specific mating where many squid species share the same range. S. F. Cummins, J. G. Boal, K. C. Buresch, C. Kuanpradit, P. Sobhon, J. B. Holm, B. M. Degnan, G. T. Nagle, R. T. Hanlon, Extreme aggression in male squid induced by a β-MSP-like pheromone. Curr. Biol. 21, 322-327 (2011). [PubMed]


This chapter discusses opportunities and challenges for the creation of methods of computational intelligence (CI) and more specifically ‐ artificial neural networks (ANN), inspired by principles at different levels of information processing in the brain: cognitive, neuronal, genetic, and quantum, and mainly, the issues related to the integration of these principles into more powerful and accurate CI methods. It is demonstrated how some of these methods can be applied to model biological processes and to improve our understanding in the subject area; generic CI methods being applicable to challenging generic AI problems. The chapter first offers a brief presentation of some principles of information processing at different levels of the brain and then presents brain inspired, gene inspired, and quantum inspired CI. The main contribution of the chapter, however, is the introduction of methods inspired by the integration of principles from several levels of information processing, namely: 1. A computational neurogenetic model that in one model combines gene information related to spiking neuronal activities. 2. A general framework of a quantum spiking neural network (SNN) model. 3. A general framework of a quantum computational neurogenetic model (CNGM). Many open questions and challenges are discussed, along with directions for further research.


Abstract The analysis presented in this paper is dealing with the correct and energy efficient measures of cooling buildings through nocturnal natural ventilation. Using this solution is proved in this article to be efficient and can reduce substantially the cooling demand. In order to establish the factors influencing the process of passively cooling a building (the ventilation volume, exterior temperature, thermal capacity of the building, possible duration of the ventilation), we have chosen different buildings, which we have placed them in different temperature zones of Romania. The study is based on multiple simulations realized with a time step of one hour, with the following variations: the climatic parameters, the thermal characteristics of the building, the air flow during night time, the proposed interior temperature. Since the study consisted of numerous simulations, in order to treat the results we have used statistical methods that cover the practical and possible situations, and proved the efficiency of nocturnal ventilation.


. In this paper, a new bipolar junction transistor (BJT) based configuration for providing first-order resistorless current-mode (CM) all-pass, low-pass and high-pass filter responses from the same configuration is suggested. The proposed circuit called as a first-order universal filter possesses some important advantages such as consisting of a few BJTs and a grounded capacitor, consuming very low power and having electronic tunability property of its pole frequency. Additionally, types of filter response can be obtained only by changing the values of current sources. The suggested circuit does not suffer from disadvantages of use of the resistors in IC process. The presented first-order universal filter topology does not need any passive element matching constraints. Moreover, as an application example, a second-order band-pass filter is obtained by cascading two proposed filter structures which are operating as low-pass filter and high-pass one. Simulations by means of PSpice program are accomplished to demonstrate the performance and effectiveness of the developed first-order universal filter.


This thesis is concerned with understanding the factors responsible for the vast differences in per capita income levels and growth rates evident across countries. As part of this inquiry, it examines the role played by international trade both singly and in combination with geography, institutions and foreign R&D.

One line of inquiry revisits the contentious issue of the relationship between trade openness and growth. It examines this issue from two standpoints. First, the sensitivity of the openness-growth nexus to alternative measures of TFP growth is considered. This approach departs from previous research on this subject which has focused mainly on the right hand side variables, namely the measures of openness and other growth determinants. Drawing on the current competing arguments over the performance of homogeneous versus heterogeneous estimators, three alternative sets of TFP growth estimates were generated; one for the each of the extremes of heterogeneity and homogeneity and an intermediate measure.

Despite being highly correlated amongst themselves and with alternative TFP estimates generated by other researchers, we find some of the measures used to proxy trade openness are sensitive to the measurement of TFP growth. Moreover, this sensitivity extends to other dimensions such as whether one performs cross-section or panel estimations and whether one assumes the openness indicators to be exogenous or endogenous. Our preference however, is for panel estimations with the alternative proxies for trade openness entered simultaneously instead of sequentially.

Second, the nature of the openness-growth relationship is examined by searching for contingent relationships between these two variables, linked to geography and institutional quality. Of the alternative methods employed for capturing contingent effects, we argue that the endogenous threshold model of Hansen (2000), best captures these effects. Using this methodology, we find evidence in support of contingent relationships between trade openness and natural barriers (institutional quality). More specifically, we find that there exists threshold level(s) of natural barriers and institutional quality above and below which the contribution to TFP growth from openness differs. However, support for the latter finding is weaker than that for the former.

A separate line of inquiry simultaneously examines the role of trade in the diffusion of foreign technology (embodied in capital goods) and its effect on technical efficiency levels. Using the methodology of stochastic frontier analysis which allows for such a dual consideration, we find evidence that trade and trade policy openness have contributed positively to both technology diffusion and raising efficiency levels in developing countries. Additionally, coinciding with improvements in the policy environment and trade liberalisation there is evidence of convergence in efficiency levels amongst developing countries.


Selenoprotein expression in Escherichia coli redefines specific single UGA codons from translational termination to selenocysteine (Sec) insertion. This process requires the presence of a Sec Insertion Sequence (SECIS) in the mRNA, which forms a secondary structure that binds a unique Sec-specific elongation factor that catalyzes Sec insertion at the predefined UGA instead of release factor 2-mediated termination. During overproduction of recombinant selenoproteins, this process nonetheless typically results in expression of UGA-truncated products together with the production of recombinant selenoproteins. Here, we found that premature termination can be fully avoided through a SECIS-dependent Sec-mediated suppression of UGG, thereby yielding either tryptophan or Sec insertion without detectable premature truncation. The yield of recombinant selenoprotein produced with this method approached that obtained with a classical UGA codon for Sec insertion. Sec-mediated suppression of UGG thus provides a novel method for selenoprotein production, as here demonstrated with rat thioredoxin reductase. The results also reveal that the E. coli selenoprotein synthesis machinery has the inherent capability to promote wobble decoding.


Summary

Recent research on dynamic visualizations suggests that these visualizations are effective for learning human movements such as knot tying or paper folding. Using embodied theories of cognition, this study investigated whether learning non-human movements from a dynamic visualization can also be enhanced by grounding these movements in the learner's motor system. University students viewed an animation on lightning formation, and followed the animation's movements with gestures, saw an on-screen human hand follow the movements or saw an arrow follow the movements. Results showed that observing an on-screen human hand following the movements in the animation, but not actually performing these movements, enhanced retention and transfer performance compared with watching the animation without gestures. This suggests that observation of human hand movement in animation-based instruction, which plays an important role in learning of procedural-motor tasks, can also improve people's learning from other dynamic systems. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


ABSTRACT Background DSM-IV criteria for illicit drug abuse and dependence are largely based on criteria developed for alcohol use disorders and there is a lack of research evidence on the psychometric properties of these symptoms when applied to illicit drugs. Method This study utilizes data on abuse/dependence criteria for cannabis, cocaine, stimulants, sedatives, tranquilizers, opiates, hallucinogens and inhalants from the National Epidemiological Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions (NESARC, n=43 093). Analyses included factor analysis to explore the dimensionality of illicit drug abuse and dependence criteria, calculation of item difficulty and discrimination within an item response framework and a descriptive analysis of 'diagnostic orphans': individuals meeting criteria for 1–2 dependence symptoms but not abuse. Rates of psychiatric disorders were compared across groups. Results Results favor a uni-dimensional construct for abuse/dependence on each of the eight drug classes. Factor loadings, item difficulty and discrimination were remarkably consistent across drug categories. For each drug category, between 29% and 51% of all individuals meeting criteria for at least one symptom did not receive a formal diagnosis of either abuse or dependence and were therefore classified as 'orphans'. Mean rates of disorder in these individuals suggested that illicit drug use disorders may be more adequately described along a spectrum of severity. Conclusions While there were remarkable similarities across categories of illicit drugs, consideration of item difficulty suggested that some alterations to DSM regarding the relevant severity of specific abuse and dependence criteria may be warranted.


We report radial velocity (RV) measurements of the G-type subgiants 24 Sextanis (= HD 90043) and HD 200964. Both are massive, evolved stars that exhibit periodic variations due to the presence of a pair of Jovian planets. Photometric monitoring with the T12 0.80 m APT at Fairborn Observatory demonstrates both stars to be constant in brightness to ⩽0.002 mag, thus strengthening the planetary interpretation of the RV variations. Based on our dynamical analysis of the RV time series, 24 Sex b, c have orbital periods of 452.8 days and 883.0 days, corresponding to semimajor axes 1.333 AU and 2.08 AU, and minimum masses 1.99 MJup and 0.86 MJup, assuming a stellar mass M⋆= 1.54 M☉. HD 200964 b, c have orbital periods of 613.8 days and 825.0 days, corresponding to semimajor axes 1.601 AU and 1.95 AU, and minimum masses 1.99 MJup and 0.90 MJup, assuming M⋆= 1.44 M☉. We also carry out dynamical simulations to properly account for gravitational interactions between the planets. Most, if not all, of the dynamically stable solutions include crossing orbits, suggesting that each system is locked in a mean-motion resonance that prevents close encounters and provides long-term stability. The planets in the 24 Sex system likely have a period ratio near 2:1, while the HD 200964 system is even more tightly packed with a period ratio close to 4:3. However, we caution that further RV observations and more detailed dynamical modeling will be required to provide definitive and unique orbital solutions for both cases, and to determine whether the two systems are truly resonant.


A program for engineering wood bridges is described. The program performs the analysis, design, and/or rating of wood bridge superstructures in accordance with the 15th edition of the AASHTO Specification or the AASHTO-LRFD Specification. In review/rating model, the superstructure is analyzed and checked against all applicable specifications. In the design mode, minimal user input, such as span length, roadway width, bridge type, and material are entered and the program reviews designs and issues details associated with standard plan sets. The appropriate design-specific information is included in a DCF format for inclusion into the final drawings. A Microsoft Windows-based user interface is used for the data definition. The data is passed to another module for engineering computations. The associated documentation is contained in both On-line and hard copy formats. The most commonly used bridge and deck systems are accommodated in either U.S. customary or SI units.


This paper examines the installation work of Vivan Sundaram, one of India's foremost contemporary artists, as an aesthetic response to the rapid political and cultural transformations that marked the 1990s. At this time, Sundaram turned definitively from an established body of figurative and representational art, to experiments with site-specific, inter-medial installations. This turn is placed in the context of the rise of cultural majoritarianism and religious fundamentalism in India, and the coincidence of these ideologies with policies of economic liberalization. In its interpretation of works by Sundaram in this period, the paper outlines the centrality, as both form and motif, of the boat. Cited, improvised, and elaborated upon repeatedly, Sundaram's boat-works advance an alternative account of cultural origins that unfolds around incidents of violent rupture and survival. Frequently assembled from found-objects, these archetypal structures are materialized as evidence of a cataclysmic past. This line of interpretation is explored specifically through the assemblage House/boat (1994), which construes the national present in terms of a historical aftermath. While the paper positions House/boat within the artist's sustained experimentation with discourses of memorialization and monumentality as established through nationalist historiography, it emphasizes House/boat's specific address to the nation in the wake of the traumatic events that marked 1992–3; during which the country was convulsed by sectarian clashes following the destruction of a sixteenth-century mosque by Hindu nationalists.


Improving employees' understanding of digital forensic technical terms and concepts within an organisation is likely to increase the potential of successful collaboration during a cyber security incident (e.g. data breach) investigation within that organisation. In this paper, we seek to determine whether multimedia presentations, in this case videos, are an effective tool in improving a learner's technical understanding of digital forensic terms and concepts. Using the cognitive theory of multimedia learning as the underlying theoretical lens, we surveyed nine participants from the financial sector who have cyber security-related responsibilities. With the exception of one participant, the study found that the use of multimedia presentations can improve participants' understanding of technical digital forensic terms and concepts. Potential future research questions are also identified.


Spectrum allocation is once more a key issue facing the global telecommunications industry. Largely overlooked in current debates, however, is the World Radiocommunication Conference (WRC). Decisions taken by WRC shape the future roadmap of the telecommunications industry, not least because it has the ability to shape the global spectrum allocation framework. In the debates of WRC-12 it is possible to identify three main issues: enhancement of the international spectrum regulatory framework, regulatory measures required to introduce Cognitive Radio Systems (CRS) technologies; and, additional spectrum allocation to mobile service. WRC-12 eventually decided not to change the current international radio regulations with regard to the first two issues and agreed to the third issue. The main implications of WRC-12 on the spectrum ecosystem are that most of actors are not in support of the concept of spectrum flexibility associated with trading and that the concept of spectrum open access is not under consideration. This is explained by the observation that spectrum trading and spectrum commons weaken state control over spectrum and challenge the main principles and norms of the international spectrum management regime. In addition, the mobile allocation issue has shown the lack of conformity with the main rules of the regime: regional spectrum allocation in the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) three regions, and the resistance to the slow decision making procedures. In conclusion, while the rules and decision-making procedures of the international spectrum management regime were challenged in the WRC-12, the main principles and norms are still accepted by the majority of countries.


We document the presence of Larra bicolor Fabricius (Hymenoptera: Crabronidae) in 46 of Florida's 67 counties. The species is represented by two stocks. The first (released in 1981) originated in Para, Brazil, but was obtained from Puerto Rico, and became established in Broward County in southern Florida. The second (released in 1988) originated in Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bolivia, and became established in Alachua County in northern Florida. The Bolivian stock, aided by additional satellite releases from Alachua County, is now widely distributed. The species probably occupies all counties in central and northern Florida, but may yet be absent from some southern counties. Introduction was made for classical biological control of invasive mole crickets.


A common insulating enhancement in modern insulating glass (IG) unit is filling it with argon or krypton gas. Insulating glass units (IGU) have higher and higher performance needs, and the requirements in insulating gas (IG) market are growing all the time. The challenges are confirming the correct filling degree and ensuring that the initial gas concentration will remain inside the insulating glass unit (IGU). Different markets have different standards for gas concentration, but usually the gas content needs to meet or exceed 90 % with a margin. Although invasive methods have their advantages, insulating glass industry specialist are looking for new ways to analyze the insulating gas fill. Traditionally gas concentration has been measured with a gas chromatograph, an invasive test device to analyse gas concentration within double and triple glazed insulating glass units. However, Sparklike Oy is the developer and manufacturer of Sparklike Laser™ devices, that allow non‐destructive insulating gas fill analysis for double and triple glazed insulating glass units, even through most coatings and laminated glasses. Sparklike Laser™ devices are based on technology known as TDLAS (Tuneable Diode Laser Absorption Spectroscopy). By using this technology, the device measures oxygen and from there, the amount of argon, krypton or other insulating gas can be calculated. Sparklike Oy requested a well‐known test laboratory to perform a test in order to determine the argon gas concentration in insulating glass units by using a particularly challenging test specimen. This test specimen included samples with different constructions i.e. clear glass, strengthened glass and laminated glass with different coatings. The purpose of the test was to verify the results from measurements done with Sparklike Laser Standard™ analyzer, by using gas chromatograph as a reference device. In order to receive reliable results, Sparklike provided 12 pieces of test glasses (350 × 350 mm) purchased from a Finnish CE marked glass manufacturer producing insulating glass units according to EN 1279‐5 standard (evaluation of conformity).


PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to conduct a scoping review of the literature to explore the many ways stigma affects people with FASD and to highlight the disciplines and places where discourse on FASD and stigma is taking place.Design/methodology/approachSearches were conducted in PubMed, ERIC, Family & Society Studies Worldwide, Families Studies Abstracts and Google Scholar between 2008 and 2018. Search terms focused on stigma, shame and the connection to FASD with a view to looking across social and medical science literature.FindingsSearches identified 39 full text manuscripts, 13 of which were included in the scoping review. Stigma toward people with FASD exists in multiple professional forums across disciplines. The relationship between mother's use of alcohol and the lasting impact on the child is a focus in the articles identified from a public health perspective. The review showed there was limited cross-disciplinary discussion evident. In total 13 articles were selected for inclusion in this review.Research limitations/implicationsNegative discourses predominate with little attention being paid to possible areas of success as well as cases of lower FASD impacts. There is a significant void in work focusing on positive outcomes for people with FASD. Such discourse would support a better understanding of pathways to more positive outcomes.Originality/valueThis paper highlights the issue of FASD and stigma through identification of relevant literature and expands the conversation to offer insights into the challenging terrain that individuals with FASD must navigate. The issue of stigma is not linked only to individuals with FASD but also their support systems. It is critical to recognize the multiple attributions of stigma to FASD in order to effectively take up conversations across and between disciplines to promote new discourses focused on de-stigmatization.


From its earliest days in the mid-1800s, baseball has had a warm place in the heart of American men and women. So it was natural for them to keep mementos of the game. Programs, team pictures, pennants, uniforms, and baseballs were commonly a part of the fan's collection. Seeing the public's fascination with the sport, companies began t use the baseball theme in their advertising. Trade cards, endorsements, and novelty items included the images of America's heroes beside the prominent name of the product being sold. Some of the finest baseball treasures are illustrated here in full color, reflecting the artistry of the nineteenth and early twentieth century. There are images of the heroes of the game, legendary names like Kelly, Ward, Cobb, Ruth, Gehrig, Robinson, and Mays. Here is a large selection of ephemera, uniforms, autographs, advertising, souvenirs, equipment, and much more to interest today's collector. Antiques from the Negro Leagues are also included, with a number of rare team photos. For the baseball lover or the collector of sports memorabilia, this will be a delightful, indispensable book.


Employer Branding in recent years has become popular, particularly in strategically attracting talents to a company. This research was carried out using potential employees, students recently graduated from college and actively seeking employment. They are looking to choose an employer, and are looking for signals and information from these employers to help them decide. The focus of this research was on the effect of EB on potential employees' perception of employer's employer attractiveness attributes and their intention to apply for a job.

Themes from previous studies on this topic were identified, research questions were based on these themes. Along with the main research question, there were five sub research questions answered. These were related to the five attractiveness dimension identified in the work of Berthon et al (2005). These are interest value, comprising of a company's innovation, employee's creativity and high-quality product/service; social value, a company's work environment and the relationships within it; economic value, a company's above average salary, good benefits, job security and promotions opportunities; development value, a company's career enhancing experiences, recognition, develop self-worth and self-confidence; finally the application value, a company's interaction with its environment and its people, socially responsible, customer-oriented, opportunity to use college degree.

Six participants were interviewed from three different colleges in Dublin. The research found all participants were attracted to innovation, good work environment, compensation, recognition, and good relationship with superiors. However, little interest was displayed towards a company's products/services and its social responsibility features. Overall findings were symbolic attributes had more influence over participants' decision than instrumental attributes.

The research findings suggest new directions for future research in EB as an attraction tool. Implications for employers were identified in the conclusion. The findings of this research are not generalisable across all potential employees.


Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to establish definitions and dimensions of Triple-A supply chain (SC) variables based on a literature review and to validate a Triple-A SC measurement model using a worldwide multiple informant sample.

Design/methodology/approach
Following a literature review, Triple-A SC variables (agility, alignment and adaptability) are conceptualized and a list of possible items is created for their measurement. An international 309 plant sample is used to validate the convergent and criterion validities of the composites proposed to measure Triple-A SC.

Findings
Contributions to the literature: clarification of Triple-A SC variable concepts; identification of key dimensions of Triple-A SC variables; development of a validated Triple-A SC measurement scale for future empirical research and industrial applications.

Research limitations/implications
A rigorously validated instrument is needed to measure Triple-A SC variables and enable researchers to credibly test theories regarding causal links between capabilities, practices and performance.

Practical implications
Proposal of a scale for use by managers of different functions to analyze Triple-A SC deployment in the company.

Originality/value
The only Triple-A SC scale used in the previous literature has serious limitations: scales were not taken from an extended literature review; data were collected from single respondents in a single country. This is the first validated Triple-A SC measurement model to overcome these limitations.


Carbonyl compounds in E-cigarette smoke mist were measured using coupled silica cartridges impregnated with hydroquinone and 2,4-dinitrophenylhydrazine, followed by high-performance liquid chromatography. A total of 363 E-cigarettes (13 brands) were examined. Four of the 13 E-cigarette brands did not generate any carbonyl compounds, while the other nine E-cigarette brands generated various carbonyl compounds. However, the carbonyl concentrations of the E-cigarette products did not show typical distributions, and the mean values were largely different from the median values. It was elucidated that E-cigarettes incidentally generate high concentrations of carbonyl compounds.


We have studied the influence of coherent coupling on the transient spectra observed in optical pump–probe spectroscopy. If the pump and probe pulses have temporal overlap, a strong increase of the pump–probe signal occurs at probe frequencies close to the pump frequency. This leads to sharp peaks in the transient spectra, which might erroneously be interpreted as spectral holes. We derive an explicit expression for both the delay dependence and the probe-frequency dependence of the pump–probe signal for the case of a homogeneously broadened absorption band. As an illustration, we use this expression to estimate the effect of coherent coupling on vibrational pump–probe spectroscopy on the OH stretch band of hydrogen-bonded systems.


A survey was carried out to determine the relationship between plasma fatty acid profiles and hair coat scores of horses kept under Malaysian conditions. Thirty-seven Thoroughbred horses with an average age of seven years were included in this study. The surveyed population comprised 27 geldings and 10 mares from the Kuala Lumpur City Hall stables at Titiwangsa (TTW, n=7) and Bandar Tun Razak (BTR, n=7), the Equine Unit, Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM, n=7), the Royal Malaysian Police stables (RMP, n=8) and the Selangor Turf Club (STC, n=8). Plasma and feed fatty acid profiles were determined using gas chromatography and the hair coat score determined using a seven-point scoring system (1=worst hair coat condition; 7=best hair coat condition). Results showed that feed and plasma fatty acids profiles were variable across sampling locations. The n-6:n-3 ratios in feeds ranged from 6.8 (BTR) to 17.2 (UPM). Only plasma oleic and linolenic acids were different (P<0.05) across sampling locations. The STC horses had the best hair coat score (median score=7, P<0.05). It was found that total n-3 fatty acids were highly correlated with hair coat scores ( rho =0.686, P<0.01). A significant inverse correlation between n-6:n-3 ratio and hair coat scores ( rho =-0.755, P<0.01) was also noted. This meant that increasing plasma n-3 fatty acids and decreasing n-6:n-3 ratios were associated with better hair coat scores in these horses.


Increased deployment of solar farms in the last decade is coincident with continued monitoring of surface spectral reflectances by the moderate resolution imaging spectroradiometers (MODIS) aboard NASA Aqua satellite. By analyzing the surface spectral reflectances retrieved at seven MODIS shortwave bands, this study quantifies the changes of surface spectral reflectances caused by solar farms commissioned in the southwestern US. Our case study using one solar farm indicates a 20%–25% reduction of surface reflectance over the seven MODIS bands due to the solar panel installation. Radiative transfer calculation shows that such a reduction in surface spectral reflectance leads to a ∼23% decrease in the upward shortwave broadband flux at the surface and a ∼14%–18% decrease in the clear-sky reflected shortwave flux at the top of atmosphere (TOA). Though the MODIS surface reflectance retrievals can be affected by other factors such as aerosol or thin-cirrus contaminations, five out of six solar farm sites analyzed here show unambiguously detectable changes of surface reflectances due to solar panel installations. The brighter the surface is at a given MODIS band before the solar-farm construction, the larger the spectral reflectance reduction tends to be. If all the bright deserts, which occupies about 4% of the global surface, were covered with the solar panels similar to what has been studied here, the estimated instantaneous TOA shortwave radiative forcing would be no more than 1.1 W m−2.


This paper is an update of our previous research on NGO donations and support for ODA in Australia. It uses more recent and more accurate data, and we believe its findings to be improved. The paper reports on research in which electorate-level data about donations to Australian aid NGOs were combined with survey data on support for government aid, census sociodemographic data and election results. The combination of these datasets allows analysis of the traits associated with giving to NGOs alongside the traits associated with support for government aid. This comparison provides answers to questions about the types of attributes associated with donations to NGOs. It also allows us to test whether NGO support is associated with support for government aid. The central finding of the paper is that parts of Australia where donations to NGOs are highest tend to be places where support for government aid is highest too. However, the correlation is far from perfect and the traits associated with NGO donations differ somewhat from those associated with support for government aid. Notably, income, and centre left and centre right political views, have effects on NGO donations that are the opposite of those they have on support for government aid. Other traits, however, have similar effects on both NGO donations and support for government aid. In particular, Green party support and education are both positively associated with support for more government aid and higher donations, while religion is negatively associated with both.


The capability of a small neural network to perform speaker-independent recognition of spoken digits in connected speech has been investigated. The network uses time delays to organize rapidly changing outputs of symbol detectors over the time scale of a word. The network is data driven and unclocked. To achieve useful accuracy in a speaker-independent setting, many new ideas and procedures were developed. These include improving the feature detectors, self-recognition of word ends, reduction in network size, and dividing speakers into natural classes. Quantitative experiments based on Texas Instruments (TI) digit databases are described.


Identity, or how people choose to define themselves, is emerging as an attractive explanation for who persists in engineering. Many studies of engineering identity build off of prior work in math and science identity, emphasizing the academic aspects of engineering. However, affect towards professional practice is also central to engineering identity development. This paper describes the methods used to create a new survey measure of individuals' affect toward elements of engineering practice. We followed the item generation, refinement, and instrument validation steps required for psychometric validation of a new survey measure. We generated items deductively using the literature on engineering professional skills and practice and inductively based on interviews with practicing engineers, engineering graduate students, and engineering undergraduate students. We blended the inductively and deductively derived item lists to create a list of initial items for the measure. We circulated this list of items to a set of engineering and professional identity experts to establish face validity and made modifications based on their feedback. The final list included 34 items. These 34 items were administered in a questionnaire survey in the fall of 2016 to 1465 engineering undergraduates in three majors at two institutions. We conducted an exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and established internal consistency using Cronbach's alpha on a subset of the analytical sample data (n=384). The resulting factors fit our a priori assumption of the factors theorized to characterize affect towards engineering professional practice. Using the remaining data (n=904), we conducted a confirmatory factor analysis on the reduced set of items resulting from EFA. The results indicate an emergent factor structure for affect towards elements of engineering practice.


Cost overrun of projects is common in the construction industry. Changes to the
original design and to the scope of works during the design development and
construction phases contribute significantly to overall cost overrun of construction
projects. However, scholars argue that change is inevitable, and some changes add
value to the project. Therefore, it can be argued that the overrun of the initial
construction cost through the changes made to the project may be insignificant
compared to the reductions in life-cycle cost and whole life value of resultant built
environments. Early research is presented here of a wider project seeking to evaluate
the costs and value of proactive changes made during the construction phase with the
intention to add value to the whole life of the project. Change control accounts and
other related documentary evidence of two construction projects were investigated to
identify changes made to the projects during the construction phase, and cost of those
changes. Semi-structured interviews with quantity surveyors and project managers
involved in those projects were conducted to enrich this documentary data. Analysis
explored the contribution of proactive changes made with the intention to increase
whole-life value to the overall cost overrun of construction projects, and clients'
understanding and willingness to pay for such changes. The next phase of this
research will investigate the whole life value gained by the clients from these
changes. Ultimately, this research aims to increase both clients and project managers
understanding of cost and value of changes during the construction phase, with due
consideration of the whole life cycle of construction projects.


Abstract.
 The Early Triassic vertebrate record from low paleolatitudes is spotty, which led to the notion of an 'equatorial vertebrate eclipse' during the Smithian. Here we present articulated ray-finned fishes (Actinopterygii), collected from the marine Lower Triassic Thaynes Group at three new localities in Elko County (Nevada, USA), which were deposited within the equatorial zone. From the Smithian of the Winecup Ranch, we describe two partial skulls of the predatory actinopterygian Birgeria (Birgeriidae), attributed to B. americana new species and Birgeria sp. Birgeria americana n. sp. is distinguished from other species by a less reduced operculogular series. With an estimated total length of 1.72–1.85 m, it is among the largest birgeriids. We confirm that Birgeria encompasses species with either two or three rows of teeth on the maxilla and dentary, and suggest that species with three well-developed rows are restricted to the Early Triassic. From the latest Smithian of Palomino Ridge, we present a three-dimensional, partial skull of the longirostrine predator Saurichthys (Saurichthyidae). This and other occurrences indicate that saurichthyids were common in the western USA basin. From the early late Spathian of Crittenden Springs, we describe a posterior body portion (Actinopterygii indet.). This find is important given the paucity of Spathian osteichthyan sites. We provide a summary of Early Triassic vertebrate occurrences in the United States, concluding that vertebrate fossils remain largely unstudied. The presence of predatory vertebrates in subequatorial latitudes during the Smithian confirms that Early Triassic trophic chains were not shortened and contradicts the 'equatorial vertebrate eclipse'.


Rare-earth-doped crystals have been used for optical signal processing and storage applications. In this dissertation, their potential for quantum computing applications is explored. In one quantum computing scheme, information is stored in nuclear spin states and this information is then processed by using optical pulses through the coupling of these nuclear spin states to a common electronic level. To implement this scheme, nuclear spin states and coupling of these nuclear spin states to a common electronic level is required. Preliminary work in rare-earth materials like Pr and Eu has shown promising results regarding their suitability for quantum computing applications. One particular problem with these materials is that their transition wavelengths are only accessible with dye lasers. These lasers are inherently unstable, and currently few available systems exhibit the stability required for quantum computing applications. An alternative choice was to investigate other rare-earth ions like thulium. Thulium has a transition wavelength that can be accessed with diode lasers, which are commercially available, easy to stabilize, and compact. This dissertation is based on our investigations of Tm:YAG for quantum computing applications. Investigations involved a detailed characterization of the material. Nuclear spin states, in Tm:YAG, were obtained by applying an external magnetic field to the sample. First, interaction of an external magnetic field with the thulium ions at various sites in the crystal was analyzed. This analysis was used to measure the magnetic anisotropy in the material. These results show that it is possible, with the suitable choice of the magnetic orientation and the site in the crystal, to build a working 3-level quantum system. In the demonstration of single qubit operations in Tm:YAG, we first theoretically studied the effect of Gaussian spatial beam on the single qubit operations. Later on, we experimentally prepared a single isolated ensemble of ions in the inhomogeneously broadened absorption profile of the medium. This single isolated ensemble of ions was used as a test-bed to implement the single qubit operations. We also isolated two ensembles of ions in the inhomogeneous absorption profile of the medium. The interaction between these two isolated ensembles of ions was also studied.


The government's pensions Green Paper 'a new contract for welfare: partnership in pensions' proposes fundamental changes to the UK's retirement income system. Members of CASE and the Department of Social Policy at LSE have looked at the likely implications of the reforms for pensioner poverty, income security in old age, economic growth, the National Insurance system, tax reliefs, and women. Agulnik's analysis of redistributive effects of the State Second Pension (SSP) shows that it will result in much better benefits for low earners than would have been the case under SERPS. However, financing this improved provision through National Insurance contributions will mean that the burden of paying for the new scheme will be heaviest for those close to the upper earnings limit. Barr questions the macro-economic advantages of increasing the amount of funded pension provision via Stakeholder pensions. He finds there is no particular reason to favour the proposed balance of 60% private pension provision to 40% public provision over some other ratio. He also finds that Stakeholder pensions will not offer contributors complete income security in retirement due to uncertainties about investment returns, annuity rates and future inflation. Falkingham and Rake argue that the Government's proposals have failed to incorporate fully the needs of women. Women will be underrepresented amongst Stakeholder pensioners, and the exclusion of very low earners and carers with children over 5 from eligibility for the SSP will adversely affect women. Agulnik then looks at the proposed tax relief rules for Stakeholder pensions. While there are good reasons for the proposed £3,600 limit to tax relief on contributions, the retention of the existing rules for personal and occupational schemes is anomalous.


Present paper attempts to study, comparatively, urban spaces and archaeological findings of Ojan and Soltanieh in details. Early construction of Ojan dated to 5-6 AH centuries coinciding to Seljuqs, later it was an administration center of Ilkhanids during 7-8 AH centries and flourished until late Safavid period. Firstly, Arqun (683-690 AH) founded Soltanieh, where Soltan Mohammad Khoda Bandeh (703-716 AH) developed and changed it to Ilkhanid capital. Ancient Ojan is among significant Ilkhanid urban centers (summer residence) that located at south of modern Bostan Abad, Eastern Azerbijan, and reconstructed during Kazan Khan Ilkhanid ruler. Matrakçı Nasuh's miniature of Ojan from Süleymannâme (Book of Suleiman) that illustrate expedition of Suleyman the magnificent from Istanbul to western Iran is among evidences. Present paper attempts to compare urban spaces of Ojan and Soltanieh according to archaeological findings, reasons of construction of Soltanieh relying on preplanning, and documentation of urbanization during Ilkhanid period. the research methodologically based on bibliographic studies and field works. it increases our understanding toward social-political history of urban spaces, architecture, and cultural elements of Ojan and Soltanieh.


The first step when recovering deleted files using file carving is to identify the file type of a block, also called file fragment analysis. Several researchers have demonstrated the applicability of Kolmogorov complexity methods such as the normalized compression distance (NCD) to this problem. NCD methods compare the results of compressing a pair of data blocks with the compressed concatenation of the pair. One parameter that is required is the compression algorithm to be used. Prior research has identified the NCD compressor properties that yield good performance. However, no studies have focused on its applicability to file fragment analysis. This paper describes the results of experiments on a large corpus of files and file types with different block lengths. The experimental results demonstrate that, in the case of file fragment analysis, compressors with the desired properties do not perform statistically better than compressors with less computational complexity.


The Ottoman Empire stood at a crossroads of intercontinental trade, stretching from the Balkans and the Black Sea region through the present day Middle East and most of the North African coast for six centuries up to World War I. The articles in this volume by a leading economic historian examine its economic institutions, the long term performance of the Ottoman economy and explore the reasons for the longevity of this large empire. Until recently, historiography had depicted an empire in decline after the 16th century. These articles argue, however, that the Ottoman state and society showed considerable ability to reorganize and adapt to changing circumstances through selective institutional change, well before the reforms of the nineteenth century. They also make the case that, until the 19th century, standards of living in many parts of the empire were not very different from those prevailing in most parts of continental Europe. Contents: Introduction; Institutional change and the longevity of the Ottoman Empire, 1500–1800; Ottoman interventionism in economic and monetary affairs; The Ottoman monetary system and frontier territories in Europe, 1500–1700; The evolution of financial institutions in the Ottoman Empire, 1600–1914; The price revolution in the Ottoman Empire reconsidered; Prices in the Ottoman Empire, 1469–1914; In the absence of domestic currency: debased European coinage in the 17th-century Ottoman Empire; The great Ottoman debasement, 1808–1844: a political economy framework; From debasement to external borrowing: changing forms of deficit finance in the Ottoman Empire, 1750–1914; The Middle East in 19th century world trade; Anatolia and Egypt during the 19th century: a comparison of foreign trade and foreign investment; The Ottoman Empire in the 'Great Depression' of 1873–1896; The Ottoman economy in World War I; Real wages and standards of living in the Ottoman Empire, 1489–1914; Estimating economic growth in the Middle East since 1820.


Rhus verniciflua Stokes (RVS) has been used as a traditional herbal medicine. Several earlier studies indicated that an ethanol extract of RVS has both anti-oxidant and anti-tumor properties, although the mechanism for the activity remains to be elucidated. In this report, we prepared a highly purified ethanol extract from RVS, named REEE-1 (Rhus ethanol eluted extract-1), and investigated the mechanism involved in its growthinhibitory effect on the human B and T lymphoma cell lines, BJAB and Jurkat, respectively. Results from tritium uptake proliferation assays showed that the proliferative capacities of both BJAB and Jurkat cells were strongly suppressed in the presence of REEE-1. This was further confirmed through trypan blue exclusion experiments that revealed a dose-dependent decrease in viable cell numbers after REEE-1 treatment. REEE-1-mediated suppression of cell growth was verified to be apoptotic, based on the increase in DNA fragmentation, low fluorescence intensity in nuclei after propidium iodide staining, and the appearance of DNA laddering. In particular, REEE-1 exerted its anti-oxidant activity through the inhibition of hydroxyl radical-mediated degradation by iron ion chelation rather than direct scavenging of hydroxyl radicals. Furthermore, REEE-1 was revealed to be a potential scavenger of superoxide anions. Collectively, our findings suggest that REEE-1 is a natural anti-oxidant that could be used as a cancer chemo-preventive and therapeutic agent.


How will U.S. consumers respond to the proliferation of alternative-fuel vehicles, such as cars powered partially or completely by electricity, in the coming decade? After a century in which fossil fuel-powered vehicles dominated the market, it appeared consumers would have an unprecedented level of choice as to the type of car they purchased and drove. Automakers were introducing various models that used electricity for power, and other power sources, such as fuel cells, were also seeing increased attention. Some observers believed the time was ripe for widespread adoption of these new vehicles: consumers and policymakers were increasingly concerned about the fallout of U.S. dependence on fossil fuel-powered cars - namely, adverse environmental impacts and reliance on foreign sources of oil, plus the fluctuating price of gasoline - and innovative infrastructure technology was being developed to support electric-powered cars. Despite these promising developments, it remained unclear whether consumers were ready to switch to alternative-fuel vehicles on a large scale. Would they be willing to make the lifestyle tradeoffs required for grid-dependent vehicles? How should policymakers intervene, if at all, to encourage adoption, and what marketing activities and incentives might firms employ to stimulate demand?


Background: ST6Gal-1 sialyltransferase is a prominent circulatory glycosyltransferase whose function remained in question because an extracellular source of sugar donor substrate was unknown. Results: Extracellular ST6Gal-1 catalysis uses platelet-supplied sugar donors. Conclusion: Activated platelets release donor substrates to functionally drive extracellular glycosylation by soluble ST6Gal-1. Significance: Remodeling by extracellular glycosyltransferases may be an important mechanism to generate physiologically important glycans. Sizable pools of freely circulating glycosyltransferases are in blood, but understanding their physiologic contributions has been hampered because functional sources of sugar donor substrates needed to drive extracellular glycosylation have not been identified. The blood-borne ST6Gal-1 produced and secreted by the liver is the most noted among the circulatory glycosyltransferases, and decorates marrow hematopoietic progenitor cells with α2,6-linked sialic acids and restricts blood cell production. Platelets, upon activation, secrete a plethora of bioactive molecules including pro- and anti-inflammatory mediators. Cargos of sugar donor substrates for glycosyltransferase activity have also been reported in platelets. Here, we implemented a cell-based system to interrogate platelets for their ability to deliver effectively the sugar donor substrate for extracellular ST6Gal-1 to function. We report that thrombin-activated platelets, at physiologic concentration and pH, can efficiently and effectively substitute for CMP-sialic acid in extracellular ST6Gal-1-mediated sialylation of target cell surfaces. Activated platelets can also supply the sialic acid donor to sialylate the synthetic acceptor, Gal(β1,4)GlcNAcα-o-benzyl, with the product Sia(α2,6)Gal(β1,4)GlcNAcα-o-benzyl structurally confirmed by LC/MS. Platelet-secreted donor substrate was recovered in the 100,000 × g sediment, strongly suggesting the association of this otherwise soluble substrate, putatively CMP-sialic acid, within platelet microparticles. Sequestration within microparticles may facilitate delivery of glycosylation substrate at effective dosages to sites of extracellular glycosylation while minimizing excessive dilution.


This practice-based research which is positioned within the field of art/community action and the creation of an oral history archive, has involved the researcher working collaboratively with residents from the Silwood Estate in London who formed a collective known as the Silwood Video Group. Jeremy Deller's collaborative enterprises and Nicolas Bourriaud's relational aesthetics (1998) were key points of departure.

The Silwood Estate crosses two borough boundaries, Southwark and Lewisham, and is placed at a triangle between two railway lines and a main road. During the period of the research, the Estate has come to the end of a Single Regeneration Budget Scheme which has involved demolition and rebuilding on the Lewisham side and refurbishment on the Southwark side.

The Silwood Video Projects were jointly facilitated, directed and produced by the researcher and Mark Saunders of the 'Spectacle' artists group.

The research set out to provide a means for the Silwood residents to collaborate, document their experiences on living in the midst of a Government sanctioned urban regeneration, to recall the past and envisage the future. The residents who participated made their own film content with active direction from the researcher who also undertook post-production. Some public and closed meetings were also filmed as the regeneration project was being planned and implemented. Themes include 'live issues' such as confusion over responsibility for refuse collection when a local authority hands over the management of an estate to a housing association.

Funders included the European Social Fund 'Equal –Working Broadband' scheme and Advocacy, Participation and Non Governmental Organisations in Planning.

Screenings at PleinOpen Air in Brussels, 2004; Cities, Urbanity and Urban Intervention, Museum De Beau Art, Brussels, February 2003 and Real Estate: Does Picking A Camera Up Make a Difference at the ICA London, 24/08/05 and reviewed in Art and Architecture, Winter 05/06.


Abstract Background: To date, no prospective epidemiological data are available, particularly in women, on mean leukocyte telomere length as a risk predictor. Methods: Using leukocyte DNA samples collected at baseline in a prospective cohort of over 28,000 initially healthy women, we examined the relationship between mean leukocyte telomere repeat copy number to single gene copy number (TSR) in 134 incident cases of colorectal carcinoma (CRC), and 357 matched controls; all were Caucasian. Results: The observed loge-transformed TSRs were similar between cases and controls (p=0.79). Using an adjusted analysis, we found no evidence for an association of the loge-TSRs with CRC risk [adjusted odds ratio (OR)=0.943, 95% confidence interval (CI)=0.647–1.376, p=0.762]. Stratified analysis by median follow-up time, or postmenopausal status also showed similar null findings. Conclusions: In concordance with our previous findings in Caucasian men, the present study in Caucasian women found no evidence for an association of mean leukocyte telomere length with risk of incident CRC, further suggesting that leukocyte telomere length may not be a useful indicator for risk assessment. Clin Chem Lab Med 2010;48:259–62.


Abstract Food restriction has a great impact on skeletal muscle mass by inducing muscle protein breakdown to provide substrates for energy production through gluconeogenesis. Genetic models of hyper-muscularity interfere with the normal balance between protein synthesis and breakdown which eventually results in extreme muscle growth. Mutations or deletions in the myostatin gene result in extreme muscle mass. Here we evaluated the impact of food restriction for a period of 5 weeks on skeletal muscle size (i. e., fibre cross-sectional area), fibre type composition and contractile properties (i. e., tetanic and specific force) in myostatin null mice. We found that this hyper-muscular model was more susceptible to catabolic processes than wild type mice. The mechanism of skeletal muscle mass loss was examined and our data shows that the myostatin null mice placed on a low calorie diet maintained the activity of molecules involved in protein synthesis and did not up-regulate the expression of genes pivotal in ubiquitin-mediated protein degradation. However, we did find an increase in the expression of genes associated with autophagy. Surprisingly, the reduction on muscle size was followed by improved tetanic and specific force in the null mice compared to wild type mice. These data provide evidence that food restriction may revert the hyper-muscular phenotype of the myostatin null mouse restoring muscle function.


Nowadays a top Premiership football club can spend 50 million on a Portuguese pin-up or a legendary Italian goalkeeper, but you cannot take into account the effects of a dodgy takeaway meal, a dropped bottle of aftershave on a goalkeeper's toe, or the fact that your most creative player has to leave town because of a chance drunken encounter with another player's wife. It is these random moments that have shaped football as much as the headline-grabbing Cantona kung fu kick and that Russian linesman in 1966. Along the meandering paths of this witty alternative history of the world's most popular game, you will learn: * Different sizes of football were used in each half of the inaugural World Cup Final of 1930. * The first England defeat was not that famous 6-3 home defeat in 1953 by Hungary but was in Madrid against Spain back in 1929 (4-3). * After penalty kicks were introduced in 1891, the Corinthian Casuals goalkeeper would stand idly by his post to allow the ball into his goal unhindered, such was the stigma of conceding a penalty. From the height of international football to the scandal of the Conference league Christmas party that cost far more than a bar-bill, Colin Murray tries his best to make you believe, once more, in football's unpredictability.


Our Web-based interactive game-playing-oriented college selection system acts as a smart advisor/mentor and helps students, parents, and teachers use an effective graphical user interface to efficiently search college information and to make good decisions at each stage of students' academic development. It is an expert agent with hierarchical fuzzy knowledge base using fuzzy logic. Users are expected to be able to use this agent as a trusted, involved and smart counselor, who remembers their profile and their past history and advises them through their high school years. It gives them increasingly better and specific nuggets of advice as they make progress through their schools, and guides them toward a selected set of colleges to apply that optimizes their potential. At the heart of this system is an assessment tree, which uses bottom-up fuzzy calculations to generate possibility of admission in various sets of colleges. The primary output is a short list of colleges to apply containing five kinds of colleges (highly-selective down to non-selective) with possibilities of acceptance in each college according to fuzzy rules provided. It is also a smart tool to play self-guided "what if games to explore what specific action one should be taking to have maximum impact on the selection of colleges one can get in and on his/her chances of admission. It employs a natural interactive interview process for a user (i.e., a user can play a game with the agent to gradually find out rational solutions), and produces advisories at different stages.


Author(s): Barati, George; Jarrell, Randall; Regional History Project, UCSC Library | Abstract: George Barati was a distinguished cellist, conductor, and composer. Born in Gyor, Hungary, Barati lived in the United States from 1938 until his death in 1996. His recollections include highlights of his international career as cellist, conductor, and composer spanning some 60 years, and reflections on the state of the musical arts in the United States since the end of World War II.Barati graduated from the Franz Liszt Conservatory of Music in Budapest in 1935. During the 1930s he was a member of the Budapest Concert Orchestra, where he played under the most celebrated conductors of his era. He was a founding member of the Pro Ideale Quartet and studied or performed with Bartok, Dohnanyi, and other eminent faculty members at the Liszt Conservatory. While still a student he became first cellist with the Budapest Symphony and the Municipal Opera. Barati settled in the United States in Princeton, New Jersey in 1938. There he taught cello at Princeton University and studied composition with Roger Sessions from 1938 to 1943.In 1946 Barati moved to San Francisco, where he was a member of the San Francisco Symphony during the tenure of Pierre Monteux. He was also a member of the California String Quartet and founding conductor of the Barati Chamber Orchestra of San Francisco from 1948 to 1952. Barati also began to achieve recognition for his own compositions at this time.From 1950 to 1968 Barati was music director of the Honolulu Symphony and Opera. During this period he also began an extensive international conducting career that included guest and visiting conducting appearances with some 85 orchestras on five continents, including Japan, Europe, and Latin America.In 1968 Barati returned to the mainland and became executive director of the Villa Montalvo Center for the Arts and conductor of the Villa Montalvo Chamber Orchestra in Saratoga, California. From 1971 to 1980 he was music director of the Santa Cruz County Symphony.In addition to his conducting career, he was a juror for the Mitropoulos Competition for Conductors from 1957 to 1970, and participated as a juror for both the Metropolitan and San Francisco Opera Competitions. His honors and awards include the doctor of music, Honoris Causa, from the University of Hawaii in 1955, a Guggenheim Fellowship in 1965-66, the Ditson Award in 1962, and the Naumberg Award for Composition in 1959.


Ultrasonographic study is useful for decision making of treatment for focal neuropathy with unusual electrodiagnostic findings. We present a patient with severe acute radial neuropathy with sensory sparing around the distal arm secondary to twisting of the radial nerve following blunt trauma. A 24-year-old man with a 2-week history of left wrist drop and severe pain around the left elbow presented after hitting the left distal arm on the doorknob. The left wrist and finger extensions were grade 0, but elbow extension could not be tested because of severe pain during this action. The left superficial radial sensory territory was intact. Electrodiagnostic findings suggested severe left radial neuropathy around the distal arm with sensory sparing. Ultrasonographic study demonstrated 2 stenotic lesions around the distal arm and absence of the left superficial radial sensory nerve. Surgical exploration revealed 2 stenotic lesions with twisting of the nerve, concordant with ultrasonographic study. End-to-end anastomosis was performed in the proximal lesion. Sixteen months later, wrist and finger extension was grade 3, and reinnervation signs in the radial-innervated muscles except extensor indicis muscle were observed. The complementary relationship between electrophysiologic and ultrasonographic examinations is very important for precise lesion location and decision making for treatment of peripheral nerve injury.


: Recent studies have demonstrated that paclitaxel might inhibit renal fibrosis. However, the underlying molecular mechanism remains unclear. In this study, we hypothesized that low-dose paclitaxel may block the STAT3 (signal transducer and activator of transcription 3) signaling to attenuate fibrosis in a mouse model with unilateral ureteral obstruction. Both NRK-49F cells and mice with unilateral ureteral obstruction were treated with paclitaxel. The results showed that paclitaxel treatment resulted in a dose- and time-dependent decrease in tyrosine-phosphorylated STAT3, and inhibited the expression of fibronectin, alpha-smooth muscle actin ( α -SMA), and collagen I in cultured NRK-49F cells. S3I-201, an STAT3 inhibitor, also suppressed the expression of fibronectin, α -SMA, and collagen I in cultured NRK-49F cells. Mechanistically, paclitaxel treatment blocked the STAT3 activity by disrupting the association of STAT3 with tubulin and inhibiting STAT3 nucleus translocation. Furthermore, paclitaxel also ameliorated renal fibrosis by down-regulating the expression of fibronectin, α -SMA, and collagen I, and suppressed the infiltration of macrophages and production of TNF- α , IL-1 β , TGF- β , and ICAM-1 (intercellular adhesion molecule 1) by inhibition of STAT3 activity in obstructive nephropathy. These results suggest that paclitaxel may block the STAT3 activity by disrupting the association of STAT3 with tubulin and inhibiting STAT3 nucleus translocation, consequently leading to the suppression of renal interstitial fibroblast activation and the development of renal fibrosis, and inhibition of proinflammatory cytokine production.


Cannabinoids are active components in marijuana, and endocannabinoids, which are derived from lipids through the actions of such enzymes as phospholipase D, phospholipase A, and diacylglycerol (DAG) lipase, are the body's own version of these signaling molecules. Endocannabinoids were known to mediate a retrograde signal that can transiently regulate inhibitory neurons in the brain. Chevaleyre and Castillo show that endocannabinoids, specifically 2-arachidonyl glycerol (2-AG), mediate a long-term depression (LTD) of inhibitory input (I-LTD) in the hippocampus. I-LTD was produced in response to two types of high-frequency stimulation under conditions where ionotropic glutamate receptors (N-methyl-D-aspartate and the kainate and AMPA receptors) were blocked. This I-LTD only occurred upon stimulation of neurons that synapsed on the dendritic regions of the hippocampal CA1 neurons and not the somatic regions. Pharmacological manipulation indicated that I-LTD required metabotropic glutamate type I receptors (mGluR1), but not γ-aminobutyric acid B (GABAB) receptors. Because electrophysiological data suggested that the I-LTD was due to decreased inhibitory input in response to postsynaptic activity, the authors tested for the involvement of a retrograde signal. Pharmacological inhibition of the endocannabinoid receptor CB1 blocked I-LTD produced through high-frequency stimulation or in response to pharmacological activation of mGluR1. Experiments designed to compare I-LTD with the transient form of inhibition mediated by endocannabinoids suggested that these two events were mediated by different endocannabinoids produced in response to different signaling cascades. The transient form of inhibition requires a calcium-dependent production of endocannabinoids, whereas I-LTD required phospholipase C activation, production of DAG, and the activity of DAG lipase, which produces 2-AG. Further discussion of these two endocannabinoid-mediated inhibitory processes and their roles in long-term potentiation and learning and memory is provided by Freund and Hájos. V. Chevaleyre, P. E. Castillo, Heterosynaptic LTD of hippocampal GABAergic synapses: A novel role of endocannabinoids in regulating excitability. Neuron 38, 461-472 (2003). [Online Journal] T. F. Freund, N. Hájos, Excitement reduces inhibition via endocannabinoids. Neuron 38, 362-365 (2003). [Online Journal]


The report describes the results of excavations in 1981, ahead of development within the South Choir Aisle of St Giles' Cathedral (NGR: NT 25727 73590), and subsequent archaeological investigations within the kirk in the 1980s and 1990s. Three main phases of activity from the 12th to the mid-16th centuries were identified, with only limited evidence for the post-Reformation period. Fragmentary evidence of earlier structural remains was recorded below extensive landscaping of the natural steep slope, in the form of a substantial clay platform constructed for the 12th-century church. The remains of a substantial ditch in the upper surface of this platform are identified as the boundary ditch of the early ecclesiastical enclosure. A total of 113 in situ burials were excavated; the earliest of these formed part of the external graveyard around the early church. In the late 14th century the church was extended to the south and east over this graveyard, and further burials and structural evidence relating to the development of the kirk until the 16th century were excavated, including evidence for substantive reconstruction of the east end of the church in the mid-15th century. Evidence for medieval slat-bottomed coffins of pine and spruce was recovered, and two iron objects, which may be ferrules from pilgrims' staffs or batons, were found in 13th/14th-century burials.


Customers are usually exposed to online digital advertisement channels, such as email marketing, display advertising, paid search engine marketing, along their way to purchase or subscribe products( aka. conversion). The marketers track all the customer journey data and try to measure the effectiveness of each advertising channel. The inference about the influence of each channel plays an important role in budget allocation and inventory pricing decisions. Several simplistic rule-based strategies and data-driven algorithmic strategies have been widely used in marketing field, but they do not address the issues, such as channel interaction, time dependency, user characteristics. In this paper, we propose a novel attribution algorithm based on deep learning to assess the impact of each advertising channel. We present Deep Neural Net With Attention multi-touch attribution model (DNAMTA) model in a supervised learning fashion of predicting if a series of events leads to conversion, and it leads us to have a deep understanding of the dynamic interaction effects between media channels. DNAMTA also incorporates user-context information, such as user demographics and behavior, as control variables to reduce the estimation biases of media effects. We used computational experiment of large real world marketing dataset to demonstrate that our proposed model is superior to existing methods in both conversion prediction and media channel influence evaluation.


Background Structured secondary cardiovascular prevention programs (SSCP) following acute coronary syndromes (ACS) may reduce major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE) through better adherence to post-ACS recommendations. Methods Through a prospective multicenter cohort study, we compared the outcomes of two sequential post-ACS patient cohorts, the initial one receiving standard care (SC) followed by one receiving additional interventions (SSCP) aimed at improving patient education as well as healthcare provider and hospital systems. The primary endpoint was MACE at one year. Secondary endpoints included adherence to recommended therapies, attendance to cardiac rehabilitation (CR) and successful achievement of cardiovascular risk factor (CVRF) targets. Results In total, 2498 post-ACS patients from 4 Swiss university hospitals were included: 1210 vs 1288 in the SC and SSCP groups, respectively. The SSCP group demonstrated a significant increase in attendance to CR programs (RR 1.08, 95%CI 1.02–1.14, P = 0.006), despite not achieving the primary MACE endpoint (HR 0.97, 95%CI 0.77–1.22, P = 0.79). After age-stratification, significant reductions in cardiac death, MI and stroke events (HR 0.53, 95%CI 0.30–0.93, P for interaction = 0.016) were observed for SSCP patients ≤ 65 years old. The SSCP group also scored significantly better for the LDL cholesterol target (RR 1.07, 95%CI 1.02–1.13, P = 0.012), systolic blood pressure target (RR 1.06, 95%CI 1.01–1.13, P = 0.029) and physical activity (RR 1.10, 95%CI 1.01–1.20, P = 0.021). Conclusions The implementation of an SSCP post ACS was associated with an improvement in the control of CVRF and attendance to CR programs, and was also associated with significant reductions in cardiac death, MI and stroke at one year for patients ≤65years old.


Contribution: This paper shows how significantly computer science instructors can disagree when grading code writing questions in introductory computer science (CS1) exams. Certain solutions are considered "very good" by some instructors and "very bad" by others. The study identifies four factors as possible contributors to such differences between graders: 1) disagreement on the role of syntax in CS1; 2) absence of objective measures for the seriousness of logic errors; 3) variance in how rubrics are constructed; and 4) the use of subjective judgement while grading. Background: Code writing questions are widely used in CS1 exams. Understanding differences in how graders approach such questions can help the CS education community become more informed about how to design valid assessments for summative and formative purposes. Research Questions: Do graders differ significantly in how they score student programs? What are the main factors to which differences between graders could be attributed? Methodology: A number of CS1 instructors and TAs were asked to score pieces of code resembling student solutions to CS1 exam questions, and were asked to answer open ended questions on how they approach grading in CS1 exams. Responses were then analyzed qualitatively and quantitatively. Findings: There is no consensus on how code writing questions in CS1 exams should be graded. Differences in opinion on how many points to award can be very significant, even for very simple programs and between graders in the same institution. Some graders assign grades that do not necessarily agree with how many points they believe the student solution is worth.


Factor analysis methods have been widely used in neuroimaging to transfer high dimensional imaging data into low dimensional, ideally interpretable representations. However, most of these methods overlook the highly nonlinear and complex temporal dynamics of neural processes when factorizing their imaging data. In this paper, we present deep Markov factor analysis (DMFA), a generative model that employs Markov property in a chain of low dimensional temporal embeddings together with spatial inductive assumptions, all related through neural networks, to capture temporal dynamics in functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data, and tackle their high spatial dimensionality, respectively. Augmented with a discrete latent, DMFA is able to cluster fMRI data in its low dimensional temporal embedding with regard to subject and cognitive state variability, therefore, enables validation of a variety of fMRI-driven neuroscientific hypotheses. Experimental results on both synthetic and real fMRI data demonstrate the capacity of DMFA in revealing interpretable clusters and capturing nonlinear temporal dependencies in these high dimensional imaging data.


CONTEXT
The Liaison Committee on Medical Education began an initiative to change medical education across the United States in the early 2000s. With the explosion in medical science knowledge, the need arose to teach selected fundamental information both in a contextual and in an active learning manner.

OBJECTIVE
To identify ways to address gaps in training and knowledge that became apparent following implementation of learner-centered teaching methods, with devotion of more time to Internet-based learning and less emphasis on face-to-face lecture time. There was a dramatic departure from or de-emphasis of many traditional courses, such as embryology, gross anatomy, microscopic anatomy, and pathology, to the integration of these sciences into system-based active learning courses. This change in medical school curricula produces a medical graduate who hopefully thinks differently but certainly lacks subject-specific knowledge for a variety of medical specialties.

DATA SOURCES
Pathology residency programs have developed "boot camps" for the initial months of residency training both to provide the necessary foundation of pathology-specific medical science and to introduce basic skills and processes required for practice of anatomic pathology and laboratory medicine. The College of American Pathologists Graduate Medical Education Committee sent a questionnaire out on the Program Directors Section Listserv; the results are discussed and 3 boot camp programs are described.

CONCLUSIONS
Boot camps have 2 purposes: (1) to teach or strengthen knowledge required to practice pathology and (2) to introduce basic skills and processes that will be used during the practitioner's career.


Abstract The water purification functions of forests represent one of the most frequently invoked examples of nonmarket ecosystem services that are economically valuable. This study quantifies the monetary value of forests' water purification services in the form of the ensuing cost savings of municipal drinking water treatment, using a rich panel dataset from China's Sichuan province. Moreover, this study has undertaken a novel spatial piecewise approach to investigate the spatial patterns of such cost savings delivered by forests at different distances from the water intake point. The estimation results find that forests within a 2 km radius upstream from the water intake point have the most sizeable and statistically significant cost saving effect. For forests within a 3 km radius, this effect becomes somewhat smaller but remains statistically significant. Beyond a 4 km radius, this effect becomes notably smaller and statistically equal to zero. Our analysis facilitates the optimal spatial targeting of forest conservation.


This essay explores the parallel rising of computer vision technology and digital art history, examining some of the current possibilities and limits of computational techniques applied to the cultural and historical studies of images. A fracture emerges: computer scientists seem to lack in the critical approach typical of the humanities, a shortfall which sometimes condemns their attempts to remain technological curiosities. For their part, humanists lack in technical knowledge that is needed to directly investigate big archives of images, with the result that art historians often must limit their attempts in the computer-aided inquires on texts or metadata databases, a task that does not imply the study of the images themselves. A future dialogue between the two areas is claimed as a necessity to foster this new branch of knowledge.


The practice of catch-and-release fishing has been widely promoted by angling fraternities as a fisheries management tool. The aim of this investigation was to determine the physiological response of Orange-Vaal smallmouth yellowfish, Labeobarbus aeneus, to catch-and-release angling in the Vaal River, South Africa. Fish were collected using standard fly-fishing techniques, anaesthetised in clove oil and blood was drawn from the caudal vein; thereafter the fish were weighed, measured, revived and released. Blood plasma was analysed for concentrations of glucose, cortisol and lactate to determine the effects of angling duration, fish size and water temperature. Larger fish were angled for a longer duration compared with smaller fish. Levels of glucose were affected by water temperature (influenced by time of year). Plasma glucose concentrations decreased with greater angling duration. Few individuals (n = 12) showed increased plasma cortisol concentrations. In extended-capture fish (angled for >1 min), lactate concentrations increased significantly above values for rapid-capture fish (angled for >30 s). These data suggest that catch-and-release causes physiological stress to fish, but nonetheless this practice can be a valuable fisheries management tool to ensure the sustainability of fish populations. Other factors beyond the 'angling' time are likely to contribute to physiological disruptions in homeostasis and therefore handling and air exposure of angled fish should be included in future catch-and—release angling studies. In addition, the longer-term impact of angling on fish health should also be determined.


Background: The increasing overuse and sometimes, failure of chemotherapeutics and antibiotic resistance exhibited by pathogenic infectious microbes, have led to the screening of several medicinal plants for their potential antimicrobial activity. The antibacterial effect of cold and hot extract of Triphalachurna is one such medicinal extract.
Materials and Methods: The clinical samples received at the Department of Microbiology, Kasturba Hospital, Manipal were tested using the extract by agar dilution method against common wound pathogens such as MSSA, MRSA, E. coli (probable ESBL producer), K. pneumoniae, P. aeruginosa and Acinetobacter.
Results: Triphalachurna was found most potent against all the organisms. The study showed susceptibility of wound pathogens to the aqueous extract of Triphalachurna. The cold extraction was proportionally effective against each Gram negative organism in comparison to hot extraction. Acinetobacter species were the most susceptible to the antibacterial effect, followed by P. aeruginosa which showed intermediate susceptibility. E. coli and K. pneumoniae showed least susceptibility. MRSA was more susceptible than MSSA against the cold extraction; hot extraction was equally effective against both MRSA and MSSA.
Conclusion: The herbal preparation helps in inhibiting the growth of pathogenic bacteria and hence preventing wound infection.


We experimentally demonstrate full simultaneous error-free demultiplexing of a 160-Gb/s OTDM data stream to 16x10-Gb/s WDM channels in a single nonlinear optical device. A temporal Fourier processor based upon a four-wave mixing (FWM) time lens is used to perform the demultiplexing operation. The FWM pump pulses are chirped such that they temporally overlap to allow for continuous operation; a necessary feature for full demultiplexing. We identify the fundamental challenges of operating in this continuous regime and characterize their impact on the system performance. We determine the main performance impairments to be crosstalk from adjacent WDM channels and crosstalk arising from non-degenerate FWM amongst the OTDM signal and the temporally overlapping pump pulses.


Analytic sensing is a new mathematical framework to estimate the parameters of a multi-dipole source model from boundary measurements. The method deploys two working principles. First, the sensing principle relates the boundary measurements to the volumetric interactions of the sources with the so-called "analytic sensor," a test function that is concentrated around a singular point outside the domain of interest. Second, the annihilation principle allows retrieving the projection of the dipoles' positions in a single shot by polynomial root finding. Here, we propose to apply analytic sensing in a local way; i.e., the poles are not surrounding the complete domain. By combining two local projections of the (nearby) dipolar sources, we are able to reconstruct the full 3-D information. We demonstrate the feasibility of the proposed approach for both synthetic and experimental data, together with the theoretical lower bounds of the localization error.


A general class of problems arises when datasets containing private information belong to multiple parties or owners and they collectively want to perform analytic studies on the entire set while respecting the privacy and security concerns of each individual party. We describe a solution to this problem in the form of a secure procedure for data mapping and/or linkage, which allows to identify the correspondence between entities in a distributed dataset. In contrast to existing methods this solution does not require either a trusted or semi-trusted third party, while being simple, efficient and scalable for both large datasets and number of parties.