One of the pioneering stock market simulations, the Santa Fe Institute Artificial Stock Market (SFI-ASM), showed an influence of learning speed on the aggregate outcome. For slow learning rates, the neoclassical properties of a homogeneous rational expectations equilibrium (hree) could be confirmed. However, a complex regime with higher price volatility, GARCH-behavior, cross-correlation between price and trading volume, and significant levels of technical trading emerged for faster learning speeds. In Ehrentreich (200x) it was shown that these results are based on the specific design of the mutation operator which introduced an upward bias in the level of set trading bits in the classifier system. Since agents in a corrected version endogenously gave up the use of their classifier system, it was implied that it did not provide any profitable trading information. This is in contrast to the original SFI-ASM. Joshi, Parker, and Bedau (1998) found that agents with access to technical trading bits did significantly better with respect to wealth levels than those without. In their 2002 study they found that faster learning agents outperformed slow learning agents. A sensitivity analysis of wealth levels with both the original and the corrected mutation operator was able to replicate the Joshi, Parker, and Bedau results, however only for specific parameter settings. It was revealed that differences in wealth levels are a result of the size of the active rule set that an agent possesses. It was a peculiarity of design in the SFI-ASM that trading rules were not always logical. The more trading bits were set, the higher the fraction of illogical trading rules. For faster learning rates, the number of logical and thus potentially activated trading rules decreased significantly. This had an effect on the efficiency of the selection mechanisms (Select Best and Roulette Wheel) that were used to determine the rules on which agents acted upon. Contour plots show that the differences in wealth levels between two agent types, who differ in the size of the rule set and learning speeds, can be positive or negative, depending on the specific parameter combination. Any economic interpretation of differences in wealth levels are thus too hasty, since these differences are again a result of technicalities in the model, unless one is willing to interpret cognitive or economic substance into the working of the selection mechanisms. Unexpected results that are hard to explain on the basis of the constituting elements in a simulation model pose a general temptation to explain them as emergent behavior, yet they can still be a result of unsuspicious programming details. Since the two selection mechanisms are widely used in the agent-based community, the necessity of having a constant number of active strategies over the course of the simulation is demonstrated. Because of this, the above analysis could be of general interest to the agent-based simulation community.


Sonophoresis is the using of ultrasound waves to increase the entrancement of genes and drugs surpassing the skin barrier. Many mechanisms have been described to illustrate the sonophoresis mode of action; some describe changes in skin resistance during sonophoresis. Electrical impedance tomography (EIT) technique uses voltage measurement through a group of electrodes and reconstructs the data to a conductivity picture. The aim of this work is to evaluate the possibility of using EIT in order to detect changes in mice skin conductivity under pulsed ultrasound waves with powers of 1 and 3 W/cm2 and times of exposure of 2, 4, and 6 min. EIT system was designed and performed locally. The mice skin was obtained from ten albino mice. Immediately after the skin part was exposed to certain sonophoretic condition, its complex biological impedance was measured using the EIT device. The resultant pictures then were analysed using special software. The results indicate that EIT can be used as a good technique for skin conductivity scan. The data analysis shows that as the ultrasound power increases, the skin conductivity increases. However, there is no significant decrease in skin impedance with time in the same ultrasound power at the time range used.

 Key words: Electrical impedance tomography (EIT), sonophoresis, skin conductivity.


Background Patient participation in colorectal cancer (CRC) screening via a stool test and colonoscopy is suboptimal, but participation can be improved by the development of a blood test. However, the suboptimal detection abilities of blood tests for advanced neoplasia, including advanced adenoma (AA) and CRC, limit their application. We aimed to investigate the proteomic landscape of small extracellular vesicles (sEVs) from the serum of patients with colorectal neoplasia and identify specific sEV proteins that could serve as biomarkers for early diagnosis. Materials and Methods We enrolled 100 patients including 13 healthy subjects, 12 non-AAs, 13 AAs, and 16 stage-I, 15 stage-II, 16 stage-III, and 15 stage-IV CRCs. These patients were classified as normal control, early neoplasia, and advanced neoplasia. The sEV proteome was explored by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry. Generalized association plots were used to integrate the clustering methods, visualize the data matrix, and analyze the relationship. The specific sEV biomarkers were identified by a decision tree via Orange3 software. Functional enrichment analysis was conducted by using the Ingenuity Pathway Analysis platform. Results The sEV protein matrix was identified from the serum of 100 patients and contained 3353 proteins, of which 1921 proteins from 98 patients were finally analyzed. Compared with the normal control, subjects with early and advanced neoplasia exhibited a distinct proteomic distribution in the data matrix plot. Six sEV proteins were identified, namely, GCLM, KEL, APOF, CFB, PDE5A, and ATIC, which properly distinguished normal control, early neoplasia, and advanced neoplasia patients from each other. Functional enrichment analysis revealed that APOF+ and CFB+ sEV associated with clathrin-mediated endocytosis signaling and the complement system, which have critical implications for CRC carcinogenesis. Conclusion Patients with colorectal neoplasia had a distinct sEV proteome expression pattern in serum compared with those patients who were healthy and did not have neoplasms. Moreover, the six identified specific sEV proteins had the potential to discriminate colorectal neoplasia between early-stage and advanced neoplasia. Collectively, our study provided a six-sEV protein biomarker panel for CRC diagnosis at early or advanced stages. Furthermore, the implication of the sEV proteome in CRC carcinogenesis via specific signaling pathways was explored.


Innovation platforms are increasingly used as spaces for interaction between actors in value chains to overcome barriers to development. It involves continuous learning and capacity building – both in terms of innovation capacity and specific technical or organizational capacities. Despite the increased use of Innovation Platforms in the context of value chains, there are several questions regarding their practical implementation. This paper aims to gain some insight in their formation and management by sharing experiences from an Innovation Platform for a goat value chain in Inhassoro District, Mozambique. Since the first meeting in May 2011, some of the main lessons include: an Innovation Platform can provide an important mechanism for communication and information exchange to enhance collective action; however, its establishment takes time and needs a lot of facilitation by the project team in the initial stages to ensure proper functioning; moreover, the design and implementation needs to be adapted and negotiated with intended beneficiaries to accommodate seasonality aspects of goat production and marketing, as well as local physical, social and cultural conditions, such as travel distance and literacy rates, gender inequality, and the role goats play in people's livelihoods.


The components and quantities of hazardous waste emissions have been reported to be the pollution indicator of large urban areas. The multiplicity and complexity of sources of pollutants in environment has put forward the need of use alternate fuels in industrial co-processing. The present study is focused on utilization of liquid organic spent solvents (which is hazardous waste produced by the pharma industries) co-processing in cement industries. Specific liquid organic solvents have been selected based on their calorific value and availability for coprocessing in Cement industry. Co-processing has been performed by mixing with coal. It has been observed that there is no specific adverse effect on production in comparison with the industries where co-processing is not performing.


Although many current studies focused on catch-up growth (CUG) have described its high susceptibility to insulin resistance-related diseases, very few have focused on the effect of CUG on bone metabolism, especially in adulthood. As diet is a controllable factor, the influence of refeeding with different dietary patterns on bone parameters is important to study. Resveratrol has been attributed a number of beneficial effects in mammals including osteotrophic properties. On page 297 of this issue of Experimental Biology and Medicine, Wang and colleagues describe the first study to describe the effects of CUG, with different diets, on bone status and the role of resveratrol in CUG models. CUG can lead to insulin resistance, and low-grade systemic inflammation occurs in insulin resistance syndrome. Tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-a is an important inflammatory cytokine, and Lange and Seriolo et al. indicated that anti-TNF-a therapy may exert beneficial effects on bone metabolism, prevent structural bone damage and increase bone mineral density. Dr Wang said 'Our results showed that food restriction induced a significant decrease in bone parameters. Eight-week CUG by normal chow demonstrated a greater degree of improvement in mineral density than a high-fat diet, and even returned to normal level.' Dr Wang also said, 'In contrast, Mika C found that refeeding for two years normalized bone formation activity in adolescent anorexia nervosa patients, but bone mineral density was still significantly lower than that of controls. Compared with neural anorexia, we found in this study the degree of impairment by four-week diet restriction on bone metabolism was relatively weaker, so that bone mineral density returned to normal level after refeeding.' To better distinguish the effects of CUG by high-fat diet on bone status, these invesigators set up a high-fat-diet group. Their results showed that bone parameters in the high-fat-diet group were markedly higher than either the normal control or the refeeding with high-fat-diet group. The higher serum TNF-a level in the CUG by the high-fat-diet group along with a lower body weight may partially explain the decline in bone parameters compared with the high-fat-diet group. In the resveratrol intervention groups, bone parameters significantly increased. Furthermore, bone parameters were inversely related with serum TNF-a concentrations, but showed positive correlation with body weight. In conclusion, the study shows that CUG can partially reverse the deleterious effects of caloric restriction on bone health, especially in refeeding with the normal chow group. Moreover, resveratrol has a protective effect on bone status during the period of CUG, but the exertion of this protective role depends on sufficient nutrition supply. Serum TNF-a levels and body weight also seem to play an important role in regulating bone parameters. Resveratrol has anti-inflammatory effects, increases bone formation but inhibits excessive weight gain. This can be used as a template for synthesizing new drugs, providing a large potential for treatment of overweight and osteoporosis groups. Steven R Goodman, PhD, Editor-in-Chief of Experimental Biology and Medicine said 'Wang and colleagues have demonstrated that refeeding with a normal diet showed a larger improvement in bone mineral density than a high-fat diet. Resveratrol has also been demonstrated to have a protective effect on bone status during the period of catch-up growth. As serum TNF-a levels and body weight also appear to play a role in regulating bone parameters, this study may have important implications for the treatment of obesity and osteoporosis'.


This paper analyzes the consequences of the internationalization of the Chinese renminbi for the global monetary system and its possible ascension to reserve currency status. In an unstable and financially integrated world, governments' precautionary demand for reserve assets is likely to increase. But the world then risks a third crisis of the global reserve system, another re-run of the Triffin paradox, with an ever-growing emerging-world insurance demand loaded onto a small group of ever more strained net debt suppliers. Two ways to avoid this outcome would entail either expanding the supply of credible reserve liquidity to include some large emerging-market providers, or finding ways to manage emerging-market risks so as to moderate the perceived need for insurance, and China would have to loom large in both solutions.


With the usage of diesel fuel and neat bio-diesel to some extent knocking can be detected in all the engines. Triacetin [C9H14O6] is a good anti-knocking additive and easily soluble in biodiesel. The usage of T- additive suppressed knocking, improved the performance and reduced tail pipe emissions. Comparative study was conducted using petrodiesel, bio-diesel, and with various additive blends of bio-diesel on DI- diesel engine. Coconut oil methyl ester (COME) is used with triacetin (T) at various percentages by volume for all loads (No load, 25%, 50%, 75% and full load). The performance of engine is compared with neat diesel in respect of engine efficiency, exhaust emissions and combustion knock. Of the five Triacetin-biodiesel blends tried, 10% Triacetin combination with biodiesel proved encouraging in the performance of engine in all aspects.


Emerging technologies, such as personal information management tools like Zotero, productivity software like Google Documents, and Web-based API's and mashups are important resources for library staff development and productivity. To keep up with rapid technological change, the University of Minnesota Libraries developed a staff education program on emerging technologies. Begun in 2009, the fun and interactive program called Tech Expo has been a success. This paper describes the approach taken and lessons learned.


Though attractive as a model for elastic on-demand service, cloud computing solutions based on existing hypervisors cannot guarantee that the provider will service a user's requests correctly, and will not leak sensitive information to unauthorized parties. We introduce CertiKOS (Certified Kit Operating System), a hypervisor architecture that leverages formal certification to ensure correctness and counter information leakage in cloud computing. CertiKOS isolates guest applications not only from each other but from provider-controlled resource management mechanisms. The kernel's API gives untrusted, provider-supplied management software control over allocation and delegation of resources such as memory and I/O devices, but prohibits management code from accessing a guest's memory or other resources while in use, or from interfering with a guest's execution except through clean resource revocation. CertiKOS represents an effort to apply recent advances in certified software design to a ground-up design of a modular and evolvable certified kernel. Through machine-checkable proof certificates and runtime monitoring, CertiKOS aims to offer users the assurance of correct and leak-free execution of their cloud services.


Light scattering by horizontally oriented platelike particles under normal incidence, such as ice plates or tree leaves under spaceborne lidar or radar waves, needs to be investigated for remote sensing of cirrus clouds or vegetation canopies. The solutions from the conventional geometrical ray tracing method for the scattering of electromagnetic waves by these particles are quite inaccurate because of the singularity problem that is inherent to this method. The scattering properties of large horizontally oriented platelike particles are usually approximated by using physical optics or electromagnetic wave theory while ignoring the side-face effect of the plates. In this paper, to examine the effect of side faces on light scattering by platelike particles, a 2-D finite-difference time-domain technique is applied to calculate light scattering by horizontally oriented ice and leaf strips under normal or quasi-normal incidence. It is found that for moderate-sized strips, the side faces of the particles scatter a significant amount of energy, resulting in strong maxima in the scattering phase function at certain scattering angles. By ignoring the effect of side faces, the scattering phase functions derived from electromagnetic wave theory have significant errors for small or moderate-sized strips. However, the ratio of the amount of energy scattered by the side faces to the total scattered energy decreases with the increase of strip width. When the size parameter of the strip is in the limit of geometric optics, the side-face effect is reduced to a negligible amount. However, even in this case, the polarization degrees from the approximation solutions of physical optics or electromagnetic wave theory ignoring the side-face effect still have large errors.


Climate change is one of the greatest environmental, economic and social challenges in the history of mankind and nowadays is considered as the biggest environmental problem of the world. Climate change has a significant global impact and therefore Greece has to deal with its effects as well. Agriculture has been unfavourably affected in recent years, as the current and anticipated conditions in many cases seem to be rather prohibitive for the prosperity of the cultivated crops. On the contrary, these new conditions have made it possible for new plant species previously cultivated only in subtropical regions, to thrive in Greece. Moreover, economic reasons would make it rather necessary for the agricultural industry to cultivate alternative crops, which are thoroughly analysed in the present study. Based on Heating Degree Days (HDD) Greece is divided into four climatic zones. The variations in the mean maximum, mean minimum and mean temperature in each climate zone as well as the rainfall over the last 50 years (from 1964 to 2013) are reviewed in this paper. The outcome of this research is that it is not feasible for the studied alternative crops to thrive in all climate zones or vice versa. However, some of them and particularly crops such as quinoa, maca, psyllium, chia, cassava and pecan can be cultivated in all climate zones. It has also to be noted that adequate water is necessary for almost all the examined crops in order to achieve optimal growth and yield and therefore irrigations are rather necessary for specific species and climate zones.


This article reviews current evidence regarding the relationship between vegetarian eating patterns and cancer risk. Although plantbased diets including vegetarian and vegan diets are generally considered to be cancer protective, very few studies have directly addressed this question. Most large prospective observational studies show that vegetarian diets are at least modestly cancer protective (10%–12% reduction in overall cancer risk) although results for specific cancers are less clear. However, a broad body of evidence links specific plant foods such as fruits and vegetables, plant constituents such as fiber, antioxidants and other phytochemicals, and achieving and maintaining a healthy weight to reduced risk of cancer diagnosis and recurrence. Also, research links the consumption of meat, especially red and processed meats, to increased risk of several types of cancer. Vegetarian and vegan diets increase beneficial plant foods and plant constituents, eliminate the intake of red and processed meat, and aid in achieving and maintaining a healthy weight. The direct and indirect evidence taken together suggests that vegetarian diets are a useful strategy for reducing risk of cancer.


Research shows that people will obey authority when that authority has aided to their success in the past. Research is lacking when investigating the impact of authority on college students. Specifically, researchers have yet to study obedience to authority in both the athletic and academic setting. The current research looks to add to this arena of study. In particular, the current study hypothesizes that (a) athletes are more likely to obey the authority of a coach than non-athletes and (b) coaches have more authority over their athletes than professors have over their students. To test these hypotheses, a two-part study was developed. For Part I, 56 participants were surveyed using a 3(rule: severe, moderate, low) X 3(punishment: severe, moderate, low) X 2(participants: athletes and nonathletes) within-subject design. In Part II, 86 participants were surveyed using a 3(rule: severe, moderate, low) X 3(punishment: severe, moderate, low) X 2(setting: athletic and academic) within-subject design. Overall, results indicated that athletes were more likely to obey if they deemed the punishment fit the infraction. In addition, athletic departments are viewed differently than the academic department. In the athletic department, participants are more likely to obey and less likely to question or complain; in the academic department they are less likely to obey and more likely to question and complain.


when hardening the binder system and it transforms into a consolidated conglomerate, the efficiency of the for-mation of the structural framework and the main operational characteristics of the final product dramatically de-pend on the thermal and humidity conditions of the environment medium, where the binder or raw material is con-solidated. In this study, various conditions of hardening of binders with alkaline activation of various composi-tions were studied. Based on the literature analysis, the following were chosen as the hardening conditions for the experimental alkali-activated systems: 1) - thermal drying, which was carried out in an oven at a temperature of 60°C for 24 hours; 2) hardening in ambient laboratory conditions, at a temperature of 23 ± 2°C, relative humidity - 33 ± 2%. An aqueous solution of alkali NaOH and salt Na2SiO3 were used as alkaline activators. The resulted data of the change in the average density showed that when using an alkaline activator, heat drying promotes the compaction of the hardened composite (typical for both types of the alkaline component) by 5 and 7 % for NaOH and Na2SiO3, respectively. The absence of alkaline activators in the experimental samples leads to decompaction of the structure after exposure to thermal drying and a decrease in the average density to 18%. The experimental results showed that thermal drying contributes to an increase in the strength parameters of experimental samples of an alkali-activated binder using Na2SiO3 to 110% (from 1.9 to 4 MPa). For the rest of the samples, a significant decrease in strength is observed (more than 2 times). A visual analysis of experimental samples of alkali-activated binders showed that the binders containing the addition of citrogypsum showed clear signs of efflorescence in the case of their hardening in ambient laboratory conditions. At the same time, for similar compositions from a series of samples hardened under thermal drying conditions, there is a complete absence of this phenomenon


Abstract Changes in germination ability and longevity were monitored during seed development in three japonica rice cultivars and one indica rice cultivar sown on three different dates, 14 October 1993, 24 November 1993 and 5 January 1994 at Los Baños, Philippines. Germinability of the seeds varied among cultivars in the early stages of development, but it was generally similar across sowing dates. The estimates of potential longevity (determined by storage at 40°C and 15% moisture and quantified by the values of the seed lot constant K1 of the viability equation) differed among cultivars and sowing dates. While the maximum potential longevity attained across different sowing dates was similar in the japonica cultivars Ju ku and Chianan 8, it was significantly higher in the first sowing than in the second or third sowings in cv. Akihikari. In the indica cultivar IR 58, maximum potential longevity attained in the second and third sowings was significantly greater than that in the first sowing. The mean potential longevity, averaged over cultivars and sowing dates, was marginally higher in the first sowing (K1=3.81) than in the second (3.65) and third (3.63); and averaged over cultivars and harvest times it was greatest at 34.8 days after flowering (DAF) in the first sowing, 31.8 DAF in the second and 28.3 DAF in the third. These results suggest that sowing in mid-October to allow seed ripening to coincide with the cooler and drier segment of the Los Baños dry season, and harvesting 35 DAF can improve the potential longevity of some japonica cultivars.


We have compared the adhesion of Plasmodium falciparum-infected erythrocytes to human dermal microvascular endothelial cells (HDMEC) and human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVEC) and have assessed the relative roles of the receptors CD36 and intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1). HUVEC (a cell line that expresses high levels of ICAM-1 but no CD36) mediate low levels of adhesion, whereas HDMEC (which constitutively express CD36) mediate high levels of adhesion even before ICAM-1 induction ICAM-1 expression leads to yet greater levels of adhesion, which are inhibited both by anti-ICAM-1 and CD36 mAbs, despite no increase in the expression of CD36. The results indicate the presence of a substantial population of infected cells that require the presence of both receptors to establish adhesion. Synergy between these receptors could be demonstrated using a number of parasite lines, but it could not be predicted from the binding of these same parasite lines to purified ICAM-1 and CD36. This phenomenon could not be reproduced using either purified receptors presented on plastic, or formalin-fixed HDMEC, suggesting that receptor mobility is important. This is the first study to demonstrate receptor synergy in malaria cytoadherence to human endothelial cells, a phenomenon necessary for parasite survival and associated with disease severity.


Part I: Values, Research and Theoretical Base. 1. Requirements for Effectiveness. 2. Models Underpinning Assessment. Part II: How to Assess: Contexts for Assessment 39. 3. How to Assess. 4. Contexts for Assessment. Part III: The Practicalities of Assessment 85. 5. Assessing the Cycle of Offending. 6. Assessing Sexual Knowledge and Attitudes. 7. Assessing Distorted Thinking. 8. Assessing Sexual Arousal and Sexual Fantasy. 9. Assessing Victim Empathy. 10. Assessing Self Esteem. 11. Assessing Relationships and Intimacy. 12. Assessing Alcohol and Other Drug Use. 13 Assessing an Abuser's Own Victimization. 14. Risk Assessment. References. Subject Index. Author Index.


Amphibious robots have attracted more and more attention from researchers for their broad applications, while it also brings great challenges in designing appropriate propulsion mechanisms and effective control algorithms. In this paper, we reported a newly designed amphibious hexapod robot-AmphiHex-II. This robot possesses six newly designed variable stiffness legs for adapting various complex environments. This novel design of the variable stiffness leg seamlessly incorporates the advantages of both semicircular walking legs and the swimming flexible flippers. The legs are constructed by rigid fan-shaped frames, which work as walking legs for terrestrial locomotion and protect the contained flexible flippers used for aquatic locomotion during terrestrial operations. The stiffness of legs can be adjusted to an effective degree by adjusting the positions of sliders manually. The effect of variable stiffness on locomotion performance was experimentally investigated. Moreover, in order to achieve a smooth and quick gait transition, a central pattern generator neural network was introduced to control the system. Different gait generation strategies on land and underwater were demonstrated. A series of field experiments were carried out to evaluate locomotion performance of the AmphiHex-II for terrestrial and aquatic mobility, and the results demonstrate the advantages of the novel leg design and the control system.


This paper focuses on the impact of annealing on the current conduction and trap states of metal-insulator-metal capacitors with CeO2/La2O3 dielectrics. Capacitance-frequency measurements identify two main trap levels (T1 and T2), characterized by an activation energy of 0.2 and 0.3 eV, respectively, and by a time constant of 1 ms and 20 μs at room temperature. The current conduction is found to be ruled by a Poole-Frenkel effect and space charge limited current under positive and negative bias, respectively. Selective annealing of CeO2 and La2O3 layers clarifies the nature of the aforementioned traps. Although providing no change in the activation energy, an additional annealing of the CeO2 and La2O3 layer is found to significantly change the trap amplitude of T1 and T2, respectively. The corresponding change of the current conduction in the region where trap assisted mechanisms play a major role is discussed.This paper focuses on the impact of annealing on the current conduction and trap states of metal-insulator-metal capacitors with CeO2/La2O3 dielectrics. Capacitance-frequency measurements identify two main trap levels (T1 and T2), characterized by an activation energy of 0.2 and 0.3 eV, respectively, and by a time constant of 1 ms and 20 μs at room temperature. The current conduction is found to be ruled by a Poole-Frenkel effect and space charge limited current under positive and negative bias, respectively. Selective annealing of CeO2 and La2O3 layers clarifies the nature of the aforementioned traps. Although providing no change in the activation energy, an additional annealing of the CeO2 and La2O3 layer is found to significantly change the trap amplitude of T1 and T2, respectively. The corresponding change of the current conduction in the region where trap assisted mechanisms play a major role is discussed.


This paper presents a conceptual strategic engagement model which underpins multi-level interventions required for decision-making – especially those governing sustainable transformations. Using the case study of the English housing system, it highlights the importance of integrating complex adaptive systems along with the socio-technical systems theoretical underpinnings, and analyses the strategic interventions needed for populating emerging strategic capabilities (with associated multi-level emerging strategic component-elements). In this context, the discussion includes a conceptual model: Strategic tri-level relational interventions for delivering energy efficiency and sustainability (STRIDES) which makes an innovative contribution to the evidence base for securing successful sustainable transformations. This research engages the research lens of transdisciplinarity using an explicit mixed methods design to maximise engagement and participation approaches. This includes an online survey, Delphi study and focus group (to embrace multi-dimensional sustainability). The online survey was used to identify latent constructs based on correlated commonly agreed perspectives, which helped to provide multi-framing representations of the domains of housing providers, occupiers and regulators. The Delphi study focused on securing strategic interventions in the existing English housing system, in terms of both the strategic capabilities required for effective governance of these interventions and the strategic outcomes of these interventions. The focus group was used to secure in-depth understanding of the STRIDES model, cognisant of it being 'fit for purpose' within the tri-level arrangement. Research findings highlight the need to strengthen strategic capabilities that draws on systems-thinking – especially for the implications of specificity (within multi-dimensional complex contexts); and the alignment of decision-making strategies which embrace multi-dimensional perspectives and multi-level governance – as these can often constrain systemic responses to change. The STRIDES model presents a series of sustainable transformational activities in a cogent form through which strategies for energy efficiency and sustainability in societal systems can be effectively leveraged.


This paper extends the maximum flow-covering location and service start time problem (MFCLSTP) by additionally imposing a minimum stay at a facility before the service can be used. The original formulation determines the locations of facilities and the start times of fixed-duration services so as to maximally cover flows of commuters who access services on the way home from work. In MFCLSTP, commuters must stay at a facility from the start of the service until the end of the service in order to consume it. Examples of such services include movies, lectures, and baseball games. There are, however, many on-demand services, which can be consumed by commuters who access the providing facility for a fixed continuous duration of a hours during any of c (≥ a) open hours of the facility. To deal with this situation, we extend the definition of coverage in the original model and provide an integer programming formulation of the proposed problem. The model is applied to the Tokyo metropolitan railway network, using census data of commuter traffic for railway users in this area. Exact optimal solutions are obtained by using a mathematical optimization solver with both the original and extended problems, and the characteristics of the solutions are compared. The results show that the optimal solutions for the extended problem allow a much larger flow than the optimal solutions for the original problem do, even when a is very close to c. The locations selected for the optimal solutions of the proposed problem are seen to be much more spatially dispersed than those chosen for the original problem.


Book synopsis: This three-volume collection focuses on writings by and about cross-dressing women from the early nineteenth century up until the beginning of World War II. In so doing, it provides a new perspective on one of the most decisive periods in the history of feminism.

The anthology brings together for the first time key texts from the sexological and the literary realms, as well as newspaper articles, letters and photographs, which document the phenomenon of cross-dressing women in nineteenth- and early twentieth-century British culture. The collection also includes translations from European texts that impacted on British understandings of cross-dressing during this time.

A fascinating work, each of the volumes is introduced separately with a critical essay, and is divided thematically to include sections devoted to theories, fictions and fictionalisations, and lives. Together, these volumes make available important source material for the history of feminism.


In 2012, the Republican Party selected a Mormon, Mitt Romney, as their nominee for U.S. president. After decades of persecution and suspicion, many felt like the LDS Church was finally being accepted as a mainstream religion and an equal player on the national political stage. From a different perspective, the "acceptance" of the LDS Church by the U.S. government and the Republican Party has come at a tremendous cost. Unlike those who joined other religious denominations in America, 19th century converts to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints gave everything they had to the church. The 19th-century LDS Church controlled not just the political, but the economic, social, and religious aspects of its members' lives. The LDS Church has traded immense power over a few dedicated members for a weaker political voice in the lives of millions more members. From this perspective, the LDS Church has never been more politically weak than they were in the 2012 presidential election. Previous LDS Church presidents endorsed non-Mormon candidates Cleveland, Taft, and Nixon more enthusiastically than President Monson endorsed Mitt Romney—one of his own. In the 20th century, the power of the LDS Church over the lives of its members has waned considerably, significantly hindering the institutional church's ability to politically mobilize its congregants. Even in Utah, only the most ardent LDS Church members are swayed by the political dictates of LDS Church leaders.


Recent political developments in Iran, in particular the disputed presidential election which resulted in keeping Mr. Ahmadinejad seated in the office for the second term and the subsequent street and cyber events that were encouraged and orchestrated by the opposition leaders, drew global attention. This essay provides from an insider vantage point some alternative futures about the political outcomes of the disputed election by adopting a novel approach and applying the essence of scenario planning method, that is explicitly and directly switching among diverse mental models. In this essay after contextualizing the election problem six different mental models are explicitly adopted and accordingly six scenarios are created and briefly illustrated.


The specific diversity of fossil crinoids from the Much Wenlock Limestone Formation at Dudley, Worcestershire, and in Shropshire differ by an order of magnitude. The latter are relatively depauperate and include only about six nominal species. Over 165 years ago, a specimen from Coalbrookdale, Shropshire, was identified as Cyathocrinites tuberculatus Miller (= the taxocrinid flexible Protaxocrinus tuberculatus (Miller)). This specimen, although indifferently preserved, is distinct from other Silurian crinoids of the British Isles and is described herein as a monobathrid camerate, Macrostylocrinus? jefferiesi sp. nov. This species has a moderately large, conical dorsal cup with at least 20 arms, broad primibrachials, a granular surface sculpture and no ray ridges. It is close in morphology to a ten armed species from the Much Wenlock Limestone Formation of Dudley, Macrostylocrinus anglicus Jaekel, although different in sculpture.


We suggest a simple approach to populate photonic quantum materials at non-zero chemical potential and near-zero temperature. Taking inspiration from forced evaporation in cold-atom experiments, the essential ingredients for our low-entropy thermal reservoir are (a) inter-particle interactions, and (b) energy-dependent loss. The resulting thermal reservoir may then be coupled to a broad class of Hamiltonian systems to produce low-entropy quantum phases. We present an idealized picture of such a reservoir, deriving the scaling of reservoir entropy with system parameters, and then propose several practical implementations using only standard circuit quantum electrodynamics tools, and extract the fundamental performance limits. Finally, we explore, both analytically and numerically, the coupling of such a thermalizer to the paradigmatic Bose-Hubbard chain, where we employ it to stabilize an $n=1$ Mott phase. In this case, the performance is limited by the interplay of dynamically arrested thermalization of the Mott insulator and finite heat capacity of the thermalizer, characterized by its repumping rate. This work explores a new approach to preparation of quantum phases of strongly interacting photons, and provides a potential route to topologically protected phases that are difficult to reach through adiabatic evolution.


Objective Divorce is a common stressor that is associated with increased risk for poor long-term physical and mental health. Using an experimental design, the current study examined the impact of expressive writing (EW) on average heart rate (HR), HR variability (HRV), and blood pressure (BP) 7.5 months later. Methods Participants from a community sample of recently separated adults (N = 109) were assigned to one of three conditions: traditional EW, narrative EW, or a control writing condition, and were assessed three times for an average of 7.5 months. Each study visit included 27 minutes of physiological assessment; the primary outcomes at each assessment were mean-level HR, HRV, BP scores averaged across six different tasks. Results Participants in the traditional EW condition did not significantly differ from control participants in their later HR, HRV, or BP. However, relative to control participants, those in the narrative EW condition had significantly lower HR (B = −3.41, 95% confidence interval = −5.76 to −1.06, p = .004) and higher HRV 7.5 months later (B = 0.41, 95% confidence interval = 0.16 to 0.74, p = .001). When comparing narrative EW participants to those in the traditional EW and control writing as a single group, these effects remained and were moderately sized, Cohen d values of −0.61 and 0.60, respectively, and durable across all task conditions when analyzed in independent models. The writing condition groups did not differ in their later BP. Conclusions Narrative EW decreased HR and increased HRV after marital separation but did not affect BP. We discuss the possible disconnect between psychology and physiology in response to EW, as well as possible future clinical applications after marital separation.


In an effort to develop improved binding antagonists of the polo-like kinase 1 (Plk1) polo-box domain (PBD), we optimized interactions of the known high affinity 5-mer peptide PLHSpT using oxime-based post solid-phase peptide diversification of the N-terminal Pro residue. This allowed us to achieve up to two orders of magnitude potency enhancement. An X-ray crystal structure of the highest affinity analogue in complex with Plk1 PBD revealed new binding interactions in a hydrophobic channel that had been occluded in X-ray structures of the unliganded protein. This study represents an important example where amino acid modification by post solid-phase oxime ligation can facilitate the development of protein-protein interaction inhibitors by identifying new binding pockets that would not otherwise be accessible to coded amino acid residues.


We build upon MacLane's definition of a tensor category to introduce the concept of a product system that takes values in a ten- sor groupoid G. We show that the existing notions of product systems fit into our categorical framework, as do the k-graphs of Kumjian and Pask. We then specialize to product systems over right-angled Artin semigroups; these are semigroups that interpolate between free semi- groups and free abelian semigroups. For such a semigroup we character- ize all product systems which take values in a given tensor groupoid G. In particular, we obtain necessary and sucient conditions under which a collection of k 1-graphs form the coordinate graphs of a k-graph.


Wet tundra environments of the Siberian Artic are considerable natural sources of methane, a climate relevant trace gas. The Arctic is observed to warm more rapidly and to a greater extend than the rest of the earth surface. It is suggested, that the tundra in Alaska and Russia has changed from a net sink to a net source of atmospheric carbon. The potential impact on the Arctic carbon reservoirs is highly influenced by changes in microbial processes like methanogenesis and methane oxidation.The process of methane oxidation is mainly controlled by methane oxidising bacteria (MOB). These obligatory aerobic bacteria determine the amount of methane that is released from Siberian permafrost soils. In Arctic environments, biological processes are controlled by seasonal freezing and thawing, which leads to an extreme temperature regime in the upper active layer of the permafrost. Therefore, methane oxidation rates were determined in dependence of the temperature via the conversion of 14CH4 to 14CO2. First results for samples of Samoylov Island (N 72°22, E 126°28, Lena Delta, Siberia) indicate a shift in the temperature optimum of the methanotrophic activity with soil depth. MOB in the upper soil layers appeared to have their highest activity at temperatures of 21 °C. Contrarily to that finding, in deeper horizons close to the permafrost table the maximum methane oxidation rates were determined at 4 °C. These results indicate the existence of specialised cold loving methanotrophic communities within the environment of Siberian permafrost soils.Further research on the temperature-depending activity, the phylogenetic diversity as well as the dynamic and stability of the methanotrophic communities will be undertaken.


Far more than any professional historian, Shakespeare is responsible for whatever notions most of us possess about English medieval history. Anyone who appreciates the dramatic action of Shakespeare's history plays but is confused by much of the historical detail will welcome this engaging guide to the Richards, Edwards, Henrys, Warwicks and Norfolks who ruled and fought across Shakespeare's page and stage. Not only theater-goers and students, but today's film-goers who want to enrich their understanding of film adaptations of plays such as Richard III and Henry V will find this revised edition of Shakespeare's English Kings to be an essential companion. Saccio's engaging narrative weaves together three threads: medieval English history according to the Tudor chroniclers who provided Shakespeare with his material, that history as understood by modern scholars, and the action of the plays themselves. Including a new preface, a revised further reading list, genealogical charts, an appendix of names and titles, and an index, the second edition of Shakespeare's English Kings offers excellent background reading for all of the ten history plays.


East Macedonia (northeast Greece) is a relatively small part of Greece, where a considerable number of orchid taxa occurs. Some of these orchids can only be found there and this fact makes the specific area of Greece unique. In this study, an up-to date database of orchid records was used to assess the effectiveness of the existing Natura 2000 network. Specifically, the effectiveness of the Natura 2000 network was evaluated by identifying the number of orchids whose distribution is overlapping to a lesser or greater extent with the network, which chorological categories are included/excluded from it, and whether the rare and threatened orchid taxa are adequately distributed within that. Out of the 73 orchid taxa recorded in East Macedonia so far, 14 taxa are exclusively distributed outside the Natura 2000 network. Specifically, the Natura 2000 network is not overlapped with a number of Balkan and Mediterranean orchid taxa, which are only sparsely found in East Macedonia. Moreover, most of the orchid taxa that have been classified in the threat categories of the IUCN are distributed within the Natura 2000 network of East Macedonia, and specifically, some of the most threatened ones are almost exclusively distributed within that network. Consequently, although the Natura 2000 network is not congruent with the distribution of a number of species of southern origin, which are widely distributed elsewhere in Greece, it can conserve important floristic elements of Greece, which are orchid taxa of northern or central European origin.


In present work it has been studied the physical-mechanical and tribological properties of the compositional material which was obtained in the PTFE base with chalcopyrite fine dispersed concentrate as fillers. The PTFE-chalcopyrite composites were prepared by powder metallurgy route containing chalcopyrite particles (2.5, 5 and 10 wt %). The tests have been performed in the friction machine under 0.7 MPa load where as a counterpart the gray cast iron was used. From the beginning, the weight wear was measured after passing some velocity steps (0.25–1.25 m/sec). The worn surfaces of the tested composites and the cast iron samples after working as a tribological pair were analyzed using SEM/EDX methods. The obtained results have shown that the incorporation of optimal quantity (~5 wt %) chalcopyrite particles into PTFE matrix drastically (>102 times) improves the wear resistance comparatively to the unfilled PTFE in the 0.25–1.25 m/sec friction velocity range. In the same testing conditions by the analysis of the obtained results it is determined that at the low velocity friction (<1 m/sec) the newly developed composite material has 10–15 times lower wear intensity than the best existing tribo–technical purpose commercial material "superfluvis", therefore the obtained composite can be considered as a quite inexpensive and efficient tribological material. DOI:  https://doi.org/10.15544/balttrib.2017.13


From his first visit to Berlin in 1916, Hitler was preoccupied and fascinated by Germany's great capital city. In this vivid and entirely new account of Hitler's relationship with Berlin, Thomas Friedrich explores how Hitler identified with the city, how his political aspirations were reflected in architectural aspirations for the capital, and how Berlin surprisingly influenced the development of Hitler's political ideas. A leading expert on the twentieth-century history of Berlin, Friedrich employs new and little-known German sources to track Hitler's attitudes and plans for the city. Even while he despised both the cosmopolitan culture of the Weimar Republic and the profound Jewish influence on the city, Hitler was drawn to the grandiosity of its architecture and its imperial spirit. He dreamed of transforming Berlin into a capital that would reflect his autocracy, and he used the city for such varied purposes as testing his anti-Semitic policies and demonstrating the might of the Third Reich. Illuminating Berlin's burdened years under Nazi subjection, Friedrich offers new understandings of Hitler and his politics, architectural views, and artistic opinions.


Fieldworkers (FWs) are community members employed by research teams to support access to participants, address language barriers, and advise on culturally appropriate research conduct. The critical role that FWs play in studies, and the range of practical and ethical dilemmas associated with their involvement, is increasingly recognised. In this paper, we draw on qualitative observation and interview data collected alongside a six month basic science study which involved a team of FWs regularly visiting 47 participating households in their homes. The qualitative study documented how relationships between field workers and research participants were initiated, developed and evolved over the course of the study, the shifting dilemmas FWs faced and how they handled them. Even in this one case study, we see how the complex and evolving relationships between fieldworkers and study participants had important implications for consent processes, access to benefits and mutual understanding and trust. While the precise issues that FWs face are likely to depend on the type of research and the context in which that research is being conducted, we argue that appropriate support for field workers is a key requirement to strengthen ethical research practice and for the long term sustainability of research programmes.


We are reviewing and commenting highlights of the research published in Image Analysis and Stereology journal (IAS), volume 35, where 16 original research papers on image analysis, computer vision, modelling, and other approaches were published. We have reported on the precision of curve length estimation in the plane. Further, a focus was on a robust estimation technique for 3D point cloud registration. Next contribution in computer vision was on the accuracy of stereo matching algorithm based on illumination control. An attempt was also made to automatically diagnose prenatal cleft lip with representative key points and identify the type of defect in three-dimensional ultrasonography. Similarly, a new report is presenting estimation of torsion of digital curves in 3D images and next, the nuchal translucency by ultrasound is being analyzed. Also in ophthalmology, image analysis may help physicians to establish a correct diagnosis, which is supported by a new approach to measure tortuosity of retinal vessel. Another report of medical significance analyzed correlation of the shape parameters for characterization of images of corneal endothelium cells. Shape analysis is also an important topic in material science, e.g. in analyzing fine aggregates in concrete. As in concrete, in fiber reinforced composites image analysis may aid in improved quality, where the direction of fibers have decisive impact on properties. Automatic defect detection using a computer vision system improves productivity quality in industrial production, hence we report of a new Haar wavelet-based approach.


This study purported to investigate factors associated with treatment outcomes among MDR-TB and XDR-TB patients treated at Greytown hospital. This was a cross-sectional study based on a review of medical records of patients that have been treated at Greytown hospital for drug resistant tuberculosis from January 2011 to December 2012. A data collection form designed for the study was used. The data that was collated included socio-demographic variables, clinical data including details of treatment given and adverse effects as well as outcomes of treatment. Descriptive and inferential statistics were calculated. Overall, 127 records were found that met the inclusion criteria for this study during the study period. The mean age of patients was 36.9±11.9 years, ranging from 12 to 82 years. Based on the median age of 34 years, 54.3% were over 34 years old. The majority of patients were females (56.7%), unemployed (89.8%) and the marital status of (78.7%) patients was not recorded in the files . Overall, 55.1% were females aged 34 years and older. The majority of patients suffered from pulmonary tuberculosis; only 3 cases (2.4%) were extra-pulmonary, while 72 (56.7%) suffered from multi-drug resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB), and 55 (43.3%) had extended drug-resistant tuberculosis (XDR-TB). They took their treatment fairly well as about 70% of them adhered to treatment. Overall, the outcomes of treatment success was poor as only 29.9% had completed the treatment and confirmed cured, while 18.1% had died. In addition to being unemployed, clinical factors associated with being cured were namely, taking the treatment for the correct duration and adhering to treatment. On the contrary, failing to take the treatment correctly was associated with death. In conclusion, the treatment success among patients with resistant tuberculosis was 29.9%. Adherence to treatment for the correct duration of treatment was significantly associated with the success of treatment.


The aim of the research described herein was to develop and verify an efficient optimization-based aerodynamic / structural design tool for missile fin and configuration shape optimization. The developed software was used to design several missile fin planforms which were tested in the wind tunnel. Specifically, this paper addresses fin planform optimization for minimizing fin hinge moments, as well as aeroelastic design (flexible fin structures) for hinge moment control. The method is also capable of shape optimization of fin-body combinations with geometric constraints. The inclusion of aerodynamic performance, geometric constraints, and structural constraints within the optimization software facilitates multidisciplinary analysis and design. The results of design studies and wind tunnel tests are described.


We define an algorithm translating natural language sentences to the formal syntax of RDF, an existential conjunctive logic widely used on the Semantic Web. Our translation is based on pregroup grammars, an efficient type-logical grammatical framework with a transparent syntax-semantics interface. We introduce a restricted notion of side effects in the semantic category of finitely generated free semimodules over {0, 1} to that end. The translation gives an intensional counterpart to previous extensional models. We establish a one-to-one correspondence between extensional models and RDF models such that satisfaction is preserved. Our translation encompasses the expressivity of the target language and supports complex linguistic constructions like relative clauses and unbounded dependencies.


Theory and experiments on the side-mode-suppression-ratio (SMSR) enhancement and the linewidth reduction of a Fabry-Perot laser diode (FPLD) side-mode-injection-locked by using another FPLD are demonstrated to realize its potential application as a DWDM transmitter source. The SMSR, the spectral linewidth and the linewidth enhancement factor are simulated to realize the limitation of the FPLD-FPLD link under side-mode injection-locking condition. A degradation of the linewidth enhancement factor from 1.5 to 2.1 is observed due to the slave FPLD injection-locked at principle- and side-mode conditions. Up to 22-channel selectability of the 2.5 Gbit/s directly modulated FPLD based transmitter under side-mode injection-locking is demonstrated with a SMSR >35 dB, a Q-factor 6.8-9.2, a locking range of 24 nm, a power penalty of -0.7 dB, and a BER of 10(-10) at -17 dBm. The side-mode injection-locked FPLD shows high-quality transmission performance and meet the demand for cost-effective and high-capability 2.5 Gbit/s WDM systems.


An essential reference for scholars and others whose work brings them into contact with managing, policing and regulating online behaviour, the "Handbook on Internet Crime" emerges at a time of rapid social and technological change. Amidst much debate about the dangers presented by the Internet and intensive negotiation over its legitimate uses and regulation, this is the most comprehensive and ambitious book on cybercrime to date. "The Handbook on Internet Crime" gathers together the leading scholars in the field to explore issues and debates surrounding internet-related crime, deviance, policing, law and regulation in the 21st century. "The Handbook" reflects the range and depth of cybercrime research and scholarship, combining contributions from many of those who have established and developed cyber research over the past 25 years and who continue to shape it in its current phase, with more recent entrants to the field who are building on this tradition and breaking new ground. Contributions reflect both the global nature of cybercrime problems, and the international span of scholarship addressing its challenges.


Through many funding programs, riparian buffers are being created on agricultural lands to address significant water quality problems. Society and landowners are demanding many other environmental and social services (e.g., wildlife habitat and income diversification) from this practice. Resource planners therefore need to design riparian buffer systems in the right places to provide multiple services. However, scientific guidance for this is lacking. We developed a geographic information system (GIs)-based assessment method for quickly identifying where buffers can be established to restore connectivity of riparian areas for the benefit of terrestrial wildlife. An area in northeastern Kansas was selected to evaluate this tool. Species with limited dispersal capabilities were used as indicators for riparian connectivity, To improve connectivity, results indicated that 22 percent of the perennial stream length in the study area would need riparian buffers. This coarse-filter approach appears to be appropriate for large area planning and can be used singly or in combination with other GIs-guided resource assessments to guide riparian buffer design and implementation.


Gesture Down (I Don't Sing) is a highly personal interpretation of the poem "Gesture Down to Guatemala" by the late Blackfeet/ Gros Ventre writer James welch. It was one of seven short films commissioned by celebrated author and filmmaker Sherman Alexie as part of a weekend-long tribute to James welch held at the Richard Hugo House in Seattle, washington. The poem was taken from Mr. welch's sole book of poetry, Riding the Earthboy 40. It is a stark, beautiful, first-person rumination on place, longing, and identity. These are themes of deep resonance for me, as I am both a descendent of and estranged from the La Huerta Indian community of northern Baja California, México. This is my grandfather's home and the place where Gesture Down (I Don't Sing) was shot.


The work in this paper deals with the study of artificial intelligence (AI) tools for purposes of vehicular wireless channel prediction. The objective is to test the ability of different types of AI algorithms under different types of implementation constraints that will be typical of vehicular applications. We focus particularly in scenarios where the channel changes relatively fast and therefore the relevant measurements or long-term statistical models are scarce. This means that the training of our models can be potentially inaccurate or incomplete and we need to investigate which AI algorithm behaves better in this challenging condition. In future work we aim to investigate also computation complexity constraints, real-time deadlines, and outdated/distorted or noisy data set samples. We also aim to correlate the main properties of the well-known Jakes' channel model with the effectiveness of the type of prediction and the parameters of the different algorithms being tested. The objective of channel prediction in vehicular networks is to reduce allocation and transmission errors, thereby reducing latency and improving message transmission reliability, which is crucial for future applications such as autonomous vehicles. Results show that even in situations with incomplete data sets, AI can provide good approximate predictions on the channel outcome. LSTM in multi-step and CNN in single-step between implemented algorithms have better performance and lower error in prediction.


A remnant alluvial fill of early Pleistocene age exposed in Pumpkin Creek Valley, Banner and Morrill counties, Nebraska, has yielded fossils of Mammuthus meridionalis (Nesti) and Equus sp. cf. E. scotti Gidley. Younger fill remnants of trunk and tributary streams allow a refinement of earlier views on the development of the Pumpkin Creek drainage basin during the Quaternary Period. Ancestral Pumpkin Creek both shifted to the north and entrenched its valley several times during the Quaternary Period leaving alluvial fills at three levels or more south of the present creek. Piracy of the headwaters of ancestral Pumpkin Creek took place after the last of these erosional events, probably in middle or late Pleistocene time. Asymmetrical distribution of alluvial fills occurs in Pumpkin Creek Valley, along the north side of parts of the North Platte River in western Nebraska, and along streams east of the Black Hills. The asymmetrical distribution of these deposits may have been due to structural warping, which could have caused these streams to shift their courses laterally and to entrench their valleys repeatedly.


AIM: To review a general hospital's experience with sarcoidosis and the clinical pattern of the disease among Saudis. METHODS: A retrospective file review was carried out on all patients with a proven diagnosis of sarcoidosis in a general hospital in Eastern Saudi Arabia over a period of 11 years (1998–2008). RESULTS: Sixty-nine patients, of whom 33 cases were included in the analyses, were diagnosed to have sarcoidosis during the study period. There were 18 females and 15 males. The mean age was 44.5 years (SD 17). The most common presentations were cough (48%), dyspnea (21%), joint pain (18%), splenomegaly (12%), hepatomegaly (9%), and lymphadenopathy (5%). The biochemical analysis showed elevated calcium levels in 6% and elevated angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) in 14 (46.7%). The tuberculin skin test was negative in all tested patients (n = 29) except one patient. The patients were classified using the modified Scadding classification system. None of the patients was in stage 0, 39.4% were in stage 1, 45% were in stage 2 and 15% were in stage 3.. The diagnosis in all patients was proven histologically. The outcome was favorable in most patients (85%), and in 6% of the patients, the course was chronic and progressive, although 66% received active treatment. CONCLUSION: Sarcoidosis does occur in native Saudis. The clinical presentation of these patients was similar to the western pattern of disease with some differences such as relative lack of cardiac, eye, parotid, and central nervous system involvement. The rarity of cardiac and central nervous system involvement was comparable with other Middle Eastern studies. Sarcoidosis, though rare in our community, should still be considered in the differential diagnosis of patients with the typical presentation after excluding tuberculosis.


Recent developments in the interpretation of the Second Amendment left unanswered questions regarding the scope of the constitutional guarantee of armed self-defense. Most importantly, neither District of Columbia v. Heller nor McDonald v. City of Chicago set a firm standard for determining the constitutionality of gun-control laws. This determination is of critical importance because — perhaps more directly than any other fundamental right — the Second Amendment implicates philosophical questions of societal versus individual safety. Strong constitutional protections for the Second Amendment tend to prioritize the right of responsible citizens to rely on themselves, rather than the government, for their own protection and tend to force the government to address the problem of gun violence through punishment rather than prevention. Deference to the power of the State to regulate firearms allows government more latitude to prevent violence, which is certainly superior to punishment, but tends to leave the individual dependent on the questionable ability (or even responsibility) of government to protect them. Regulation, almost by definition, often has the unfortunate tendency to disproportionately impact those unlikely to commit a crime of violence with a firearm. This Note proposes that gun regulations that create a substantial likelihood that individuals will be unable to defend themselves when faced with serious, imminent danger should be subjected to strict scrutiny. On the other hand, gun regulations that tend to improve societal safety without significantly obstructing an individual's ability to defend him or herself should be given more judicial latitude in the form of intermediate scrutiny.


Neuropilin-1 (NRP1) is a transmembrane protein acting as a co-receptor for several growth factors and interacting with other proteins such as integrins and plexins/semaphorins. It is involved in axonal development, angiogenesis and cancer progression. Its primary mRNA is subjected to alternative splicing mechanisms generating different isoforms, some of which lack the transmembrane domain and display antagonist properties to NRP1 full size (FS). NRP1 is further post-translationally modified by the addition of glycosaminoglycans (GAG) side chains through an O-glycosylation site at serine612. Here, we characterized a novel splice variant which has never been investigated, NRP1-Δ7, differing from the NRP1-FS by a deletion of 7 amino acids occurring two residues downstream of the O-glycosylation site. This short sequence contains two aspartic residues critical for efficient glycosylation. As expected, the high molecular weight products appearing as a smear in SDS-PAGE and reflecting the presence of GAG in NRP1-FS were undetectable in the NRP1-Δ7 protein. NRP1-Δ7 mRNA was found expressed at an appreciable level, between 10 and 30% of the total NRP1, by various cells lines and tissues from human and murine origin. To investigate the biological properties of this isoform, we generated prostatic (PC3) and breast (MDA-MB-231) cancer cells able to express recombinant NRP1-FS or NRP1-Δ7 in a doxycycline-inducible manner. Cells with increased expression of NRP1-Δ7 were characterized in vitro by a significant reduction of proliferation, migration and anchorage-independent growth, while NRP1-FS had the expected opposite "pro-tumoral" effects. Upon VEGF-A165 treatment, a lower internalization rate was observed for NRP1-Δ7 than for NRP1-FS. Finally, we showed that NRP1-Δ7 inhibited growth of prostatic tumors and their vascularization in vivo. This report identifies NRP1-Δ7 as a splice variant displaying anti-tumorigenic properties in vitro and in vivo, emphasizing the need to consider this isoform in future studies.


Article history: Received December 28, 2013 Accepted 24 March 2014 Available online March 28 2014 During the past few years, there have been tremendous changes on banking services and many bank customers are able to do their daily banking activities using recent advances of technology such as internet banking, telephone banking, etc. In this paper, we present an empirical investigation on the effects of strategic positioning for development of modern banking services. The proposed study designs a questionnaire in Likert scale and distributes it among some 385 randomly selected people who live in Tehran in 2013. The questionnaire consists of seven factors including property positioning, advantage positioning, consumer positioning, user positioning, competitive advantage positioning, quality positioning and merchandise category positioning. Using Spearman correlation as well as stepwise regression technique, the study has determined positive and meaningful relationships between different components of strategy positioning development of modern banking services. © 2014 Growing Science Ltd. All rights reserved.


During the recent financial crisis, public-sector pension plans have seen large declines in the value of their investment portfolios. This has affected entities from school districts, to local governments, to state governments. Among the most deeply affected in dollar terms was the California Public Employees' Retirement System (CalPERS), whose pension fund value declined more than $81 billion in 2008, down 31 percent. The declines in the value of pension assets have brought attention to several issues, such as funding status, the rates of return used to discount plan liabilities (known as the "discount rate"), and investment strategies. And, given public-sector plan sponsors' limited ability to increase worker contributions, increasing deficits in pension plans has raised the probability that higher-than-expected employer contributions will have to be made to make up for the larger-than-previously-projected shortfall, if any. Not surprisingly, many public plan sponsors are considering how to stabilize their contributions to the plans. This paper reviews actual public pension plan contribution behavior from 2001 to 2006, pension asset allocations from 2003 to 2007, and the effect that investment performance has on employer contribution volatility. This analysis examines the volatility in employer contribution rates caused by the higher-return-seeking/higher-risk investment portfolios adopted by many pension plans, and whether plan sponsors will increase fixed-income investments in order to reduce volatility. It appears that, in the short run, a significant shift toward a lower-return investment policy in exchange for reduced volatility in employer contributions is unlikely to occur because of plans sponsors' expected high returns from current asset allocations based upon historical rates of return, their ability to use the assumed investment rate of return as the discount rate in calculating liabilities, and the understandable tendency of investment managers to not deviate from peer group investments, as fiduciary standards stress acting like other 'prudent experts' would in like circumstances.


Spatial Econometrics is a rapidly evolving field born from the joint efforts of economists, statisticians, econometricians and regional scientists. This book provides the reader with a broad view of the topic by including both methodological and application papers. Indeed the application papers relate to a number of diverse scientific fields ranging from hedonic models of house pricing to demography, from health care to regional economics, from the analysis of R&D spillovers to the study of retail market spatial characteristics.Particular emphasis is given to regional economic applications of spatial econometrics methods with a number of contributions specifically focused on the spatial concentration of economic activities and agglomeration, regional paths of economic growth, regional convergence of income and productivity and the evolution of regional employment. Most of the papers appearing in this book were solicited from the International Workshop on Spatial Econometrics and Statistics held in Rome (Italy) in 2006.


The construction industry is highly fragmented and is known for its adversarial culture, culminating in poor quality projects not completed on time or within budget. The aim of this study is thus to guide the design of quantity surveying (QS) programme curricula in order to help students develop the requisite knowledge and skills to work more collaboratively in their multidisciplinary future workplaces. A qualitative approach was considered appropriate as the authors were concerned with gathering an initial understanding of what students think of multidisciplinary learning. The data collection method used was a questionnaire developed by the Behaviours4Collaboration (B4C) team. Knowledge gaps were still found across all the key areas in which a future QS practitioner needs to be collaborative (either as a Project Contributor or as a Project Leader), despite the need for change instigated by the multidisciplinary revolution in building information modelling (BIM) education. The study concludes that universities will need to be selective in teaching, and innovative in reorienting, QS education so that a collaborative BIM education can be effected in stages, increasing in complexity as the students' technical knowledge grows. This will help students to build the competencies needed to make them future leaders. It will also support programme currency and delivery.


Researchers have shown that stigma is a fundamental determinant of behavior, well-being, and health for many marginalized groups, but sex workers are notably absent from their analyses. This article aims to fill the empirical research gap on sex workers by reviewing the mounting evidence of stigmatization attached to sex workers' occupation, often referred to as "prostitution" or "whore" stigma. We give special attention to its negative effect on the working conditions, personal lives, and health of sex workers. The article first draws attention to the problem of terminology related to the subject area and makes the case for consideration of prostitution stigmatization as a fundamental cause of social inequality. We then examined the sources of prostitution stigma at macro, meso, and micro levels. The third section focuses on tactics sex workers employ to manage, reframe, or resist occupational stigma. We conclude with a call for more comparative studies of stigma related to sex work to contribute to the general stigma literature, as well as social policy and law reform.


Colorectal cancer (CRC) is one of the most fatal types of cancers that is seen in both men and women. CRC is the third most common type of cancer worldwide. Over the years, several drugs are developed for the treatment of CRC; however, patients with advanced CRC can be resistant to some drugs. P-glycoprotein (P-gp) (also known as Multidrug Resistance 1, MDR1) is a well-identified membrane transporter protein expressed by ABCB1 gene. The high expression of MDR1 protein found in several cancer types causes chemotherapy failure owing to efflux drug molecules out of the cancer cell, decreases the drug concentration, and causes drug resistance. As same as other cancers, drug-resistant CRC is one of the major obstacles for effective therapy and novel therapeutic strategies are urgently needed. Network-based approaches can be used to determine specific biomarkers, potential drug targets, or repurposing approved drugs in drug-resistant cancers. Drug repositioning is the approach for using existing drugs for a new therapeutic purpose; it is a highly efficient and low-cost process. To improve current understanding of the MDR-1-related drug resistance in CRC, we explored gene co-expression networks around ABCB1 gene with different network sizes (50, 100, 150, 200 edges) and repurposed candidate drugs targeting the ABCB1 gene and its co-expression network by using drug repositioning approach for the treatment of CRC. The candidate drugs were also assessed by using molecular docking for determining the potential of physical interactions between the drug and MDR1 protein as a drug target. We also evaluated these four networks whether they are diagnostic or prognostic features in CRC besides biological function determined by functional enrichment analysis. Lastly, differentially expressed genes of drug-resistant (i.e., oxaliplatin, methotrexate, SN38) HT29 cell lines were found and used for repurposing drugs with reversal gene expressions. As a result, it is shown that all networks exhibited high diagnostic and prognostic performance besides the identification of various drug candidates for drug-resistant patients with CRC. All these results can shed light on the development of effective diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment strategies for drug resistance in CRC.


A large and growing number of countries participate in multiple preferential trade agreements (PTAs), which increasingly entail broad cooperation over policies extending far beyond trade barriers. I review the traditional and nontraditional motives for PTAs and their empirical determinants as well as their impacts on trade and on multilateral liberalization. I argue that the broad nature of modern PTAs, their substantial creation of bilateral trade, and their modest effects on members' tariffs, require us to augment the economic and policy structure of traditional models of PTAs as a static preferential tariff reduction. Throughout I draw lessons from the existing literature and point towardmany interesting paths for future research, to advance our understanding of the causes of modern PTAs and their impacts on trade-related outcomes and beyond.


We present a comparative study of the cusp region using the EISCAT Svalbard Radars (ESR) and the Cluster spacecraft. We focus in this paper on 2 February 2001, over the time period from 07:30 UT to 12:00 UT when the oblique ESR antenna pointing northward at a low elevation recorded latitudinal motions of the cusp region in response to the IMF. Meanwhile, the Cluster satellites were flying over the EISCAT Svalbard Radar field-of-view around local magnetic noon. The spacecraft first flew near ESR, northeast of Svalbard and then passed over the field-of-view of the antenna at about 11:30 UT. From 08:00 UT to 09:00 UT, the IMF remains primarily southward yet several variations in the Z -component are seen to move the cusp. Around 09:00 UT, an abrupt northward turning of the IMF moves the cusp region to higher latitudes. As a result, the Cluster satellites ended up in the northernmost boundary of the high-altitude cusp region where the CIS instrument recorded highly structured plasma due to ion injections in the lobe of the magnetosphere. After 09:00 UT, the IMF remains northward for more than two hours. Over this period, the ESR records sunward plasma flow in the cusp region due to lobe reconnection, while Cluster spacecraft remain in the high-altitude cusp.


An Integrated Risk Assessment for Climate Change (IRACC) is developed and applied to assess the vulnerability of sharks and rays on Australia's Great Barrier Reef (GBR) to climate change. The IRACC merges a traditional climate change vulnerability framework with approaches from fisheries ecological risk assessments. This semi‐quantitative assessment accommodates uncertainty and can be applied at different spatial and temporal scales to identify exposure factors, at‐risk species and their key biological and ecological attributes, critical habitats a`nd ecological processes, and major knowledge gaps. Consequently, the IRACC can provide a foundation upon which to develop climate change response strategies. Here, we describe the assessment process, demonstrate its application to GBR shark and ray species, and explore the issues affecting their vulnerability to climate change. The assessment indicates that for the GBR, freshwater/estuarine and reef associated sharks and rays are most vulnerable to climate change, and that vulnerability is driven by case‐specific interactions of multiple factors and species attributes. Changes in temperature, freshwater input and ocean circulation will have the most widespread effects on these species. Although relatively few GBR sharks and rays were assessed as highly vulnerable, their vulnerability increases when synergies with other factors are considered. This is especially true for freshwater/estuarine and coastal/inshore sharks and rays. Reducing the impacts of climate change on the GBR's sharks and rays requires a range of approaches including mitigating climate change and addressing habitat degradation and sustainability issues. Species‐specific conservation actions may be required for higher risk species (e.g. the freshwater whipray, porcupine ray, speartooth shark and sawfishes) including reducing mortality, preserving coastal catchments and estuarine habitats, and addressing fisheries sustainability. The assessment identified many knowledge gaps concerning GBR habitats and processes, and highlights the need for improved understanding of the biology and ecology of the sharks and rays of the GBR.


An important benefit of social living is increased capacity for defense. Highly eusocial species have often evolved a fighting caste for this purpose, but many facultatively eusocial insects and cooperatively breeding vertebrates lack morphological castes and the decision to defend or not can depend on costs and benefits to each individual. Defense by subordinates in a social group can be regarded as a form of helping, and helping input often varies among subordinates of different age or size. Several hypotheses attempt to explain variation in helping effort, including the effects of relatedness and differences in the costs of helping. Evidence for these hypotheses is mixed and often lacks data on the rank of subordinates, an important determinant of expected future fitness. We examined individual variation in propensity to defend the nest against conspecifics in the tropical hairy-faced hover wasp Liostenogaster flavolineata. Prior to experimentation, we determined the positions of all wasps in the age-based queue to inherit the single egg-laying position in each L. flavolineata group. Two approaches were then used: observations of defense against natural intrusions by conspecifics and experimental trials where wasps were presented attached to a wire. Higher ranks were more likely to defend the nest than lower ranks, opposite to the pattern previously documented for another form of helping: foraging effort. Possible explanations for this result are that higher ranked females are better defenders and that they suffer a larger decrease in expected future fitness when an intruder usurps their position in the inheritance queue.


Over the years, many documents from IMAPEXT and LEMONADE working
groups, as well as many individual documents, have added syntactic
extensions to many base IMAP commands described in RFC 3501. For ease
of reference, this document collects most of such ABNF changes in one
place. This document also suggests a set of standard patterns for
adding options and extensions to several existing IMAP commands
defined in RFC 3501. The patterns provide for compatibility between
existing and future extensions. This document updates ABNF in RFCs
2088, 2342, 3501, 3502, and 3516. It also includes part of the errata
to RFC 3501. This document doesn't specify any semantic changes to
the listed RFCs. [STANDARDS-TRACK]


The application of structure-from-motion (SfM) to generate digital terrain models (DTMs) derived from different image sources has strongly increased, the major reason for this being that processing is substantially easier with SfM than with conventional photogrammetry. To test the functionality in a demanding environment, we applied SfM and conventional photogrammetry to archival aerial images from Zmuttgletscher, a mountain glacier in Switzerland, for nine dates between 1946 and 2005 using the most popular software packages, and compared the results regarding bundle adjustment and final DTM quality. The results suggest that by using SfM it is possible to produce DTMs of similar quality as with conventional photogrammetry. Higher point cloud density and less noise allow a higher ground resolution of the final DTM, and the time effort from the user is 3–6 times smaller, while the controls of the commercial software packages Agisoft PhotoScan (Version 1.2; Agisoft, St. Petersburg, Russia) and Pix4Dmapper (Version 3.0; Pix4D, Lausanne, Switzerland) are limited in comparison to ERDAS photogrammetry. SfM performs less reliably when few images with little overlap are processed. Even though SfM facilitates the largely automated production of high quality DTMs, the user is not exempt from a thorough quality check, at best with reference data where available. The resulting DTM time series revealed an average change in surface elevation at the glacier tongue of -67.0 ± 5.3 m. The spatial pattern of changes over time reflects the influence of flow dynamics and the melt of clean ice and that under debris cover. With continued technological advances, we expect to see an increasing use of SfM in glaciology for a variety of purposes, also in processing archival aerial imagery.


The international community undertakes considerable efforts to eradicate the scourge of child soldiering. Mostly, though, these efforts replay the same narratives and circulate the same assumptions. This book takes a second look at these efforts. It aspires to refresh law and policy so as to improve preventative, restorative, rehabilitative, and remedial initiatives while also vivifying the dignity of youth. Along the way, it also questions central tenets of contemporary humanitarianism, rethinks elements of international criminal justice, and hopes to embolden the rights of the child.This book:• Challenges the perceived wisdom about child soldiers • Argues that shortcomings arise when child soldiers generically are seen as passive victims, tools of war, and psychologically devastated • Approaches child soldiers with a more nuanced and less judgmental mind• Proposes that, in some cases, child soldiers should take responsibility for their conduct - not in criminal trials, but through traditional and restorative forms of justice The organizational framework is straightforward. Chapter 1 (available herein) broaches the issues, sets out dominant assumptions, and provides an overview of the central arguments. Chapters 2 and 3 introduce a diversity of accounts of the realities of child soldiering that, to date, have been inadequately considered by international lawyers and policymakers. These Chapters are descriptive in that they present these accounts. They also are synthetic in that they interpretively distil common themes and, thereby, build a composite. These Chapters also are analytic in that they lay a foundation for the normative arguments that ensue. Chapters 4 and 5 transition the book to international law and policy. These Chapters respectively address two themes: first, accountability of child soldiers and, second, accountability for child soldiering. These Chapters examine law and policy as they are and, much more importantly, the direction in which both are heading. Chapters 6 and 7 then suggest a variety of reforms to the content and trajectory of law and policy in light of the complex realities of child soldiering.


Several economists, including Cover (1992), Ammer and Brunner (1995), Macklem, Paquet, and Phaneuf (1996), have worked over the past few years to determine whether monetary policy shocks have asymmetric effects on output. These authors have generally found that negative monetary shocks tend to reduce output growth significantly, and that positive shocks generally have a weaker or even negligible impact. The goal of this study is to determine whether asymmetric reactions can be observed in the Canadian labour market. Because employment is an important factor in the output process, discovering how this variable reacts to monetary policy shocks could lead to a better understanding of where asymmetric effects on output originate. I have estimated the model in two stages, using the generalized moments method, and have made correction to the variance-covariance matrix of estimators proposed by Newey (1984) in order to take into account the generated regressors. Overall, the results agree with those of previous output studies, except for employment defined as the number of hours worked per person in each period. The asymmetric effects observed, however, diminish or disappear altogether when other real variables are added to the model.


Standard image captioning tasks such as COCO and Flickr30k are factual, neutral in tone and (to a human) state the obvious (e.g., "a man playing a guitar"). While such tasks are useful to verify that a machine understands the content of an image, they are not engaging to humans as captions. With this in mind we define a new task, PERSONALITY-CAPTIONS, where the goal is to be as engaging to humans as possible by incorporating controllable style and personality traits. We collect and release a large dataset of 201,858 of such captions conditioned over 215 possible traits. We build models that combine existing work from (i) sentence representations (Mazaré et al., 2018) with Transformers trained on 1.7 billion dialogue examples; and (ii) image representations (Mahajan et al., 2018) with ResNets trained on 3.5 billion social media images. We obtain state-of-theart performance on Flickr30k and COCO, and strong performance on our new task. Finally, online evaluations validate that our task and models are engaging to humans, with our best model close to human performance.


I address the problem of finding a background model for the estimation of resistivities in the earth from controlled-source electromagnetic (CSEM) data by using seismic data and well logs as constraints. Estimation of resistivities is normally done by trial-anderror, in a process called "inversion", by finding a model of the earth whose responses match the data to within an acceptable error; what comes out of the inversion is what is put into the model by the geophysicist: it does not come out of the data directly. The premise underlying this thesis is that an earth model can be found that satisfies not only the CSEM data but also the seismic data and any well logs. I present a methodology to determine background resistivities from seismic velocities using rock physics, structural constraints, and depth trends. The physical parameters of the seismic wave equation are different from those in the electromagnetic diffusion equation, so there is no direct link between the governing equations. I therefore use a Bayesian framework to incorporate not only the errors in the data and our limited knowledge of the rock parameters, but also the uncertainty of our chosen and calibrated velocity-to-resistivity transform. To test the methodology I use a well log from the North Sea Harding South oil and gas field to calibrate the transform, and apply it to seismic velocities of the nearby Harding Central oil and gas field. I also use short-offset CSEM inversions to estimate the electric anisotropy and to improve the shallow part of the resistivity model, where there is no well control. Three-dimensional modelling of this resistivity model predicts the acquired CSEM data within the estimated uncertainty. This methodology makes it possible to estimate background resistivities from seismic velocities, well logs, and other available geophysical and geological data. Subsequent CSEM surveys can then focus on finding resistive anomalies relative to this background model; these are, potentially, hydrocarbon-bearing formations.


A host-vector system for Pseudomonas aeruginosa PAO was developed. Scattered regions of the strain PAO chromosome were cloned by direct selection for complementation of auxotrophs or from a DNA gene bank which contains over 1,000 independently isolated chromosome-vector recombinant plasmids. The use of partially digested chromosomal DNA facilitated the selection of a variety of strain PAO chromosomal markers. The progenitor of the vector was a small, multicopy plasmid, pRO1600, found in a PAO strain which had acquired RP1 in a mating experiment. The bacterial host range that could be determined by transformation of vectors produced from pRO1600 resembles that for plasmid RP1. Two derivative plasmids were formed: pRO1613, for cloning DNA cleaved with restriction endonuclease PstI, and pRO1614, which was formed by deleting part of pRO1613 and fusion with plasmid pBR322. Plasmid pRO1614 utilizes known cloning sites within the tetracycline resistance region of pBR322.


We analyzed the performance of DFE in PMD-limited 40 GB/s Optical links by using Matlab/Simulink. We also provided a description of the equalizer circuit design, and described the results of circuit simulations; it is found that a DFE consisting of a 3-tap FFE and a 2-tap FBE could compensate PMD.


In this paper, we concentrate on aspects related to the synthesis of distributed embedded systems consisting of programmable processors and application-specific hardware components. The approach is based on an abstract graph representation that captures, at process level, both dataflow and the flow of control. Our goal is to derive a worst case delay by which the system completes execution, such that this delay is as small as possible; to generate a logically and temporally deterministic schedule; and to optimize parameters of the communication protocol such that this delay is guaranteed. We have further investigated the impact of particular communication infrastructures and protocols on the overall performance and, specially, how the requirements of such an infrastructure have to be considered for process and communication scheduling. Not only do particularities of the underlying architecture have to be considered during scheduling but also the parameters of the communication protocol should be adapted to fit the particular embedded application. The optimization algorithm, which implies both process scheduling and optimization of the parameters related to the communication protocol, generates an efficient bus access scheme as well as the schedule tables for activation of processes and communications.


Intrinsic Quantum Thermodynamics (IQT) is a theory that combines Thermodynamics and Quantum Mechanics into a single theory and asserts that irreversibility and the increase of entropy has its origin at the fundamental, atomistic level. The merits and details of IQT are discussed and compared with the well-known theory of Quantum Statistical Mechanics (QSM) and the more recent development of Quantum Thermodynamics (QT). IQT is then used to model in 3D the time evolution of the adsorption of hydrogen on a single-walled carbon nanotube. The initial state of the hydrogen molecules is far from stable equilibrium and over time the system relaxes to a state of stable equilibrium with the hydrogen near the walls of the nanotube. The details of the model are presented, which include the construction of the energy eigenlevels for the system, the treatment of the interactions between the hydrogen and the nanotube along with the interactions of the hydrogen molecules with each other, and the solution of the IQT equation of motion as well as approximation methods that are developed to deal with extremely large numbers of energy eigenlevels. In addition, a new extension to the theory of IQT is proposed for modeling systems that undergo heat interactions with a heat reservoir. The formulation of a new heat interaction operator is discussed, implemented, tested, and compared with a previous version extant in the literature. IQT theory is then further extended to encompass simple mass interactions with a mass reservoir. The formulation, implementation, and testing of the mass interaction operator is also discussed in detail. Finally, IQT is used to model the results of two experiments found in the literature. The first experiment deals with the spin relaxation of rubidium atoms and the second examines the relaxation behavior of a single trapped ion that is allowed to interact with an external heat reservoir. Good agreement between experiment and the model predictions is found.


Over recent decades, many pathogenicity genes of Magnaporthe oryzae have been identified but only a very limited number of genes have been identified that encode components of the conidiogenesis pathway. We report here a T-DNA insertional mutant that completely lost conidiation ability. Further investigation revealed that this mutant did not develop any conidiophore, and that the T-DNA was integrated into an annotated gene designated as conidiophore stalk-less1 or COS1. Complementation experiments suggested that COS1 may be a determinant of conidiation. Sequence analysis revealed that COS1 putatively encodes a 491-amino-acid zinc-finger protein and the protein was revealed localized to nucleus. Reverse-transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR)-based expression analysis indicated that two homologues of conidiophore-related genes were affected by the cos1 mutation, suggesting that Cos1 may function as a transcriptional regulator controlling genes responsible for conidiation. Inoculations of rice roots and wounded leaves with mycelia suggested that COS1 is not required for pathogenicity. Moreover, mutation of COS1 may aggravate infection of wounded leaves. Interestingly, different from the wild-type strain, mycelia of the cos1 mutant successfully infected host cells and caused visible symptoms on unwounded leaf blades and sheaths, indicating that Cos1 may have a role in some unknown mechanism of mycelial infection of M. oryzae.