Objectives There is a lack of evidence regarding the effectiveness of graphic health warning labels (GHWL) in different individuals, including patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Investigating knowledge and attitudes may allow better implementation of future public health policies. We hypothesised that differences in the impact of GHWL exist between non-smokers, smokers and patients with COPD, with decreased efficacy in those groups who are longer and more frequently exposed to them. Participants and setting 163 participants (54% male, aged 21–80) including 60 non-smokers, 53 smokers and 50 patients with COPD (Gold stage II–IV), attending London respiratory outpatient clinics, participated in case-controlled surveys (50 items). Outcome measures Ten different GHWL were shown and demographics, smoking history, plans to quit, smoking-risk awareness, emotional response, processing and impact of GHWL on behaviour were recorded. Patients were further asked to prioritise the hypothetical treatment or prevention of five specific smoking-related diseases. Results Smokers, in particular those with COPD, were less susceptible to GHWL than non-smokers; 53.4% of all participants expressed fear when looking at GHWL, non-smokers (71.9%) more so than smokers (39.8%, p<0.001). COPD participants were less aware of the consequences than non-COPD participants (p<0.001), including an awareness of lung cancer (p=0.001). Lung cancer (95%), oral cancer (90.2%), heart disease (84.7%) and stroke (71.2%) were correctly associated with smoking, whereas blindness was least associated (23.9%). However, blindness was prioritised over oral cancer, stroke and in patients with COPD also over heart disease when participants were asked about hypothetical treatment or prevention. Conclusions GHWL are most effective in non-smokers and a desensitisation effect was observed in smokers and patients with COPD. As a consequence, a tailored and concerted public health approach to use such messages is required and 'blindness' deserves to be mentioned in this context because of an unexpectedly high-deterring impact.


This paper presents a new computationally-efficient method for vision-aided navigation (VAN) in autonomous robotic applications. While many VAN approaches are capable of processing incoming visual observations, incorporating loop-closure measurements typically requires performing a bundle adjustment (BA) optimization, that involves both all the past navigation states and the observed 3D points. Our approach extends the incremental light bundle adjustment (LBA) method, recently developed for structure from motion [10], to information fusion in robotics navigation and in particular for including loop-closure information. Since in many robotic applications the prime focus is on navigation rather then mapping, and as opposed to traditional BA, we algebraically eliminate the observed 3D points and do not explicitly estimate them. Computational complexity is further improved by applying incremental inference. To maintain highrate performance over time, consecutive IMU measurements are summarized using a recently-developed technique and navigation states are added to the optimization only at camera rate. If required, the observed 3D points can be reconstructed at any time based on the optimized robot's poses. The proposed method is compared to BA both in terms of accuracy and computational complexity in a statistical simulation study.


This paper describes an attempt to develop a method to define when granodiorite loses its properties as a rock and transforms into soil material. The research program approached the problem from a mechanistic point of view by comparing the pore water pressures generated during isotropic compression with the apparent—and micro—porosities, in terms of a newly proposed pore size distribution index as well as the compressive strengths of the specimens tested. A site was selected for study where weathering of the rock is not accompanied by the production of clay minerals, thus eliminating the complications introduced by the presence of highly compressive zones in the matrix. Samples tested using various criteria indicated that changes in the pore-size distribution can realistically reflect the transformation sought. It appears that further studies should be directed towards determination of the changes in the pore geometry, whereby a scientific definition of the transformation from rock to soil can be made.


The addition of solar thermal and heat storage systems can improve the economic, as well as environmental attraction of micro-generation systems, e.g. fuel cells with or without combined heat and power (CHP) and contribute to enhanced CO2 reduction. However, the interactions between solar thermal collection and storage systems and CHP systems can be complex, depending on the tariff structure, load profile, etc. In order to examine the impact of solar thermal and heat storage on CO2 emissions and annual energy costs, a microgrid's distributed energy resources (DER) adoption problem is formulated as a mixed-integer linear program. The objective is minimization of annual energy costs. This paper focuses on analysis of the optimal interaction of solar thermal systems, which can be used for domestic hot water, space heating and/or cooling, and micro-CHP systems in the California service territory of San Diego Gas and Electric (SDG&E). Contrary to typical expectations, our results indicate that despite the high solar radiation in southern California, fossil based CHP units are dominant, even with forecast 2020 technology and costs. A CO2 pricing scheme would be needed to incent installation of combined solar thermal absorption chiller systems, and no heat storage systems are adopted. This research also shows that photovoltaic (PV) arrays are favored by CO2 pricing more than solar thermal adoption.


The extension of anthropology through public broadcast systems has defined new areas of enquiry. At one extreme, television has made available visual recordings of the world's disappearing cultures; at the other, it has both generated awareness and motivated responses to global ethnic and ecological issues. But having granted these points, it has also had the effect of limiting the discipline. The broadcasters'' understanding of 'good television' usually requires the moulding of ethnographic footage into familiar story-lines. The inevitable product of this demand is a very particular narrative style. An authoritative Western voice establishes the location of the film, introduces the cultural Group and guides the viewer through some of their typical day-to-day routines. While this general organisational pattern is not dissimilar to the standard written ethnography, the televised ethnography differs in that there is little room for analysis, but a high dependence on 'self-evident' visual description. Indeed the 'classic realist' ethnographic narrative often appears to be used as an excuse for screening a succession of 'interesting' or 'spectacular' images.


Effects were studied of 200 ppm nano-silver suspension on physical and mechanical properties of particleboard made on an industrial scale at the Iran-Choob Factory. Nano-silver suspension was added to the mat at two levels of 100 and 150 milli-liters/kg dry weight wood particles and compared with control boards; all the other manufacturing variables remained constant. Results showed that hot-pressing time was reduced by 10.9% and 10.1% when 100 and 150 mL of nano-silver were used, respectively. Also, both levels of nano-silver consumption had improving effects on physical and mechanical properties, although in some cases not statistically significant. It can be concluded that heat-transfer property of nano-silver particles in the mat can be used to reduce the hot-press time as the bottle-neck of nearly all wood-composite factories, as well as to reduce the heat gradient and consequently to improve physical and mechanical properties of composite-boards.


To the Editor: Coronavirus HKU1 is a newly identified human coronavirus (HCoV) that was reported first in 2005 in Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, People's Republic of China; later in Australia, Europe, and the United States, and more recently in Brazil, demonstrating a global distribution (1–3). We examined the circulation of HCoV in Brazil and the possible presence of the new HCoV types, with special attention to coronavirus HKU1, in samples collected back to 1995, tested by using universal coronavirus PCR.

The epidemiologic profile of HCoV was retrospectively investigated with samples collected during March–December 1995 in a pediatric ward of University Hospital, Sao Paulo University, Sao Paulo, Brazil. The Ethics Committee on Research Involving Human Subjects of the Institute of Biomedical Sciences, University of Sao Paulo, approved the study. Samples of nasopharyngeal aspirates were collected from 169 hospitalized children, ages 7 days–15 years, of whom 104 had respiratory symptoms, 23 had enteric disease, and 3 had both (4). The mean age of the study population was 19.6 months (median 7 months). Viral nucleic acid was extracted from specimens by using Trizol (Invitrogen, Carlsbad, CA, USA) following the manufacturer's instructions. Total RNA was then submitted to reverse transcription PCR with a High-Capacity cDNA Archive Kit (Applied Biosystems, Foster City, CA, USA) by using random primers according to the manufacturer's instructions. The cDNA obtained was screened with primers able to amplify a 220-bp product in the conserved polymerase region of all known HCoVs (5) and other coronaviruses (e.g., bovine coronavirus). We used cDNA obtained from cultured human rectal tumor cell line HRT-18G cells inoculated with bovine coronavirus strain Kakegawa as positive controls for PCR.

In an attempt to improve the sensitivity of HKU1 detection, we analyzed samples with negative results by PCR with a nested PCR specific for coronavirus HKU1. This nested assay was designed on an alignment of our HKU1-positive sample sequence (BRA169) and different HKU1 genotype sequences deposited in GenBank. Primers Fn-HKU1 (forward 5′-CGTGCYATG CCAAATATTTTGCG-3′, HKU1-{"type":"entrez-nucleotide","attrs":{"text":"NC_006577","term_id":"85667876","term_text":"NC_006577"}}NC_006577, nt 15433–15454) and Rn-HKU1 (reverse 5′-TAGCAACCGCCACACATAAC-3′, HKU1-{"type":"entrez-nucleotide","attrs":{"text":"NC_006577","term_id":"85667876","term_text":"NC_006577"}}NC_006577, nt 15562–15581) produced an amplicon of 149 bp. The nested PCR was run in a 50-µL reaction comprising 10 µL of PCR product, 1.5 units of DNA Polymerase (Biotools, Madrid, Spain), 1 µmol/L of each primer, 200 µmol/L of each dNTP (Applied Biosystems), 2 mmol/L MgCl2, and 1× buffer. PCR mixtures were heated to 95°C for 5 min, followed by 35 cycles of 1 min at 95°C, 30 s at 62°C, and 40 s at 72°C, followed by a final 10 min at 72°C. Clinical samples positive for HKU1 were used as positive controls in the HKU1 nested PCR. All fragments obtained from PCR and nested PCR were analyzed in a 2% (wt/vol) agarose gel by electrophoresis, stained with 0.5 µg/mL of ethidium bromide, and subsequently sequenced to confirm the type of coronavirus. Nucleotide sequencing reactions were performed on both amplicon strands by using an ABI PRISM Big Dye Cycle Sequencing Kit with the ABI PRISM 3100 automatic sequencer (Applied Biosystems).

Six (3.6%) samples tested positive for HCoV-HKU1: 2 samples by PCR and 4 by nested PCR. HCoV types 229E, OC43, and NL63 were not detected in any sample by PCR. Samples positive for HCoV were associated with pertussis, pneumonia, bronchiolitis, and diarrhea (Table).

Table

Epidemiologic and laboratory data of children with coronavirus infection, Brazil, 1995*

In a recent review, an analysis of 18 studies indicated that the median (range) incidence of HCoV-HKU1 was 0.9% (0%–4.4%) (2), which is similar to the detection rate in our study. To our knowledge, the only study that has screened for HKU1 in Brazil found that 0.48% of children were positive for HKU1 (3), which is lower than our results.

Although we did not detect other HCoV types, all HCoV types were detected previously in Brazil in samples collected during 2006–2008 (3,6). The absence of detection of 229E, OC43, and NL63 HCoV might have resulted from the seasonality and natural viral year cycle or from the characteristics of the children studied because we included samples from children hospitalized with or without respiratory disease.

BLAST search (www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/blast/Blast.cgi) and phylogenetic analysis of amplicons from PCR and nested PCR indicated that samples were positive for HKU1 genotype B (samples BRA169, BRA90, and BRA99) or HKU1 genotype A (samples BRA09, BRA37, and BRA104). The sequences obtained in this study have been deposited in GenBank under accession nos. {"type":"entrez-nucleotide","attrs":{"text":"FJ931534.1","term_id":"237861984","term_text":"FJ931534.1"}}FJ931534.1 (BRA169), {"type":"entrez-nucleotide","attrs":{"text":"GU904424","term_id":"294610801","term_text":"GU904424"}}GU904424 (BRA37), {"type":"entrez-nucleotide","attrs":{"text":"GU904427","term_id":"294610807","term_text":"GU904427"}}GU904427 (BRA104), {"type":"entrez-nucleotide","attrs":{"text":"GU904423","term_id":"294610799","term_text":"GU904423"}}GU904423 (BRA09), {"type":"entrez-nucleotide","attrs":{"text":"GU904425","term_id":"294610803","term_text":"GU904425"}}GU904425 (BRA90), and {"type":"entrez-nucleotide","attrs":{"text":"GU904426","term_id":"294610805","term_text":"GU904426"}}GU904426 (BRA99).

This may be the oldest collection of human samples in which HKU1 has been detected. To our knowledge, the oldest previous sample positive for HCoV-HKU1 was detected in children in Finland during 1996–1998, without an exact date specified (7). Retrospective studies also have been conducted in the United States and Greece that showed the HKU1 virus in different countries in Europe and North America before its discovery (8,9). We have confirmed the circulation of HKU1 coronaviruses in children in Brazil in 1995.


This paper shows that the verbal morphosyntax of Siriono, which is synchronically highly divergent from that of other Tupi-Guaranian (TG) languages, can be derived from the reconstructed proto-TG (PTG) system. Arguments will be presented to show that the SA=A series of person markers (e.g. PTG 1sg *a-) has merged with the So=O series (e.g. PTG 1sg *ce-) in the 1st and 2nd plural persons in Siriono. In spite of this partial merger of two series of person markers, morphological elements that appeared in PTG between the personal prefix and the stem of transitive verbs have been retained in Siriono with an identical distribution. The partial merger of the SA=A series with the So=O series is explained by a combination of phonological and syntactic motivations. Additional evidence is drawn from Siriono's closely related sister language Yuki. Apart from this, the prefix k- that occurs on third-person forms of 'comitative-causative' verbs in Siriono has retained a trace of the PTG third-person prefix *o- in spite of the emergence of an innovated third-person prefix e-. These facts are taken as evidence of a PTG origin of the Siriono system


Dendrites are more active than expected Dendrites occupy more than 90% of neuronal tissue. However, it has not been possible to measure distal dendritic membrane potential and spiking in vivo over a long period of time. Moore et al. developed a technique to record the subthreshold membrane potential and spikes from neocortical distal dendrites in freely behaving animals. These recordings were very stable, providing data from a single dendrite for up to 4 days. Unexpectedly, distal dendrites generated action potentials whose firing rate was nearly five times greater than at the cell body. Science, this issue p. eaaj1497 In vivo recordings over several days from neuronal dendrites in the brain's neocortex reveal disproportionate dendritic spiking. INTRODUCTION Neurons are large, tree-like structures with extensive, branch-like dendrites spanning >1000 μm, but a small ~10-μm soma (figure). Dendrites receive inputs from other neurons, and the electrical activity of dendrites determines synaptic connectivity, neural computations, and learning. The prevailing belief has been that dendrites are passive; they merely send synaptic currents to the soma, which integrates the inputs to generate an electrical impulse, called an action potential or somatic spike, thought to be the fundamental unit of neural computation. These ideas have not been directly tested because traditional electrodes, which puncture the dendrite to measure dendritic voltages in vitro, do not work in vivo due to constant movement of the animals that kills the punctured dendrites. Hence, the voltage dynamics of distal dendrites, constituting the vast majority of neural tissue, is unknown during natural behavior. RATIONALE Tetrodes are a bundle of four fine electrodes, commonly used for measuring somatic spikes from a distance, that is, extracellularly. Hence, they work well in freely behaving animals. However, tetrodes do not measure the membrane voltages of soma, let alone dendrites. Chronically implanted tetrodes also elicit a naturally occurring immune response, where glial cells encapsulate the tetrode and shield it from the extracellular medium. We tested the hypothesis that a segment of dendrite could get trapped between the tetrode tips before this glial encapsulation occurred (figure). This would enable us to measure the dendritic membrane voltage without penetrating it in freely behaving subjects. RESULTS Despite low success rate, we measured the putative, distal-dendritic membrane potential in freely behaving rats for long periods, up to 4 days. These data showed frequent occurrence of spikes that were quite different from somatic spikes, but they closely resembled the waveforms of spikes generated within the distal dendrites in vitro (figure). This finding was further confirmed by computational modeling. The glial seal mechanism was verified using immunohistochemistry, predicted shielding of extracellular spikes during the dendritic measurements, in vivo impedance spectroscopy, and modeling. The identity of the general cell type from which the dendrite spikes were measured was confirmed using the analysis of short-term plasticity, suggesting that most of the dendritic measurements were from pyramidal neurons. The dendritic spike rates, however, were fivefold greater than the somatic spike rates of pyramidal neurons during slow-wave sleep and 10-fold greater during exploration. The high stability of dendritic signals suggested that these large rates are unlikely to arise due to the injury caused by the electrodes. The data also showed large subthreshold membrane voltage fluctuations. Their magnitude was always larger than that of dendritic spikes. This is the converse of comparable measurements in the soma. The dendritic spikes and subthreshold voltages contained significant information about the rat's exploratory behavior, which is comparable to somatic spikes. CONCLUSION The glial sheath method can be used for measuring dendritic membrane potential in freely behaving animals for long periods. The large subthreshold voltage fluctuations in dendrites, which modulate the dendritic firing rates, indicate a hybrid, analog-digital code in the dendrites. These dendritic dynamics could profoundly influence synaptic plasticity and neural computations. The dendrites generated several-fold more spikes than the soma. The large dendritic spike rates could be responsible for the seemingly weak correlations between the somatic spikes across neurons. This requires a revision of many prevailing beliefs, for example, the dendrites are largely passive in vivo, and the somatic spike is the fundamental unit of neural computation. Glial sheath mechanism of measuring dendritic membrane potential in vivo. Top left shows a pyramidal neuron with soma (blue) and extensive dendrites (red). Top right shows the tetrode (gold) and glial cells (green) that trap a dendritic branch. Bottom left shows the extracellular measurements from the soma (blue), showing few, small-amplitude, downward-going spikes. Bottom right shows membrane potential from the dendrite, showing many, large-amplitude, upward-going spikes. Neural activity in vivo is primarily measured using extracellular somatic spikes, which provide limited information about neural computation. Hence, it is necessary to record from neuronal dendrites, which can generate dendritic action potentials (DAPs) in vitro, which can profoundly influence neural computation and plasticity. We measured neocortical sub- and suprathreshold dendritic membrane potential (DMP) from putative distal-most dendrites using tetrodes in freely behaving rats over multiple days with a high degree of stability and submillisecond temporal resolution. DAP firing rates were several-fold larger than somatic rates. DAP rates were also modulated by subthreshold DMP fluctuations, which were far larger than DAP amplitude, indicating hybrid, analog-digital coding in the dendrites. Parietal DAP and DMP exhibited egocentric spatial maps comparable to pyramidal neurons. These results have important implications for neural coding and plasticity.


ABSTRACT This paper uses a unique survey conducted during the COVID-19 pandemic in Turkey to analyze men's and women's time use under lockdown. The study finds that while men's participation in unpaid work increased, particularly for men who switched to working from home, the relative increase for women further widened the gender gap in unpaid work. The gender gap in paid work narrowed due to relatively less employment disruption for women and a relatively higher decrease in men's paid work. The total workload of employed women reached levels that make it hard to sustain a decent work–life balance. Disparities in unpaid work among women by education and employment status decreased, reflecting how purchasing power became somewhat irrelevant under the pandemic measures. These findings unveil simultaneously the fragility of the work–life balance conditions faced by employed women and a window of opportunity created by men's increased participation in unpaid work. HIGHLIGHTS During the COVID-19 pandemic in Turkey, women's unpaid work time almost doubled, while men's quadrupled. Women experienced lower employment disruption and less decrease in paid work time than men. Employed women saw an alarming intensification in their overall workload. Men's unpaid work increased substantially due to working from home and lower employment hours. COVID-19 has highlighted the need for work–life balance policies and for investment in social care.


We report an atom-efficient approach to the preparation of sustainable polyesters and their corresponding thermosetting resins (RESINs) from renewable plant oils. Specifically, a diol monomer, oleic acid diethanol amide (OADEA), was derived from high oleic soybean oil (HOSBO) via a powerful amidation reaction. A series of OADEA-derived polyesters were prepared by condensation polymerization of this diol monomer with four different diacids. These polyesters were then epoxidized and cured using anhydrides with the aid of organocatalytic amines, yielding HOSBO-derived RESINs. Both thermal and mechanical properties of RESINs were dictated by the main-chain structures. The curing formulations and conditions were tested extensively to obtain the optimal mechanical properties of thermosetting resins, ranging from plastic to elastomeric properties. Both polyesters and RESINs were fully degradable under basic conditions.


A symposium entitled, The Ecology of Human-Machine Systems, was held at the Fifth International Conference on Event Perception and Action. This sympo- sium examined the challenges that human-machine systems hold for an ecological approach to perception, cognition, and action and the promises that an ecological approach holds for problems that traditionally have been the domain of human factors psychology. The presenters from this symposium have been invited to submit articles about an applied ecological psychology to Ecological Psychology. Articles that are accepted for publication will be appearing in future issues of this journal. It is hoped that these articles will stimulate productive interaction between ecological and human factors psychology. This correspondence reflects the natural affinity between ecological and human factors psychology. It examines some of the issues that distinguish basic and applied research. It also considers the contribution that ecological physics can make for improving tra...


The western Idaho shear zone is a major, lithospheric-scale structure separating accreted terranes of the Blue Mountains from continental North America. We document the occurrence of the western Idaho shear zone in West Mountain, west-central Idaho. Rocks deformed by the western Idaho shear zone at West Mountain are dominantly orthogneisses, although exposures on West Mountain containing screens of metamorphosed sedimentary rocks are also present. Steeply E-dipping, N-NNE–oriented foliations and downdip lineations characterize the fabric in the orthogneisses, consistent with dextral transpressional kinematics. The foliation orientation changes from 005° to 024° from the northern to the southern part of the field area, and this is interpreted to reflect a primary along-strike variation in the orientation of the western Idaho shear zone. The westernmost unit in West Mountain (Four Bit Creek tonalite) has a U-Pb zircon age of 101 ± 3.0 Ma, yet it is only weakly deformed. We interpret this unit to have been emplaced pretectonically, thus constraining the initiation of the western Idaho shear zone. The youngest unit at West Mountain is the undeformed Rat Creek granite (88.2 ± 3.3 Ma). U-Pb analyses of zircons from orthogneisses at West Mountain span ages of 111–91 Ma, indicating both precursory and continuous magmatism coeval with western Idaho shear zone deformation. Two Lu-Hf garnet isochron ages, 97.3 ± 0.7 Ma and 99.5 ± 1.4 Ma, are interpreted to indicate peak metamorphism during western Idaho shear zone deformation. Geochemical analyses suggest that the westernmost exposed orthogneiss units are dominantly derived from continental material in West Mountain, and yet there is also evidence for a component of accreted terrane rocks at depth east of the western Idaho shear zone.


A core claim of sociological theory is that modern institutions fall short of their meritocratic ideals, whereby rewards should be allocated based on achievement-related criteria. Instead, high-status actors often experience a "status advantage": they are rewarded disproportionately to the quality of their performance. We develop and test a theory of status advantage in meritocratic settings. The most influential model in past research derives status advantage from decision-makers' tendency to infer quality from status when quality is uncertain. The theory developed here integrates and extends this and other theories to explain the emergence of status advantage in the many meritocratic contexts where the decision-maker's personal, first-order sense of quality is less important to the decision. We argue that in such contexts, decision-makers must often coordinate with others to make the "best" decision, and thus they focus on the "third-order inference" problem of discerning who or what "most people" think is higher quality, as encoded in status beliefs. Three experiments demonstrate that under such conditions, status advantages can emerge even though (1) status information does not resolve uncertainty about quality; (2) the status belief is illegitimate; and (3) no party to the decision personally prefers the higher-status option. The theory implies that status hierarchies are resilient in the face of significant dissent but may be subject to public challenge.


The annual Global Civil Society Yearbooks provide an indispensable guide to global civil society or civic participation and action around the world. The 2009 Yearbook explores the framings, strategies and impacts of a range of actors on poverty and its alleviation. The overarching question is to whether such actors, in pressing for poverty alleviation actually achieve anything/empower the poor, or simply aid wealthy states in maintaining the status quo. The contributors are diverse, including scholars and practitioners from India, America, the UK, Australia, Thailand, and Mali.

The Global Civil Society Yearbook remains the standard work on all aspects of contemporary global civil society for activists, practitioners, students and academics alike. It is essential reading for anyone seeking a deeper understanding of the key actors, forms and manifestations of global civil society around the world today.


Many noise models do not faithfully reflect the noise processes introduced during data collection in many real-world applications. In particular, we argue that a type of noise referred to as sparse noise is quite commonly found in many applications and many existing works have been proposed to model such sparse noise. However, all the existing works only focus on unsupervised learning without considering the supervised information, i.e., label information. In this paper, we consider how to model and handle sparse noise in the context of embedding high-dimensional data under a probabilistic formulation for supervised learning. We propose a supervised probabilistic robust embedding (SPRE) model in which data are corrupted either by sparse noise or by a combination of Gaussian and sparse noises. By using the Laplace distribution as a prior to model sparse noise, we devise a two-fold variational EM learning algorithm in which the update of model parameters has analytical solution. We report some classification experiments to compare SPRE with several related models.


With change of the scientific research paradigm and development of the semantic technology, the traditional publication is facing the need change of the users of scientific research, so it begins to transform into a knowledge service model, which traces back to the source of the scientific research innovation process, is based on the mass content resources of the authoritative systems, and provides diversified, three-dimensional, customized services and solutions for the researchers and organizations dealing with research project selection, literature retrieval and analysis, experiments, scholarly communication and exchange, accomplishment publication and scholarly evaluation. The knowledge management system is the foundation of knowledge service. The new technologies such as semantic web, artificial intelligence and knowledge mapping etc. also provide support and possibility for evolution of the knowledge management system.
On basis of the above new technologies, a semantic publishing model is built in this study based on the knowledge management ecosystem. The knowledge management ecosystem using the machine readable RDF triple model as the metadata structure surpasses the restriction of the system or platform, makes it possible to understand each other between machines, and builds a cross-domain linking relationship which can be understood by the machine based on linked data and knowledge mapping so as to support and drive the transformation of science & technology publication into knowledge service, finally forming a machine-readable, data-driven, multidisciplinary collaboration, demand-oriented, resource deconstruction granularity, and gradually growing semantic publishing model.
In the further study, a semantic publishing model was established on the basis of the knowledge management ecosystem in the field of life sciences and basic medicine. The resource of the model system included researchers, institutes, literature, dataset, patents, funds, honors and evaluation and so on, which were stored in RDF triples and published in form of the linked data, and combined with natural language processing (NLP) and neural network based on the deep learning technology so as to realize reasoning and linking of the new knowledge as well as complete knowledge growth with help of the machine intelligence. This model system could facilitate seamless integration between different databases and also promote cross-domain integration of the system with external system resources such as Pubmed, and construct the service modules such as knowledge acquisition, data mining, internalization, sharing, evaluation, and externalization and so on, in order to provide support guarantee for cooperation among multiple different agencies


Objective: Increasing efforts are being made towards pharmacologic activation of brown adipose tissue (BAT) in animals and humans for potential use in the treatment of obesity and diabetes. We and others have reported a number of animal studies using either experimental or therapeutic drugs. There are now efforts to translate these findings to human studies. The goal of this review is to evaluate the various drugs currently being used that have the potential for BAT activation. Methods: Drugs were classified into 4 classes based on their mechanism of action. Class 1 drugs include the use of β3 adrenoceptor agonists for BAT activation. Class 2 drugs include drugs that affect norepinephrine levels and activate BAT with the potential of reducing obesity. Class 3 includes activators of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-γ in pursuit of lowering blood sugar, weight loss and diabetes and finally Class 4 includes natural products and other emerging drugs with limited information on BAT activation and their effects on diabetes and weight loss. Results: Class 1 drugs are high BAT activators followed by Class 2 and 3. Some of these drugs have now been extended to diabetes and obesity animal models and human BAT studies. Drugs in Class 3 are used clinically for Type 2 diabetes, but the extent of BAT involvement is unclear. Conclusion: Further studies on the efficacy of these drugs in diabetes and measuring their effects on BAT activation using noninvasive imaging will help in establishing a clinical role of BAT.


The Gemeinschaft der Eigenen (The Society of the Self-Determined) was established in 1903 on the outskirts of Berlin to realize the social and political goals espoused by its leader: the author, photographer, and perennial activist, Adolf Brand (1874–1945). Inspired by anarchist political thought, Brand and the organization's members used a rhetoric of personal liberation to advocate for greater social acceptance of male bonding and intimacy and to promote a cult of youthful beauty. The group's unwavering faith in the transformative power of culture was central to the realization of these objectives. A secondary goal was the elimination from the German penal code of Paragraph 175, the statute that prohibited "unnatural acts" between men. This dissertation considers how prominent members of the group contributed to and reacted against the emerging political and scientific debates about the nature of male sexuality in Germany. Representative pieces of literature and visual art produced by the group's members are examined within the context of the era's shifting crosscurrents of political ideology, spirituality, and scientific theory in order to provide greater insight into the cultural anxieties and obsessions of German society. Source material is largely drawn from the thirteen volumes of the organization's flagship publication, Der Eigene—published intermittently from 1896 until 1932 and now regarded as the world's first homosexual journal. In its pages, homoerotic literature, illustrations, and photography depicted an honorable masculine tradition of camaraderie and brotherhood that extended from ancient Greece, through the valor of medieval knights, and into the modern era. Although themselves victims of much prejudice, the group that coalesced around Brand and his magazine was not especially enlightened on many social causes. This myopia is partly explained by the group's emphasis on inherited tradition. Such an emphasis led many of the group's members to be resolutely anti-feminist, disdainful of the women's rights movement, and increasingly anti-Semitic. Finally, the dissertation evaluates the collapse and failure of Brand's political goals as well as his ill-fated project to "rescue" German men and intimate male relationships from what he perceived to be the corrupting influences of femininity and scientific investigation. Degree Type Dissertation Degree Name Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) Graduate Group History First Advisor Thomas Childers


Much of human dialogue occurs in semi-cooperative settings, where agents with different goals attempt to agree on common decisions. Negotiations require complex communication and reasoning skills, but success is easy to measure, making this an interesting task for AI. We gather a large dataset of human-human negotiations on a multi-issue bargaining task, where agents who cannot observe each other's reward functions must reach an agreement (or a deal) via natural language dialogue. For the first time, we show it is possible to train end-to-end models for negotiation, which must learn both linguistic and reasoning skills with no annotated dialogue states. We also introduce dialogue rollouts, in which the model plans ahead by simulating possible complete continuations of the conversation, and find that this technique dramatically improves performance. Our code and dataset are publicly available.


Magazine writer and editor Lori Tharps was born and raised in the comfortable but mostly White suburbs of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where she was often the only person of color in her school and neighborhood. At an early age, Lori decided that her destiny would be discovered in Spain. She didn't know anyone from Spain, had never visited the country, and hardly spoke the language. Still, she never faltered in her plans to escape to the Iberian Peninsula. Arriving in the country as an optimistic college student, however, Lori soon discovers Spain's particular attitude toward Blackness. She is chased down the street by the local schoolchildren and pointed at incessantly in public, and her innocent dreams of a place where race doesn't matter are shattered. The story would end there, except Lori meets and marries a Spaniard, and that's when her true Spanish adventure really begins. Against the ancient backdrops of Cadiz and Andalucia, Lori starts the intricate yet amusing journey of rekindling her love affair with Spain and becoming a part of her new Spanish family. From a grandmother who spies on her to a grandfather who warmly welcomes her to town with a slew of racist jokes, the close-knit clan isn't exactly waiting with open arms. "Kinky Gazpacho" tells the story of the redeeming power of love and finding self in the most unexpected places. At its heart, this is a love story. It is a memoir, a travel essay, and a glimpse into the past and present of Spain. As humorous and entertaining as such favorite travel stories as "Under the Tuscan Sun," this book also unveils a unique and untold history of Spain's enduring connection to West Africa. "Kinky Gazpacho" celebrates the mysticism of travel and the joys of watching two distinct cultures connect and come together."


OBJECTIVES
The objective of this study was to examine the distribution and cellular localization of luteinizing hormone receptor (LHR) in ovarian epithelial tumors (OETs) and their presumed precursor lesions-ovarian epithelial inclusions (OEIs). The clinicopathologic correlation of the receptor expression in OET was also examined.

METHODS
Fifteen microdissected samples of ovarian surface epithelium (OSE), 20 OEIs from benign ovaries, and 141 OETs, including 48 cystadenomas, 33 borderline tumors, 60 carcinomas, and 5 metastatic cancers, were examined for LHR expression by using reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction and in situ hybridization. LHR expression in tumor epithelium and tumor stroma was analyzed separately. The clinicopathologic correlation data were analyzed by standard analysis of variance and contingency table methods.

RESULTS
LHR expression was identified in the majority of OSE and OEI samples. In OETs, LHR positivity was found in the epithelial cells in 27% of cases and in the stromal compartment in 37% of cases. LHR-positive stromal cells were mainly luteinized cells. Within the tumor epithelium, LHR expression was detected in 42% of benign, 24% of borderline, and 17% of malignant OETs. LHR expression in tumor stroma showed a similar trend of reduction from benign to malignant OETs. Within the 17 carcinomas, LHR was expressed in the epithelium in 47% of grade 1, 12% of grade 2, and only 5% of grade 3 cancers. The mean age of the LHR-positive group was younger than that of the receptor-negative patients. Compared with mucinous and other types of OETs, serous OETs showed higher LHR expression in the epithelium. Compared with the OETs removed in the different menstrual phases, OETs in the secretory phase showed higher LHR in the tumor stroma than in the proliferative phase. No receptor mRNA was detected in the epithelium of five carcinomas metastatic to the ovary. LHR transcription splicing variants from a single previous report were confirmed in this study.

CONCLUSIONS
Malignant OETs have significant reduction of LHR expression compared with precursor lesions and benign and borderline OETs. LHR expression shows a steady decline from low-grade to high-grade ovarian cancer. The presence of LHR receptor in tumor epithelium suggests that luteinizing hormone in serum may have direct influence on tumor growth, whereas the receptor in tumor stroma may be indicative of a paracrine function of LH in the development of OETs.


Evaluating biometric authentication performance is a complex task because the performance depends on the user set size, composition and the choice of samples. We propose to reduce the performance dependency of these three factors by deriving appropriate confidence intervals. In this study, we focus on deriving a confidence region based on the recently proposed expected performance curve (EPC). An EPC is different from the conventional DET or ROC curve because an EPC assumes that the test class-conditional (client and impostor) score distributions are unknown and this includes the choice of the decision threshold for various operating points. Instead, an EPC selects thresholds based on the training set and applies them on the test set. The proposed technique is useful, for example, to quote realistic upper and lower bounds of the decision cost function used in the NIST annual speaker evaluation. Our findings, based on the 24 systems submitted to the NIST2005 evaluation, show that the confidence region obtained from our proposed algorithm can correctly predict the performance of an unseen database with two times more users with an average coverage of 95% (over all the 24 systems). A coverage is the proportion of the unseen EPC covered by the derived confidence interval.


Lowland cloud forests are well known from temperate regions, e.g. the
coasts of California and northern Chile (Bruijnzeel 2001), but in the
Tropics have remained uninvestigated. We tested the hypothesis that
tropical lowland cloud forest (LCF) and lowland rain forest (LRF) exist as
distinct forest types with a higher abundance of epiphytes in LCF and
differing in epiphyte species composition and microclimate. Furthermore,
these forest types seem to occur in close proximity to one another, with
LCF in valleys and LRF on adjacent slopes.
To validate this hypothesis, we compared epiphyte diversity and
abundance at two localities in Central French Guiana (Saul, Nouragues
Nature Reserve). Using the single rope technique (ter Steege &
Cornelissen 1988), we climbed 48 canopy trees from putative LCF and
LRF during a 6 month field trip to French Guiana. On each of the 48 target
trees, we removed epiphytes growing in 24 sample plots of 600 cm².
The plots were positioned at each cardinal direction in six height zones
(Johansson 1974, Cornelissen & ter Steege 1989): trunk base, lower
trunk, upper trunk, lower canopy, middle canopy, and outer canopy. Biomass
of epiphytic angiosperms, pteridophytes, lichens and bryophytes
was determined and three groups of epiphytic plants identified at species
level: macrolichens, filmy ferns and liverworts. Trees were classified as
belonging either to LCF or LRF based on geography and validated by microclimate
measurements. Species were identified using appropriate
methods for the different taxa, and overall forest species composition
evaluated for each forest type and statistically compared.
In total we found 39 (morpho-) species of macrolichens, 9 species of
Hymenophyllaceae, and 129 liverwort species. LCF contained a significantly
higher mean species number per tree for both liverworts (LCF: 33.6; LRF: 25.0) and Hymenophyllaceae (LCF: 2.4; LRF: 0.3) than LRF.
Moreover, 8 species of Hymenophyllaceae and 21 of liverworts were statistically
determined as indicator species for LCF. These indicators of LCF
included shade epiphytes and generalists that also occur in montane forests.
As LCF is more humid than LRF, the differences in liverwort and
filmy fern diversity can be attributed to the greater atmospheric water
content. Although the number of macrolichen species per tree was similar
in both forest types, lichens with cyanobacterial photobionts
(cyanolichens) were 2.5 times more common in LCF. Cyanolichens are
known to prefer humid habitats and this study showed that they are
good indicators for LCF. The observed differences in species diversity of
liverworts, filmy ferns and cyanolichens support the hypothesis that LCF
and LRF contain distinguishable epiphytic biodiversity, a finding which is
further supported by the measurement of higher overall epiphyte biomass
in LCF and more tree surface area covered by epiphytes (70 % in
LCF, 15 % in LRF).
Species composition differed greatly in all height zones for all studied
groups of epiphytes. Hygrophilous taxa (shade epiphytes) were more
common in LCF, while LRF harbored more xeric taxa (outer canopy specialists).
Moreover, comparison of the vertical distribution of epiphyte
species in LRF and LCF showed an upward shift of certain species of lichens,
bryophytes and ferns inhabiting lower strata in LRF towards higher
strata in LCF.
It had been previously observed that morning fog was present in
LCF of Saul (Montfoort & Ek 1990). Fog can lead to higher humidity by
providing a surplus of liquid water. To investigate whether there was an
increased incidence of fog in LCF over LRF, we measured air humidity,
calculated vapor pressure deficit, and frequency and duration of fog. LCF
plots were more humid than LRF plots during both wet and dry season.
LCF experienced higher overall mean air humidity, while high humidity
events occurred both more frequently and longer than in LRF. The overall
higher humidity is caused by fog formation in LCF at night; at early morning the moist air lifts into the canopy and acts as a radiation shield.
Vapor pressure deficit in LCF was calculated to be lower than in LRF,
especially in the early morning and significantly longer in duration. The
prolonged availability of high air humidity in LCF and the additional input
of liquid water through fog enhance epiphyte growth and influence
species composition and diversity in LCF by shortening the desiccation
period and lengthening the period of photosynthetic activity of the plants.


Estimating treatment effect plays an important role on decision making in many fields, such as social marketing, healthcare, and public policy. The key challenge on estimating treatment effect in the wild observational studies is to handle confounding bias induced by imbalance of the confounder distributions between treated and control units. Traditional methods remove confounding bias by re-weighting units with supposedly accurate propensity score estimation under the unconfoundedness assumption. Controlling high-dimensional variables may make the unconfoundedness assumption more plausible, but poses new challenge on accurate propensity score estimation. One strand of recent literature seeks to directly optimize weights to balance confounder distributions, bypassing propensity score estimation. But existing balancing methods fail to do selection and differentiation among the pool of a large number of potential confounders, leading to possible underperformance in many high dimensional settings. In this paper, we propose a data-driven Differentiated Confounder Balancing (DCB) algorithm to jointly select confounders, differentiate weights of confounders and balance confounder distributions for treatment effect estimation in the wild high dimensional settings. The synergistic learning algorithm we proposed is more capable of reducing the confounding bias in many observational studies. To validate the effectiveness of our DCB algorithm, we conduct extensive experiments on both synthetic and real datasets. The experimental results clearly demonstrate that our DCB algorithm outperforms the state-of-the-art methods. We further show that the top features ranked by our algorithm generate accurate prediction of online advertising effect.


This paper will offer a position on the place of fun within education and learning. It will place fun as an important component of learning. The intent is not to espouse the belief that it is the duty of teachers and instructors to entertain students. Unlike a movie or TV show that provides passive entertainment, fun in this context relates to actions and techniques that aid students in learning new material. So rather than fun being associated with ease, fun is associated with rigor. In drawing together research on the successful impact of fun in education, this paper hopes to be an impetus for librarians to consider fun within their pedagogical approach to instruction and to spur conversation on how information literacy instruction is formatted.


Each step in a quantum random walk is typically understood to have two basic components; a `coin-toss' which produces a random superposition of two states, and a displacement which moves each component of the superposition by different amounts. Here we suggest the realization of a walk in momentum space with a spinor Bose-Einstein condensate subject to a quantum ratchet realized with a pulsed, off-resonant optical lattice. By an appropriate choice of the lattice detuning, we show how the atomic momentum can be entangled with the internal spin states of the atoms. For the coin-toss, we propose to use a microwave pulse to mix these internal states. We present experimental results showing an optimized quantum ratchet, and through a series of simulations, demonstrate how our proposal gives extraordinary control of the quantum walk. This should allow for the investigation of possible biases, and classical-to-quantum dynamics in the presence of natural and engineered noise.


ABSTRACT The RASSF1A gene is one of the most frequently inactivated genes in over 30 different types of cancers (H. Donninger, M. D. Vos, and G. J. Clark, J. Cell Sci. 120:3163–3172, 2007, http://dx.doi.org/10.1242/jcs.010389). Despite the prevalence of RASSF1A silencing in human cancer, the mechanism by which RASSF1A functions as a tumor suppressor is not well understood. Characterization of the consequences of RASSF1A loss on epithelial cell proliferation revealed that RASSF1A expression suppresses both microRNA 21 (miR-21) expression and extracellular signal-regulated kinase 1/2 (ERK1/2) activation. The mechanism of the former is through restraint of SCFβTrCP-dependent destruction of the repressor element 1 silencing transcription factor (REST) tumor suppressor and consequent inhibition of miR-21 promoter activation. The mechanism of the latter is through physical sequestration of MST2, which results in accumulation of inactivating S259 phosphorylation of RAF1. Whether or not inactivation of these RASSF1A regulatory relationships can unleash enhanced proliferative capacity is dependent upon the coupling of SCFβTrCP and miR-21 to suppression of SKP2 protein translation and stability. Airway epithelial cultures retain this coupling and therefore respond to RASSF1A inactivation by p27-dependent cell cycle arrest. In contrast, colonic crypt-derived epithelial cells have uncoupled SCFβTrCP from SKP2 and respond to RASSF1A inactivation by enhanced proliferation rates. These observations help account for context-specific molecular etiology of oncogenic transformation and suggest intervention strategies for recently developed SKP2 inhibitors.


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Early-age hydration of Ordinary Portland Cement (OPC) was studied in the presence of two additional surfaces. Additional surfaces are known to accelerate the early-age hydration of OPC. Autocatalytic reaction modelling was used to determine acceleration mechanism of additional surfaces. Heat development of the hydration was measured with semi-adiabatic calorimetry and the results were modelled with an autocatalytic reaction. Autocatalytic reaction modelling was able to determine number of initially active nucleation sites in early-age hydration. OPC hydration followed autocatalytic reaction principles throughout induction period and accelerating period. Both of the added surfaces, limestone filler and calcium-silicate-hydrate (C-S-H) coated limestone filler accelerated the early-age hydration. According to autocatalytic modelling, the C-S-H coated filler increased the number of initially active nucleation sites. Pristine limestone filler accelerated the early-age hydration by providing the additional nucleation sites throughout the early-age hydration. The difference was explained with common theories of nucleation and crystal growth. Autocatalytic model and measured calorimeter curve started to significantly deviate at the inflection point, where the reaction mode changed. The reaction mode change depended on the average particle distance. Early-age hydration, modelled as autocatalytic reaction was able to improve understanding of OPC early-age hydration and quantify the number of initially active nucleation sites. Understanding and quantifying the acceleration mechanisms in early-age hydration will aid larger utilization of supplementary cementitious materials where understanding the early-age strength development is crucial.


An account is given of precipitation measurements on a hillock carried out during June-November 1959 by means of a very dense network of gauges. It was found that the precipitation distribution in the area on a single rainfall could vary considerably owing to the wind conditions. The cause of this phenomenon seems to lie in the aerodynamical conditions around the hillock. When choosing sites for precipitation measurements such aerodynamic effects should be realized.


T. Scott 1830
Scale: 2cm:10ml 'Map of the settled part of V.D.L. copied from a map in the possession of H.E. Col. G.A. Arthur Lt. Governor. Drawn by Thomas Scott, engraved and published by James Ross 1830 Shows settlements, rivers, police districts (coloured). Endorsed ms. 'John Batman, Kingston, Ben Lomond, October 5th 1830', ink lines and notes of 'fires' probably made by J.B. in re aborigines. (Note by M. Griffiths that 'map repaired with new backing and old backing replaced [1950s]: - map canvas backed & folded)
RS Mp/17


Introduction : The 21 st century was started with the dawn of a new economic puzzle of China's fast economic growth. It has surprised the economists. The Chinese constant upward growth has shifted economic paradigm and the axis of growth appear to have been shifted from the western hemisphere to the eastern hemisphere. Some economists term it a 21 st century miracle. The author has determined to test this miracle through empirical framework. Research Question: Main research question of this study to explore the answer of the question why China is recording consistent rapid economic growth? Is this growth in the same way as other developed countries experienced in the past or is it a new phenomenon-a shift in global economic paradigm. Objectives: The objective of this empirical analysis is to investigate into the causes of fast economic growth of China in the context whether this growth pattern is a normal phenomenon or an indicator of shifting global economic paradigm. Methodology : Our study is spread over a period starting from 1980 to 2011 because of the introduction of economic reforms and massive economic growth. We have collected data from different sources such as China Bureau of National Statistics, IMF, World Bank and relevant research Journals and books. The selected variables for this research paper are: labour productivity, investment, exports, Research and Development expenses, capital stock, open door policy, real exchange rate and USGDP. We used ordinary least square (OLS) model to measure change in the selected variables. Five tests were used to test the stability of the model. Findings : The Econometric results show that international trade and investment in capital stock and R&D expenses by Chinese Government are the major determinants, which are responsible for enhancing labour productivity and output in the long-run, Similarly, real exchange rate appears as an important determinant to explain change in output in the long-run.


In New Zealand there is a growing concern over the engagement of teenagers in sexting, especially so-called 'secondary sexting', the non-consensual distribution of intimate images. This thesis aims to analyse the behaviour of sexting through a restorative lens and to outline the role of restorative responses can make in a New Zealand context. It combines a review of international literature on the subject with a pilot study of senior students at a New Zealand secondary school, a school that has deemed itself to be a "restorative school".  The empirical study employs a mixed-methods approach. The quantitative phase involved students (n=125) in Year 11 -13 completing a survey to ascertain the prevalence of sexing and their attitudes towards criminalization of different types of sexting. The qualitative phase involved focus groups with students (n=13), one-on-one interviews with staff (n=7) and parents (n=17) discussing how they would respond to a hypothetical scenario of secondary sexting. The study finds that although only a small percentage of students engaged in secondary sexting, secondary sexting is the cause of significant harm and there is need for an effective response.   This thesis argues that restorative response has the most promise at addressing these harms. It also shows that applying a restorative framework to the analysis of the practice enables us to identify and challenge victim blaming tendencies in both popular opinion and official responses. It proposes that for New Zealand to adequately respond to sexting there needs to be a shift away from viewing secondary sexting as a result of poor choices to one that focuses on respectful relationships and the obligations that go with them.


Understanding the sources of individual differences beyond social and economic effects has become a research area of growing interest in psychology, sociology, and economics. A quantitative genetic research design provides the necessary tools for this type of analysis. For a state-of-the-art approach, multigroup data is required. Household panel studies, such as BHPS (Understanding Society) in the UK or the SOEP in Germany, combined with an oversampling of twins, provide a powerful starting point since data from a reasonably large number of non-twin relatives is readily available. In addition to advances in our understanding of genetic and environmental influences on key variables in the social sciences, quantitative genetic analyses of target variables can guide molecular genetic research in the field of employment, earnings, health and satisfaction, as combined twin and sibling or parent data can help overcome serious caveats in molecular genetic research.


The study included the injection of Salmonella enterica serovar typhimurium isolated from starlings bird in embryonated chicken eggs. The eggs were divided into eight groups, each group contain 6 eggs. The G1 and G2 groups were injected with the sterile normal saline solution in the choriaollantoic membrane (CAM) and yolk sac as negative control. The group G3 and G4 injected by bacterial suspension at a concentration of 10 cfu/ml in the CAM and yolk sac while the G5 and G6 injected with bacterial concentration 10 cfu/ml in the CAM and yolk sac respectively. Finally, the G7 and G8 groups were injected with 10 cfu/ml of bacterial suspension in the CAM and yolk sac respectively. The results showed that the highest percentage of death in eggs embryos was 100% in the sixth group after 96 hours of injection. There was also a significant increase in the number of bacteria in correlation with time of incubation. The highest rate of bacterial isolate was 8,19log10, 8,26log10 after 96 and 144 hours in the sixth group, while the highest number of bacterial isolates was 7.04log10 and 6.31log10 in the third and fourth groups after 48 and 96 hours of injection respectively. The results of the statistical analysis showed a significant difference in the number of bacterial isolate after 24 hours of injection in both concentrations compared to other incubation times. A significant relationship was also found between the amount of the dose used and the bacterial disease. this study concluded that Salmonella enterica serovar typhimurium isolated from starlings can cause pathological changes and effect on hatchery percentage in embryonated chicken eggs. Available online at http://www.vetmedmosul.com دلجملا ،ةيرطيبلا مولعلل ةيقارعلا ةلجملا 33 ددعلا ، 2 ، 2019 ( 81 86 )


Nutritional Supplements in Sport, Exercise and Health is the most up-to-date and authoritative guide to dietary supplements, ergogenic aids and sports nutrition foods currently available. Consisting of over 140 evidence-based review articles written by world-leading research scientists and practitioners, the book aims to dispel the misinformation that surrounds supplements and supplementation, offering a useful, balanced and unbiased resource. The reviews are set out in an A-Z format and include: definitions alongside related products; applicable food sources; where appropriate, practical recommendations such as dosage and timing, possible nutrient interactions requiring the avoidance of other nutrients, and any known potential side effects; and full research citations. The volume as a whole addresses the key issues of efficacy, safety, legality and ethics, and includes additional reviews on the WADA code, inadvertent doping, and stacking. Combining the most up-to-date scientific evidence with consideration of practical issues, this book is an essential reference for any healthcare professional working in sport and exercise, any student or researcher working in sport and exercise science, sports medicine, health science or nutrition, and for all coaches and support teams working with athletes. [Book Synopsis]


How are migrant communities policed in cities of the Global South where racially securitized discourses and colonial institutional legacies shape con- temporary police practice? Critical criminologists advise that postcolonial perspectives offer valuable insights on imperial legacies, while allowing us to expand conceptual and empirical analyses of crime, policing, justice, and social order. Building on this agenda, this paper explores the intersection of postcolonial policing and immigration enforcement in the context of urban encounters between police officers and Afghan and Bengali migrants in urban Pakistan. It considers how the securitization of migration and migrants impacts their routine interactions with street-level enforcement officers. Based on ethnographic findings from Karachi, this paper argues that migrant encounters with urban policing can be captured by what I call the "post- colonial condition of policing" wherein prejudiced security policies enable expansions in police power without addressing structural inequalities within the police, facilitating reliance upon informal procedures and practices.


As autonomous cars and complex features of them grow in popularity, ensuring that analyses and capabilities are reproducible and repeatable has taken on importance in education plans too. This paper describes a reproducible research plan on mini autonomous race car programming. This educational plan is designed and implemented as part of a summer internship program at Kocaeli University and it consists of theoretical courses and laboratory assignments. A literate programming approach with the Python language is used for programming the race car. To assess the educational program's impact on the learning process and to evaluate the acceptance and satisfaction level of students, they answered an electronic questionnaire after finishing the program. According to students' feedback, the reproducible educational program is useful for learning and consolidating new concepts of mini autonomous car programming.


In Bioinformatics, cell classification is the act of separating human cells into different groups based on their RNA-seq expression levels. These data can be quite large, as there are about 20,000 known human genes. Even relatively small datasets (< 1000 cell samples) can contains millions of values. Computations and classifications on this data force a choice: speed or thoroughness? Many scientists today choose speed, meaning they must reduce the dataset through feature selection or some similar approach. Others may use complex computing systems to achieve thoroughness, but the cost of these systems is high. NVIDIA CUDA allows the average researcher to perform cell classification without making this choice. CUDA, running on specialized GPUs, gives desktop computers the power of a large computing system and eliminates the need to reduce the complexity of the dataset.


The Institute for Clinical and Economic Review (ICER) announced at the end of March 2018 that it proposed to share executable draft economic models with relevant drug manufacturers during ICER evidence reviews. Taken at face value, ICER is offering manufacturers and other interested parties the possibility of a greater involvement in the assessment of modeled claims for product pricing. The purpose of this commentary is to point to the obvious limitations to this policy and to raise questions as to the extent to which ICER is willing to commit to transparency in the creation of modeled claims. While a commitment to greater transparency is to be welcomed, the fact remains that the ICER methodology does not meet the standards of normal science. ICER modeled claims not only lack credibility but are impossible to evaluate or replicate in treating environments. In proposing greater transparency ICER runs the risk of undermining its own credibility. If manufacturers have the opportunity to generate alternative models which create alternative claims, then ICER runs the risk of its pole position in health technology assessment being questioned. Rather than focused on non-evaluable lifetime modeled claims, there is the opportunity for ICER to reject its current business model, accepting instead a modelling paradigm that is consistent with the standards of normal science.


In most cases, the assumption that wealthy countries tend to have better education systems than poorer countries is correct. However, the association between national wealth and educational achievement scores is far from perfect. The United States, for example, ranks near the top of Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries in GDP per capita, but it typically ranks closer to the middle of the pack in academic assessments. Studies have shown that factors other than the wealth of a country also matter for educational attainment; for instance, the degree to which the state prioritizes education and the level of the country's income inequality both have significant effects on education. Our report, on the other hand, illustrates the educational advantage bestowed by access to computers. The evidence indicates that the level of computer propagation in a country is strongly associated with its students' scores on the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), a standardized international test. The Problem: How to Educate a Planet Education researchers, government officials, and the international development community often have different ideas about the best approach to improving educational attainment across the globe. Two prominent contemporary approaches to improving education in developing countries are the United Nations Development Programme's (UNDP) longstanding goal of establishing universal primary education (UPE) and Nicholas Negroponte's more recent and equally controversial One Laptop per Child (OLPC) program. These programs represent two very different approaches to improving education. The UPE approach is traditional and straightforward; its goal is to place more youth into classrooms. The other approach--giving students special laptops--is high-tech and experimental. Among educators, comparing UPE and OLPC has sparked intense debate over the fundamental efficacy of their two distinct approaches to education. Critics of the UPE program have argued that its goal is unrealistic and inefficient; they propose that adolescent and adult education is a more cost-effective way of improving functional education in developing countries. Advocates of UPE counter that many of today's prospering "middle income" countries, such as China, Chile, Singapore, and Uruguay, were once poor countries that made strong commitments to universal primary education. In other words, nothing else has yet been proven as effective as UPE, and it is the necessary standard against which other approaches must measure. The OLPC program also has many critics. They argue, for example, that building schools and libraries should be a bigger priority than providing computers. Negroponte and other advocates of the OLPC program have countered that the XO-1 machine, the centerpiece of the OLPC program, is specifically designed to operate effectively even in places where there are no classrooms. For example, the XO-1's screen is clearly visible even in bright sunlight, and the XO-1 is roughly 25 times more energy efficient than traditional laptops. Other critics have argued that despite OLPC's best intentions, the laptops will end up on the black market while poor children continue to go without pencils or paper. It appears to be too early to assess the gravity of this second problem. Policymakers trying to assess the relative value of programs such as UPE and the OLPC need to understand the social, physical, and economic forces that fuel educational attainment. Designing better educational systems requires identifying the variables associated with exemplary educational performance. Predictors of Educational Attainment In 2006, the OECD administered the third PISA assessment across 57 countries that spanned the range of different levels of socioeconomic development. PISA scores are based on tests of reading, mathematics, and science, with emphasis on both abstract knowledge and real-world application. …


Copper grounding has a detrimental effect on the cathodic protection (CP) of interconnected underground carbon steel piping. The copper can consume large amounts of protective current as well as introduce significant measurement errors when verifying the protection level of the piping. This article examines the interactions between copper grounding and pipeline systems, as well as a cost-effective solution to the problem. An actual case study is presented confirming that silicon iron can be used to replace copper electrodes, resulting in effective electrical grounding with minimal impact on CP systems.


Decadal long simulations of atmospheric circulation in the high latitudes have been carried out using a multiscale atmospheric modeling system that consists of MGO global and regional atmospheric models with respective resolutions of 200, 50 and 25 km in the horizontal. The detailed analysis of extratropical cyclone activity including activity of polar mesocyclones has been conducted for the winter season using an advanced cyclone identification and tracking scheme. To enhance the applicability of high-resolution regional atmospheric modeling in the context of detailed general atmospheric circulation analysis, an end-to-end approach for cyclone trajectory calculation on a unified global and regional grid has been proposed. It has been shown that increasing modeling resolution in the high latitudes allows one to more realistically simulate the activity of baroclinic waves and the thermal regime of the Arctic troposphere. The statistical structure of cyclonic activity has been investigated depending on the spatial resolution of the modeling system and compared with that in the reanalyses and satellite-derived analyses. The performance of the atmospheric models in the simulation of extreme cyclones is evaluated.


With a vote share of just 20.5 percent, the Social Democrats' (SPD)
2017 Bundestag election result was a disaster. Despite initially deciding not to
continue the Grand Coalition (GroKo), when negotiations on forming a
Jamaica coalition failed, the Social Democrats found themselves back in coalition
talks they never wanted. Although a strong minority of party members
remained opposed, in the end the coalition agreement proved to be the best
strategic alternative and is a Social Democratic success, especially concerning
the level of social expenditures. In light of the election outcome, the success
of the new GroKo is highly important for the coalition parties, as well as for
Germany and its people.


Ocular traumata are relevant sight threatening incidents [1]. Males are more often involved than females as well as rural dwellers more often than urban inhabitants [2]. Most accidents occur at work (60 %) followed by accidents at home (24 %) [2].
Risk factors for a poor visual outcome are rupture of the globe, scleral wound extending further than 5 mm posterior to the limbus, scleral wound of equal or more than 10 mm, ciliary body damage, severe intraocular hemorrhages and choroidal damage (i. e. choroidal laceration, choroidal detachment, choroidal rupture, choroidal incarceration, and choroidal defect), closed funnel retinal detachment or extraocular retinal prolapse [3].
A consistent terminology and a precise trauma classification are indispensible to ensure optimal trauma management. Commonly used are the Birmingham-Eye-Trauma-Terminology (BETT, [Fig. 1]) [4][5] and the Ocular-Trauma-Score (OTS) [5][6][7][8].


It is a well known experimental fact that the undulation such as sand-ripples or antidunes are formed on the bed surface composed of fine sand, corresponding to the flow characteristics of open channel flow.O In this case, as the mechanical effects of the bed undulationes stated above, a kind of periodic motion is superposed on the flow, and accordingly the water surface undulates periodically. On the other hand, the mechanical effects of this surface undulationes are surperposed on these undulating bed surfaces as another kind of periodic motion. The wave generated in open sea propagates upstream through an estuary. Accordingly the incoming wave is superposed on the flow stated above as a forced oscillation. Both of these phenomena are in the coexistence system of flow and waves in the open channel flow. In this paper, as the first step to study the subjects stated above, the author treats the problem of the coexistence system in the case when the forced oscillation of water surface is superposed on the open channel flow with fixed bed, and analyzes theoretically and experimentally the mechanical properties of the reciprocal action between flow and waves.


Reinforced concrete slabs without shear reinforcement under concentrated loads near linear supports are typical cases of bridge deck slabs, transfer slabs or pile caps. Such members are often designed or assessed in shear/punching shear with code provisions calibrated on the basis of tests on beams or one-way slabs loaded over the full width, as well as tests on isolated flat slab elements supported on columns in axis-symmetric conditions. However, these tests are not representative of the actual behavior of slabs under concentrated loads near linear supports. Moreover, concentrated loads of heavy vehicles have a repetitive nature, causing loss of stiffness and potential strength reductions due to fatigue phenomena. In this thesis, two experimental campaigns are presented. The first one consists of twelve static tests on six full-scale cantilever slabs subjected to a concentrated load with a central line support, that allows tracing the linear reaction evolution. Parameters such as the location of the concentrated load, and the presence, material and injection of ducts were varied. All slabs failed in shear and significant redistributions of the linear reactions were observed prior to failure. The second campaign has a similar test setup and consists of four static tests on two full-scale cantilever slabs (reference tests) and other eleven fatigue tests on eight identical slabs. The results show that cantilever slabs are significantly less sensitive to shear-fatigue failures than beams without shear reinforcement. The static reference tests presented shear failures. Some of the fatigue tested slabs failed due to rebar fractures. They presented significant remaining life after the first rebar failure occurred and eventually failed due to shear. The shear failures exhibited by the static tests on cantilever slabs from this thesis and others from the literature can be reasonably predicted with the Critical Shear Crack Theory (CSCT), provided that the influence of direct load strutting and redistribution of internal forces is accounted for, and that no contribution due to the inclination of tapered members to shear transferring is considered. Simply supported slabs under concentrated loads near linear supports may exhibit shear or punching shear failures. Factors like the ratio between the dimension of the load parallel to the support and the slab width, or the type of loading (monolithic or not) seem to be crucial to determine the failure mode. In this thesis it is proposed to use the CSCT for both shear and non-axis-symmetric punching shear combined with certain proposals on how to determine the internal forces and punching perimeter lengths to assess tests from the literature. The proposed approaches are not fully capable of predicting the correct failure mode, but allow a safe design. A reasonable accuracy is obtained, either knowing or not a priori the correct failure mode. A consistent design approach for shear-fatigue failures of reinforced concrete members without shear reinforcement is also presented, based on FM applied to quasi-brittle materials in combination with the CSCT. This leads to simple, yet sound and rational design equation incorporating the different influences of fatigue actions (minimum and maximum load levels) and shear strength (size and strain effects, material and geometrical properties). The accuracy of the design expression is checked against available test data in terms of Wohler (S-N) and Goodman diagram


By 2015, approximately half of adults with HIV in the United States will be 50 and older. The demographic changes in this population due to successful treatment represent a unique challenge, not only in assisting these individuals to cope with their illness, but also in helping them to age successfully with this disease. Religious involvement and spirituality have been observed to promote successful aging in the general population and help those with HIV cope with their disease, yet little is known about how these resources may affect aging with HIV. Also, inherent barriers such as HIV stigma and ageism may prevent people from benefitting from religious and spiritual sources of solace as they age with HIV. In this paper, we present a model of barriers to successful aging with HIV, along with a discussion of how spirituality and religiousness may help people overcome these barriers. From this synthesis, implications for practice and research to improve the quality of life of this aging population are provided.


Sculpture in Woodland was formed in 1994 to help establish a wood culture in Ireland, by creating a greater awareness of wood as an artistic and functional medium. The main aim of the project is to provide artists with a vibrant natural environment along with the resources and support needed to create and exhibit work of artistic excellence. Located in the Devil's Glen Wood near Ashford, Co. Wicklow, the project has attracted the best of contemporary Irish and overseas sculptors. Artists have been invited in the past to respond to the woods, as has happened in Castlewellan in Co. Down and Hazelwood, Co. Sligo. Sculpture in Woodland is, however, the first project structured in such a way as to build up a major collection of contemporary sculpture over a period of time. Sculpture in Woodland began as a collaboration between artist and forester, and has since broadened to include educational bodies, arts organisations, state agencies, corporations, local authorities and the community. While the project is international in its approach to commissioning works, it places strong emphasis on community involvement. Sculpture in Woodland creates a strong sense of place within this important local amenity, with the artists' response respecting the genius loci the area evokes. The committee is voluntary and includes a broad cross-section of people, companies and organisations from the arts, business and local communities. In 1995, Coillte generously presented the project with 600 acres of woodland in the Devil's Glen. Wicklow County Council provided the initial funding to establish the project, and was later joined by the Arts Council and a number of local and corporate organisations...


Commercial sawdust is the most common wood filler used for polyster thermosetting and is produced from graduated particles of different sizes which has in general has a lower aspect ratio than wood and other natural fibers. Wood additives include a mixture of sawdust and short chopped fibers. To study how characteristics of fibers and sawdust influence the mechanical properties of unsaturated polyester composites .Investigations were made by studying the effects of different volumetric fractions from sawdust and fiber fillers (up to limit of 1.4mm), then these results were compared with the properties of sawdust –fiber filled composites immersed for different periods in a salt solution of (2 N) . wood volume fractions {(20, 30, 50) vf %} selected to be added for un saturated polyester were studied which gave improvement in their selected studied mechanical properties for all reinforced composites -(only impact is decreased)- and particularly at higher values of volume fractions ,were hardness showed an improvement by (15% ) , compressive strength gave obvious Improvement by (38% ) ,while impact resistance decreased by (16%) with the reinforcement of (50 vf %) sawdust . The above values were reduced when the items were immersed in asalt solution for (60days).


We construct a biologically motivated stochastic differential model of the neural and hemodynamic activity underlying the observed Blood Oxygen Level Dependent (BOLD) signal in Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI). The model poses a difficult parameter estimation problem, both theoretically due to the nonlinearity and divergence of the differential system, and computationally due to its time and space complexity. We adapt a particle filter and smoother to the task, and discuss some of the practical approaches used to tackle the difficulties, including use of sparse matrices and parallelisation. Results demonstrate the tractability of the approach in its application to an effective connectivity study.


Global demand for energy is rising steeply because of escalating energy consumption coupled with depleting conventional petroleum reserves. To address this challenge, heavy oil has been considered as a strategic petroleum resource that can be produced intensively to supplement the global supply of conventional hydrocarbons. In recent years, thermal-based techniques, such as cyclic steam stimulation (CSS) and steam assisted gravity drainage (SAGD), have traditionally been used to enhance heavy oil recovery. However, due to shallow pay zones in heavy oil reserves, wellbore heat losses can become excessive, making the process ineffective and uneconomical. For in-situ combustion, high-temperature oxidation reaction model is very challenging to maintain; which inevitably leads to low-temperature oxidation and consequently poor oil recovery. Another method considered for the heavy oil-Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR) process is chemical flooding. However, the formation of brine with high salinity and divalent ions leads to process inefficiencies.
In this study, experimental techniques have been developed to examine the effect of perforation diameter and CO2 bubble size distribution on the viscosity and recovery of heavy oil during Enhanced Oil Recovery process. To conduct the investigation, an experimental rig was constructed to simulate the flow of CO2 in heavy oil. The oil viscosity, CO2 bubble sizes were measured at different pipe perforation diameters and constant CO2 injection pressure. Also, core flooding experiments were conducted on two reservoir models using a core holder modified to incorporate different perforated seals for the CO2 flooding experiment.
Findings from the first experiment showed a 28% reduction in the dynamic viscosity of the heavy oil when CO2 was injected at a 2.2 bar gauge pressure through a perforation of 0.5 mm in diameter. However, when the seal was replaced with 3 mm centrally perforated seal, the percentage reduction in the dynamic viscosity obtained at 2.2 bar was 5%. In all cases of perforation diameter investigated, the results indicate a direct variation between the perforation diameter and the dynamic viscosity of the heavy oil. In addition, it was observed that the concentration of the CO2 microbubbles in the range of 1-100 µm varied directly with the perforation diameter but inversely with the oil viscosity. In the core flooding experiments, oil recovery improved by 24.5% by changing the perforation diameter to 0.5 from 3.0 mm in the homogeneous model. For the heterogeneous model, the improvement was 16 %. The amount of CO2 utilised in both models also dropped as the perforation diameter was reduced.
An economic analysis of a heavy oil recovery process was conducted using the perforation reduction method typified in this study. The analysis aimed to ascertain the economic viability of the proposed method. Parameters from a heavy oil field were used for the simulation of a model to generate a five-year production data. Two projects were used for the analysis: A and B. Project A represents the heavy oil recovery process without any reduction of the well casing perforation diameter, while project B denotes the recovery process with the reduction of perforation diameter by a factor of six as demonstrated in this study. In both cases, the net present value at a discount rate of 5% and 10% were computed to ascertain their viability. In addition, the payback period for the both viable projects were determined.
Findings from the economic analysis indicated that projects A and B were viable at 5% discount rate with A generating a net present value of 0.1 million US dollars as against B that made 4 million US dollars in five years. At 10% discount rate, only project B was viable, recording a net present value of 3.2 US million dollars. The discounted payback period for project A and B were 2 years, 5 months and 1 year, 2 months respectively. The implication of the different period is that heavy oil production using the reduced perforation diameter (project B) would recover its initial investment in half the time it would take project A.
Finally, the results from both the experimental study and economic analyses show that heavy oil recovery process in sandstone reservoirs can be significantly improved by the application of well completion with smaller perforation diameter.