Dedicating two lanes and passenger platforms to transit typically requires taking the same space away from general use. This may affect public support. This paper proposes efficient geometric configurations for a two-dedicated-lane BRT or light rail system that requires a minimum amount of right-of-way along a busy commute arterial. In many current busy commute corridors, a significant part of the street median is underused or unused for traffic purposes. The efficiency is achieved mainly by using the street median between a left-turn lane and its counterpart located at the intersection on the other end of the same street section and slanting part of the two dedicated lanes with respect to the longitudinal direction of the street. Instead of the three-lane or even four-lane conversion required of the prevailing configurations, the proposed configurations require conversion of only two lanes from general use, even for a section equipped with passenger platforms.


Introduces a methodology that will allow robots to execute tasks autonomously and with a high degree of success. Taking as an example the mobility of a robot without collision in a dynamic environment, a task-level feedback control system is proposed. The key idea is to incorporate the real-time recognition and motion planning functions into the task control loop. For real-time recognition of the environment, mark-based vision is used. In addition, algorithm to do a global motion planning in the environment where movable obstacles exist is proposed. By integrating the real-time recognition and motion planning, we succeed in forming a control loop, for a robust and deadlock free navigation.


Sebum production is thought to play a major role in acne vulgaris in adolescents. Psychological stress may exacerbate acne; however, it is not known whether the perceived association between stress and acne exacerbation is due to increased sebum production. The aims of this study were to determine: (i) if psychological stress in adolescents is associated with increased sebum production; and (ii) if stress is associated with increased acne severity independent of, or in conjunction with, increased sebum production. Ninety-four secondary school students in Singapore (mean age 14.9 years) were enrolled in this prospective cohort study. During a high stress condition (prior to mid-year examinations) and a low stress condition (during the summer holidays), the following were evaluated: (i) self-reported stress level using the Perceived Stress Scale; (ii) sebum level at baseline and at 1 h; and (iii) acne severity. The prevalence of self-reported acne in this study population was high (95% in males and 92% in females). Most subjects had mild to moderate acne. Sebum measurements did not differ significantly between the high stress and low stress conditions. For the study population as a whole, we observed a statistically significant positive correlation (r=0.23, p=0.029) between stress levels and severity of acne papulopustulosa. In adolescents, psychological stress does not appear to affect the quantity of sebum production. The study suggests a significant association between stress and severity of acne papulopustulosa, especially in males. Increased acne severity associated with stress may result from factors other than sebum quantity.


We present the first section of a radio continuum and polarization survey at medium Galactic latitudes carried out with the Effelsberg 100-m telescope at 1.4 GHz. Four large fields have been observed, which all together cover an area of about . The rms-sensitivity is about 15 mK T B (about 7 mJy/beam area) in total intensity and is limited by confusion. A sensitivity of 8 mK T B is obtained in linear polarization. The angular resolution of the observations is 9 l35. The maps in total intensity and linear polarization have been absolutely calibrated by low resolution data where ava ilable. Significant linear polarization is seen in all the maps. In general, the intensity fluctuations measured in linear polarization are not correlated with total intensity structures. Areas of high polarization of some degrees extent are seen, again with no apparent corresponding total intensity feature. Modulation of polarized background emission by spatially varying Faraday rotation seems the most likely explanation. Quite unexpected is the detection of filamentary and ring-like depolarization structures in the direction of the anticentre region, whose extents are up to about .


Although much has been written about the Old Northwest, "The Boundaries Between Us" fills a void in this historical literature by examining the interaction between Euro-Americans and native peoples, and their struggles to gain control of the region and its vast resources. Comprised of twelve original essays, "The Boundaries Between Us" formulates a comprehensive perspective on the history and significance of the contest for control of the Old Northwest. The essays examine the sociocultural contexts in which natives and newcomers lived, traded, negotiated, interacted, and fought, delineating the articulations of power and possibility, difference and identity, violence and war that shaped the struggle. The essays do not attempt to present a unified interpretation but, rather, focus on both specific and general topics, revisit and reinterpret well-known events, and underscore how cultural, political, and ideological antagonisms divided the native inhabitants from the newcomers. Together, these thoughtful analyses offer a broad historical perspective on nearly a century of contact, interaction, conflict, and displacement. This volume promises to be of great importance to unfolding discussions in the history of early America, the frontier, and cultural interaction.


Dyadic interviews are an approach to qualitative data collection designed to understand the meaning pairs of individuals make from experiences. The greatest benefit of dyadic interviews, and perhaps a reason for their gaining momentum in the literature, is that they encourage participants to interact, resulting in detailed and complex descriptions of phenomena. However, dyadic interviews pose challenges to qualitative researchers. Researchers must figure out how to account for the presence of two interviewees, any differences in perspective, and interactions. Unfortunately, no known study demonstrates how the interactions of dyadic interviews can be analyzed in accordance with a methodological approach. Rather, researchers tend to observe pre-existing methods without direct mention of modification for conducting and analyzing dyadic interviews. Thus, the degree to which participant interactions are being analyzed in current studies remains unknown. In the following paper, we use Giorgi's (2009) descriptive psychological phenomenology as an exemplar for how dyadic interviews may be applied to qualitative investigations. The theoretical fit of dyadic interviews with Giorgi's approach, proposed modifications, and their limitations, are discussed.


The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) experiments at CERN result in vast amounts of data which are interesting for researchers around the world. For transporting the data to 11 data distribution centers, an optical private network (OPN) has been constructed as the result of a collaboration of several academic networks. The multi-domain nature of this collaboration poses new challenges, in particular to network monitoring. This has been addressed by adopting the multi-domain tool set perfSONAR. In the implemented solution, the network users can access network monitoring information from various measurement points through the LHCOPN Weathermap visualisation tool. This paper details the tool itself and its operation within the LHCOPN using perfSONAR tools. It serves as a blueprint for the support of future data-intensive large-scale projects.


Dozens of markets of all types are in the early stages of a revolution as the Internet and related technologies vastly expand the variety of products that can be produced, promoted and purchased. Although this revolution is based on a simple set of economic and technological drivers, the authors argue that its implications are far-reaching for managers, consumers and the economy as a whole. This article looks at what has been dubbed the "Long Tail" phenomenon, examining how customers derive value from an important characteristic of Internet markets: the ability of online merchants to help consumers locate, evaluate and purchase a far wider range of products than they can typically buy via the traditional brick-and-mortar channels. The article examines the Long Tail from both the supply side and the demand side and identifies several key drivers. On the supply side, the authors point out how e-tailers' expanded, centralized warehousing allows for more offerings, thus making it possible for them to cater to more varied tastes. On the demand side, tools such as search engines, recommender software and sampling tools are allowing customers to find products outside of their geographic area. The authors also look toward the future to discuss second order amplified effects of Long Tail, including the growth of markets serving smaller niches.


Successful reproduction of all sexually reproducing organisms mainly depends on the viability of the oocyte. The making of the oocyte is regulated at multiple level to ensure its quality where it carries the information from mother to the next generation. During oogenesis, apart from meiotic maturation cytoplasm also changes dynamically. The cellular transport pathways play an essential role in importing molecules from the mother and positioning them, which creates the polarity, axis and germplasm for future embryo. Vesicle trafficking is a vital transport process in all cells to import and deliver molecules to interact with the surrounding environment. This cellular mechanism is necessary for many biological processes like signal transduction, cytokinesis, polarity and lysosomal degradation. The discovery of many regulators (Rabs and SNAREs) in unicellular organisms showed the requirement of tight regulation in vesicle fission and fusion process. However, a forward genetic screen for yolk endocytosis in C.elegans discovered many novel regulators and a novel compartment, which are specific to multi-cellular organisms suggesting the presence of more complex regulation in vertebrates. Hence, finding new regulators are necessary to understand the process in vertebrates.
We aimed at identifying novel, vertebrate regulators of oogenesis in zebrafish oocytes using a maternal-effect mutagenesis screen. We isolated a group of mutants, which lays opaque rather than transparent embryos. One of the mutants named souffle (suf) has been mapped to a FYVE- Zinc finger protein by positional cloning. This FYVE domain binds to PI3P lipids, which are predominantly found on endosomal membranes. Biochemical analysis revealed that these mutants have a defect in yolk cleavage during oocyte maturation, which leads to the observed opaqueness (Dosch et al., 2004). Furthermore, electron microscopy analysis revealed that suf accumulates smaller endosomes, whereas in wild types they mature into functional yolk globules in the oocyte. These preliminary results raised the question that how does souffle regulate trafficking during oogenesis and what is the molecular mechanism behind the defect in suf mutant. Endosomal analysis showed accumulation of Rab11 and fragmented lysosome. In-vivo trafficking assay showed no defect in endocytosis and endosomal recycling. Rab11 localizes to secretory granule and suf mutant accumulates immature secretory granule (ISG). In-vivo assay showed that suf fail to elevate the chorion after fertilization indicating a defect in exocytosis of dense core vesicle (DCV). Further analysis showed that suf mutant accumulate secretory granule without dense core resulted from defective sorting and vesicle fission from ISG. Surprisingly, we discovered the vesicle in cortical region with
Abstract
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many clathrin buds without fission accumulating in suf mutant using electron microscopy, consistent with accumulation of ISG marker VAMP4. Remarkably, chemical inhibition of dynamin function in the wild-type egg mimics suf mutant phenotype in cellular level and failed in chorion elevation. In addition, mis-organised F-actin showed the failure in exocytosis of vesicle. Rescue analysis with mutant construct showed that suf allele is a hypo morph. These results show that suf is necessary for sorting and fission during DCV formation.
Sorting from ISG during DCV formation is also necessary for lysosomal biogenesis. We found that suf mutant lysosome did not receive cathepsin B, F and L, yolk-degrading proteases, explaining the opaque phenotype. Furthermore, vATPase subunit d1 is also missing in the vesicle of suf mutant oocytes. Analysis of lysosomal sorting receptors and adaptor revealed that suf mutant does not have a defect in M6PR and sortilin mediated pathway, but they show reduced LAMP carrier intermediate mediated by VPS41 and AP3. In addition, AP3 positive vesicles are reduced while AP3 accumulates more on secretory granule consistent with reduced VPS41 recruitment on secretory granule. VPS41-AP3 mediated lysosomal transport carries lysosomal enzymes, SNAREs and other membrane proteins. The VPS41 and AP3 mutant phenotype explains the reason for fragmented lysosome and failure in DCV formation phenotype in suf mutant. Bioinformatics prediction shows that suf has a clathrin heavy chain domain, which can form clathrin like coat like in VPS41. Suf interaction with AP5 further suggesting that suf may work as a coat protein like VPS41 for lysosomal transport. We discovered a novel function for suf in sorting of lysosomal cargo sorting from ISG results in successful DCV formation and lysosomal function, in the absence of suf both lysosome and DCV formation is affected.
Interestingly, souffle mutation has been identified to cause progressive motor neuro-degeneration in human. This defect in DCV formation could be one reason for why the long motor neuron loses its connection and causes spasticity, since DCV is necessary for long-term potentiation. Hence, souffle mutant egg is an excellent model to study the molecular mechanism and disease pathology.


1Malaysia concept is a vision to create a harmonious Malaysian society, which is vital for Malaysia to attain a successful and developed country status. The concept stresses on the acceptance and inclusion of other cultures within the Malaysian realm and unity is vital for a country with plural society like Malaysia. Prime Minister Mohd Najib Tun Razak asserted that the 1Malaysia concept is unique as it celebrates the diversity of cultures grounded within a unique potpourri of living patterns that is steeped in traditions yet able to accommodate and withstand the winds of change without losing her local cultural balance. Siapera (2010) opined that it is without doubt that the media is an important tool which ensures diverse cultures in a country are equally represented without neglecting the universal and common values practised by everyone. The 1Malaysia concept places importance on both celebrating the diversity of cultures and inculcating common values amongst its citizen. This is where mass media, especially television, can play a big role. Syed Hussin (2008: 171) commented that mass communication has not been used to its full effect to promote a better understanding of people of different cultures and values. How true is this notion? This paper will shed some light into these issues: how the culturally diverse society and the concept of 1Malaysia are being represented on television and how audiences make meanings from these representations. The methodology employed in this research is twofold, comprising content analysis and focus group discussion. The objective of content analysis is to analyse how the concept of 1Malaysia is being represented on local television programmes. The focus group discussion, meanwhile, discovers how adolescents negotiate the television text in the process of understanding the 1Malaysia concept.


Body sensor networking is a rapidly growing technology. Today wearable sensors are used to measure and monitor e.g. pulse, temperature, skin conductance, heart activity, and movement (through GPS or inertial measurement units). Mobile phones can act as coordinating nodes in wireless personal area networks used in home automation, healthcare, sport and wellness e.g. to measure pulse and distance. Integration of data from multiple sources sensors (data fusion) means that data from each sensor node needs to be associated with data from other sensor nodes sampled at approximately the same time. Accurate methods for time synchronization are therefore a necessary prerequisite for reliable data fusion.This thesis studies time synchronization problems in Bluetooth piconets between multiple wireless sensor nodes connected to a mobile phone that acts as coordinating node. Three different algorithms to enable correct data fusion have been developed, implemented and evaluated. The first is a single clock solution that synchronizes multiple wireless sensor nodes based solely on the mobile phone's clock. The other two algorithms synchronize the clocks in sensor nodes to the clock in the coordinating node.


The report from the Organ Donation Taskforce looking at the potential impact of an opt-out system for deceased donor organ donation in the UK, published in November 2008, is probably the most comprehensive and systematic inquiry to date into the issues and considerations which might affect the availability of deceased donor organs for clinical transplantation. By the end of a thorough and transparent process, a clear consensus was reached. The taskforce rejected the idea of an opt-out system. In this article we acknowledge the life saving potential of organ transplants and seek to highlight the difficulties that arise when the issue of organ shortage competes with concerns over choice and authorisation in the context of deceased donor organ donation.


Objective. To evaluate the role played by anakinra in the treatment of patients with severe COVID-19 who fail to "accepted" standard of care and tocilizumab.Methods. We conducted a retrospective cohort study assessed in Althaia Health Network University and Vall d'Hebrón University Hospital, in Barcelona, Spain. We included patients with confirmed RT-PCR for SARS-CoV-2, moderate-to-severe acute respiratory distress syndrome [PaO2:FiO2] (PAFI) ≤200 mmHg, and hyperinflammation. All of them were primarily managed with non-invasive ventilation outside of the ICU and received standard of care with hydroxychloroquine, lopinavir/ritonavir, azithromycin, and enoxaparin supplemented with tocilizumab. These patients received an additional administration of 100 mg subcutaneous anakinra twice a day (low-dose) or every 6-8 hours (medium-dose). Mechanical ventilation-free survival, ICU admission, respiratory function changes (PAFI), inflammatory markers, and survival were analyzed.Results. Clinical and respiratory improvements were already present at 48 hours post-anakinra. PAFI increased 105.2% at 48 hours over anakinra administration and 166.9% at day 7. Respiratory function improvement was significant at day 7 (p<0.0001) with 10/12 (83%) responders having a PAFI ≥ 200 mm Hg. Despite of this improvement, inflammatory markers lasted to decrease. Two patients required ICU and temporary mechanical ventilation. No patients died and no adverse effects related to anakinra appeared. Short-time follow-up showed no relapses.Conclusions. In severe ARDS related to SARS-CoV-2 refractory to standard of care plus tocilizumab, low-to-moderate doses of anakinra as a rescue therapy showed effectiveness and safety, avoiding mechanical ventilation and deaths.


The constitutional law of abortion stands on the untenable assumption that any state's abortion regulations impact citizens of that state alone. On this understanding, the state's boundaries demarcate the terrain on which women's right to abortion clashes with state power to regulate that right. This Article uncovers a previously unnoticed horizontal dimension of abortion regulation: the medical-malpractice penalties imposed upon doctors for failing to inform patients about abortion risks; the states' power to define those risks, along with doctors' informed-consent obligations and penalties; and, critically, the possibility that such standards might cross state lines. Planned Parenthood v. Casey and other decisions that have approved abortion-specific informed-consent requirements have failed to account for this interstate dynamic.In recent years, fourteen states, led by South Dakota, have enacted statutes that direct doctors to warn patients, as part of an informed-consent dialogue, that abortion might cause depression and even suicide ideation and actual suicide. Although there is broad medical consensus that such warnings are unnecessary, courts have nonetheless concluded that the Supreme Court's Casey decision shields them from constitutional challenge. This may have implications not just in the states that mandate such warnings, but nationwide. Because doctors' informed-consent obligations incorporate medical information and practices from other jurisdictions, a doctor's failure to warn a patient about post-abortion depression may expose her to liability for medical malpractice — even where her own state does not mandate such a warning statutorily. Eliminating this risk by warning a patient that abortion might lead to depression costs the doctor much less than the penalties she might incur for withholding that information. This dynamic — which we term the "South Dakota effect" — threatens to transform informed-consent practices across the country, with profound consequences for women's willingness to elect abortion and for the experiences of women who choose to go forward with abortion procedures. More broadly, it highlights the need to rethink the abortion-federalism nexus.


Although subsurface drip (SSD) is used as a water-efficient alternative to overhead irrigation in many crops, the effects of SSD on the distribution of bolls on cotton plants (Gossypium hirsutum L.) have not been thoroughly examined. The purpose of this study was to add to the current knowledge about the effects of SSD on cotton yield dynamics. Cultivar DP 488 BG/RR was grown in three studies during 2 yr with irrigation treatments consisting of overhead irrigation (Overhead), a nonirrigated control (Nonirrigated), SSD matched to overhead irrigation amounts and frequency (SSD Matched), and SSD based on soil moisture (SSD Fed) irrigated cotton. The cotton was grown in two locations in 2004 and one location in 2005 in Georgia. Crop height, maturity, and soil moisture status were monitored throughout the growing season in each location. At harvest, a subplot consisting of one harvest row measuring 3 m in length was removed from each plot and handpicked to determine cotton boll distribution in each plot. Irrigation method had a significant impact on boll distribution on the plants, with the overhead irrigation treatment consistently having less cotton near the bottom of the plant and more cotton near the top than either of the SSD methods. We conclude that SSD irrigation decreases early-season fruit loss, resulting in heavier carbohydrate sinks and decreasing overall growth and upper boll filling on the crop.


Three different cathodes such as LiMn204, LiCo02 and Li2NigOlO were
synthesized by the sol-gel technique The said materials at low temperature were
achieved through the low temperature technique The X-ray diffraction study of the
compounds confirmed the formation of single-phase compound at higher calcination
temperature At low temperatures the X-ray diffractogram of the samples showed
the presence of low intensity diffraction lines with weak impurities indicating the
existence of crystallinity but these were not indexed to any kind of impurities of
LiMn20-+ LiCoOz and LizNisOlO The formation temperatures of the compounds
were analyzed using DTA. The DTA studies showed clearly the lowest formation
temperature and this formation temperature depends upon the gelating agent used 111
the present study The lowest formation temperatures recorded were 208°C for
LiMn20-+, 201°C for LiCo02 and 214°C for LjzNisOlO The thermogravimetric analysis showed that the compounds were stable up
to 800 °c The EDAX analysis was performed for the compounds to identify the
purity of the compounds The EDAX spectrum showed that there was no impurity
pI esent in the compounds It ascertained the formation of single-phase compounds
by XRD Because of low atomic weight lithium could not be detected other than
that the EDAX showed the presence of the respective atoms The particle size
distribution of the compounds showed that the particles were distributed in large
volume The particle diameter increased with the increase of calcination
temperature Grinding reduced the large volume distribution and the particle
diameter After grinding by mortar and pestle hand grinder, the particle size was
reduced much and the distribution was narrowed down, thereby the surface area of
the particle was increased
The SEM analysis also confirmed the sub-micron size reduction and the
distribution was narrowed down, thereby the surface area of the particle was
increased The compounds were used as electrode materials for lithium ion
batteries The battery analysis showed that the capacities of the LiMn20, LiCo02
and Li2NisOIO were 10 mAh , 24 mAh and 5 mAh respectively


Recent advances in the suprathermal ion diagnostic in the basic plasma experiment TORPEX have inspired our comprehensive theoretical study of suprathermal ion transport. TORPEX, an example of a simple magnetized toroidal plasma (SMT), is equipped with a flexible fast ion source and detector capable of exploring fast ion dynamics in a wide range of positions and energies. We simulate an ensemble of ion tracer trajectories as specified by ideal interchange-mode turbulence imported from a validated numerical simulation based on the drift-reduced Braginskii model. Using the variance of displacements, $\sigma^2(t) \sim t^{\gamma}$, we find that $\gamma$ depends strongly on suprathermal ion injection energy and the magnitude of turbulent fluctuations. When the beam interacts with the turbulence, we find the remarkable presence of three regimes of dispersion: superdiffusive, diffusive, and subdiffusive, depending on the energy of the suprathermal ions and the amplitude of the turbulent fluctuations. Results from the source on TORPEX are consistent with the theoretical predictions.


This proceedings contains over 260 papers presented at the 23rd International Conference on Coastal Engineering which was held in Venice, Italy, October 4-9, 1992. The book is divided into seven parts: 1) Characteristics of coastal waves and currents; 2) long waves and storm surges; 3) coastal structures; 4) the Italian coast; 5) coastal processes and sediment transport; 6) coastal, estuarine and environmental problems; and 7) case studies. The individual papers include such topics as the effects of wind, waves, storms and currents as well as the study of sedimentation and beach nourishment. Special emphasis is given to case studies of completed engineering projects. With the inclusion of both theoretical and practical information, these papers provide the civil engineer and related fields with a broad range of information on coastal engineering.


Behavioral inhibition reflects a disposition to react warily to novel situations, and has been associated with atopic diseases such as asthma. Retrospective work established the relationship between behavioral inhibition in rhesus monkeys (Macaca mulatta) and airway hyperresponsiveness, but not atopy, and the suggestion was made that behavioral inhibition might index components of asthma that are not immune-related. In the present study, we prospectively examined the relationship between behavioral inhibition and airway hyperresponsiveness, and whether hormonal and immune measures often associated with asthma were associated with behavioral inhibition and/or airway hyperresponsiveness. In a sample of 49 yearling rhesus monkeys (mean = 1.25 years, n = 24 behaviorally inhibited animals), we measured in vitro cytokine levels (IL-4, IL-10, IL-12, IFN-γ) in response to stimulation, as well as peripheral blood cell percentages, cortisol levels, and percentage of regulatory T-cells (CD3+CD4+CD25+FOXP3+). Airway reactivity was assessed using an inhaled methacholine challenge. Bronchoalveolar lavage was performed and the proportion of immune cells was determined. Behaviorally inhibited monkeys had airway hyperresponsiveness as indicated by the methacholine challenge (p = 0.031), confirming our earlier retrospective result. Airway hyperresponsiveness was also associated with lower lymphocyte percentages in lavage fluid and marginally lower plasma cortisol concentrations. However, none of the tested measures was significantly related to both behavioral inhibition and airway hyperresponsiveness, and so could not mediate their relationship. Airway hyperresponsiveness is common to atopic and non-atopic asthma and behavioral inhibition has been related to altered autonomic activity in other studies. Our results suggest that behavioral inhibition might index an autonomically mediated reactive airway phenotype, and that a variety of stimuli (including inflammation within lung tissue that is not specifically associated with behavioral inhibition) may trigger the airways response.


Although the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure are trans-substantive, they have a greater detrimental effect on certain substantive claims. In particular, the Supreme Court's recent interpretation of Rule 8(a)(2)'s pleading requirement and Rule 12(b)(6)'s dismissal criteria - in Bell Atlantic v. Twombly and Ashcroft v. Iqbal - sets forth a plausibility pleading standard which makes it more difficult for potentially meritorious civil rights claims alleging intentional discrimination to survive dismissal. Such claims are more vulnerable to dismissal because: plaintiffs alleging intentional discrimination often plead facts consistent with both legal and illegal conduct; discriminatory intent is often difficult, if not impossible, to unearth pre-discovery because of informational inequities between the parties; and the plausibility standard's subjective nature fails to provide sufficient guidance to courts ruling on dismissal motions. This increased risk of dismissal threatens to undermine civil rights enforcement, compromise court access, and incentivize unethical conduct. In response to this risk, courts are empowered and encouraged to utilize narrow, targeted, pre-dismissal discovery to determine plausibility at the pleading stage ("plausibility discovery") so that the trans-substantive application of the Rules does not work an injustice against civil rights and other cases involving informational inequities. Courts should consider permitting some limited discovery towards the front of the litigation (front loading) for the purpose of determining a case's viability (heavy lifting). Courts already use early, targeted, pre-merits discovery to resolve threshold issues such as class certification, qualified immunity and jurisdiction. These models, while imperfect, illustrate how courts are willing and able to order clearly defined, narrow discovery to successfully resolve various preliminary litigation matters. Similarly, plausibility discovery is authorized and justified on policy grounds. This Article concludes with the types of arguments parties are likely to make post-Iqbal and a roadmap for how courts can order plausibility discovery while equitably balancing the parties' competing interests.


The most versatile application for digital phase locked loops is for clock generation and clock recovery in any complex computer architecture like a microprocessor or microcontroller, network processors. Digital Phase locked loops are commonly used to generate timing on chip clocks in high performance mixed signal analog and digital systems. Most of the systems employ digital PLL mainly for synchronization, skew and jitter optimization. Because of the need of high speed circuitry there is a need of PLL. Mostly communication, wireless systems, RF Processors operate in Gigahertz range, there is a necessity of PLL that too digital which operate in high order frequencies. Digital PLL is a mixed signal integrated circuit and presented work focuses on design and analysis of efficient digital phase locked loops for clock generation using 50nm SPICE models. The presented design Digital PLL performs the function of mainly generating a clock signal also consists of design of sub circuits and systems like phase detector, loop filters and voltage controlled oscillators. A detailed FFT analysis is also presented with parameters magnitude, phase and group delay calculated for each sub circuits and systems. The results of DPLL designed using proper optimization method is also compared with traditional method.


In this paper, we report on experimental and theoretical studies that investigate how the structural properties of plasmonic nanodome array devices determine their optical properties and sensing performance. We examined the effect of the interdome gap spacing within the plasmonic array structures on the performance for detection of change in local refractive index environment for label-free capture affinity biosensing applications. Optical sensing properties were characterized for nanodome array devices with interdome spacings of 14 nm, 40 nm, and 79 nm, as well as for a device where adjacent domes are in contact. For each interdome spacing, the extinction spectrum was measured using a broadband reflection instrumentation, and finite-difference-time-domain (FDTD) simulation was used to model the local electric field distribution associated with the resonances. Based on these studies, we predict that nanodome array devices with gap between 14 nm to 20 nm provide optimal label-free capture affinity biosensing performances, where the dipole resonance mode exhibits the highest overall surface sensitivity, as well as the lowest limit of detection.


When an application is part of the Microsoft Office suite, it's sure to be a leader in its field. In the realm of desktop database management, Access is top dog with millions of users. But this is one dog that can bite. Although Access is a powerful, relational tool with the fetching talents of a Labrador, it's not an easy beast to train. Still, millions of users count on Access for everything from managing parts databases to running Web catalogs to working as a front end to mondo SQL databases. But Access is chockablock with annoyances---report hassles, query conundrums, VBA bugs, arcane error messages, and more.O'Reilly's Annoyances series offer real-world help, right now, and Fixing Access Annoyances continues tradition. You'll not only squash bugs and workaround Access' limits, but you'll learn how to use Access to the max, whether you're a newbie or a seasoned pro. Coverage includes install/configuration annoyances, building better tables and queries, creating forms that work right, generating reliable and sophisticated reports, pulling in data from a variety of sources, crafting macros and VBA code to customize Access, and much more.You could grab those other books for help, but do they solve problems from page one? Meet a book of a different stripe. The authors come armed with knowledge of the program's quirks, design hurdles and interface snags. They provide you with battle plans in Fixing Access Annoyances to save you time and bouts of hair pulling.Stop information from spiraling out of control when working with Access and trying to make this #[email protected]@#$ thing work! Don't let its quirks, bugs, and troublemaking features beat you. Who you gonna call for help? Instead of waiting on the line for tech support or searching for the answer on the Internet with its too many resources to find exactly what you need, take control of databases with Fixing Access Annoyances, your partner on database adventures.


In radiative transfer simulations the simplification of cloud top structure by homogeneous assumptions can cause mistakes in comparison to realistic heterogeneous cloud top structures. This paper examines the influence of cloud top heterogeneity on the radiation at the top of the atmosphere. The use of cloud top measurements with a high temporal resolution allows the analysis of small spatial cloud top heterogeneities by using the frozen turbulence assumption for the time – space conversion. Radiative observations are often based on satellite measurements, whereas small spatial structures are not considered in such treatments. A spectral analysis of the cloud top measurements showed slopes of power spectra between –1.8 and –2.0, these values are larger than the spectra of –5/3 which is often applied to generate cloud field variability. The comparison of 3-D radiative transfer results from cloud fields with homogeneous and heterogeneous tops has been done for a single wavelength of 0.6 μm. The radiative transfer calculations result in lower albedos for heterogeneous cloud tops. The differences of albedos between heterogeneous and homogeneous cloud top decrease with increasing solar zenith angle. The influence of cloud top variability on radiances is shown. The reflectances for heterogeneous tops are explicitly larger in forward direction, in backward direction lower. The largest difference of the mean reflectances (mean over cloud field) between homogeneous and heterogeneous cloud top is approximately 0.3, which is 30% of illumination.


Abstract. We use the Lorenz Energy Cycle (LEC) to evaluate changes in global energetic activity due to CO2-doubling in the coupled atmosphere-ocean ECHAM5/MPI-OM model. Globally, the energetic activity – measured as the total conversion rate of available potential energy into kinetic energy – decreases by about 4 %. This weakening results from a dual response that consists of a strengthening of the LEC in the upper-troposphere and a weakening in the lower and middle troposphere. This is fully consistent with results from a coarser resolution version of the same coupled model. We further use our experiments to investigate the individual contributions of the transient and stationary eddy components to the main energetics response. The transient eddy terms have a larger contribution to the total energetic activity than the stationary ones. We find that this is also true in terms of their 2 × CO2-response. Changes in the transient eddy components determine the main energetics response, whereas the stationary eddy components have very small contributions. Hence, the dual response – strengthening in the upper troposphere and weakening below – concerns mainly the transient eddy terms. We can relate qualitatively this response to the two main features of the 2 × CO2 warming pattern: (a) the tropical upper-tropospheric warming increases the pole-to-equator temperature gradient – strengthening the energetic activity above – and enhances static stability – weakening the energetic activity below; and (b) the high-latitude surface warming decreases the pole-to-equator temperature gradient in the lower troposphere – weakening the energetic activity below. Despite the small contribution from the stationary eddies to the main energetics response, changes in stationary eddy available potential energy (Pse) reflect some features of the warming pattern: stronger land-sea contrasts at the subtropics and weaker land-sea contrasts at the high northern latitudes affect Pse regionally, but do not affect the global energetics response.


This essay explores how the large-scale video-installation art of Rafael Lozano-Hemmer uses the illusion of confrontation, contact, and interactivity to create what many spectators describe as an uncanny experience. Like Freud9s uncanny, Lozano-Hemmer9s work undermines stable subject positions and thus the possibility of the specific symbolic meaning for the installation. The ungrounding of subjectivity does not necessarily point to the subjects9 own absence or lack of wholeness, nor to its own possible obsolescence. Rather, it points to the disjuncture between recognizing and reacting to the fact that we are being followed (by images, interfaces, and tracking devices), and recognizing and reacting to the fact that these devices already anticipate our movements, desires, and trajectories. Lozano-Hemmer9s work asks about how surveillance systems, global capital, and digital technologies have reconfigured notions of embodiment and public space, and of the public itself.


Objectives Even though multiple sclerosis (MS) and HIV infection are well-documented conditions in clinical medicine, there is only a single case report of a patient with MS and HIV treated with HIV antiretroviral therapies. In this report, the patient's MS symptoms resolved completely after starting combination antiretroviral therapy and remain subsided for more than 12 years. Authors hypothesised that because the pathogenesis of MS has been linked to human endogenous retroviruses, antiretroviral therapy for HIV may be coincidentally treating or preventing progression of MS. This led researchers from Denmark to conduct an epidemiological study on the incidence of MS in a newly diagnosed HIV population (5018 HIV cases compared with 50 149 controls followed for 31 875 and 393 871 person-years, respectively). The incidence rate ratio for an HIV patient acquiring MS was low at 0.3 (95% CI 0.04 to 2.20) but did not reach statistical significance possibly due to the relatively small numbers in both groups. Our study was designed to further investigate the possible association between HIV and MS. Methods We conducted a comparative cohort study accessing one of the world's largest linked medical data sets with a cohort of 21 207 HIV-positive patients and 5 298 496 controls stratified by age, sex, year of first hospital admission, region of residence and socioeconomic status and 'followed up' by record linkage. Results Overall, the rate ratio of developing MS in people with HIV, relative to those without HIV, was 0.38 (95% CI 0.15 to 0.79). Conclusions HIV infection is associated with a significantly decreased risk of developing MS. Mechanisms of this observed possibly protective association may include immunosuppression induced by chronic HIV infection and antiretroviral medications.


We examine whether accounting for mutual fund families can help explain the performance of their mutual funds, and if so, how they succeed to affect the performance of the funds they manage. We hypothesize that larger families not only have the incentive to selectively push some of their funds, but also the means to do so. When restricting our sample to funds that belong to larger families, a portfolio of funds that longs the portfolio of the previous year's best performing funds and shorts the previous year's worst performing funds has a positive monthly alpha of 58 basis points. We also show that there exists persistence of performance of these funds inside their respective families. This persistence is directly related to the number of funds in the family which we interpret as a measure of the latitude the family has in allocating resources unevenly between its funds. Lastly, we show that indeed the better performing funds in a family have a higher probability of getting more managers, which are one of the main resources available. This seems to imply that families do not always allocate resources proportionally according to the funds' needs but in a way that allows the family to promote certain funds.


This article addresses memory studies from an educational perspective. In order to encourage pupils and students as independent agents in memory cultures they are part of, it is not enough to (as history education prescribes) learn history as a narrative about the past based on official sources or via the analyses of different uses of history. Rather, today history should also be considered as one of many different dynamic memory acts that define and redefine the past and the societies we live in. We therefore develop the concept of critical memory consciousness and argue for a memory pedagogy that gives learners the possibility to analyze memories that arise out of collective, cultural, and dialogic processes.


The overall purpose of this study is to develop a method for modeling physician knowledge. The obtained complication models of myocardial infarction according to its clinical expression were combinations the symptoms of four main symptom complexes. The clinical interpretation of prediction complication models of the myocardial infarction did not represent of particular difficulties for the physicians, as the models could be described by using common medical terms, that made their understanding easy. The prediction results served as a base for mathematical assessment of process gravity of myocardial infarction by computation of prediction gravity index (PGI) of the patient. By changing the value bounds of PGI, it is possible to form patient groups, which differ by the degree of risk of lethality – prediction gravity categories (PGC). In our forecasting model PGC is one of the final purposes of prediction, allowing the physician to select the tactics of treatment and physical patient rehabilitation with Q myocardial infarction.


Two deep ice cores had been drilled within the European Project for Ice Coring in Antarctica (EPICA). The first core from Dome C reached a depth of 3260 m covering a time period of about 800,000 years. The second core from Dronning Maud Land (DML), drilled at Kohnen-Station, reached 2774 m depth with an estimated age of approximately 300,000 years. Measurements of stable isotopes (oxygen-18, deuterium) reveal climatic variations over 8 glacial cycles. Synchronisation with the deep Greenland ice cores was possible by using the records of methane. A general correspondence was assessed between Dansgaard-Oeschger events in the North and their smoothed Antarctic counterparts, the so-called Antarctic Isotope Maxima (AIM). This was most evident in the DML ice core, as it shows an higher temporal resolution during the past 80,000 years than the Dome C ice core. However, such features with similar amplitude are also present in the deeper part of the Dome C ice core. It is likely that the interplay between obliquity and precession accounts for the variable intensity of interglacial periods in the ice-core records.


Article history: Received 1 January 2010 Received in revised form 8 June 2010 Accepted 9 June 2010 Available online 9 June 2010 This paper conducts a simulation study of the effects of violating the ANOVA normality assumption in the presence of Weibull data. Twelve specific Weibull distributions, characterizing the life data of a variety of real-world products and systems, are investigated. Confidence intervals on test significance and power are generated and compared against intervals from normally distributed data. The ANOVA procedure is found to be robust in the majority of cases. Furthermore, a designed experiment is conducted to isolate the effects of the Weibull shape and scale parameters within the preceding study. The shape parameter is found to have a significant effect on significance and power, whereas the scale parameter does not have a significant effect at the target α = 0.05 test significance level. © 2010 Growing Science Ltd. All rights reserved.


We use optical rectification and electro-optic sensing to generate and detect terahertz radiation, using individual and multilayered stacks of electro-optic polymer films. For comparable thickness, the polymer films are more efficient generators and detectors of terahertz radiation than ZnTe crystals.


"I want the book to succeed," Kate Chopin wrote in an 1894 diary entry about her f t short story collection, Bayou Folk. Five years later -- despite disappointing reviews of her novel, The Awakening -- she nonetheless queried her publisher, Herbert Stone, "What are the prospects for the book?"(1) Chopin's private and public writings confirm that she considered herself a professional writer. But her sense of herself as a woman writer, her comprehension of women's literary tradition, and her relationship with her literary foremothers -- that "d_____d mob of scribbling women" Hawthorne lamented in the 1850s -- are other, perhaps more interesting, questions.(2) In Private Woman Public Stage, Mary Kelley documents the publishing travails of mid-nineteenth-century scribbling women, the "literary domestics" whose professional identities were upstaged by "their primary self-identification as private domestic women."(3) And in Doing Literary Business, Susan Coultrap-McQuin finds that Chopin's literary foremothers, despite formidable success and devout career commitment, "still had to contend with limiting stereotypes of women."[4] Thus it seems surprising that Chopin, who inherited these stereotypes when she began writing in the 1890s, would also propagate them. In three career-spanning works -- "Miss Witherwell's Mistake," The Awakening, and "Elizabeth Stock's One Story" -- chopin satirizes women writers in ways that strongly imply she wished to dissociate herself from the traditional female litterateur."(5) These caricatures provide insight not only into Chopin's own career but also into the status of the female professional writer in late nineteenth-century America. Chopin specifically ridiculed women writers in only three works, but as Barbara Ewell notes, even her first novel At Fault (1890) managed to "manipulate effectively the techniques of romance [read women's popular fiction] to mock its conventions."(6) Elizabeth Ammons has proposed that Chopin belonged to a group of writers in the 1890s who desired to be "artists" as well as professionals. Breaking with the past, these women assailed "the territory of high art traditionally posted in Western culture as the exclusive property of privileged white men."[7] In light of this premise, Chopin seems less atypical in her censure of scribbling women. Willa Cather, for example, claimed she expected little of women writers until they could produce "a stout sea tale, a manly battle yam, anything without wine, women and love."(8) Ironically, Cather treated The Awakening to a similarly uncharitable review. Objecting to its "trite" retelling of Flaubert's Madame Bovary, Cather (in a revealing trope) compares Chopin's narrative decisions to a man acquiring a mate: "An author's choice of themes is frequently as inexplicable as his choice of a wife. It is governed by some innate temperamental bias that cannot be diagrammed. This is particularly so in women who write."[9] Cather's criticism, however, might be considered poetic justice, since Chopin had herself dunned her sister scribblers. Her first parody of the literary woman, "Miss Witherwell's Mistake," was completed in November 1889 at the beginning of her literary apprenticeship. Chopin's third published story, it appeared in February 1891 in the St. Louis magazine Fashion and Fancy.[10] Echoing the spirit of Hawthorne's oftquoted remark, "Miss Witherwell's Mistake" derides scribbling women's "trash" and mocks their female readers. The story recounts the career of Miss Frances Witherwell, an unmarried journalist of a seasoned age who contributes fiction and women's articles to a small-town newspaper, the "Boredomville Battery." Notwithstanding Chopin's gesture in christening her character "Wither-well," she also derides the female journalist's hackneyed production: flagrantly Southern "tale[s] of passion" and self-important essays like "The Wintering of Canaries," "Security Against the Moth" (CW, p. …


Information overload is a key issue of the current network information retrieval, and a personalized recommendation with special information filtering methods is an important way and means to solve this problem. Based on the analysis of the common methods used of personalized recommendation, the architectural design of the personalized recommendation is proposed on the cloud computing platform. Then, combined with the specific issues of employment recommendation, this article proposes an optimized algorithm of Mahout distributed personalized recommendation based on content and items. Compared with the current single target recommendation algorithm, this algorithm is more efficient with a good practical significance and reference value.


This thesis examines the development and implementation of Housing Action Trust (HAT) policy, with a particular emphasis on the theme of choice. When first announced, the Secretary of State for the Environment, Nick Ridley, argued that HATs would form the 'cutting edge' of the Government's urban regenerationin itiatives. In practice, as only six HATs were ever established, they became something much more marginal and experimental. HAT policy therefore represents a curious episode in the development of housing policy in England. The 1980s Conservative Government's political ideology had been particularly influenced by the New Right and their critique of the welfare state, which inter alia called for the removal of the local authority monopoly in the rented housing sector through the demunicipalisation of local authority housing. The first policy instrument to demunicipalise council housing was a statutory right-to-buy (RTB) for council tenants introduced in 1980. During the late 1980s, three further exit mechanisms were introduced: Tenants' Choice, HATs and voluntary transfers. Proposals for HATs were met with fierce opposition from the Labour party, local authorities and tenants. None of the first six areas intended to be designated as HATs were implemented. In March 1991, however, the first successful HAT ballot occurred in Hull, followed by a second in the London Borough of Waltham Forest in July 1991 and a third in Liverpool in August, 1992. In total six HATs were established. Chapter Two outlines the research agenda. Chapter Three discusses the major developments in housing policy during the 1980s. Building on Chapters One and Three, Chapter Four focuses specifically on HAT policy. Chapters Five to Seven examine HAT practice, with each Chapter focusing on one of the first three HATs. Chapter Eight draws conclusions.


Abstract The utilization of microalgae as a food ingredient considered effective, because in addition to alternative food sources also contains nutrients chlorella microalgae in particular is very good for health. This microalgae rich in protein (60.5%), fat (11%), carbohydrates (20.1%), water, dietary fiber, vitamins and minerals Besides these microalgae contain pigments (chlorophyll), tocopherol and the active component (antimicrobial and antioxidants). This is what underlies microalgae is very useful to be used as a source of raw materials of health food supplements. Currently the health food supplements have become a necessity for people to maintain their health in order to remain vibrant. This study aims to produce high nutritious health food supplements from raw material chlorella enriched with fish protein concentrate and oil catfish. The method used in the manufacture of high nutritious health food supplement is a method of microencapsulation with different formulations. The results showed that the best formulations based on the profile of amino acids, fatty acids and standards AAE per day especially essential fatty acids oleic and linoleic is formulation B (chlorella 2%, 1% fish oil and fish protein concentrate 1%.


This paper examines the impact of a permanent shock to the productivity growth rate in a New Keynesian model when the central bank does not immediately adjust its policy rule to that shock. Our results show that inflation and productivity growth are negatively correlated at business cycle frequencies when the central bank follows a Taylor-type policy rule that targets the output gap. We then demonstrate that inflation is more stable after a permanent productivity shock when monetary policy targets the output growth rate (not the output gap) or the price-level path (not the inflation rate). As for the welfare implications, both the output growth and price-level path rules generate much less volatility in output and inflation after a productivity shock than occurs with the Taylor rule.


This thesis examines the relationship between normative emphases in journalism training programmes and the subsequent work practices and conceptualisations of journalists who participated in them, and how this happens where programmes are part of international aid strategies in emerging democracies. It hypothesises that particular normative emphases whose bases are contested — whether due to perceived politicisation, culturally hegemonic tendencies or other reasons —adversely affects the fulfilment of particular journalistic ideals.

This study uses a qualitative research methodology to examine the example of Cambodia from 1993 to 2011. 54 interviews were carried out with key respondents, followed by a thematic analysis of the data generated. A number of tendencies have emerged from this which broadly support the hypothesis. These include correlations between normative emphases at programme level and politically polarised normative orientations among working journalists. A vocational "western-oriented" approach to journalism training also correlates with limited understanding of critical ethical concepts and low occupational confidence among journalists. This in turn contributes to poor ethical practices and a negative overall perception of the local press. Data also suggests that the international orientation of journalism programmes contributed to the development of a two-tiered press system, which subsequently affected the press' overall impact.


Abstract Yamagishi, T and Babraj, J. Active recovery induces greater endurance adaptations when performing sprint interval training. J Strength Cond Res 33(4): 922–930, 2019—This study sought to determine effects of recovery intensity on endurance adaptations during sprint interval training (SIT). Fourteen healthy young adults (male: 9 and female: 5) were allocated to 1 of 2 training groups: active recovery group (ARG, male: 4 and female: 3) or passive recovery group (PRG, male: 5 and female: 2). After having completed a 2-week control period, both groups performed 6 sessions of 4- to 6 30-second sprints interspersed with 4-minute recovery over 2 weeks. However, only ARG cycled at 40% V[Combining Dot Above]O2peak during the 4-minute recovery periods, while PRG rested on the bike or cycled unloaded. After the 2-week training intervention, both groups improved 10-km time-trial performance to a similar extent (ARG: 8.6%, d = 1.60, p = 0.006; PRG: 6.7%, d = 0.96, p = 0.048) without gains in V[Combining Dot Above]O2peak. However, critical power was increased by ARG only (7.9%, d = 1.75, p = 0.015) with a tendency of increased maximal incremental power output (5.3%, d = 0.88, p = 0.063). During the training, active recovery maintained V[Combining Dot Above]O2 and heart rate at a higher level compared with passive recovery (V[Combining Dot Above]O2: p = 0.005, HR: p = 0.018), suggesting greater cardiorespiratory demands with the active recovery. This study demonstrated that greater endurance performance adaptations are induced with active recovery when performing SIT over a short time frame. The findings of the current study indicate that, with active recovery, individuals can gain greater training benefits without increasing total training commitment time. Further studies are required to determine whether differences are seen with recovery intensity over a longer period.


Since the 1980s, a variety of provisions designed to prevent excessive pretrial discovery have been incorporated into the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. By almost all accounts, however, these "proportionality" rules have not met their stated goals. The percentage of cases with high levels of discovery has not changed in decades, and concerns about disproportionate discovery are as pronounced as ever. I argue that the failure of the proportionality rules stems from a disconnect between the rules and the prevailing litigation culture. The rules incorrectly assume that excessive discovery is caused by attorneys abusing their discretion during the discovery process, and accordingly seek to limit that discretion. But attorney discretion is not the problem, and in fact attorneys and judges rely on the broad exercise of attorney discretion to create efficient, predictable, and fair resolutions to civil cases. Because the rules directly conflict with cultural norms, they are largely ignored in practice. I therefore propose a radically different approach to combating excessive discovery, by removing the existing restrictions on attorney discretion and implementing new procedures designed to emphasize the cultural values of civil litigation that naturally promote controlled discovery.


In this paper we present data mining and its utilization for childhood obesity prediction. Data mining was widely used in many childhood obesity prediction systems. Predicting obesity at an early age is both useful and important because the number of obese patients is increasing while its main cause cannot yet be defined. The ability to predict childhood obesity will help early prevention. The purpose of this survey is to provide the needed understanding of the childhood obesity problem, introduce the use of data mining on childhood obesity prediction, describe current efforts in the area, and provide the strength and weaknesses of each technique presented.


Though widely attested to, Charles Kingsley9s influence on Victorian views about race, history, and definitions of the British nation has been subjected to few detailed analyses. The analyses that have been advanced, moreover, fail to take into account a major source for Kingsley9s thinking on these subjects: the theocentric and thoroughly racialized historicism of the Liberal Anglicans, who contributed importantly to mid-century debates about race, history, and the nation. This paper examines how Kingsley9s appropriation of the Liberal Anglican historical thesis, in particular in the form given it by Christian Socialist leading light F. D. Maurice, inflected his attempts to redefine the British racial-national collective as part of his effort to provide an imagined resolution to present woes during the first half of the 1850s. Focusing on Kingsley9s novels of that period, Alton Locke (1850), Hypatia (1853), and Westward Ho! (1855), the paper argues that the success of this endeavor was contingent on Kingsley9s ability to formulate a suitable narrative vehicle for his Maurician thesis. His turn to the remote past in Hypatia , the paper argues, was instrumental in enabling him to create such a vehicle, which I term racial-historical allegory, and which he carries over to Westward Ho! The conflicted uses to which history is put in the latter novel, however, causes the racial-historical allegorical form to be steadily eclipsed over the course of the novel, though paradoxically, the paper concludes, the various ambivalences and insconsistencies with which Kingsley9s thought and writings are so patently rife actually constituted some of their apparent strengths in his own day (or were at least inseparable from those strengths).


We present SPADE, a system for quickly and automatically analyzing runtime states of a large collection of mobile apps. Such tasks are becoming increasingly important for app stores: e.g., for checking apps' runtime security and privacy properties, for capturing and indexing data inside apps for better app search, etc. SPADE uses two key techniques. First, it uses binary instrumentation to automatically insert custom code into app binary to capture its runtime state. Second, it executes an instrumented app in a phone emulator and automatically navigates through various app pages by emulating user interactions. SPADE employs a number of novel optimizations to increase coverage and speed. We have implemented three novel applications on SPADE. Our experiments with 5,300 apps from Windows Phone app store show that these applications are extremely useful. We also report coverage of SPADE on these apps and survey various root causes that make automated execution difficult on mobile apps. Finally, we show that our optimizations make SPADE significantly fast, allowing an app store to process up to 3,000 apps per day on a single phone emulator.


Marine microplastic (< 5 mm) water pollution has met growing public and scientific interest in the last years. The situation in freshwater environments remains largely unknown, although they appear to play an important role as part of the origin of marine pollution. Apart from the physical impacts on biota, chemical effects are to be expected as well, especially with smaller particles. This study aimed at assessing the situation for the Swiss Lakes Geneva, Constance, Neuchâtel, Maggiore, Zurich and Brienz, and identifying potential impacts. Lake surface transects, a few rivers as well as urban runoff outlets and WWTPs have been sampled using a floating manta net, and beach sediments have been analysed. Plastics have been sorted in types (fragments, pellets, cosmetic beads, lines, fibres, films, foams) and composition (PP, PE, PS, etc.). Fishes and water birds have been dissected to assess their potential exposure, and analyses of the hydrophobic micropollutants adsorbed to the microplastics as well as some potentially toxic additives they contained have been conducted. It appears that all lakes are affected by this pollution, microplastics of all types and diverse composition having been found in all samples. Birds and fishes are prone to microplastic ingestion, and all the tested chemicals (both adsorbed micropollutants and contained additives) were found above the detection limit, and often the quantification limit. The sources and their respective contribution need to be confirmed and quantified, and the ecotoxicological impacts also need further investigation. Other questions remain open, including the transport and fate of the plastic particles in the environment.


The Global HIV Vaccine Enterprise was conceived in 2003 to bring new focus, cooperation, and expanded resources to HIV vaccine research. Since its inception, the Enterprise has formed an alliance of independent organizations that includes many of the leading AIDS vaccine research institutions in the world. Together, this group has developed and begun to implement a shared Scientific Strategic Plan, helped mobilize significant new resources, promoted collaborative work among researchers, and sponsored dialogues on major scientific challenges. The Enterprise concept was first proposed in a June 2003 article in Science signed by 24 leaders in HIV vaccine research. They called for a revitalized, more collaborative research effort that would increase the scale and accelerate the pace of research, establish common standards for comparing products, expand manufacturing capability, and improve the capacity of clinical trials sites. The Enterprise proposal was further developed at a meeting of leading scientists, public health experts and policy makers in August 2003. In 2004, at their annual Summit, the Group of 8 nations endorsed the Enterprise concept and pledged their support. The Enterprise is now engaged in a broad range of activities, but science is its core business. The initial stakeholders in the Enterprise began work on their Scientific Strategic Plan (SSP) in 2004, convening six expert working groups and conducting a comprehensive review of the state of HIV vaccine research. The SSP was published in PLoS Medicine in February 2005. Enterprise partners are now aligning many of their activities and launching new projects to address the six priority areas identified in the SSP: vaccine discovery, laboratory standardization, product development and manufacturing, clinical trials capacity, regulatory capacity, and intellectual property issues. The first major contribution of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to this initial phase of the Enterprise was the creation of a new initiative called the Collaboration for AIDS Vaccine Discovery (CAVD). The CAVD was launched in July 2006 and is being developed as a highly collaborative network of 17 research consortia, comprised of almost 200 investigators in over 90 institutions in 22 different countries. Twelve of the consortia are working on different approaches to developing HIV vaccines, six of which focus on vaccine concepts designed to induce cell-mediated immunity, and the other six on vaccine concepts designed to induce protective antibody responses. These 12 Vaccine Discovery Consortia (VDC) are supported by five Central Service Facilities (CSFs), which conduct standardized immunological evaluations and data and statistical analysis for the whole network, allowing for real-time comparison of the results. The CAVD projects are not intended to focus on basic discovery research. Instead, they target a perceived strategic gap in the HIV vaccine research and development continuum, which is the translational or "maturation" phase. This phase is aimed at harnessing the vast amount of knowledge derived from basic research to produce the "proof-of-concept" experiments required to proceed with confidence to the product development phase. To ensure that the whole effort is bigger than the sum of its parts, the 16 CAVD consortia and centers are bound together by a robust communication and alliance management strategy, and by legal agreements to share materials and data among the different CAVD laboratories and, in time, with the rest of the Enterprise alliance and the scientific community at-large. Now at the end of their first year of funding, the CAVD teams have made considerable progress, and a brief description of the main project objectives will be provided in the presentation. This abstract was published in Cancer Immunity , a Cancer Research Institute journal that ceased publication in 2013 and is now provided online in association with Cancer Immunology Research .


The physiochemical properties and physiological significance of the cadmium-binding protein (CdBP) of the algae Euglena gracilis have been studied. Following in vivo exposure of cells to 0.4 or 1.3 micrograms/mL of Cd2+, all the cytosolic Cd is bound to high molecular weight species. At 4.7 micrograms/mL, appreciable CdBP has formed in cells grown under illumination or in the dark. An analogous ZnBP could not be isolated from control or Zn-exposed (20 micrograms/mL) cells, but zinc and a trace of copper were bound to the CdBP when 2-mercaptoethanol (2-ME) is added to the homogenates of Cd-treated cells and the buffers used during isolation. The large pool of very low molecular weight zinc species previously reported is increased when cells are exposed to high cadmium levels. Two distinct species, BP-1 and BP-2 are resolved by ion-exchange chromatography on DEAE-Sephadex. Unusually high conductivities (25 and 40 mSiemen) are required to displace them, indicating that they are very negatively charged proteins at pH 8.6. The pH for half-titration of bound Cd2+ is between 5 and 6. EDTA (0.4 M) and the CdBP isolated by gel-exclusion chromatography react biphasically with pseudo-first-order rate constants of 4 +/- 3 X 10(-4) sec-1 and 7 +/- 2 X 10(-5) sec-1. Neither form of the CdBP cross-reacts with antibodies to rat liver metallothionein (MT) antibodies. The structural, chemical, and functional differences between the Euglena CdBPs and mammalian MTs are discussed.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)


Managed entry agreements (MEAs)—a type of formal institutional arrangement between pharmaceutical companies and payers for sharing the risk with respect to the introduction of new pharmaceutical technologies—may expand access to new pharmaceutical technologies for non-communicable diseases (NCDs). Although common in highincome countries (HICs), there is limited evidence of their use in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). This article aims to document international experiences of countries implementing MEAs and potential barriers and facilitators for their use in LMICs. We reviewed published literature sources on MEAs over the past 10 years considering peer-reviewed publications and gray literature data. We took into consideration the MEAs taxonomy presented by Kanavos and Ferrario et al. to categorize our findings, and extract information on factors for their implementation. We retrieved 285 MEAs documented in the literature, mostly from HICs and for a broad spectrum of NCDs. Financial schemes were slightly more prominent than performance-based agreements. Identified factors that could potentially facilitate or hinder the implementation of MEAs included the presence of quality administrative and information systems to track their implementation; availability of quality data and evidence of positive outcomes; uncertainty of drug efficacy/effectiveness, safety, and financial impact; and cultural factors, namely country's preference for certain type of agreement and trust among payers and manufacturers. The increased availability of publications in recent years suggests a growing interest among policy-makers and researchers in the implementation of MEAs. While the use of MEAs in LMICs is very limited, this could be the result of limited empirical evidence on its use and possibly due to the use of a different taxonomy for describing MEAs in these settings. As any other policy option, the implementation and use of MEAs come with advantages and challenges. Since there is limited evidence on their use in LMICs, the identified cases of implementation in HICs may serve to inform the interest on MEAs in resource limited settings. Therefore, further research in this field especially in the context of LMICs may be of value for the global community as all countries are embarking into fairer and sustainable Universal Health Coverage (UHC).


The recent work of the Sri-Lankan-British musician and sonic 'curator' known as M.I.A. (real name: Mathangi Arulpragasam) is considered as a commentary on atrocity and read alongside the well known essay 'The Storyteller' by Walter Benjamin and comments on Auschwitz by Theodor Adorno. The storytelling here is updated for a contemporary context where global war impacts us all, more or less visibly, more, or less, acknowledged. It is argued that the controversy over M.I.A.'s Romain Gavras video Born Free is exemplary of the predicament of art in the face of violence, crisis and terror – with this track, and video, M.I.A.'s work faced a storm of criticism which I want to critique in turn, in an attempt, at least, to learn to make or discern more analytic distinctions amongst concurrent determinations of art. A careful reading of Adorno can in the end teach us to see Born Free anew.


A GeO(2)-SiO(2)-chitosan-medium (GSCM)-coated hollow optical fiber (HOF) is proposed. The HOF consists of three parts: the fiber core (air), cladding (SiO(2)), and coating (GSCM), which shows the highest refractive index of the three. The HOF's luminescence properties and surface morphology are investigated. Their adsorption capacity for Rhodopseudomonas palustris CQK 01 is also assayed. We discovered that when the amount of 2GeO(2)-SiO(2) sol dopant is 0.9 mass percent, the HOF exhibits the highest luminous intensity and uniform light distribution, and the adsorption capacity for the cell is 3.2 times higher than that of a normal solid optical fiber.


Primary productivity of phytoplankton, measured as rate of carbon-14 uptake, was increased by adding iron and other nutrients to lake water, but was not increased by adding nutrients in the absence of iron. Concentrations of chelated iron ranging from 0.010 to 5.0 parts of iron per million increased primary productivity. Iron as a nutrient limiting primary productivity is related to the morphometry, physicochemical characteristics, and low productivity of the lake.


Timed pushdown automata are pushdown automata extended with a finite set of real-valued clocks. Additionaly, each symbol in the stack is equipped with a value representing its age. The enabledness of a transition may depend on the values of the clocks and the age of the topmost symbol. Therefore, dense-timed pushdown automata subsume both pushdown automata and timed automata. We have previously shown that the reachability problem for this model is decidable. In this paper, we study the zenoness problem and show that it is EXPTIME-complete.


The main purpose of this research is to design a comprehensive algorithm which aims to aid the medical practitioners mainly the radiographers, radiologists and neurologists in primary brain tumors diagnosis. Detection of primary brain tumors is inspired by the necessity of high accuracy as it deals with human life. Presently, various imaging modalities techniques have incarnated as a tool for the doctors and radiologists to help them in diagnosis and treatment domain. While these are highly accurate and fast, they still require experienced and competent medical practitioners for the proper interpretation. Thus, the involvement of information technology is highly demanded in introducing reliable, simple and accurate computer systems. This study presents an algorithm for nosologic segmentation of primary brain tumors on Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) brain images. The MRI technique has been chosen as the digital imaging modality since it provides clearer image for the tissue area as compared to the other techniques that focusing more on bone study such as Computed Tomography (CT) Scan and X-ray. The purpose of segmentation is to highlight the tumor areas, whereas classification is used to identify the type of the primary brain tumors. For this purpose, an algorithm which hybridized the Intensity Based Analysis (IBA), Grey Level Co-occurrence Matrices (GLCM), Adaptive Network-based Fuzzy Inference System (ANFIS) and £article ~warm Optimization (PSO) Clustering Algorithm (CAPSOCA) is proposed. The combination of several computer vision techniques was presented which aims to deliver reproducible nosologic segmentation of primary brain tumors which are gliomas and meningiomas. A Rule Based Expert System (RBES) is used to preliminarily classify the various types of primary brain tumors. It is designed to incorporate with the CAPSOCA algorithm which intended to strengthen the classification outcomes. The performance of the proposed CAPSOCA algorithm is compared with the PSG and ANFIS algorithms separately. The performance of the algorithms is quantified by two measurements which are segmentation accuracy and classification accuracy. The segmentation accuracy is evaluated using two approaches which are tumor template matching and comparison with ground truth. On the other hand, the classification accuracy is quantified using truth table by comparing the classification outcomes with histopathology diagnosis collected from the patient's record. The study revealed that very high pixel detection is noticeable in PSG algorithm which leads to over-segmentation in the tumor areas, and indirectly affected the segmentation accuracy. On the other hand, the ANFIS is found to have limited pixel detection in nosologic segmentation of primary brain tumors. The CAPSOCA was proven to be the best algorithm for nosologic segmentation of primary brain tumors from the MRI images data. It appeared to return the highest percentages of accuracy as compared to the PSO and ANFIS for both segmentation and classification at 78.790/0 of accuracy for gliomas segmentation, 76.68% of accuracy for meningiomas segmentation and 76.30% of accuracy for classification accuracy.


Geological techniques are widely used in two aspects of serious criminal investigations: (1) the search for clandestine burial sites, based on near-surface geophysics or through the detection of decomposition signals and (2) the analysis of trace evidence to identify its source location or test the possible association between the trace evidence and a known location of an offence. Although geoforensics is used in such investigations world-wide there are still considerable gaps in the published literature. In addition, there is increasing concern regarding the illegal release of wastes either into the atmosphere, water courses or on to the land surface, and a growing realization that the techniques used in criminal forensics are equally useful in the investigation of environmental crime. This book bridges the gap between environmental and criminal geoforensics with conceptual, methodological and case study contributions. This demonstrates the significant potential that geoforensics holds for investigating and regulatory officers.


In this article, we explore the demographic future of the world with a focus on scenarios for Russia and Germany. We seek an alternative to the Western standards of scenarios for global demographic development. We consider demographic development both in a positive and negative sense. Our analysis rests on such theoretical structures as the general theory of population, the classical theory of demographic transition, the concepts of the 'second', 'third', and 'fourth' demographic transitions, and scenarios for the 'Eurasian demographic development path'. We employ a range of methods from comparative demography as well as historical analogies, expert evaluations and demographic forecasts. We analyse the patterns of current demographic development in Russia and Germany to explore various demographic scenarios. In the conclusion, we stress the need for Russia and other countries, including Germany, to embark on the 'Eurasian demographic development path' in view of the countries' geographical positions and demographic values, with children being a dominant one. Otherwise, both Germany and Russia may disappear as national states as early as this century. The findings of this study can be used to improve the demographic policies of Russia and Germany.


The relationship of participation in school, community, and church activities to the academic achievement (i.e., end-of-year school grades) of African American youth in rural low-income communities was examined. Participants included 280 students (177 girls and 103 boys) in the 7th and 8th grades of two public middle schools. Participation in school, community, and church activities was measured by participants' involvement in extracurricular activities in these contexts. Results indicated that after accounting for school activities and other control variables, church activities were related to academic achievement. Findings suggested that it is important to consider participation in the activities of contexts outside of school that may support the achievement of African American youth in the rural Deep South. According to the self-system processes view, when an individual's interactions with a particular setting meets his or her basic needs (i.e., need for competence, autonomy, and relatedness) the individual will participate in the activities of that context (Connell, 1990; Connell & Wellborn, 1991). In turn, sustained and increased participation in the activities of that setting leads to the attainment of available outcomes and increased adjustment. Students participate in school in several respects. More passive forms of participation that are the minimum necessary for learning include, for example, attendance and completing assignments (Finn, 1989). As students age they become more active and independent. As a result, involvement in school activities (e.g., sports, band, math club) becomes an increasingly important form of school participation across late childhood and adolescence (Finn, 1989). Likewise, participation in similar activities in the community (e.g., sports) or at church (e.g., youth group) can be considered more active forms of participation in those contexts as well. The current study examines school, community, and church activities as these are more age-appropriate, voluntary, and active forms of participation that may supplement traditional classroom learning for rural adolescents. Research has begun to accrue that demonstrates a positive relationship between participation in school, community, and church activities and student achievement (e.g., Gutman & McLoyd, 2000; Mahoney, Larson, Eccles, & Lord, 2005; National Research Council and Institute of Medicine, 2002; Regnerus & Elder, 2003). Benefits from such activities have been purported to increase achievement through numerous mechanisms. For example, these include enhancing other forms of participation (e.g., attendance), interpersonal competence, educational and occupational aspirations, and academic efficacy and motivation via the provision of various factors (e.g., safety, structure, supportive relationships, sense of belonging, positive social norms, skill building) (Mahoney et al., 2005; National Research Council and Institute of Medicine, 2002). However, studies have rarely examined youth's participation in multiple contexts or activities (Bartko & Eccles, 2003; Feldman & Matjasko, 2005; Fredricks & Eccles, 2006; McNeal, 1998; Posner & Vandell, 1994; Roche, Ensminger, Chilcoat, & Storr, 2003). That is, research typically investigates a single activity or participation in one setting which is most often school. Yet, youth participate in multiple activities across several contexts. In addition, little research on students' activities has involved rural youth, especially rural youth experiencing high levels of poverty. Several findings indicate that the poverty encountered by rural African American youth substantially increases their chances for educational problems including low achievement (Farmer, Irvin, Thompson, Hutchins, & Leung, 2006; Johnson & Strange, 2007; Khattri, Riley, & Kane, 1997). For example, African American youth attending schools identified as Rural Low Income by the Rural Education Achievement Program are four times less likely to meet Adequate Yearly Progress than most other rural youth (Farmer, Leung, et al. …


Rubber materials are composed of various compounds such as cross-linked polymers, additives, and fillers. It is difficult to analyze such materials in their normal state because of lack of volatility and solubility, and time-consuming and cumbersome sample pretreatment is inevitably required depending on the type of analytical methods. However, pyrolysis (Py) of rubber materials under inert gas decomposes them into many individual fragments, which can be separated and identified by GC/MS. Thus, Py-GC/MS can directly analyze materials without any sample pretreatment and is quite useful for the characterization of polymer and copolymer materials including additives and fillers. This ar-ticle reviews Py-GCMS analysis of rubber materials, such as determination of rubber types, quantification of composi-tion ratio of copolymers, and qualitative and quantitative analysis of compounded additives.


This article analyzes people's subjectively experienced fear in areas with presence of brown bear or wolf. Departing from the Human-Environment Interaction Model (Küller, 1991), a hypothetical model of environmental and individual antecedents of fear was tested using structural equation modeling of survey data (n = 391). In the model of fear of brown bear, the main predictor was the appraisal of the species as dangerous/uncontrollable and unpredictable. In the model of fear of wolf, the greater experience with the species and a stronger appraisal of wolf as dangerous, uncontrollable, and unpredictable led to low social trust and this, together with the appraisal of wolf as dangerous/uncontrollable and unpredictable, increased the likelihood of fear. Efforts to reduce human fear of wolves should focus on building trust between the public and authorities, whereas efforts to reduce fear of brown bear should focus on the individual's appraisal of the species.


OBJECTIVE
To explore the correlation between plasma β2-microglobulin (β2-MG) as senescence factor with age, heart, liver and kidney function as well as the predictive value of β2-MG in human metabolism function and senescence.

PATIENTS AND METHODS
387 cases of healthy people of different ages were selected and the automatic biochemical analyzer was used to test β2-MG in plasma based on immunoturbidimetry and also all biochemical indexes. The correlation between β2-MG and age, gender and all biochemical indexes was analyzed.

RESULTS
β2-MG was positively correlated to age, r = 0.373; and the difference was of statistical significance (p < 0.010). It was significantly negative correlated to HDL-C but positively correlated to LP (a), BUN, CREA, UA, CYS-C, LDH, CK-MB, HBDH, AST, GLB and HCY.

CONCLUSIONS
β2-MG was closely correlated to age, heart, kidney and liver biochemical indexes, which can be taken as an important biomarker for human body function and anti-senescence and have significant basic research and clinical guidance values.


Especially for the last twenty years, the studies of Linguistic Landscapes (LLs) have been gaining the status as an autonomous linguistic discipline. The LL of a (mostly) geographically limited area – which consists of e.g. billboards, posters, shop signs, material for election campaigns, etc. – gives deep insights into the presence or absence of languages in that particular area. Thus, LL not only allows to conclude from the presence of a language to its dominance, but also from its absence to the oppression of minorities, above all in areas where minority languages should – demographically seen – be visible. The LLs of big cities are fruitful research areas due to the mass of linguistic data. The first part of this paper deals with the theoretical and practical research that has been conducted in LL studies so far. A summary of the theory, methodologies and different approaches is given. In the second part I apply the theoretical basis to my own case study. For this, the LLs of two shopping streets in different areas of Hong Kong were examined in 2010. It seems likely that the linguistic competence of English must be rather high in Hong Kong, due to the long-lasting influence of British culture and mentality and the official status of the language. The case study's results are based on empirical data showing the objectively visible presence of English in both examined areas, as well as on two surveys. Those were conducted both openly and anonymously. The surveys are a reinsurance measuring the level of linguistic competence of English in Hong Kong. That level was defined before by an analysis of the LL. Hence, this case study is a new approach to LL analysis which does not end with the description of its material composition (as have done most studies before), but which rather includes its creators by asking in what way people's actual linguistic competence is reflected in Hong Kong's LL.


Prader-Willi syndrome (PWS) is a congenital developmental disorder which is related to severe problems during anaesthesia. Of particular interest are the morphological and patho-physiological alterations which may lead to considerable respiratory complications, including a higher risk of regurgitation and aspiration, and the tendency towards post-surgical hypoventilation. Further difficulties may arise from mental retardation, disturbed thermoregulation, and an unstable glucose metabolism. In our patient these features have been aggravated by burn injuries exceeding 35% of body surface. Appropriate care of circulatory and respiratory function, as well as supervision of blood glucose level and body temperature during a period of several weeks with repeated operations was necessary to avoid further complications. Additional findings we discovered in our patient were narrow airways not corresponding to the patientis age and a significant resistance to non depolarising muscle relaxants that might have been caused by the burn injuries. The importance of PWS for anaesthesiologists can be estimated by the circumstance, that it is considered to be nearly as frequent as trisomy-21. PWS in connection with extensive burns has yet not been reported. This case and a recent review of the relevant literature on anaesthetic management of PWS are extensively discussed.


Errors are an inevitable by-product of human labour. Therefore, organizational learning from errors should be regarded as a strategic goal of HR development. Despite a large number of studies on organizational learning from errors, a thorough understanding of error-related learning processes at work is still missing. In the present article, we present the results of a literature review that was used to derive an integrated model of organizational learning processes in the consequence of errors and to develop the questionnaire to assess the error-related learning climate in organizations. The questionnaire was evaluated on a sample of 383 employees of two companies. Confirmatory factor analyses support the suggested structure of error-related learning climate. Further analyses stress the relevance of constructive error handling in organizations by revealing substantial links between error-related learning climate and the effectiveness of error learning, self-perceptions and error-related behaviours of team members, as well as group cohesion and certain aspects of team performance.


Varvelike rhythmites, usually laminated siltstones and shales with scattered clasts, are known from outcrops and well cores of the upper Cabecas Formation in the Parnaiba (Maranhao) Basin, Brazil, with sediments laid down under glacial and periglacial conditions. Palynological study from different lithologies, indicates a latest Famennian age (LN Zone). Sedimentological approach of one rhythmite indicates that the grain-size contrast clearly separate between silt and sand layers but that all layers, even the dark silty ones, show features characteristic of sediment-gravity flows. Lateral influx was permanent during the deposition of the sediment. Clay analyses reveal the predominance of kaolinite probably originated from Middle Devonian rocks. Latest Famennian miospores and acritarchs are present and confirm the marine character of the depositionnal environment but a large part (70%) of the palynological material is reworked from Givetian/Frasnian rocks. No reworked miospores from early to late Famennian can be demonstrated. At least two distinct source-areas of the reworked material, Givetian (or older) and Frasnian, can be recognized. Contemporaneous miospores are significally less present in the tillites and associated shale than in the laminites which suggest that they are produced locally, the glacial tongue, carrying the reworked part of the material, only partially overlapping adjacent environments. The rythmites are presumed to be true varves, the sandy layers being first settled after the local seasonal melting of the ice cover and the rush of fresh water supply into the sea, the silty layers being deposited when the spring water run-off decreases. The Vallatisporites mother-plant, believed to live in a swamp margin environment, might have been the first to produce spores immediately after the melting of the ice cover.


It is not known if the risk factors for hospital utilization are similar to the risk factors for mortality in chronic dialysis patients. The risk factors associated with hospital days per year of patient risk were identified in a subset of patients in Network 6 (the states of North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia) who began dialysis in 1989. The demographic characteristics of this cohort of 1572 patients included a mean (+/- SD) age of 57.4 +/- 15.0 yr; 63.7% of the patients were African American, 52.4% were female, and 33.0% had diabetes mellitus as the primary cause of ESRD. The median number of hospital days per year of patient risk was 8.8, with 25th and 75th quartiles of 3.9 and 20.1, respectively. By using multiple regression analysis, the strongest predictors of the number of hospital days per year of patient risk included low serum albumin level (P = 0.0001), decreased activity level (P = 0.0006), diabetes mellitus as the primary cause of ESRD (P = 0.002), peripheral vascular disease (P = 0.004), white race (P = 0.01), increasing age (P = 0.03), the absence of hypertension (P = 0.03), and the presence of angina (P = 0.03), smoking (P = 0.03), and congestive heart failure (P = 0.045). These risk factors are similar to those reported for an increased risk of mortality in dialysis patients and some of them, such as smoking, are modifiable and may be amenable to interventional strategies.


Geneticists with the Agricultural Research Service (ARS) in Clay Center, Nebraska, are improving traditional cattle breeding methods with marker-assisted selection, a process that incorporates DNA tests into traditional genetic evaluation systems. Traditionally, breeders have used visual appraisal to estimate cows' genetic merit. By carefully recording the characteristics of herd members and their descendants, animal breeders can calculate an animal's expected progeny difference, or EPD. This is a figure estimating the average performance of specific traits for an individual's offspring. More recently, geneticists have developed DNA tests associated with important traits in cattle. These tests may some day be incorporated into the established selection process. According to ARS geneticist R. Mark Thallman, incorporating DNA tests in breeders' calculations could improve the accuracy of their EPDs and place the appropriate degree of emphasis on the DNA tests. With geneticist Mark F. Allan, he is testing that theory, using a herd selected to produce twins as a prototypical population. Previous research had located three genetic regions linked to the twinning trait. This information has been incorporated into the scientists' calculations since 1998, enabling them to make more accurate genetic predictions, or 'marker-adjusted EPDs'. The twinning experiment is simply one example of markerassisted selection's potential. In similar work, researchers from Cornell University, ARS and Iowa State University incorporated DNA test results into a genetic evaluation of Simmental cattle for tenderness, allowing Simmental breeders to use marker-assisted selection for tenderness. In the future the technique could be used to improve other desirable traits, such as efficiency, fertility and growth rate. Marker-assisted selection will allow breeders to increase the speed and accuracy of traditional assessment methods, but its advantages extend beyond the seedstock industry. Commercial cattle producers would be able to purchase bulls with superior genetics. The desirable characteristics in the livestock would ultimately translate into better products for consumers.