ABSTRACT Introduction: This article explores the wellbeing benefits of musical engagement for men in the third age. Older men face specific health challenges such as loneliness, isolation and a heightened risk for suicide, tied to gendered norms around emotional control, and a reluctance to seek professional help. There is substantial evidence of the positive health and wellbeing outcomes from older people's engagement in music, but no studies on older men, music and wellbeing. Methods: Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 15 Swedish men aged 66–76, with different demographic backgrounds and engagement with music. Interviews were analysed using qualitative thematic analysis. Results: Analysis resulted in four themes: "emotions and embodiment", "adjusting to growing older", "developing and maintaining friendships" and "maintaining contact as a caregiver". Regardless of musical genre or whether singing, playing, dancing or listening to music, the men used music to come into contact with their bodies and emotions, as well as improving relationships and social contacts. In particular, men as caregivers to sick partners benefited from sharing music with their partner, thus improving the quality of the relationship. Discussion: This study shows that engagement with music fills deep psychological and social/emotional needs for the participants, in both "being" with the music and "doing" musical activities, where also talking about music is highlighted as an important part of the musical engagement. The results have implications for the field of music therapy, in that it foregrounds music therapists' potentially important role in developing opportunities for older men to engage with music.


The curriculum may superimpose a content-specific context that mediates motivation (Bong, 2001). This study examined content specificity of the expectancy-value motivation in elementary school physical education. Students' expectancy beliefs and perceived task values from a cardiorespiratory fitness unit, a muscular fitness unit, and a traditional skill/game unit were analyzed using constant comparison coding procedures, multivariate analysis of variance, χ2, and correlation analyses. There was no difference in the intrinsic interest value among the three content conditions. Expectancy belief, attainment, and utility values were significantly higher for the cardiorespiratory fitness curriculum. Correlations differentiated among the expectancyvalue components of the content conditions, providing further evidence of content specificity in the expectancy-value motivation process. The findings suggest that expectancy beliefs and task values should be incorporated in the theoretical platform for curriculum development based on the learning outcomes that can be specified with enhanced motivation effect.


COAST (Coastal On-line Assessment and Synthesis Tool) is a 3D, open-source Earth data browser developed by leveraging and enhancing previous NASA open-source tools. These tools use satellite imagery and elevation data in a way that allows any user to zoom from orbit view down into any place on Earth, and enables the user to experience Earth terrain in a visually rich 3D view. The benefits associated with taking advantage of an open-source geo-browser are that it is free, extensible, and offers a worldwide developer community that is available to provide additional development and improvement potential. What makes COAST unique is that it simplifies the process of locating and accessing data sources, and allows a user to combine them into a multi-layered and/or multi-temporal visual analytical look into possible data interrelationships and coeffectors for coastal environment phenomenology. COAST provides users with new data visual analytic capabilities. COAST has been upgraded to maximize use of open-source data access, viewing, and data manipulation software tools. The COAST 2.0 toolset has been developed to increase access to a larger realm of the most commonly implemented data formats used by the coastal science community. New and enhanced functionalities that upgrade COAST to COAST 2.0 include the development of the Temporal Visualization Tool (TVT) plug-in, the Recursive Online Remote Data-Data Mapper (RECORD-DM) utility, the Import Data Tool (IDT), and the Add Points Tool (APT). With these improvements, users can integrate their own data with other data sources, and visualize the resulting layers of different data types (such as spatial and spectral, for simultaneous visual analysis), and visualize temporal changes in areas of interest.


An efficient and rapid workflow is presented to estimate the recovery performance of an existing vertical-well, pattern-based waterflood recovery design using knowledge management and reservoir engineering in a collaborative manner. The knowledge management tool is used to gather production data and calculate pattern-based recoveries and injection volumes by defining pattern boundaries and allocating annual well injection/production volumes in a systematic manner. Classical reservoir engineering forecasting methods, namely, a combination of oil cut versus cumulative recovery performance curves, and decline curve analyses are applied to forecast the performance of the waterflood pattern of interest. Extrapolating established trends of oil cut vs. recovery for each pattern quantified future performance assessments. Time is attached to the performance by introducing liquid rate constraints. Forecasting using both constant and declining liquid rates differentiated the impact of deteriorating reservoir pressure and oil-cut trends on individual pattern oil rate forecasts thus defining current efficiency of each pattern. [Received: November 20, 2014; Accepted: September 22, 2015]


In steel manufacturing, the conventional method to determine the mechanical properties and microstructure is by offline, destructive (lab-)characterisation of sample material that is typically taken from the head or the tail of the coil. Since coils can be up to 7 km long, the samples are not always representative for the main coil body. Also, the time delay (typically a few days) between the actual production and the availability of the characterisation results implies that these results cannot be exploited for real-time adaptation of the process settings. Information about the microstructure and material properties can also be obtained from electromagnetic (EM) and ultrasonic (US) parameters, which can be measured in real-time, non-destructively, and over the full length of the steel strip product. With the aim to improve the consistency in product quality by use of inline EM and US measurements, a European project called "Product Uniformity Control" (PUC) has been set up as a broad collaboration between 4 major European Steel Manufacturers and 10 Universities / Research institutes. Using both numerical simulations and experimental characterisations, we study the inline measured EM and US parameters in regard of the microstructural and mechanical properties. In this way, we aim to establish an improved understanding of their mutual relationships, and to apply this knowledge in existing and new nondestructive evaluation techniques. In this paper, the concerted approach of modelling and experimental validation will be addressed, and results of this work will be shown in combination with inline measured data. © 2018 The authors and IOS Press. COFREND Organization; Digiteo-DigiCosme 2016 Program; JSM Learned Society; University Paris-Saclay


Increasingly, people are abandoning traditional vacation for a new type of tourism that gives them the sense of nature. Trekking in mountains, bird watching, archaeological digs, desert and photo safaris, scuba diving are some new types of vacations that attract tourists to travel to relatively remote and unspoiled areas. This type of travel is referred to as nature-based travel, ecotourism, or environmentally sustainable tourism. These terms are used interchangeably to reflect this trend in the travel industry. While many studies continuously attempt to differentiate between the terms used to reflect this type of travel, the general concern is to address the dialectic relationships between the natural and the man made, the visitors and tourists and the local population, and tradition and modernity. The generic concept of environmentally sustainable tourism has emerged in parallel to the realization of the potential benefits in combining people interest in nature with their concern for the environment. It is a responsible way of travel; an alternative to traditional travel, but it is not for everyone. It appeals to people who love nature and indigenous cultures. It allows those people to enjoy an attraction or a locality and ensures that local cultures and environments are unimpaired. As the environmentally sustainable tourism industry expands world-wide, well planned, ecologically sensitive facilities are in high demand that can be met with ecolodges: small scale facilities that provide tourists with the opportunity of being in close contact with nature and local culture. In response to this theme, research papers in this issue of Open House International attempt to answer the primary question: How much change in or alternations of natural and cultural environments will be acceptable? They explore sustainable planning and design for tourism by debating, analyzing, and visioning a wide spectrum of issues, with a focus on the developments taking place in biologically sensitive areas, whether desert, forest, tropical coasts, or rural environments. Interestingly, they cover the planet Earth from Australia through the Arab World and Turkey to Argentina and Chile. An important shared aspect in these papers is that emphasis is placed upon integrating people, nature, and local economy into responsive development processes while offering lessons on how such integration may take place.


The aim of this paper is to quantify the spatial distribution of suspended sediment yield in the Baltic Sea drainage basin, and to quantify the suspended sediment inflow to the Baltic. The sediment yield in the studied area varies in accordance with the potential erosion conditions in the morphological sub-units and reaches values from below 2 to almost 1,000 t/km 2 /yr. Topographical, pedological and climatic conditions are decisive for the sediment yield variations. The suspended sediment yield increases generally from north to south, and reaches maximum values in the lower parts of the Carpathians. In contrast, the Scandinavian mountains are characterized by low suspended sediment yield. The suspended sediment load derived from the source areas decreases during its transport to the Baltic as a result of sedimentation processes. In the largest rivers of the area no more than 20 to 30% of the sediment amount flowing from tributaries to the main rivers ends up in the Baltic Sea. The total mass of suspended material flowing to the Baltic Sea is 4,455,000 t/yr, 37% of which is carried into the Baltic proper. 20% of the total supply to the Baltic Sea comes from the Vistula river.


Contingent self-esteem has regularly been associated with socialization experiences. In the present study, genetic and environmental influences on a contingent self-esteem construct were investigated among women and men in different age groups. The study sample consisted of 21,703 same and opposite sex Swedish twins, aged 20 to 46 years. Contingent self-esteem was measured on a scale for performance-based self-esteem. Sex and age-group effects were assessed using biometrical model fitting procedures. Individual differences in performance-based self-esteem were best explained by additive genetic and non-shared environmental factors for both female and male twins, with similar heritability estimates. No age-group effects were found. However, partially different genes seem to influence performance-based self-esteem among women and men.


In 2016, an intensive-care physician has at his disposal a number of artificial organs for the support of patients with organ failure. Examples are the artificial kidney and the heart-lung machine. Artificial livers are being developed for patients with severe liver failure whose lives can only be saved at the present time by a transplant with a donor liver. These artificial livers are based either on a device that removes toxic materials from the patient's blood with, for example, albumin dialysis, or make use of bio-reactors filled with functioning liver cells, the so-called bio-artificial liver. In theory, the bio-artificial liver has the greatest potential to increase life expectancy. The results of clinical studies are also very promising. They are not yet sufficient, however, to permit general clinical use.


Context. Towards the end of the evolutionary stage of the asymptotic giant branch (AGB) the atmospheres of evolved red giants are considerably influenced by radial pulsations of the stellar interiors and developing stellar winds. The resulting complex velocity fields severely affect molecular line profiles (shapes, time-dependent shifts in wavelength, multiple components) observable in near-infrared spectra of long period variables. Time-series high-resolution spectroscopy allows us to probe the atmospheric kinematics and thereby study the mass loss process. Aims. With the help of model calculations the complex line formation process in AGB atmospheres was explored with the focus on velocity effects. Furthermore, we aimed for atmospheric models which are able to quantitatively reproduce line profile variations found in observed spectra of pulsating late-type giants. Methods. Models describing pulsation-enhanced dust-driven winds were used to compute synthetic spectra under the assumptions of chemical equilibrium and LTE. For this purpose, we used molecular data from line lists for the considered species and solved the radiative transfer in spherical geometry including the effects of velocity fields. Radial velocities (RV) derived from Doppler-shifted (components of) synthetic line profiles provide information on the gas velocities in the line-forming region of the spectral features. In addition, we made use of radial optical depth distributions to give estimates for the layers where lines are formed and to illustrate the effects of velocities in the line formation process. Results. Assuming uniform gas velocities for all depth points of an atmospheric model we estimated the conversion factor between gas velocities and measured RVs to p = ugas/RV ≈ 1.2−1.5. On the basis of dynamic model atmospheres and by applying our spectral synthesis codes we investigated in detail the finding that various molecular features in AGB spectra originate at different geometrical depths of the very extended atmospheres of these stars. We show that the models are able to quantitatively reproduce the characteristic line profile variations of lines sampling the deep photosphere (CO Δv = 3, CN) of Mira variables and the corresponding discontinuous, S-shaped RV curve. The global velocity fields (traced by different features) of typical long-period variables are also realistically reproduced. Possible reasons for discrepancies concerning other modelling results (e.g. CO Δv = 2 lines) are outlined. In addition, we present a model showing variations of CO Δv = 3 line profiles comparable to observed spectra of semiregular variables and discuss that the non-occurence of line doubling in these objects may be due to a density effect. Conclusions. The results of our line profile modelling are another indication that the dynamic models studied here are approaching a realistic representation of the outer layers of AGB stars with or without mass loss.


Abstract. Describing patterns of connectivity among organs is essential for identifying anatomical homologies among taxa. It is also critical for revealing morphogenetic processes and the associated constraints that control the morphological diversification of clades. This is particularly relevant for studies of organisms with skeletons made of discrete elements such as arthropods, vertebrates, and echinoderms. Nonetheless, relatively few studies devoted to morphological disparity have considered connectivity patterns as a level of morphological organization or developed comparative frameworks with proper tools. Here, we analyze connectivity patterns among apical plates in Atelostomata, the most diversified clade among irregular echinoids. The clade comprises approximately 1600 fossil and Recent species (e.g., 25% of post-Paleozoic species of echinoids) and shows high levels of morphological disparity. Plate connectivity patterns were analyzed using tools and statistics of graph theory. To describe and explore the diversity of connectivity patterns among plates, we symbolized each pattern as a graph in which plates are coded as nodes that are connected pairwise by edges. We then generated a comparative framework as a morphospace of connections, in which the disparity of plate patterns observed in nature was mapped and analyzed. Main results show that apical plate patterns are both highly disparate between and within atelostomate groups and limited in number; overall, they also constitute small, compact, and simple structures compared to possible random patterns. Main traits of the evolution of apical plate patterns reveal the existence of strong morphogenetic constraints that are phylogenetically determined. In contrast, evolutionary radiations within atelostomates were accompanied by a clear increase in disparity, suggesting a release of some constraints at the origin of clades.


Contact sheet of images on a roll of film shot of Site of Orcoquisaz and La Placita Market in Houston, Texas, identified on the back with handwritten notes. The first row of images are of a grassy area edged by trees; the second and third rows of images include grassy areas, water and a lake, surrounded by trees. The fourth row includes images of water edged by trees, and two of men (identified as Kevin Ladd and Harry) standing in grassy areas; one of the men is holding an object and gesturing to his left. The fifth row includes two images of water surrounded by trees; the third image includes a building with a sign that says "La Placita Farmer's Market" with additional advertisements in English and Spanish, and a man is walking on the sidewalk next to the business. The final three images include storefronts of businesses that have signs in Spanish.


Agriculture in sub-Saharan Africa is undergoing rapid transformation involving major changes in farmland ownership and farm scales from small to medium farms, with the widespread use of mechanisation and agro-inputs. Generally, households are increasing their farm sizes while others are dropping out of agriculture as the non-farm economy grows in both rural and urban areas. This study examined the changes in farmland sizes in two districts in the north of Ghana where agricultural extensification is still possible. Specifically, the study addressed the questions of the historical agrarian context; the magnitude and character of farm structure changes; the emerging spatial manifestation of farms; and the use of factors of production among the emerging socially differentiated farmers.


In the recent trend of extending discrete-to-continuum limit passages for gradient flows of single-species particle systems with singular and nonlocal interactions to particles of opposite sign, any annihilation effect of particles with opposite sign has been side-stepped. We present the first rigorous discrete-to-continuum limit passage which includes annihilation. This result paves the way to applications such as vortices, charged particles, and dislocations. In more detail, the discrete setting of our discrete-to-continuum limit passage is given by particles on the real line. Particles of the same type interact by a singular interaction kernel; those of opposite sign interact by a regular one. If two particles of opposite sign collide, they annihilate, i.e., they are taken out of the system. The challenge for proving a discrete-to-continuum limit is that annihilation is an intrinsically discrete effect where particles vanish instantaneously in time, while on the continuum scale the mass of the particle density decays continuously in time. The proof contains two novelties: (i) the observation that empirical measures of the discrete dynamics (with annihilation rule) satisfy the continuum evolution equation that only implicitly encodes annihilation, and (ii) the fact that, by imposing a relatively mild separation assumption on the initial data, we can identify the limiting particle density as a solution to the same continuum evolution equation.


Glucose release from the liver is mediated by hypothalamic norepinephrine (NE) neuronal activity, but glucose itself (or a metabolite of it) exerts negative feedback effects on central NE activity. The aim of the present study was to investigate a possible role for insulin in these central glucose homeostatic mechanisms. Computerized gas chromatography-mass spectrometry was used to assess the neuronal activities of hypothalamic NE and serotonin [5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT)] in rats after acute insulin (2 U/kg) administration. Medial basal hypothalamic NE neuronal activity was assessed by the ratio of 3,4-dihydroxyphenylethyleneglycol to NE. The ratio was suppressed (P less than 0.005) 10 min after insulin administration but rose again to be significantly higher (P less than 0.05) than in saline controls by 30 min and at 45 min post insulin was highly significantly elevated. Hypothalamic 5-HT neuronal activity was assessed by the ratio of 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid to 5-HT and showed effects opposite to those on NE and was elevated (P less than 0.0005) 10 min post insulin. Significant changes in serum corticosterone and GH levels also occurred after insulin administration, and the changes in these two hormones were positively associated with the changes in hypothalamic neuronal activities of NE and 5-HT, respectively. Serum glucagon levels were found to be significantly elevated in association with the secondary rise in hypothalamic NE activity but did not fall in the 10 min postinsulin phase thus indicating stimulation of pancreatic glucagon release by central NE neuronal pathways. The hypothalamic NE and 5-HT neural responses to a bolus dose of insulin were unaffected by feeding or fasting. These results and evidence that brain glucose utilization is reduced in the immediate postinsulin period suggest that the rapid effects of insulin on hypothalamic NE and 5-HT neuronal activities is a direct one not mediated by stimulation of brain glucose uptake.


Language identification is a necessary prerequisite for processing any user generated text, where the language is unknown. It becomes even more challenging when the text is code-mixed, i.e., two or more languages are used within the same text. Such data is commonly seen in social media, where further challenges might arise due to contractions and transliterations. The existing language identification systems are not designed to deal with codemixed text, and as our experiments show, perform poorly on a synthetically created code-mixed dataset for 28 languages.We propose extensions to an existing approach for word level language identification. Our technique not only outperforms the existing methods, but also makes no assumption about the language pairs mixed in the text a common requirement of the existing word level language identification systems.This study shows that word level language identification is most likely to confuse between languages which are linguistically related (e.g., Hindi and Gujarati, Czech and Slovak), for which special disambiguation techniques might be required.


A significant fraction of software failures in large-scale Internet systems are cured by rebooting, even when the exact failure causes are unknown. However, rebooting can be expensive, causing nontrivial service disruption or downtime even when clusters and failover are employed. In this work we use separation of process recovery from data recovery to enable microrebooting - a fine-grain technique for surgically recovering faulty application components, without disturbing the rest of the application.

We evaluate microrebooting in an Internet auction system running on an application server. Microreboots recover most of the same failures as full reboots, but do so an order of magnitude faster and result in an order of magnitude savings in lost work. This cheap form of recovery engenders a new approach to high availability: microreboots can be employed at the slightest hint of failure, prior to node failover in multi-node clusters, even when mistakes in failure detection are likely; failure and recovery can be masked from end users through transparent call-level retries; and systems can be rejuvenated by parts, without ever being shut down.


Background: There are Variation in the presentation of the acute coronary syndrome between countries. The present study aimed to investigate the basic clinical characteristics and in-hospital outcomes among acute coronary syndrome patients in the Sudan. Material and Methods: A cross-sectional comparative study conducted among 202 consecutive acute coronary syndrome patients at a reference coronary care unit in Omdurman Teaching Hospital between July 2014 and August 2015. Participants signed a written informed consent, and then a case report form was filled. Information collected include vascular risk factors, vital signs, echocardiographic findings, and in Hospital complications. The local ethical committee approved the research, and the chi-square test was used to compare ST-segment Elevation (STSEACS) and None ST-Segment Elevation Acute coronary syndrome (NSTSEACS). Results: (out of 202 women (53.75%) in (NSEACS) P = 0.009). Prior myocardial infarction, hypertension, diabetes mellitus, and, smoking were evident in 19.8%. 53.%, 30.2%, and 16.6% of acute coronary syndrome respectively, 97% of patients presented with chest pain, 54% presented to the hospital after 24 hours. Hypotension, heart failure, low ejection fraction, and in-hospital complications were more in (STSEACS) than (NSTSEACS), while (NSTEACS) patients received less Thrombolysis and Percutaneous coronary angioplasty P-value < 0.05. Conclusions: Acute coronary syndrome patients were younger and had more complications than others in the West. ST-Segment Elevation Myocardial Infarction Patients are more likely to develop in-hospital complications and to receive reperfusion therapy. The limitation of the study is the lack of follow-up information after discharge. Keywords: Acute coronary syndrome, primary, hospital outcomes


Background: Folklore involves the use of parts of plants without isolating particular phytochemicals. The argument is that the synergy of the combined substances enhances the efficacy and dilutes toxicity. Modern pharmacy, however, prefers single ingredients on the grounds that dosage can be more easily quantified. One of such efforts includes detailed analysis of phytochemical constituents of such plants. Although much study has been carried out on phytochemical screening, the results may differ as a result of the biochemical variations within species, geographical locations, methods or modes of extraction and solvent used. Objectives: This work, therefore, aimed at carrying out a preliminary study of the phytochemistry of the extracts Anacardium occidentale (cashew) and Psidium guajava (guava) as a scientific rationale behind the medicinal uses of the plants. Methods: Aqueous and methanol extracts of leaf, bark and root cashew and guava were assayed quantitatively for tannin, total polyphenol, oxalate, saponin and alkaloid Results: Highest concentrations of the bioactive principles were detected in ethanolic extracts of the plants except in the case of saponin where the hot water extract produced the highest bioactive principle. In Guava was foung tannin-11.5mg/g, total polyphenol-1.67mg/g, alkaloid-59.85% and oxalate- 6.66. In Cashew tannin-15.38mg/g, total polyphenolics-2.00, alkaloid-39.90 and oxalate-8.13 was detected Conclusion: The detected bioactive principle, in this study, may be responsible for the documented and folklore beneficial effects. Results from this study also justified the use of alcohol in folklore extraction.


Interface tracking methods for segregated flows such as breaking ocean waves are an important tool in marine engineering. With the development in marine renewable devices increasing and a multitude of other marine flow problems that benefit from the possibility of simulation on computer, the need for accurate free surface solvers capable of solving wave simulations has never been greater. An important component of successfully simulating segregated flow of any type is accurately tracking the position of the separating interface between fluids. It is desirable to represent the interface as a sharp, smooth, continuous entity in simulations. Popular Eulerian interface tracking methods appropriate for segregated flows such as the Marker and Cell Method (MAC) and the Volume of Fluid (VOF) were considered. However these methods have drawbacks with smearing of the interface and high computational costs in 3D simulations being among the most prevalent. This PhD project uses a level set method to implicitly represent an interface. The level set method is a signed distance function capable of both sharp and smooth representations of a free surface. It was found, over time, that the level set function ceases to represent a signed distance due to interaction of local velocity fields. This affects the accuracy to which the level set can represent a fluid interface, leading to mass loss. An advection solver, the Cubic Interpolated Polynomial (CIP) method, is presented and tested for its ability to transport a level set interface around a numerical domain in 2D. An advection problem of the level set function demonstrates the mass loss that can befall the method. To combat this, a process known as reinitialisation can be used to re-distance the level set function between time-steps, maintaining better accuracy. The goal of this PhD project is to present a new numerical gradient approximation that allows for the extension of the reinitialisation method to unstructured numerical grids. A particular focus is the Cartesian cut cell grid method. It allows geometric boundaries of arbitrary complexity to be cut from a regular Cartesian grid, allowing for flexible high quality grid generation with low computational cost. A reinitialisation routine using 1st order gradient approximation is implemented and demonstrated with 1D and 2D test problems. An additional area-conserving constraint is introduced to improve accuracy further. From the results, 1st order gradient approximation is shown to be inadequate for improving the accuracy of the level set method. To obtain higher accuracy and the potential for use on unstructured grids a novel gradient approximation based on a slope limited least squares method, suitable for level set reinitialisation, is developed. The new gradient scheme shows a significant improvement in accuracy when compared with level set reinitialisation methods using a lower order gradient approximation on a structured grid. A short study is conducted to find the optimal parameters for running 2D level set interface tracking and the new reinitialisation method. The details of the steps required to implement the current method on a Cartesian cut cell grid are discussed. Finally, suggestions for future work using the methods demonstrated in the thesis are presented.


The gradient noise (GN) in the stochastic gradient descent (SGD) algorithm is often considered to be Gaussian in the large data regime by assuming that the \emph{classical} central limit theorem (CLT) kicks in. This assumption is often made for mathematical convenience, since it enables SGD to be analyzed as a stochastic differential equation (SDE) driven by a Brownian motion. We argue that the Gaussianity assumption might fail to hold in deep learning settings and hence render the Brownian motion-based analyses inappropriate. Inspired by non-Gaussian natural phenomena, we consider the GN in a more general context and invoke the \emph{generalized} CLT, which suggests that the GN converges to a \emph{heavy-tailed} $\alpha$-stable random vector, where \emph{tail-index} $\alpha$ determines the heavy-tailedness of the distribution. Accordingly, we propose to analyze SGD as a discretization of an SDE driven by a Levy motion. Such SDEs can incur `jumps', which force the SDE and its discretization \emph{transition} from narrow minima to wider minima, as proven by existing metastability theory and the extensions that we proved recently. In this study, under the $\alpha$-stable GN assumption, we further establish an explicit connection between the convergence rate of SGD to a local minimum and the tail-index $\alpha$. To validate the $\alpha$-stable assumption, we conduct experiments on common deep learning scenarios and show that in all settings, the GN is highly non-Gaussian and admits heavy-tails. We investigate the tail behavior in varying network architectures and sizes, loss functions, and datasets. Our results open up a different perspective and shed more light on the belief that SGD prefers wide minima.


BACKGROUND:Recent advances in skull base and microsurgical techniques minimize the need for brain retraction. OBJECTIVE:We studied the impact of such techniques in 36 patients (51 aneurysms) using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). METHODS:Preoperative and 24 hours postoperative MR imaging was performed in patients undergoing microsurgical clipping of intracranial aneurysms. Images were evaluated for parenchymal signal changes. During surgery, use and time of brain retraction were recorded. The degree of cortical injury was quantified using a 0 to 3 scale (grade 0 = normal surface; 1 = pial/arachnoidal damage; 2 = gray matter injury; 3 = contusion/necrosis). RESULTS:Brain retraction by use of a brain spatula was used in all patients. Retraction times ranged from 14 to 290 minutes (mean, 84.1). Cortical surface changes were grade 0 in 86% and grade 1 in 14%; none showed grade 2 or 3 changes. In the postoperative MRI, 4 patients presented with parenchymal alterations, 4 with edema (11.1%), and 1 patient had additional contusion (2.8%). All lesions were confined to the temporal pole. The grade of cortical surface changes was not related to lesions found on MR imaging. No patients showed retraction-related neurological deficits. CONCLUSION:The incidence of evident mechanical parenchymal injury (infarction or contusion) is very low when appropriate microsurgical and skull base techniques are used. Minor pia-arachnoid injury should nevertheless continue to be attended through future advances.


What caused World War I? And how was it that the diplomats and their masters failed to avert such an obviously disastrous bloodbath? (Sherlock Holmes once referred to war as a "ridiculous" and "preposterous" "method of settling international questions.") Scholars cannot agree. Indeed, even among elite European historians (a crowd that specializes in studying the evolution of a complex of complex cultures), the tangled threads that led to the Great War are viewed as an extraordinarily terrible mare's nest. Nevertheless, there is enough common ground on some main themes to make for a fairly coherent conventional narrative of pre-war European diplomacy. It begins in October 1879 — when Austria-Hungary and Germany formed the Dual Alliance. It ends in August 1914 — when diplomacy failed and the Central Powers (Austria-Hungary and Germany) and the Entente Powers (France, Russia and Great Britain) declared war on each other. That passage of 35 years also marks, roughly, the span of Mycroft Holmes's career in the British government. His involvement in the maneuverings of the great powers in those times may be invisible to most modern eyes (as it was to his contemporaries), but there are clues. They will crop up from time to time in this narrative, which reviews, briefly and in sequence, the perspectives of each of the five major players in the onset of World War I — Austria-Hungary, Germany, France, Russia and Great Britain — with some emphasis on Austria-Hungary, because that is where the war to end all wars began.


BACKGROUND
A 40 kb ancestral germline duplication upstream of the GREM1 gene was reported in Ashkenazi families with hereditary mixed polyposis syndrome (HMPS).

OBJECTIVE
Assess the contribution of the GREM1 mutation to familial colorectal cancer (CRC) in Ashkenazim.

METHODS
Jewish Ashkenazi individuals (n = 472 155 males, 317 females) were genotyped for the GREM1 duplication, 194 with CRC, 131 had other cancer types (endometrial, pancreatic and ovarian) that show a syndromic association with CRC, and 147 were cancer-free with a suggestive family history of CRC.

RESULTS
One mutation carrier was found who fulfills the Amsterdam criteria for Lynch Syndrome (LS). The prevalence of this mutation amongst LS Ashkenazim is 0·7%.

CONCLUSION
If validated in additional studies it seems rational to recommend to look for the GREM1 founder mutation in Ashkenazi individuals with multiple colorectal polyps and/or fulfill the criteria for LS.


The Cotton Kings relates a rip-roaring drama of competition in the marketplace and reveals the damage markets can cause when they do not work properly. It also explains how they can be fixed through careful regulation. At the turn of the twentieth century, cotton was still the major agricultural product of the American South and an important commodity for world industry. Key to marketing cotton were futures contracts, traded at exchanges in New York and New Orleans. Futures contracts had the potential to hedge risk and reduce price volatility, but only if the markets in which they were traded worked properly. Increasing corruption on the powerful New York Cotton Exchange pushed prices steadily downwards in the 1890s, impoverishing millions of cotton farmers. The U.S. Department of Agriculture tried to solve the problem with better crop predictions and market information, shared equally and simultaneously with all participants, but these efforts failed. To fight the cotton market's corruption, cotton brokers in New Orleans, led by William P. Brown and Frank Hayne, began quietly to assemble resources. They triumphed in the summer of 1903, when they cornered the world market in cotton and raised its price to reflect the reality of increasing demand and struggling supply. The brokers' success pushed up the price of cotton for the next ten years. However, the structural problems of self-regulation by market participants still threatened the cotton trade. More corruption at the New York Cotton Exchange appeared, until eventually political pressure inspired the Cotton Futures Act of 1914, the federal government's first successful regulation of a financial derivative. Available in OSO:


We present a new engineering model for the M component mode of charge transfer to ground that can predict the observed electric field signatures associated with this process at various distances, including (a) the microsecond‐scale pulse thought to be due to the junction of in‐cloud leaders and the grounded, current‐carrying channel and (b) the ensuing slow, millisecond‐scale pulse due to the M component proper occurring below the junction point. We examine the features of 13 microsecond‐scale, fast electric field pulses associated with M component processes in upward negative lightning initiated from the Säntis Tower and recorded 14.7 km from it. Eleven out of the 13 pulses were found to be unipolar with pulse widths in the range of 9.8 to 35 μs, and the other two were bipolar. To model the process that gives rise to microsecond‐scale pulses, we hypothesize that the current pulses propagating away from the junction point along the main lightning channel (below the junction point) and along the feeding in‐cloud leader channel (branch) carry the same amount of charge. We further assume that the pulse traversing the branch is similar to a subsequent return‐stroke (RS) pulse. In the model, the RS‐like process is represented by the MTLE model. The millisecond‐scale field signature that follows the initial fast pulse in M components at close distances is simulated in our model using the guided‐wave M component model. The proposed model successfully reproduces the vertical electric field waveforms associated with M‐component processes in upward lightning flashes initiated from the Säntis Tower at 14.7‐km distance from the lightning channel, in which both the fast, microsecond‐scale and the following slower, millisecond‐scale pulses were observed. The model also reasonably reproduces the known features of electric field signatures at close distances (up to 5 km), where the amplitude of the millisecond‐scale hook‐like pulse is much larger than that of the microsecond‐scale pulse, and at far distances (of the order of 100 km), where the microsecond‐scale pulses are dominant.


All 240 consecutive cases of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) that underwent autopsy at the National Cancer Center Hospital (Tokyo, Japan) between September 1962 and August 1986 were reviewed. Among these cases, 162, for which photographs of cut surfaces of the primary tumors were available, were grossly classified using a combination of both Eggel's classification and our own into three major types, i.e., nodular, massive, and diffuse as described by Eggel (Eggel H, Beitr Pothol Anat 1901; 30:506–604), and three subgroups of nodular type, i.e., single nodular type (type 1), single nodular type with extranodular growth (type 2), and contiguous multinodular type (type 3) by our classification (Kanai T et al. Cancer 60:810–819). Seventy‐eight cases were classified as nodular type, comprising seven cases of type 1, 61 cases of type 2, and ten cases of type 3. Sixty‐seven and 17 cases were classified as massive and diffuse type, respectively. of the 78 nodulartype tumors, 59 measured less than 10 cm, whereas 64 of 67 massive‐type tumors were 10 cm or more in size. the incidence of intrahepatic and extrahepatic tumor spread of HCC was significantly higher for tumors measuring more than 5 cm. As to the relationship between macroscopic type and tumor spread, the frequency of spread was lowest for type 1 tumors, and high for the other types. Intrahepatic melastasis was detected in 28.6% of type 1, 93.4% of type 2, 100% of type 3, and 98.5% of massive‐type tumors. Lymph node metastasis was detected in 14.3% of type 1, 24.6% of type 2, 70% of type 3, 38.8% of massive‐type and 52.9% of diffusetype tumors. Hematogenous extrahepatic metastasis was detected in 14.3% of type 1, 47.5% of type 2, 70% of type 3, 74.6% of massive‐type and 82.4% of diffuse‐type tumors. It appears that not only primary tumor size but also its macroscopic type has an important influence on the growth and spread of HCC.


This paper describes a study conducted to compare the interaction of experience and specificity in a requirements inspection technique. Two versions of a requirements inspection technique, PBR, were generated. One version had a high level of specificity and the other had a low level of specify. These techniques were used by subjects of varying experience levels to determine if experience and specificity were related. The results of the study indicated very little difference among the treatment groups. As a result, we examined any assumptions that we made about the environment. In doing so, we uncovered some issues that must be addressed in future studies that focus on people. This paper provides a complete description of the results obtained and describes the assumptions that we made and their impact on the reliability of the results.


Geoecodynamics integrates relevant concepts and knowledge from the earth and life sciences into a cross-disciplinary synthesis. Within the encompassing framework of earth system science, the concepts and methods of (palaeo-)geoecodynamics are obtained from biogeography, geomorphology, genomics, structural geology, tectonics, geochronology, sedimentology, palaeoecology and evolutionary biology. The analytical strengths of this cross-disciplinary science are enabled by phylogeography and ecology. Positioning the earth and life sciences in a novel association to study life as an earth surface process, geoecodynamics deciphers details of biodiversity dynamics to resolve tenures of landforms. Explorations of the genomic record of earth history forms the epistemic core of geoecodynamics, and quantifying species' tenures in dynamic landscapes hold the keys to unravelling hitherto unobtainable details of landscape evolution. The metaphor of a palimpsest emphasizes that landscapes preserve complex archives of landform dynamics, and that these previously untapped repositories of evolutionary history can now be deciphered. Here, interrogations of the genomic record are structured in a palaeoecological framework to quantify interlinked tenures of species; their archives of DNA variation constitute this evidence for landform dynamics preserved in the palimpsest. The concept of the phylogeographic record defines how a unique envelope of genomic variation can reveal when formative (e.g. tectonic) events shaped the interrelated tenures of a landform and its associated species. It is especially the phylogeographic records of ecological specialists (stenotopic species) that preserve coevolutionary signatures, which, constrained by molecular clocks, reveal where and when formative events modified the palimpsest. We show, by way of an example from the central Kalahari Plateau, that geoecodynamics can quantify, with tight fidelity and a precision as low as 0.1 kyr, how the tempo and mode of landscape dynamics has interacted with earth's systems, through linking phylogeographic records of mammals and fishes to decipher subtle tectonic events in the Kalahari epeirogeny. Pursuing these insights to their obvious conclusion, geoecodynamics allows deep probing into the solid earth to connect the tempo and mode of landscape evolution with mantle convection.


This article is intended to discuss methodological challenges to conducting research with trafficked persons in the United States. It draws from my experiences as an anthropologist involved in an ongoing book project on life after trafficking. By exploring the methodological difficulties and ethical concerns that I have faced as an anthropologist I hope to lay bare some of the methodological challenges that researchers across disciplines particularly social scientists who rely on ethnographic research are likely to confront when examining this issue. The central focus of this article is on the possibilities of collaboration between academic researchers trafficked persons and social service providers on advocacy research and writing projects as well as on the possibilities of trafficked persons speaking and writing for themselves. It also considers the role trafficked persons can play in building what the media and activists loosely term the "anti-trafficking movement" and asks what would have to happen for them to move beyond their .victim. status where they are called upon to provide "testimony" about trafficking to participating in the decision making of the direction of the movement. Since it identifies obstacles to trafficked persons (to whom I refer to in this article as ex-captives) taking the podium and picking up a pen it explores ways to mitigate potential problems when researchers "speak for" ex-captives. (excerpt)


Narratives can help identify linguistic, cognitive, semantic, and social abilities as well as communicative competence and cultural awareness of a child (e.g., Paradis, Genesee & Crago, 2010). In fact it has been argued that narrative skills are important for children's success at school, as evidenced by a close relationship between oral language skills and literacy (Snow, 2002). As research shows, cultural communities, language environment, home language use, parental attitudes towards bilingual and bi-cultural learning, and the level of language proficiency are some of the factors that can affect the development of narrative abilities (e.g., Jia, Yiu, Duncan & Paradis, 2011). The present study investigates the narrative production of bilingual children with typical development in both their languages: Russian and Cypriot Greek. A total of 23 simultaneous bilingual children across different age groups (from 3 to 11 years) have so far been tested with MAIN, the Multilingual Assessment Instrument for Narratives (Gagarina, Klop, Kunnari, Tantele, Valimaa, Balciūnienė, Bohnacker & Walters, 2012), a tool developed in COST Action IS0804 'Language Impairment in a Multilingual Society: Linguistic Patterns and the Road to Assessment'. All participants were also tested on a large battery of tests: the Developmental Verbal IQ Test, adapted to Cypriot Greek from Stavrakaki & Tsimpli's (2000) Standard Modern Greek original (Theodorou, 2013), the Russian Proficiency Test for Multilingual Children (Gagarina, Klassert, & Topaj, 2010), and several tasks assessing executive functions (digit span test, word span test, fluency test, Raven's matrices). With regard to narrative abilities, the bilingual children performed similarly across their two languages. Their performance was higher on the retelling condition in comparison to the telling condition. This is not a surprising finding, since retelling is considered to be easier than telling, though it is not just a repetition of a story but its reconstruction in detail and grammatical, lexical and content accuracy (Schneider, Hayward & Dube, 2006). As expected, the bilingual children's narrative abilities also improve with age, although the number of participants in each age group is too low to allow a concrete generalization. However, a comparison of the participants' (telling and retelling) narrative performance with that of monolingual Cypriot Greek-and monolingual Russian-speaking children (Gagarina et al., 2012) shows that these outperform their bilingual peers mainly in story structure and internal state terms. Bilingual children have been shown to lag behind their monolingual peers in terms of structural complexity as they are not able to produce complete and well-formed episodes and lack the understanding of narrative schemata, causality, perspective-taking, ability to plan, and meta-awareness (Westby, 2005). The bilingual children's narrative performance is linked with other variables such as the Greek DVIQ scores, Russian Proficiency Test scores, and schooling as well as chronological age.


Aetideidae is a calanoid copepod family dominant in the mesopelagic layer of the Arctic Ocean for which little ecological information is available because species identification, especially of early copepodite stages, is difficult. In this study, we developed a species identification flow for the whole copepodite stages of five sympatric aetideid copepods (Chiridius obtusifrons, Gaetanus tenuispinus, G. brevispinus, Aetideopsis multiserrata, and A. rostrata). Vertical distributions and seasonal population structures of these species were evaluated using a year-round sample time-series collected at the drifting ice station (SHEBA) in the western Arctic Ocean. Combinations of morphological characteristics (prosome length, cephalosome, and prosome widths) were used to identify the early copepodite stages to species. Aetideopsis rostrata was distributed in deep waters (1,032–1,065 m) throughout the year. The other species all were found at 600–700 m during the midnight sun. However, during the polar night, the vertical distributions of each species were distinct, resulting from ascent, descent, or depth maintenance, indicating seasonal vertical migration which may function to reduce inter-specific competition during the polar night when food resources are scarce. Reproduction timing varied among four aetideid copepods: C.obtusifrons and G. tenuispinus showed polar night ascent and reproduction at the end of the polar night, whereas G. brevispinus and A. multiserrata showed descent or depth maintenance during the polar night and reproduction at the beginning of the polar night. There was not sufficient data to examine reproduction timing of A. rostrata. Common for all aetideid species, δ15N values of the adult females indicate more carnivorous feeding modes during the polar night than those in the midnight sun. Such vertical distribution and timing of reproduction variation among these five aetideid copepods may function to reduce species competition in the mesopelagic layer of the Arctic Ocean.


A new mixed-effects model was developed that predicts individual-tree total height for Pinus densiflora trees in Gangwon province as a function of individual-tree diameter (cm). The mixed-effects model contains two random-effects parameters. Maximum likelihood estimation was used to fit the model to 560 height-diameter observations of individual trees measured throughout Gwangwon province in 2007 as part of the National Forest Inventory Program in Korea. The new model is an improvement over fixedeffects models because it can be calibrated to a local area, such as an inventory plot or individual stand. The new model also appears to be an improvement over the Forest Resources Evaluation and Prediction Program for the ten calibration trees used in this study. An example is provided that describes how to estimate the random-effects parameters using ten calibration trees.


The Yacouba layered complex intrudes the Archean (3.5–2.7 Ga) Kenema-Man craton in the Samapleu-Yorodougou area, western Ivory Coast. In Samapleu area, the complex was recognized in drill holes at three locations: Samapleu Main (SM); Samapleu Extension 1 (E1) and Yorodougou (Yo). It comprises websterites, peridotites and gabbro-norites arranged symmetrically with mafic layers at the center and ultramafic layers at both margins. The complex is inclined at 70–80° to the SE. The thickness of individual layers varies from 2 to 60 m and the total thickness is 120 to 200 m. At the E1 site, the complex extends to depths > 500 m.

Contacts with the country rock gneiss are characterized by a hybrid zone that is a few meters thick and composed of plagioclase-orthopyroxene bearing metabasites, and locally (E1 site) a metamorphic assemblage of sapphirine-cordierite-sillimanite-spinel ± rutile. This assemblage is attributed to contact metamorphism during intrusion of the complex in the lower crust at a depth of about 25 km. Zircons in country rock gneisses and granulites, as well as in the hybrid facies, yield Archean ages of ~ 2.78 Ga, similar to ages reported in the Man craton. Rutiles in the hybrid zone give a U-Pb age of 2.09 Ga, which is interpreted as the age of contact metamorphism and emplacement of the intrusion.

The Samapleu Main and Samapleu Extension 1 sites contain Ni and Cu sulfide deposit with reserves estimated as more than 40 million tons grading 0.25% Ni and 0.22% Cu (Sama Nickel-CI, August 2013). The Ni-Cu mineralization is composed of pentlandite, chalcopyrite, pyrrhotite and rare pyrite, which is disseminated mainly in pyroxenite or occurs as subvertical and semi-massive to massive sulfide veins. The sulfide textures range from matrix ore, net-textured, droplets or breccia textures. Zones enriched in PGM, particularly Pd, are associated with the sulfides and several chromite bands are also present. These observations suggest that an immiscible sulfide liquid formed from a parental silicate liquid and percolated through the crystal pile.

The parental melt composition, determined using the Chai and Naldrett [1992] method, has a SiO2-rich mafic composition with 53% SiO2 and 10% MgO. This result, the presence of the hybrid zone, and the trace-element signature determined using the Bedard [1994] method, suggest a mantle-derived basaltic parental magma that had assimilated abundant continental crust.

These observations indicate that Samapleu intrusion corresponds to a magmatic conduit of the Yacouba complex as at Jinchuan (China), Voisey's bay (Canada), Kabanga (Tanzania) or Nkomati (South Africa).


To allow for a robust and automatic exploitation of Sentinel-2 data, Analysis Ready Data (ARD) products are requested by most users. The processors of ARD products take care of the common burdens necessary for most applications, that include precise orthorectification, cloud detection and atmospheric correction steps, as well as the generation of periodic syntheses of cloud free surface reflectances. The French Theia land data center, and the German Earth Observation Center (EOC) started delivering Sentinel-2 surface reflectance products to users in 2016 in France and 2019 in Germany respectively. Both centers produce and distribute these data sets in near real time, over large regions requested by French users such as Western Europe, Maghreb, Sahel, Madagascar ... Theia's and EOC products include an instantaneous surface reflectance product (Level-2A), and a monthly cloud free synthesis of surface reflectance (Level-3A). This article shortly describes the methods used to generate the Level-2A products with the MAJA processor, and the Level-3A products with the WASP processor. The MAJA processor is based on multi-temporal methods, that use the slow variation of surface reflectance to detect clouds and estimate aerosol depth, while WASP, thanks to the quality of MAJA cloud mask, calculates a weighted average of all the cloud free observations over 45 days, every month. The article also provides validation results for Level-2A and Level-3A products, resulting from comparison with in-situ data and with other methods. A last section gives first insights from the monitoring of user uptake of the distributed products


The integration of heterogeneous data in varying formats and from diverse communities requires an improved understanding of the concept of a dataset, and of key related concepts, such as format, encoding, and version. Ultimately, a normative formal framework of such concepts will be needed to support the effective curation, integration, and use of shared multi-disciplinary scientific data. To prepare for the development of this framework we reviewed the definitions of dataset found in technical documentation and the scientific literature. Four basic features can be identified as common to most definitions: grouping, content, relatedness, and purpose. In this summary of our results we describe each of these features, indicating the directions a more formal analysis might take.


I am a gardener and the title of this chapbook grabbed me right away. But first thing I did before reading Mariss Everitt's poems, was to open the book at the middle, fold it out flat and turn it over so I could see the whole of the quilt that covers its front and half the back. The quilt, A full bed of roses, is one of the most beautiful designs I've seen in quite a while and were my quilting days not long over I would copy the pattern for my own bed. But to the poetry - to one side of the quilt, on the back cover I read that Mariss is a quilter, a gardener and an activist.


Background: According to existing literature, the genus Premna has a variety of biologically active secondary metabolites, but there are few findings on phytochemical screening of P. latifolia Roxb. Methanolic leaves extract. Objectives: Phytochemical screening of methanolic leaves extract of P. latifolia was proposed for this study. Materials and Methods: UV-chamber, HPTLC instrument (CAMAG TLC Scanner), and GC-MS instrument (Perkin-Elmer GCClarus) were used to analyse methanolic leaves extract of P. latifolia. To compare the peaks of components on chromatograms, the NIST library was employed. Results: The current study used GC-MS to identify probable chemical components of P. latifolia. The GC-MS analysis and NIST library comparison revealed that the methanolic extract of P. latifolia contained mainly Squalene (13.57 percent), Ergosta-5, 7, 9 (11), 22-tetraen-3-ol, (3. beta, 22E)-(0.15 percent), Stigmasterol (3.73 percent), gamma-Sitosterol (10.13 percent), Lupeol (0.33), beta-Amyrin (2.27 percent), alpha-Amyrin (2.05 percent), gamma-Sitostenone (0.35 percent), Ursolic aldehyde (1.01 percent) and Betulin (0.72 percent). The biological actions of the majority of the identified components have been reported. While scientific evidence of gamma-sitostenone's biological function is still not available. Conclusion: According to the findings, P. latifolia contains a variety of biologically active components, the majority of which are tri-terpenoids and phytosterols.


In 1924 seventeen-year-old Peter Hyun arrived in Hawaii with three younger siblings, leaving behind family and friends in Japanese-occupied Seoul and the Korean community of exiles in Shanghai. The early chapters of this spirited autobiographical account, the sequel to Man Sei!, recount Hyun's life as a young Korean coming of age in Hawaii and as a college student studying philosophy and theatre arts in Indiana. After college, Hyun moved to New York and in 1930 began working as an assistant stage manager with Eva LeGallienne's Civic Repertory Theatre. He later went on to direct theatre companies in New York, Massachusetts, California, and Montreal. As Hyun was one of only a handful of minorities working in the avant garde theatre in the 1930s and 1940s, his account contributes to our understanding of the place of Asians in art outside the mainstream. He also provides a personal perspective on key periods in American race relations, particularly during World War II and the Korean War. In the New World celebrates a rich life full of diversity. Throughout his life, Hyun believed that the making of a Korean American was essentially a cultural marriage - a marriage often requiring a lengthy and difficult engagement to succeed. In the New World is the story of Hyun's engagement, with all its triumphs and misfortunes, told with candor and wit. Peter Hyun died in 1993 at the age of eighty-seven.


Several important events such as the Asian Financial Crisis in 1997 and 11th Sep Attack in New York, has further heightened our concern for the conditions in the real estate markets, in particular for the housing market. This paper utilizes cointegration and errorcorrection models and Granger causality tests to investigate the dynamics of the Singapore private housing market. Consequently, private housing prices are found to be cointegrated with GDP, prime lending rates and private housing commencements and private housing rents, indicating that they share a common stochastic trend. In the short run, it is shown that the error correction mechanism plays an important adjustment role in the fluctuation of prices in order to bring the deviations in prices to return to the long-run equilibrium path. However, the adjustment is very slow due to the inefficiency of the real estate market. Furthermore, our results also show that, in the short run, the conditions in the financial market and macroeconomic economy can produce more significant influence on the number of housing commencements, while the price and supply factors of the real estate market can explain more about the short-run dynamics of rents.


The efficiency of a two-step ozonation with regard to disinfection and oxidation of micropollutants; was assessed for a river-water treatment plant (Limmat River, Zurich, Switzerland). The assessment was based on laboratory experiments to estimate transient ozone and OH radical concentrations coupled with hydraulic modelling of the ozone reactors. The laboratory experiments were performed for various temperatures, ozone dosages and pretreatments to mimic the full-scale treatment. The hydraulics were determined by a conservative tracer test. The kinetic data for disinfection and oxidation were taken from the literature. The inactivation of microorganisms (Cryptosporidium parvum oocysts, Bacillus subtilis spores, Giardia lamblia cysts and polio virus) was more critical at low temperature (5degreesC) than at high temperature (20degreesC). For Cryptosporidium parvum oocysts it was calculated to be less than 1 log for the two ozonation steps, and an overall ozone dose of 1.5 mg/l (5degreesC). For the same microorganism it was >3.5-log inactivation at 20degreesC. For other microorganisms, the calculated inactivation was greater than or equal to2 log (5degreesC) with B. subtilis spores being the most resistant. The oxidation of micropollutants was much less affected by variations in the temperature. The fraction of oxidation increased in the following order: between 15 and 25% of tetrachloroethene, 15 and 25% of methyl tertiary butyl ether, 30 and 40% of atrazine, 80 and 90% of p-xylene and between 97 and 100% of trim ethyl benzene were oxidized. For the oxidation of methyl tertiary butyl ether, the formation of degradation products was modelled in the pre-ozonation step. For all investigated treatment conditions the overall bromate formation was less than or equal to2.5 mug/l.


MUSIC LISTENING AND MAKING ACTIVATES A multitude of brain structures, the engagement of which is likely to have beneficial effects on the psychological and physiological health of individuals. We first briefly review functional neuroimaging experiments on music and emotion, showing that music-evoked emotions can change activity in virtually all core areas of emotional processing.We then enumerate social functions that are automatically and effortlessly engaged when humans make music. Engagement in these social functions fulfils basic human needs, is part of what makes us human, and is an important source for pleasure and happiness. Finally, we present a new method for music therapy, including an exploratory empirical study on effects of music making. Results show that the music making increased the mood of individuals compared to a control group. This music therapy method is promising in encouraging further development for the treatment of affective disorders, and can be used in both single- and double-blinded studies for empirical, evidence-based medical research.


Adhesion of platelets to extracellular matrix via von Willebrand factor (vWF) and activation of platelets by thrombin are critical steps in hemostasis. Glycoprotein (GP) V is a component of the GPIb-V-IX complex, the platelet receptor for vWF. GPV is also cleaved by thrombin. Deficiency of GPIb or GPIX results in Bernard-Soulier syndrome (BSS), a bleeding disorder in which platelets are giant and have multiple functional defects. Whether GPV-deficiency might also cause BSS is unknown as are the roles of GPV in platelet-vWF interaction and thrombin signaling. We report that GPV-deficient mice developed normally, had no evidence of spontaneous bleeding, and had tail bleeding times that were not prolonged compared with wild-type mice. GPV-deficient platelets were normal in size and structure as assessed by flow cytometry and electron microscopy. GPV-deficient and wild-type platelets were indistinguishable in botrocetin-mediated platelet agglutination and in their ability to adhere to mouse vWF A1 domain. Platelet aggregation and ATP secretion in response to low and high concentrations of thrombin were not decreased in GPV-deficient platelets compared with wild-type. Our results show that (1) GPV is not necessary for GPIb expression and function in platelets and that GPV deficiency is not likely to be a cause of human BSS and (2) GPV is not necessary for robust thrombin signaling. Whether redundancy accounts for the lack of phenotype of GPV-deficiency or whether GPV serves subtle or as yet unprobed functions in platelets or other cells remains to be determined.


Introduction: Severe accidental hypothermia in trauma patients is rarely encountered in tropical areas. However, unnoticed hypothermia may lead to deleterious consequences and even sudden death.Case report: We report the case of a middle-aged patient who sustained hemorrhagic shock secondary to a traffic accidentinduced severe intraabdominal injury, followed by prolonged exposure to a cold and wet environment. Thereafter, the patient was sedated and paralyzed and was administered large infusion volumes of fluid and blood components. In the emergency department, profound hypothermia could not be detected using an infrared forehead thermometer. Subsequently, the patient had a sudden cardiac arrest during the emergency surgery.Conclusion: This case report highlights that even in a tropical city, fatal severe hypothermia may occur in severe trauma patients. Therefore, to avoid accidental hypothermia, emergency physicians and trauma surgeons should use invasive temperature monitoring, and aggressive rewarming should be performed for correcting hypothermia in severe trauma patients


Stem cell homeostasis and differentiation are controlled by the complex interplay of a wide range of signalling pathways and small molecules, including all-trans-retinoic acid (ATRA). The endogenous effects elicited by ATRA, have led to its use in numerous in vitro protocols as a tool for cell differentiation. However, ATRA isomerises and degrades under standard laboratory conditions and furthermore, is rapidly metabolised in vivo, which leads to pleotropic effects and a high efficacious dose response. Consequently, synthetic analogues that are structurally and/or functionally equivalent to ATRA have been developed, as alternative pharmacological tools to further the understanding of this molecular pathway and control cell differentiation.In this study a small library of synthetic retinoids were prepared, which were designed to probe structural size, conformation and biological function, while being more resistant to cellular metabolism and isomerisation. Their stability towards fluorescent light was examined along with their activity in four different stem cell models. Two compounds, AH60 and AH61 were found to inhibit cellular proliferation and induce neural differentiation, through acting on the retinoic acid receptor pathway. Compared to ATRA, AH60 was approximately 10-fold more active, while AH61 was 100-fold more active in two of the cell models tested. These compounds are described comprehensively herein, and should be suitable and convenient alternatives to ATRA and 13cRA for use in in vitro studies carried out by cell and molecular biologists. In addition, an unrelated small molecule, neuropathiazol, has been synthesised to further characterise both the chemistry involved in its production and its biological activity in controlling cell differentiation. This compound was highlighted in the literature as an alternative to ATRA, for inducing neural differentiation in neural progenitor cells. We have further investigated its potential to differentiate other neural stem cell types and pluripotent stem cells. In addition potential analogues of neuropathiazol are discussed, as compounds of this nature are potentially highly useful for selectively controlling neural differentiation.


Vision and force sensors provide rich information which can enable robots to execute complex tasks. However, the integration of these two different types of sensors is not a trivial task. This paper provides a novel technique for the integration of vision and force information. Visual servoing and explicit force control techniques are applied in the task frame formalism. Disadvantages of the constant parameter controllers are addressed and a solution based on fuzzy tuning rules is proposed. The solution is an example of shared control strategy. Experimental results conducted on a 2 DOF direct drive SCARA robot for the manipulation of a sample object are presented both for fixed parameter and fuzzy-tuned controller and results are compared.


Background 18F-Fluoromethyl-choline (18F- FMCH) has recently been used in the detection of tumours with slow glucose metabolism such as cancer of the prostate. However, to get good imaging in the radiopharmaceutical product a low concentration of N, N-dimethylaminoethanol (DMAE) is important. At the Cyclotron and Radiochemistry Laboratory of the University Hospital of Perugia, F18 is combined with methylcholine to obtain F18-Fluoromethylcholine (18FMCh), used in PET-CT patients with prostate cancer. Purpose To reduce the final concentration of DMAE and increase the chemical yield Materials and methods The synthesis is carried out are carried out by an automated procedure (GE Medical Systems TRACERlab FXFN). From the precursor dibromoethane (DBM), using Kriptofix (K222), substitute a Br atom with F18, to get F18-fluorobromomethane (F18-FBM), subsequently purified through 3 cartridges Sep-Pak Silica cartridge. In place of the C-18 and CM plus (Waters) indicated by Shao, an Oasis HLB Extraction Cartridge Plus LP cartridge is then used, previously loaded with DMAE, which reacts with the F18 generating FMCH. Finally, the Oasis WCX is placed in series with the Oasis HLB in order to purify the radiopharmaceutical. To optimise the yield of the synthesis: flow-time of He (32 ml/min) was increased from 10 to 20 min the volume of acetonitrile was increased from 3 to 4.5 ml in order to reduce the free volume of the reactor The changes facilitated the transfer of the intermediate gas present in the reactor to the chromatographic columns. Finally, to purify the radiopharmaceutical, an Oasis WCX column was used in series with the Oasis HLB. Results DMAE concentration decreased from 80 ppm to 1.5 ppm and synthesis yield increased from 5% to 16% Conclusions Since DMAE is a molecule that competes with the cellular uptake of 18F-FMCH reducing its concentration in the radiopharmaceutical synthesised allows us to improve the final imaging sensitivity and quality. Abstract PP-30 Table 1 Synthesis code Chemical yield (%) DMAE Concentration (ppm) 1 4 81 2 4.5 74 3 5 69 4 4 57 5 3.8 49 6 5.6 41 7 6 35 8 7 32 9 7.2 28 10 10 11 11 11 9 12 10 7 No conflict of interest.


This classic work in vision science, written by a leading figure in Germany's Gestalt movement in psychology and first published in 1936, addresses topics that remain of major interest to vision researchers today. Wolfgang Metzger's main argument, drawn from Gestalt theory, is that the objects we perceive in visual experience are not the objects themselves but perceptual effigies of those objects constructed by our brain according to natural rules. Gestalt concepts are currently being increasingly integrated into mainstream neuroscience by researchers proposing network processing beyond the classical receptive field. Metzger's discussion of such topics as ambiguous figures, hidden forms, camouflage, shadows and depth, and three-dimensional representations in paintings will interest anyone working in the field of vision and perception, including psychologists, biologists, neurophysiologists, and researchers in computational vision -- and artists, designers, and philosophers. Each chapter is accompanied by compelling visual demonstrations of the phenomena described; the book includes 194 illustrations, drawn from visual science, art, and everyday experience, that invite readers to verify Metzger's observations for themselves. Today's researchers may find themselves pondering the intriguing question of what effect Metzger's theories might have had on vision research if Laws of Seeing and its treasure trove of perceptual observations had been available to the English-speaking world at the time of its writing.


Prescription opioid use and misuse poses a significant public health challenge to the United States. In this dissertation we use the three-manuscript format to address some the areas of unmet research. Each manuscript has an abstract, introduction, background, methods, results, discussion, and conclusions sections. Manuscript 1: We used a retrospective cohort design to examine the association between the patterns of initial prescription opioid use for non-cancer pain and risk of all-cause mortality among an insured opioid-naïve patient population in the U.S. Multivariable Cox regression model was used to estimate the association of initial pattern of opioid use with all-cause mortality, adjusting for baseline covariates to control for confounding. We found that incident chronic opioid use was associated with an increased risk of all-cause mortality that persisted for up to 5 years after the initiation of opioid therapy. Manuscript 2: We used a cross-sectional study of the Rhode Island Prescription Drug Monitoring Program data to estimate the annual statewide spending for prescription opioids in Rhode Island. A generalized linear model with gamma distribution with a log link function was used to estimate the relative differences in per-patient annual adjusted average opioid prescription cost. We found that in 2015 the annual expenditure for opioid prescriptions in Rhode Island was $44,271,827. Commercial insurance bore the majority of the cost of prescription opioid use, but cost per patient was highest among Medicare beneficiaries. Manuscript 3: Using the 2015 Prescription Drug Monitoring Programs data for Rhode Island we examined the association between potential prescription opioid misuse and method of prescription opioid payment used. A multivariable log-binomial regression model was used to examine the risk of potential opioid misuse, controlling for sex, age group, type of opioid used, and concurrent benzodiazepine use. We found that patients on chronic opioid therapy who pay for some, but not all, opioid prescriptions in cash could be associated with potential opioid misuse only when the patient has other health insurance coverage.


Abstract Objective Differences in bottled v. tap water intake may provide insights into health disparities, like risk of dental caries and inadequate hydration. We examined differences in plain, tap and bottled water consumption among US adults by sociodemographic characteristics. Design Cross-sectional analysis. We used 24 h dietary recall data to test differences in percentage consuming the water sources and mean intake between groups using Wald tests and multiple logistic and linear regression models. Setting National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), 2007–2014. Subjects A nationally representative sample of 20 676 adults aged ≥20 years. Results In 2011–2014, 81·4 (se 0·6) % of adults drank plain water (sum of tap and bottled), 55·2 (se 1·4) % drank tap water and 33·4 (se 1·4) % drank bottled water on a given day. Adjusting for covariates, non-Hispanic (NH) Black and Hispanic adults had 0·44 (95 % CI 0·37, 0·53) and 0·55 (95 % CI 0·45, 0·66) times the odds of consuming tap water, and consumed B=−330 (se 45) ml and B=−180 (se 45) ml less tap water than NH White adults, respectively. NH Black, Hispanic and adults born outside the fifty US states or Washington, DC had 2·20 (95 % CI 1·79, 2·69), 2·37 (95 % CI 1·91, 2·94) and 1·46 (95 % CI 1·19, 1·79) times the odds of consuming bottled water than their NH White and US-born counterparts. In 2007–2010, water filtration was associated with higher odds of drinking plain and tap water. Conclusions While most US adults consumed plain water, the source (i.e. tap or bottled) and amount differed by race/Hispanic origin, nativity status and education. Water filters may increase tap water consumption.


The Department of Defense (DOD) and each of the military services have established new programs to care for the severely disabled, ensuring rehabilitative assistance and easing the transition back to civilian life. Congress has followed these initiatives with interest and recently directed DOD to develop policies and procedures to standardize these programs. This report examines the background for the new initiatives and provides a status of each program, including contact information.


I discuss the motivations and actions (or inaction) of individuals in the financial system, governments, central banks, academia and the media that collectively contribute to the persistence of a dangerous and distorted financial system and inadequate, poorly designed regulations. Reassurances that regulators are doing their best to protect the public are false. The underlying problem is a powerful mix of distorted incentives, ignorance, confusion, and lack of accountability. Willful blindness seems to play a role in flawed claims by the system's enablers that obscure reality and muddle the policy debate.


Background: Brugada syndrome is a clinical entity composed of twelve leads electrocardiographic changes of coved or saddle shaped STsegment elevation in V1 and V2 with serious ventricular arrhythmias which may cause sudden cardiac death. Objectives: The objectives of this study is to highlight the clinical presentation and the types of ECG changes of Brugada syndrome cases seen in Iraq and to orient physicians about this fatal condition. Patients and Methods: Patients presented with symptoms of palpitation, dizzy attacks or syncope and diagnosed as Brugada syndrome were included in this case series study. The diagnosis of Brugada syndrome based mainly on the typical coved or saddle shaped or variant STSegment elevation in electrocardiographic leads V1, V2. Results: Eighteen patients were included in this case series study. All are males. Age ranged from 15-45 Y. The presenting symptoms were palpitation in 12 patients, syncope in 8, dizzy spells and pre syncope in 14 and chest pain seen in 2. The arrhythmic events were clinically documented in 10. Monomorphic VT seen in 4, VF in 2, atrial fibrillation in 2 and atrial flutter in 2. Induced VF by EP study seen in 2. Type I Brugada ECG pattern was seen in 6 patients, type II in 4 and three of type III. Five showed a variant type of the syndrome. Family history of sudden cardiac death was seen in 8 patients while in 10 it was negative. ICD was implanted in 6 patients. In 12 patients (67%) the diagnosis of Brugada syndrome was missed during the provisional medical contacts. Conclusion: Brugada syndrome is not uncommon in Iraq but needs a high diagnostic suspicion through appreciating the symptomologies and electrocardiographic features of this fatal syndrome to plan management to prevent sudden cardiac death.


This essay discusses mid-twentieth-century domestic design in Britain, reflecting on modernist reform principles that focused attention on the restructuring of social relations in spatial design through the introduction of the open plan. The reception of open plan is considered historically and in the light of recent analyses of the social meanings of domestic space. The implication of gender distinction in the design, use and critiques of domestic space, is posited as an aspect of material culture objectifying strategies of social relations. This account draws together a series of issues under the theme of 'flexible space', comparing two case studies of moving home in mid- and late-twentieth century. The first appertains to several generations of residents moving into one of the new towns of the post-war Reconstruction programme, and the second to a recent study of older people moving into retirement accommodation.


Cancer is increasingly being viewed as a metabolic disease. Research shows the importance of metabolism to cancerous traits such as metastasis, invasion, drug resistance, growth, evasion of apoptosis or immune system. Therefore, understanding how metabolism adapts to support the growth of tumours could lead towards the optimization of current therapeutic approaches and the development of new treatment options, which would help to overcome multi-drug resistance traits.
In this study we represent a systems biology approach to identify biomarkers and therapeutic options of breast cancer through the analysis of breast cancer metabolism. The metabolism of breast cancer was explored in the context of personalized genome scale metabolic models (GSMNs) by combing gene expression data with currently the most comprehensive GSMN Recon2 by using the GEBRA algorithm. GEBRA algorithm ensures maximum congruency between gene expression data and metabolic genes present in the GSMN while satisfying various constraints (stoichiometry, mass balance, thermodynamic) to generate metabolic landscapes.
We performed analysis using microarray data derived from the Metabric study, consisting of 2,000 individual breast tumours and 131 matched normal breast tissue samples. In addition, this study was complemented with publicly available gene expression datasets of breast cancer cell lines (MCF-7, MDA-MB-231, and MCF-10a), and breast cancer stem cells.
The performed metabolic analysis of the Metabric Discovery set (997 patients) identified a novel poor prognosis group, which was reproduced in the validation set (995 samples). We further explored the hypothetical metabolic adaptations elicited by the poor prognosis tumours and established serotonin production to be an important trait of the poor prognosis group. In addition, the analysis of breast cancer stem cells suggested the prostaglandin synthesis pathway to play a major role in breast cancer stem cell maintenance and development.
Our data supports the reconsideration of the synergistic use of selective serotonin uptake inhibitors (SSRIs) and prostaglandin synthase inhibitors along with the chemotherapeutic regimens used to treat breast cancers.


A combination of phase-shift with gray-code light projection into a three-dimensional vision system based on the projection of structured light is presented. The gray-code method is exploited to detect without ambiguity even marked surface discontinuities, whereas the phase-shift technique allows the measurement of fine surface details. The system shows excellent linearity. An overall mean value of the measurement error equal to 40 microm, with a variability of approximately +/-35 microm, corresponding to 0.06% of full scale, has been estimated. The implementation of the technique is discussed, the analysis of the systematic errors is presented in detail, and the calibration procedure designed to determine the optimal setting of the measurement parameters is illustrated.


Abstract The mineral in bones and teeth is an impure form of hydroxylapatite (HAP), the principal impurity being 2-5 wt.% carbonate. This mineral dissolves during remodelling of bone and also in dental caries as a result of the action of acids produced by osteoclasts and by bacteria, respectively. In enamel, demineralization proceeds with preferential loss of carbonate relative to phosphate. Surprisingly, in the early stages, the demineralization is subsurface. In order to facilitate the understanding of physical chemical aspects of these processes, we have undertaken studies of demineralization in model systems. We give three examples here. The first two used scanning microradiography in which the specimen is stepped across a 10-30 μm diameter X-ray beam. Intensity measurements allow calculation of the mineral mass per unit area in the X-ray path through the specimen. In the first experiment, porous HAP sections were separated from a reservoir of acidic buffer by a column initially filled with water (the diffusion length) and scanned with the X-ray beam perpendicular to the axis of the diffusion length. The rate of total loss of mineral along each profile was calculated from the scans. The rate of demineralization fell as the diffusion length increased. We believe the explanation is that the ratecontrolling step is the diffusion of dissolved HAP away from the solid to the buffer reservoir. In the second experiment, demineralizing solution and water were pumped alternately, for equal lengths of time, past blocks of porous HAP or enamel. The X-ray beam was perpendicular to the exposed surface. As the rate of switching between solutions decreased, the mean rate of demineralization also fell. We propose that this effect is due to retention of acid in the pores of the HAP during the time when water flows, allowing further demineralization to take place during this time. The third study used X-ray microtomography, a form of 3D microscopy, to study the loss of mineral in compacted carbonate apatite powders. The powders were packed in six 10 mm internal diameter acrylic cylinders to a depth of 4 mm (after pressing). One end was covered with a porous polyethylene disc and each tube placed in acidic buffer for 70 days. Periodic examination by microtomography showed the development of subsurface demineralization. Infrared spectroscopy of the dissected-out surface layers showed preferential loss of carbonate over phosphate by comparison with deeper layers. Rietveld analysis of X-ray powder diffraction data showed changes in the crystallographic structures of the apatites between the initial and dissected-out apatite.


We observed fluorescence emission from 2,5-diphenyl-1,3,4-oxadiazole (PPD) resulting from two-photon excitation with two different wavelengths near 380 and 760 nm. For this two-color two-photon (2C2P) excitation the emission spectra and intensity decays were the same as observed with single-photon excitation with an equivalent energy at 250 nm. The two-color two-photon-induced emission was observed when the PPD sample was illuminated with both wavelengths, but only when the picosecond laser pulses were spatially and temporally overlapped. The signal was about 70-fold and 1000-fold less for illumination at 380 or 760 nm alone, respectively. When illuminated with both wavelengths, the emission intensity of PPD depended quadratically on the total illumination power, when both beams were simultaneously attenuated to the same extent, indicating two-photon excitation. When the intensity at one wavelength was attenuated, the signal depended linearly on the power at each wavelength, indicating the participation of one-photon at each wavelength to the excitation process. For 2C2P excitation the time-zero anisotropy was larger than possible for single-photon excitation and was consistent with collinear electronic transitions for both wavelengths. The intensity depended on the polarization of each beam in a manner consistent with collinear transitions. These results demonstrate that two-color two-photon excitation can be readily observed with modern laser sources. This phenomenon can have numerous applications in the chemical and biomedical sciences, as a method for spatial localization of the measured volume.


Abstract Platinum group mineral (PGM) assemblages in the Platreef at Sandsloot, northern Bushveld Complex, in a variety of lithologies reveal a complex multi-stage mineralization history. During crystallization of the Platreef pyroxenites, platinum group elements (PGE) and base-metal sulphides (BMS) were distributed thoughout the interstitial liquid forming a telluride-dominant assemblage devoid of PGE sulphides. Redistribution of PGE into the metamorphic footwall by hydrothermal fluids has formed arsenide-, alloy- and antimonide-dominant assemblages, indicating a significant volatile influence during crystallization. Serpentinization of the footwall has produced an antimonide-dominant PGM assemblage. Parts of the igneous reef were subjected to alteration by a late-stage, Fe-rich fluid, producing ultramafic zones where the telluride-dominant assemblage has been recrystallized to an alloy-dominant one, particularly rich in Pt-Fe and Pd-Pb alloys. A thin, small-volume zone of PGE- BMS mineralization along the base of the hangingwall contains a primary PGM assemblage that is locally altered to one dominated by Pt/Pd germanides. This is thought to have formed when the new pulse of Main Zone magma entered the chamber, and scavenged PGE from the underlying Platreef pyroxenites. That each major rock type at Sandsloot contains a distinctive PGM assemblage reflects the importance of syn- and post-emplacement fluid and magmatic processes on the development of Platreef mineralization.


In the vicinity of tipping points—or more precisely bifurcation points—ecosystems recover slowly from small perturbations. Such slowness may be interpreted as a sign of low resilience in the sense that the ecosystem could easily be tipped through a critical transition into a contrasting state. Indicators of this phenomenon of 'critical slowing down (CSD)' include a rise in temporal correlation and variance. Such indicators of CSD can provide an early warning signal of a nearby tipping point. Or, they may offer a possibility to rank reefs, lakes or other ecosystems according to their resilience. The fact that CSD may happen across a wide range of complex ecosystems close to tipping points implies a powerful generality. However, indicators of CSD are not manifested in all cases where regime shifts occur. This is because not all regime shifts are associated with tipping points. Here, we review the exploding literature about this issue to provide guidance on what to expect and what not to expect when it comes to the CSD-based early warning signals for critical transitions.


Antarctic Mesoscale Prediction System (AMPS) forecasts of atmospheric moisture and cloud fraction (CF) are compared with observations at McMurdo and Amundsen–Scott South Pole station (hereafter, South Pole station) in Antarctica. Overall, it is found that the model produces excessive moisture at both sites in the mid- to upper troposphere because of a weaker vertical decrease of moisture in AMPS than observed. Correlations with observations suggest AMPS does a reasonable job of capturing the low-level moisture variability at McMurdo and the upper-level moisture variability at South Pole station. The model underpredicts the cloud cover at both locations, but changes to the AMPS empirical CF algorithm remove this negative bias by more than doubling the weight given to the cloud ice path. A "pseudosatellite" product based on the microphysical quantities of cloud ice and cloud liquid water within AMPS is preliminarily evaluated against Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP) imagery during summer to examine the broader performance of cloud variability in AMPS. These comparisons reveal that the model predicts high-level cloud cover and movement with fidelity, which explains the good agreement between the modified CF algorithm and the observed CF. However, this product also demonstrates deficiencies in capturing low-level cloudiness over cold ice surfaces primarily related to insufficient supercooled liquid water produced by the microphysics scheme, which also reduces the CF correlation with observations. The results suggest that AMPS predicts the overall CF amount and high cloud variability notably well, making it a reliable tool for longer-term climate studies of these fields in Antarctica.


Economic models of animal behaviour assume that decision-makers are rational, meaning that they assess options according to intrinsic fitness value and not by comparison with available alternatives. This expectation is frequently violated, but the significance of irrational behaviour remains controversial. One possibility is that irrationality arises from cognitive constraints that necessitate short cuts like comparative evaluation. If so, the study of whether and when irrationality occurs can illuminate cognitive mechanisms. We applied this logic in a novel setting: the collective decisions of insect societies. We tested for irrationality in colonies of Temnothorax ants choosing between two nest sites that varied in multiple attributes, such that neither site was clearly superior. In similar situations, individual animals show irrational changes in preference when a third relatively unattractive option is introduced. In contrast, we found no such effect in colonies. We suggest that immunity to irrationality in this case may result from the ants' decentralized decision mechanism. A colony's choice does not depend on site comparison by individuals, but instead self-organizes from the interactions of multiple ants, most of which are aware of only a single site. This strategy may filter out comparative effects, preventing systematic errors that would otherwise arise from the cognitive limitations of individuals.


If mass were the only criterion, asteroids, satellites, and the smallest planet, Pluto, would not rate much attention. But they often held center stage early this month when planetary scientists gathered in Providence, Rhode Island, for the annual meeting of the Division of Planetary Science of the American Astronomical Society. Here is a selection of the news about the lesser bodies that so many researchers hold dear.


FAST DYNAMIC RECONNECTION AT X-TYPE NEUTRAL POINTS I. J. D. CRAIG AND P. G. WATSON Department of Mathematics and Statistics, University of Waikato, Private Bag, Hamilton, New Zealand Received 1991 August 7;accepted 1991 December 12 ABSTRACT We consider the linear and nonlinear evolution of disturbed magnetic X-type neutral points. The problem is formulated within a unified analytic and computational framework which highlights the essence of the mag netic annihilation process, namely, the coupling of a global convection region to a localized diffusion region surrounding the neutral point. An analytic treatment is given for the case of small disturbances of the equilibrium field in the absence of gas pressure. This problem admits well-defined azimuthal modes which allow a formally exact determination of the magnetic annihilation rate. It is shown that reconnection can only occur in the case of purely radial (m = 0) disturbances: the reconnection process is oscillatory and "fast," depending only logarithmically on the plasma resistivity (,,). We show that the linear theory supports the notion of an initial implosive stage which rapidly releases the bulk of the energy associated with reconnective field disturbances. This phase is initiated by the advective focusing of the perturbation energy into the neutral point and culminates in the formation of a cylindrical diffusion region of area A 17 and current density J 17 i. This scaling provides a signature for fast linear reconnection. Next we consider the breakdown of the linear theory. Although fast reconnection is maintained for low amplitude disturbances in noncylindrical geometries, it is shown that finite gas pressure can stall the reconnec tion if sufficiently large. This effect, however, may not be critical in more complex X-point geometries. More seriously, for finite-amplitude displacements the cylindrical current structure close to the neutral point is dis torted into a quasi-one-dimensional current sheet whose thickness is limited by resistive diffusion. In this case fast reconnection is consistent with a flux pileup solution in which the bulk of the energy is released as heat rather than as the kinetic energy of mass motion. Subject heading: MHD