Sound can be just as quantum as light. But our toolbox for single quanta of sound, i.e. phonons, is currently insufficient. Here we describe a new component that enables a chip-based, solid-state analogue of cavity-QED1,2 utilizing acoustic phonons instead of photons, phonitons instead of polaritons. We show how long-lived and tunable acceptor (hole) impurity states in silicon nanomechanical cavities can play the role of a matter non-linearity for coherent phonons just as, for example, the Josephson qubit plays in circuit-QED3. This system enables the control of single phonons and phonon-phonon interactions, dispersive phonon readout of the acceptor qubit, and compatibility with other nano/optomechanical components4,5 such as phonon-photon translators. Phonons, due to their unique properties, enable new opportunities for quantum devices and physics.


This dissertation examines how Latino immigrants in Pittsburgh, PA deal with their grievances. My central argument is that Latinos in Pittsburgh frame their grievance experiences through hybrid normative systems which are constructed from both the knowledge and experience about legal and social norms that they bring from their countries of origin, as well as from the specific experiences, flows of information, knowledge and perceptions accessible to them about the receiving legal culture. Given the limited availability of formal structures set in place to accommodate incoming migrants, Latinos form their understandings of the American social and legal culture from their own first-hand experiences, along with the information advanced to them by their personal support networks. These networks provide migrants with information, second-hand experience and support, and thus in many cases become pivotal support structures in a place where Latinos tend to perceive themselves as existing on the peripheries of a dominant culture. Not surprisingly, some of the norms that are ultimately adopted into the hybrid legal systems serve as protective mechanisms for these support networks, discouraging grievance processing mechanisms that could hurt these personal relationships or that could create future problems within them.

Data on decision-making about how to pursue grievances were gathered from twenty in-depth interviews with Latinos from North, Central and South America, observation of on-going disputes and 199 memory cases that were collected. Informants for the interviews were chosen from a fairly representative list of Latinos in the Pittsburgh area: six of the interviewees were purposively sampled as spouses of American citizens and 14 were chosen by stratified purposive sampling according to type of occupation (―blue‖ or ―white‖ collar). The data gathered from these interviews were both qualitatively and quantitatively analyzed. This project is significant because, theoretically, it proposes changing hybridization as an alternative way of characterizing the transnational experience, particularly as it relates to the experience of legal and social norms. In so doing, the project also makes applied contributions by revealing the importance of differentiated but comprehensive entry level education to immigrants about the cultural and normative expectations that they face living in the United States.


ABSTRACT "Organized chaos" is the theme of the short history of the Internet and social work. It is a history of paradoxes. Although there are many paths to follow the historical influence of the Internet for social work, this essay notes that the Internet was bom from a military strategy. Decades later, social work education and practice employed this massive network. This essay traces the unlikely links among the original military agenda, astounding engineering feats, online social interaction action, and social work education and practice. A short glossary is provided to readers unfamiliar with technical terms.


Learning speaker turn embeddings has shown considerable improvement in situations where conventional speaker modeling approaches fail. However, this improvement is relatively limited when compared to the gain observed in face embedding learning, which has proven very successful for face verification and clustering tasks. Assuming that face and voices from the same identities share some latent properties (like age, gender, ethnicity), we propose two transfer learning approaches to leverage the knowledge from the face domain learned from thousands of identities for tasks in the speaker domain. These approaches, namely target embedding transfer and clustering structure transfer, utilize the structure of the source face embedding space at different granularities to regularize the target speaker turn embedding space as optimizing terms. Our methods are evaluated on two public broadcast corpora and yield promising advances over competitive baselines in verification and audio clustering tasks, especially when dealing with short speaker utterances. The analysis gives insight into characteristics of the embedding spaces and shows their potential applications.


It seems like common sense that children do better when parents are actively involved in their schooling. But how well does the evidence stack up? "The Broken Compass "puts this question to the test in the most thorough scientific investigation to date of how parents across socioeconomic and ethnic groups contribute to the academic performance of K-12 children. The study's surprising discovery is that no clear connection exists between parental involvement and improved student performance.Keith Robinson and Angel Harris assessed over sixty measures of parental participation, at home and in school. Some of the associations they found between socioeconomic status and educational involvement were consistent with past studies. Yet other results ran contrary to previous research and popular perceptions. It is not the case that Hispanic and African American parents are less concerned with education than other ethnic groups--or that "tiger parenting" among Asian Americans gets the desired results. In fact, many low-income parents across a wide spectrum want to be involved in their children's school lives, but they often receive little support from the school system. And for immigrant families, language barriers only worsen the problem.While Robinson and Harris do not wish to discourage parents' interest, they believe that the time has come to seriously reconsider whether greater parental involvement can make much of a dent in the basic problems facing their children's education today. This provocative study challenges some of our most cherished beliefs about the role of family in educational success.


In this paper, using one of the most effective simulation methods, namely the cellular automata formalism, we simulate the dynamics of a system which is composed of a large number of two-level atoms placed in a two-dimensional cavity. We suppose additionally that the cavity is confined by four semi-transparent "mirrors". We show that similarly to the one-dimensional case, several interesting effects including the molasses effect occur in the considered system.


This report contains a discussion of how an analysis of the interplay of gender, class and other individual and social differences can shed a light on the micro-level dynamics of youth civic and political engagement in the countries of the South-Eastern Mediterranean (SEM) region which are part of the Power2Youth project. It is based on the data analysed in the country reports prepared by Power2Youth partners, which were taken from a broader survey on youth socioeconomic and political inclusion and exclusion that they themselves undertook in 2016 in partnership with, or under the technical guidance of, FAFO. To analyse dynamics of youth un/employment and political participation (or lack thereof), each country team selected the sections of the questionnaire which they deemed to be peculiarly interesting, telling and/ or relevant for their context, and discussed results based on their theoretical frameworks and approaches.


Autoregressive generative models consistently achieve the best results in density estimation tasks involving high dimensional data, such as images or audio. They pose density estimation as a sequence modeling task, where a recurrent neural network (RNN) models the conditional distribution over the next element conditioned on all previous elements. In this paradigm, the bottleneck is the extent to which the RNN can model long-range dependencies, and the most successful approaches rely on causal convolutions, which offer better access to earlier parts of the sequence than conventional RNNs. Taking inspiration from recent work in meta reinforcement learning, where dealing with long-range dependencies is also essential, we introduce a new generative model architecture that combines causal convolutions with self attention. In this note, we describe the resulting model and present state-of-the-art log-likelihood results on CIFAR-10 (2.85 bits per dim) and $32 \times 32$ ImageNet (3.80 bits per dim). Our implementation is available at this https URL


The inflammatory cytokine pathway may be a potential therapeutic target for major depressive disorder (MDD). Previous reports suggest that antidepressants have anti-inflammatory properties and can cause a reduction in proinflammatory cytokines. Recent evidence suggests this might be mediated at the level of the transcriptome. The current study investigated the transcription of 86 genes in the inflammatory cytokine pathway both at baseline and after eight weeks of escitalopram treatment in MDD patients who were either clinical responders (n=25) or non-responders (n=21), using a subset of samples in the Genome-Based Therapeutic Drugs for Depression project (GENDEP). Changes in expression between baseline and eight weeks of treatment were assessed using two-tailed t-tests. To establish if any significant expression changes related to clinical response, the magnitude of the relative expression change between baseline and eight weeks of treatment was established and binary logistic regressions were used to compare differences between responders and non-responders. ATP-binding cassette sub-family F member 1 (ABCF1), a translational regulator of the inflammatory cytokine pathway showed a significant increase in expression after escitalopram treatment which was significantly greater in responders compared to non-responders, suggesting that ABCF1 may play a role in mediating antidepressant response.


A cladistic analysis of the genus Atlantodesmus Hoffman, 2000 is presented. With a total of 11 taxa and 30 morphological characters, and under implied weighting (k = 3), two equally most parsimonious trees (length = 58 steps; total fit = 23.150; CI = 0.64; RI = 0.64) recovered the monophyly of the genus. The resulting synapomorphies are: absence of a ventral projection on the post-gonopodal sternites; presence of folds on the dorsal edge of the prefemoral region of the gonopod; and one homoplastic transformation: presence of a cingulum. In addition, Atlantodesmus sierwaldae sp. nov. is described from the state of Minas Gerais, in the Brazilian Cerrado, and a key to the males of the genus is provided.


The problem of designing a set of routes with minimum cost to serve a collection of customers with a fleet of vehicles is a fundamental challenge when the number of customers to be dropped or picked up is not known during the planning horizon. The purpose of this paper is to develop a vehicle routing Problem (VRP) model that addresses stochastic simultaneous pickup and delivery in the urban public transport systems of Addis Ababa city Bus Enterprise, in Ethiopia. To this effect, a mathematical model is developed and fitted with real data collected from Anbessa City Bus Service Enterprise (ACBSE) and solved using Clark-Wright saving algorithm. The form-to-distance is computed from the data collected from Google Earth and the passenger data from the ACBSE. The findings of the study show that the model is feasible and showed an improvement as compared to the current performances of the enterprise. It showed an improvement on the current number of routes (number of buses used) and the total kilometer covered. The average performances of the model show that on average 6.48 routes are required to serve passenger demands of 271 and on average the simulation run was performed with 0.40 seconds of CPU time. During this instance, the average distance traveled by the vehicles in a single trip is 552.92kms.


The objective of this book is to present a fundamental development of the science and engineering underlying the design of exhaust aftertreatment systems for automotive internal combustion engines. No pre-requisite knowledge of the field is required: our objective is to acquaint the reader, whom we expect to be new to the field of emissions control, with the underlying principles, control methods, common problems, and fuel effects on catalytic exhaust aftertreatment devices. We do this in hope that they can better understand the previous and current generations of emissions control, and improve upon them. This book is designed for the engineer, researcher, designer, student, or any combination of those, who is concerned with the control of automotive exhaust emissions. It includes discussion of theory and fundamentals applicable to hardware development.


Since their start in Houston in 1994, KIPP (Knowledge Is Power Program) charter schools have been the most celebrated of the No Excuses schools. Employing strict discipline, an extended school day and year, and carefully selected teachers, No Excuses schools move disadvantaged students who start behind their peers academically up to and above grade level in reading and math, and on the path to success in college. Studies conducted by Mathematica Policy Research show that KIPP schools achieve significantly greater gains in student achievement than do traditional public schools teaching similar students. Recent large-scale research at Stanford University's Center for Research on Education Outcomes (CREDO) also finds that KIPP teaching is highly effective, with individual students learning far more than their statistical "twins" at traditional public schools. KIPP's own studies find that the schools substantially increase the odds that a disadvantaged student will enter and graduate from college. Not surprisingly, the 144 KIPP charter schools across the nation have no shortage of fans, including President Barack Obama, Microsoft founder Bill Gates, and Secretary of Education Arne Duncan. Also not surprisingly, KIPP and other No Excuses schools have no shortage of critics. Furman University education professor P. L. Thomas, who admitted in a recent speech at the University of Arkansas to never having been in a No Excuses charter school, complains in a widely referenced 2012 Daily Kos post that in such schools, "Students are required to use complete sentences at all times, and call female teachers 'Miss'--with the threat of disciplinary action taken if students fail to comply." Regarding KIPP in particular, Cambridge College professor and blogger Jim Horn, who admits to having never been inside a KIPP school, nonetheless has referred to KIPP as a "New Age eugenics intervention at best," destroying students' cultures, and a "concentration camp" at worst. Such criticisms could be dismissed if held on the margins of American public education. Unfortunately, within many education schools and teachers unions, KIPP detractors are more prevalent than KIPP backers. All too many professors and education administrators think that KIPP, and schools like it, succeed by working their students like dogs. Like all charter schools, KIPP schools are chosen by parents, but critics fear that disadvantaged parents do not know enough to choose wisely, or else do not have their children's best interest at heart. Leaving aside whether the critics patronize the people of color KIPP schools serve, we propose that KIPP and similar schools are not nearly as militaristic as critics, who may have never been inside them, fear. Inside a KIPP School We have done hundreds of hours of fieldwork over the past eight years in 12 KIPP schools in five states, interviewing scores of teachers, students, and administrators. It is true that an atmosphere of order generally prevails. We found that schools that begin by establishing a culture of strict discipline, in neighborhoods where violence and disorder are widespread, ease off once a safe, tolerant learning environment is secured. "KIPPsters" and their teachers live up to the Work Hard, Be Nice motto but also play hard when the work is done. A schoolwide focus on academics is palpable. The schools nonetheless make time for band, basketball, chess, prom, and any number of clubs. Student interactions are atypical. The KIPP schools we observed emphasize teamwork and assuring success for all ("team beats individual"; "all will learn"), encouraging more-advanced students to help their peers rather than just fend for themselves, in contrast to more individualistic traditional public schools. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Teachers in KIPP schools have to be willing to go the extra mile. We demonstrate in a forthcoming Social Science Quarterly article that in advertisements for teaching positions, KIPP schools consistently emphasize public service incentives, serving kids, while nearby traditional public schools emphasize private incentives, namely salary and benefits. …


Handheld and mobile technologies have witnessed significant advances in functionality, leading to their widespread use as both business and social networking tools. Human-Computer Interaction and Innovation in Handheld, Mobile and Wearable Technologies reviews concepts relating to the design, development, evaluation, and application of mobile technologies. Studies on mobile user interfaces, mobile learning, and mobile commerce contribute to the growing body of knowledge on this expanding discipline.


Governmental as well as non-governmental organizations have put and are putting a lot of efforts in poverty eradication projects globally in general and Kenya in particular. This is aimed at reducing poverty, improving the quality of people's lives, ensuring environmental sustainability and building partnership to ensure that globalization becomes a positive force to all world people (UNDP, 2003). The implementation of these projects therefore becomes complete with realization of set goals and objectives. Pastoral Integrated Support Programme (PISP) is one of the many non-governmental organizations that work in Marsabit district. It seeks to strengthen resource management and pastoral economic system by promoting community empowerment and strengthening social wellbeing. It is from this goal that PISP started implementing water and sanitation project from 2003 in Maikona and Kargi areas aimed at providing safe drinking water for humans and livestock as well as building latrines to enhance sanitation. This study therefore aimed at investigation of challenges affecting effective implementation of poverty alleviation projects by PISP in Marsabit district. The specific objectives of the study were; to determine the influence of participation of stakeholders to effective implementation of water and sanitation project, to find out the extent that community awareness of project goals and implementation procedures affect effective implementation of the project, to establish the effect of pastoralism to effective implementation of water and sanitation project and to examine the relationship between project sustainability and its effects in implementation of poverty alleviation projects. Descriptive research was used for the study with both primary and secondary data being collected. This was done by use of two sets of questionnaires; one for the project implementing agency and the other for the beneficiaries. Data was then analyzed by use of descriptive statistical methods then presented by use of tables, charts and graphs. It was found out that the following factors affected effective implementation of poverty eradication projects by Pastoral Intergration Support Programme; participation of stakeholders' in project implementation, community awareness of project goals, pastoral nature of the community and the sustainability of the project. Due to PISP putting into consideration these factors, there was effective implementation of poverty eradication projects. This was because stakeholders were involved in project implementation after being made aware of project goals. Also, the community pastoral nature was considered which made project sustainable. Further research should be carried out on similar projects carried out by PISP to find out if are affected by the above factors and also reasons that inhibit more stakeholder participation in projects.


The
 intent
 of
 this
 qualitative
 study
 was
 to
 examine
 what
 relevant
 stakeholders believe
 serve
 as
 significant
 causes
 of
 truancy
 and
 what
 can
 be
 done
 to
 reduce
 or eliminate
 it.
 This
 study
 utilized
 a
 qualitative,
 exploratory
 research
 design
 to
 better understand
 what
 a
 sample
 of
 stakeholders
 believed
 would
 help
 reduce
 truancy
 rates in
 youth
 ages
 13-‐17.
 The
 sample
 of
 this
 study
 was
 made
 up
 of
 five
 professionals
 who currently
 work
 or
 have
 worked
 with
 families
 and
 youth
 involved
 with
 truancy related
 issues.
 Two
 of
 the
 participants
 were
 high
 school
 counselors,
 two
 were community
 outreach
 workers,
 and
 one
 participant
 was
 a
 county
 outreach
 worker; each
 participant
 had
 a
 minimum
 of
 seven
 years
 working
 with
 youth.
 The
 question format
 used
 was
 semi-‐structured,
 with
 12
 prepared
 questions.
 All
 were
 designed with
 room
 for
 elaboration,
 asking
 the
 professionals
 to
 discuss
 their
 professional experiences
 with
 youth
 experiencing
 truancy.
 The
 interviews
 were
 first
 transcribed, then
 themes
 were
 discovered
 by
 using
 both
 inductive
 and
 deductive
 methods.
 The transcripts
 were
 explored
 in
 an
 inductive
 manner,
 allowing
 themes
 to
 develop
 on their
 own
 through
 coding.
 Once
 this
 was
 complete,
 the
 data
 were
 further
 explored in
 a
 deductive
 manner
 to
 better
 determine
 actual
 themes
 found
 supporting
 the inductive
 coding.
 Four
 main
 themes
 emerged:
 the
 definition
 of
 truancy
 based
 on
 the professional
 role,
 changes
 in
 truancy,
 things
 that
 impact
 truancy,
 and
 things
 that reduce
 truancy.
 The
 data
 from
 the
 participants
 were
 compared
 to
 previous research.
 The
 previous
 literature,
 along
 with
 this
 study
 discovered
 that
 truancy occurs
 because
 of
 many
 reasons
 and
 not
 one
 approach
 will
 work
 for
 all
 students. There
 are
 several
 factors
 that
 go
 into
 truancy
 and
 remembering
 to
 take
 them
 all
 into account
 will
 help
 youth
 succeed
 in
 attending
 school
 regularly.
 Implications
 for
 the field
 of
 social
 work
 and
 suggestions
 for
 future
 research
 are
 discussed. Truancy
 in
 the
 eyes
 of
 the
 stakeholders 3 Table
 of
 Contents Introduction 5 Literature
 Review 8 Conceptual
 framework 17 Methods 20 Results 25 Discussion 45 References 58 Appendices 62 Truancy
 in
 the
 eyes
 of
 the
 stakeholders 4 List
 of
 Tables/Figures Table
 1:
 Participant
 Demographics 26 Figure
 1:
 Definition
 of
 Truancy 27 Figure
 2:
 Changes
 in
 Truancy 27 Figure
 3:
 Impacts
 Truancy 28 Figure
 4:
 Reduces
 Truancy 28 Figure
 5:
 Definition
 of
 Truancy
 from
 Outreach
 Participants 30 Figure
 6:
 Definition
 of
 Truancy
 from
 School
 Counselors 31


The World Wide Web has evolved gradually from a document delivery platform to an architecture for distributed programming. This largely unplanned evolution is apparent in the set of interconnected languages and protocols that any Web application must manage. This paper presents Ur/Web, a domain-specific, statically typed functional programming language with a much simpler model for programming modern Web applications. Ur/Web's model is unified, where programs in a single programming language are compiled to other "Web standards" languages as needed; supports novel kinds of encapsulation of Web-specific state; and exposes simple concurrency, where programmers can reason about distributed, multithreaded applications via a mix of transactions and cooperative preemption. We give a tutorial introduction to the main features of Ur/Web and discuss the language implementation and the production Web applications that use it.


Objective(s): Cisplatin is an effective antineoplastic agent; its clinical utility, however, is limited by a few salient toxic side effects like nephrotoxicity. This study aimed to determine the potential protective effects of tangeretin, a citrus-derived flavonoid, against renal tubular cell injury in cisplatin-induced renal toxicity of rats. Materials and Methods: Tangeretin was injected intraperitoneally at 2.5 and 5 mg/kg doses for 10 days, and a single dose of cisplatin (8 mg/kg) was injected on the 7th day. Tests of kidney function and tubular injury in renal tissues and urine together with oxidative stress and inflammation markers were examined. Results: Tangeretin ameliorated cisplatin-induced elevations in serum creatinine, BUN, and histopathologic changes. It also attenuated kidney oxidative stress elicited by cisplatin as demonstrated by reduced MDA and increased GSH, CAT, and SOD activities, elevated Nrf2 expression and protein levels of its downstream effectors, HO-1 and NQO-1. Tangeretin further alleviated inflammation evoked by cisplatin as indicated by reduced NF-κB p65 subunit phosphorylation with a simultaneous decrement in its downstream effectors IL-1β and TNF-α expression and protein levels. Moreover, it declined caspase-3 protein levels and TUNEL positive cells in the kidneys, the markers of apoptosis and DNA fragmentation, thus improving renal endurance. Additionally, tangeretin mitigated renal levels of KIM-1 and NGAL, as well as urinary cystatin C and β2-microglobulin concentrations, the markers of renal tubular injury. Conclusion: Collectively, these data signify the binary profit of tangeretin: enhancement of renal protective mechanisms against cisplatin and attenuation of renal tubular cell injuries induced by the agent.


The Report: Many Voices in Conversation Let us reassure you that despite appearances, you are indeed reading the Hastings Center Report. While we'll accept full responsibility, praise, or blame, for the cover design, we want to reflect briefly on what the Report is and should be, and how you, our readers and authors, can help us shape the content between the covers. Shortly after the Institute of Society, Ethics and the Life Sciences was established, the Hastings Center Report was born in 1971 as a modest newsletter of twelve pages. The Report's goal of informing and educating a broad audience to "bioethics" issues was subsequently complemented by substantial scholarly articles and essays contained in the Hastings Center Studies. The "marriage" of the Institute's two publications in 1975 was in part one of convenience, but also grew out of a sense that "public" and "professional" bioethics were becoming increasingly separated, and that a journal that was both intellectually rigorous and generally accessible would merge the audiences and invigorate the discourse. In the intervening years, the Report has walked the fine line between "serious" scholarly journal with articles that challenge the finest of professionals, and "popular" magazine with features adaptable for use even in high school settings. Our acute editorial challenge is to maintain this balance in a way that invites professionalism and innovation by authors and engages the moral reflection and imagination of readers. As well, the Report aspires to be a public forum for the many professions and disciplines that contribute to bioethics - medicine, law, philosophy, the natural and social sciences, theology - to engage in mutually enriching interdisciplinary conversation on common ground. Our editorial horizons must remain sufficiently broad to guarantee a place in our pages for many voices, lest bioethics become a closed, self-engrossed, and narrow enterprise. Joining many diverse voices on issues that are both profound and personal in an ongoing conversation that is open, full of vitality, and engaging, is not an impossible ideal, but we do require your help. We need the voices of the best of professional academic scholars who bring their critical and analytical skills to bear on questions that transcend disciplinary boundaries. We need also the voices of emerging, younger scholars who in years to come will carry forward the foundational work of the Daniel Callahans and Willard Gaylins, the Robert Morisons and Leon Kasses, the Paul Ramseys and Hans Jonases. …


Sophisticated space weather monitoring aims at nowcasting and predicting solar-terrestrial interactions because their effects on the ionosphere and upper atmosphere may seriously impact advanced technology. Operating alert infrastructures rely heavily on ground-based measurements and satellite observations of the solar and interplanetary conditions. New opportunities lie in the implementation of in-situ observations of the ionosphere and upper atmosphere onboard low Earth orbiting (LEO) satellites. The multi-satellite mission Swarm is equipped with several instruments which will observe electromagnetic and atmospheric parameters of the near Earth space environment. Taking advantage of the multi-disciplinary measurements and the mission constellation different Swarm products have been defined or demonstrate great potential for further development of novel space weather products. Examples are satellite based magnetic indices monitoring effects of the magnetospheric ring current or the polar electrojet, polar maps of ionospheric conductance and plasma convection, indicators of energy deposition like Poynting flux, or the prediction of post sunset equatorial plasma irregularities. Providing these products in timely manner will add significant value in monitoring present space weather and helping to predict the evolution of several magnetic and ionospheric events. Swarm will be a demonstrator mission for the valuable application of LEO satellite observations for space weather monitoring tools.


Abstract The confining walls in future fusion power plants will be subjected to an intense energetic bombardment from X-rays, ions, and neutrons. This is true for both direct-drive inertial fusion energy (IFE) and magnetic fusion energy (MFE) designs. We focus in this paper on the threat spectra presented by energetic ions. X-rays are predicted to present a less significant threat in direct-drive IFE, and neutron effects cannot be readily simulated in current experimental facilities. For the experimental results presented herein, the energetic ions are generated in the Repetitive High-Energy Pulsed Power 1 (RHEPP-1) facility at Sandia National Laboratories. Depending upon whether the ion pulses are of nitrogen (previous database) or helium (this paper), the pulse width varies from 100 ns to as much as 500 ns, respectively. While this is short compared to ˜500-μs transient events anticipated in MFE operation, data from both IFE and MFE experiments for tungsten exposure are shown to exhibit similar fluence thresholds when thermal diffusion is taken into account by use of the heat flux parameter H = Power density × t1/2, where t is the characteristic event time duration. Long-term exposure of tungsten to RHEPP-1 nitrogen pulses indicates that above a level of ˜1 J · cm−2 /pulse, polycrystalline tungsten roughens severely, the cause of which appears to be thermomechanical distress, with loosening of grains near the surface the primary result. This roughening is correlated with unacceptable mass loss. While this occurs below melting temperatures, allowing the surface to melt by raising the per-pulse fluence does not appear to be a viable approach to smoothing the surface. Oriented grain material such as ITER-specified tungsten performs significantly better than polycrystalline tungsten, but under helium exposure it appears to suffer additional surface deterioration that appears to be connected to helium pore and bubble formation at absorbed implantation levels of mid-1015 He/cm2. This level is below previously reported levels of concern for helium retention effects and well short of required survival duration. Experiments with three-dimensional "needle" geometries, designed to increase the effective surface area for heat absorption and reduce helium implantation in depth, show promising results that need further investigation to confirm long-term survival.


One functional factor commonly affected by neurodegenerative diseases is communication. Many people with neurodegenerative disease experience a progressive motor speech disorder: dysarthria. It is known that communication is essential for full social participation but there is limited evidence on the role it plays in quality of life (QoL). The aim of this thesis is to explore the QoL of Saudi Arabian individuals with progressive dysarthria associated with neurodegenerative disease. The thesis includes the development of new intelligibility and functional communication measures for use with an Arabic speaking population. It also explores the relationship between QoL and communication for individuals with neurodegenerative disease. Qualitative and quantitative research methodologies were used. Research participants were recruited from a specialist hospital in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. 16 people participated in the first part and 34 in the second, all of whom had been diagnosed with neurodegenerative disease associated with different severities of progressive dysarthria. In addition, caregivers participated to explore the difference between their perceptions of participants' QoL and functional communication and that of the participants themselves. It was established that QoL, as measured by the ASIP, showed the most frequent relationship with functional measures of communication. Additionally, qualitative analysis of interviews highlighted themes related to physical, psychological, social, and environmental factors. Communication was mainly discussed in relation to changes and restrictions in participation and interaction. Finally caregiver and patient perspectives were found to be similar when asked to rate the participants' QoL and functional communication. Although this research is not without limitations as reflected by some of the methodologies used as well as variable population features within the disease groups, it is an important first step in looking at a Saudi Arabian population with progressive dysarthria and exploring methods for assessing intelligibility, functional communication and the relationship between communication and QoL.


This article demonstrates an approach to address the proposed change in American Bar Association Accreditation Standards that would assess law schools on learning outcomes rather than input factors. The study reported in this paper used a pre- and post-testing procedure to measure and analyze student learning gains in the core skill of legal reading and reasoning. The study's primary hypothesis was that law students would achieve significant positive learning gains as a result of a set of instructional interventions introduced to supplement the traditional case dialogue method of law teaching. In contrast to studies of the traditional method alone, which found no significant learning gains, this study found that the introduction of the instructional interventions produced significant learning gains for the group as a whole. The interventions introduced in this study produced significant measurable gains in law students' reading and reasoning skill during an early stage of their legal education.


Across the OECD countries, dropouts from upper secondary schooling fare worse in the labor market, with higher NEET rates more spells of unemployment and lower earnings. Among the dropouts, there are however significant shares who complete at a later age. In this paper, we thus ask the question: Does it pay for young adults who do not complete upper secondary schooling by the age of 21, to do so at some point during the subsequent 7 years, that is, before turning 28? In all four Nordic countries under scrutiny, we find that late completion lowers the probability of being outside employment, education or training (NEET) at age 28. Moreover, the exact age of completion does not seem to matter. Our estimates are robust to the inclusion of extensive controls for socioeconomic background and early schooling paths, and similar to the ones produced by event history analysis with individual fixed effects. This indicates that late completion of upper secondary schooling plays an important role for the labor market inclusion of young dropouts.


The Euromanifesto Coding Instructions are used as handbook for the coding of all manifestos within The Euromanifestos Project in the 15 EU countries. It is based on the second edition of ""Manifesto Coding Instructions"" by Andrea Volkens of the WZB (Volkens 2002). In accordance with the intention of The Euromanifestos Project to strive for full comparability with the Comparative Manifesto Project, most coding rules have been adapted from the original handbook. The authors acknowledge critical comments by Hermann Schmitt, Tanja Binder and the expert coders on earlier drafts of the coding instructions and the underlying coding scheme as well as the coding sheets (see appendices to this paper). Since the coding has not been finished yet, there might be a revised edition of these instructions at the end of the project.


Based on a comprehensive theoretical model of a recently proposed novel technique known as adaptively modulated optical orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (AMOOFDM), investigations are undertaken into the impact of an analog-to-digital converter involved in the AMOOFDM modem on the transmission performance of AMOOFDM signals in unamplified intensity-modulation and direct-detection (IMDD) multimode-fiber (MMF)-based links. It is found that signal quantization and clipping effects are significant in determining the maximum achievable transmission performance of the AMOOFDM modem. A minimum quantization bit value of ten and optimum clipping ratio of 13 dB are identified, based on which, the transmission performance is maximized. It is shown that 40-Gb/s-over-220-m and 32-Gb/s-over-300-m IMDD-AMOOFDM signal transmission at 1550 nm with loss margins of about 15 dB is feasible in the installed worst case 62.5-mum MMF links having 3-dB effective bandwidths as small as 150 MHz middot km. Meanwhile, excellent performance, robustness to fiber types, and variation in launch conditions and signal bit rates is observed. In addition, discussions are presented of the potential of 100-Gb/s AMOOFDM signal transmission over installed MMF links


In this paper, we describe a new teaching approach whose objective is to implement entrepreneurship-based learning. The proposed teaching approach is essentially a project-based approach, but, with two novel key components that give it the entrepreneurship emphasis. First, the main idea is to divide students into groups of four or five members and have each team go through the process of starting-up a company. This process tries to emulate all steps through which entrepreneurs go when a new start-up idea is taken from concept to product realization. These steps include proposing a novel start-up idea, writing a business plan, coming up with a solution, implementing and testing the solution, and reporting results. The only constraint of this "exercise" is that all start-up ideas must be related to the main topic of the course, which in our case is that of advanced hardware description language and field-programmable gate array (FPGA) digital design. As a second component, each student is required to maintain a so called individual reflective journal (IRJ). Students add new entries of about half a page each week to the IRJ, which plays the role of a diary. The objective of this component is to engage students in thinking about how the course activities tie into the three components of the KEEN framework: curiosity, connections, and creation of value. The projected outcomes of this teaching approach include: 1) help students to develop an entrepreneurial mindset, 2) foster creativity and self-learning, and 3) engage students more and enable them to be proactive and competition-aware.


We show that two-photon absorption (TPA) in rubidium atoms can be greatly enhanced by the use of a hollow-core photonic-band-gap fiber. We investigate off-resonant, degenerate Doppler-free TPA on the 5S{sub 1/2{yields}}5D{sub 5/2} transition and observe 1% absorption of a pump beam with a total power of only 1 mW in the fiber. These results are verified by measuring the amount of emitted blue fluorescence and are consistent with the theoretical predictions which indicate that transit-time effects play an important role in determining the two-photon absorption cross section in a confined geometry.


The purpose of this paper is to obtain non-directional electrodes for neural stimulating or recording by reforming the wedge-shape tip of concentric circle electrodes which applied to electromyography (EMG) detection. The electrode tips were ground by sand paper. The electrodes before and after ground were characterized by photomicrography and Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy (EIS). Animal test was taken to test the electrical performance. The photomicrographs showed that the tip of the electrode before ground was wedge-shape while the exposed surface of the inner electrode tip after reformed was cone shape and almost evenly in all directions. The impedance-frequency curve and the phase-frequency curve obtained from EIS showed that the electrical performance of the reformed electrode was steadier than before. The impendence of the electrode before reformed was 38.5±7.2kΩ and that of reformed one was 20.8–53.3 kΩ at 1 kHz, and the standard deviation is only 1.5–4.1 kΩ. Animal test showed that the amplitude recorded by the electrode before reformed changed during rotated the electrode along its longitudinal axis a certain angle and the difference between maximum and minimum is 200 mV. While the amplitude recorded by the reformed electrode is much steadier, the difference between maximum and minimum is 60 mV.


BACKGROUND Cystic fibrosis is an autosomal recessive disease caused by mutations in the CFTR gene that lead to progressive respiratory decline. Some mutant CFTR proteins show residual function and respond to the CFTR potentiator ivacaftor in vitro, whereas ivacaftor alone does not restore activity to Phe508del mutant CFTR. METHODS We conducted a randomized, double‐blind, placebo‐controlled, phase 3, crossover trial to evaluate the efficacy and safety of ivacaftor alone or in combination with tezacaftor, a CFTR corrector, in 248 patients 12 years of age or older who had cystic fibrosis and were heterozygous for the Phe508del mutation and a CFTR mutation associated with residual CFTR function. Patients were randomly assigned to one of six sequences, each involving two 8‐week intervention periods separated by an 8‐week washout period. They received tezacaftor–ivacaftor, ivacaftor monotherapy, or placebo. The primary end point was the absolute change in the percentage of predicted forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV1) from the baseline value to the average of the week 4 and week 8 measurements in each intervention period. RESULTS The number of analyzed intervention periods was 162 for tezacaftor–ivacaftor, 157 for ivacaftor alone, and 162 for placebo. The least‐squares mean difference versus placebo with respect to the absolute change in the percentage of predicted FEV1 was 6.8 percentage points for tezacaftor–ivacaftor and 4.7 percentage points for ivacaftor alone (P<0.001 for both comparisons). Scores on the respiratory domain of the Cystic Fibrosis Questionnaire–Revised, a quality‐of‐life measure, also significantly favored the active‐treatment groups. The incidence of adverse events was similar across intervention groups; most events were mild or moderate in severity, with no discontinuations of the trial regimen due to adverse events for tezacaftor–ivacaftor and few for ivacaftor alone (1% of patients) and placebo (<1%). CONCLUSIONS CFTR modulator therapy with tezacaftor–ivacaftor or ivacaftor alone was efficacious in patients with cystic fibrosis who were heterozygous for the Phe508del deletion and a CFTR residual‐function mutation. (Funded by Vertex Pharmaceuticals and others; EXPAND ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT02392234.)


The roles of pendimethalin and its nano-form to induce oxidative stress, osmolytes, biochemical alterations and cytotoxic effect in algal cells of Chlorella vulgaris after exposure to sub-lethal concentrations were carried out. The data indicated that, 96-h EC50 values were 20 and 19 ppb for pendimethalin and its nano-form, respectively. Three concentration levels (0.1EC50, 0.025EC50 and EC50) of the examined herbicide decreased the algal pigments (Chlorophyll a and b), but increased carotenoid contents compared with the control group. Biomolecules such as protein, carbohydrates, proline and sucrose of the algal cells significantly increased for the all treatments compared with the control groups. Similarly, malondialdehyde (MDA), some enzymes such as catalase (CAT), superoxide dismutase (SOD) and ascorbate peroxidase (APX) showed significant increases for the all treatments. On the other hand, ultrastructural investigation of the herbicide-treated algal cells showed significant changes in their organelles in comparing with the untreated cells through transmission electron microscope (TEM) images. From all findings, it was obtained that the nano-pendimethalin was more potential toxic than the traditional form to induce adverse effects on the freshwater alga. Thus, biosafety procedures must be followed on non-target species before decision for nano-herbicide practices.


First feeding success is critical to larval marine finfish and optimization of live feed densities is important for larval performance and the economics of commercial hatchery production. This study investigated various rotifer feeding regimes on the prey consumption, growth and survival of yellowtail kingfish Seriola lalandi larvae over the first 12 days post hatch (dph). The common practice of maintaining high densities of rotifers (10-30 ind. mL-1) in the rearing tank was compared to a low density feeding technique, where 5-8 ind. mL-1 of rotifers were offered. A 'hybrid' feeding regime offered rotifers at the high density treatment until 5 dph and the lower feeding densities thereafter. There was no significant difference in larval survival (hybrid: 28.9 ± 7%, low density: 17.3 ± 5% and high density: 17.2 ± 9%) or growth (hybrid: 6.12 ± 0.18 mm, low density: 6.03 ± 0.10 mm and high density: 6.11 ± 0.23 mm) between treatments. Rotifer ingestion was independent of rotifer density throughout the trial and increased with larval age, with larvae at 4 dph ingesting 22 ± 1.5 rotifers larvae-1 h-1 and by 11 dph ingesting 59 ± 1.6 rotifers larvae-1 h-1. These data demonstrate that from first feeding, yellowtail kingfish larvae are efficient at capturing prey at the densities presented here and consequently significant savings in rotifer production costs as well as other potential benefits such as facilitation of early weaning and improved rotifer nutritional value may be obtained by utilizing lower density rotifer feeding regimes.


For more than 10 years the research group at LRR-TUM investigates concepts for on-line monitoring techniques and designs and implements monitoring systems for various hardware and software architectures. From the early systems in the beginning of the 90's to the sophisticated interface-based approach for interoperable tools many milestones were reached that represented each a considerable progress in the field of tool construction. The paper gives an overview on the most important aspects of our work and pinpoints the increase of knowledge in this area.


This book provides a cross-disciplinary reference to speech in mobile and pervasive environmentsSpeech in Mobile and Pervasive Environments addresses the issues related to speech processing on resource-constrained mobile devices. These include speech recognition in noisy environments, specialised hardware for speech recognition and synthesis, the use of context to enhance recognition and user experience, and the emerging software standards required for interoperability. This book takes a multi-disciplinary look at these matters, while offering an insight into the opportunities and challenges of speech processing in mobile environs. In developing regions, speech-on-mobile is set to play a momentous role, socially and economically; the authors discuss how voice-based solutions and applications offer a compelling and natural solution in this setting.Key FeaturesProvides a holistic overview of all speech technology related topics in the context of mobilityBrings together the latest research in a logically connected way in a single volumeCovers hardware, embedded recognition and synthesis, distributed speech recognition, software technologies, contextual interfacesDiscusses multimodal dialogue systems and their evaluationIntroduces speech in mobile and pervasive environments for developing regionsThis book provides a comprehensive overview for beginners and experts alike. It can be used as a textbook for advanced undergraduate and postgraduate students in electrical engineering and computer science. Students, practitioners or researchers in the areas of mobile computing, speech processing, voice applications, human-computer interfaces, and information and communication technologies will also find this reference insightful. For experts in the above domains, this book complements their strengths. In addition, the book will serve as a guide to practitioners working in telecom-related industries.


Background: Cancer disparities are associated with a broad range of sociocultural determinants of health that operate in community contexts. High-risk populations may be more vulnerable to social and environmental factors that lead to chronic stress. Theoretical and empirical research indicates that exposure to contextual and sociocultural stress alters biological systems, thereby influencing cancer risk, progression, and, ultimately, mortality.Objective: We sought to describe contextual pathways through which stress likely increases cancer risk in high-risk, underserved populations.Methods: This review presents a description of the link between contextual stressors and disease risk disparities within underserved communities, with a focus on 1) stress as a proximal link between biological processes, such as cytokine responses, inflammation, and cancer and 2) stress as a distal link to cancer through biobehavioral risk factors such as poor diet, physical inactivity, circadian rhythm or sleep disruption, and substance abuse. These concepts are illustrated through application to populations served by three National Cancer Institute-funded Community Networks Program Centers (CNPCs): African Americans in the Deep South (the South Carolina Cancer Disparities Community Network [SCCDCN]), Native Hawaiians ('Imi Hale—Native Hawaiian Cancer Network), and Latinos in the Lower Yakima Valley of Washington State (The Center for Hispanic Health Promotion: Reducing Cancer Disparities).Conclusions: Stress experienced by the underserved communities represented in the CNPCs is marked by social, biological, and behavioral pathways that increase cancer risk. A case is presented to increase research on sociocultural determinants of health, stress, and cancer risk among racial/ethnic minorities in underserved communities.


In this paper, we report on fish by-catch during exploratory fishing activities undertaken in Divisions 58.4.1 and 58.4.2 during the 2012 to 2018 seasons. Fish by-catch comprised 14 species or groups of species. In 2018, by-catch represented 12% of the total catch (43 tonnes over 307 tonnes of Dissostichus spp.) in Divisions 58.4.1 and 58.4.2. 98% of the biomass was represented by 2 families: Macrouridae and Channichthyidae. The others most common by-catch species or families were Muraenolepis spp., Antimora rostrata and Artedidraconidae. Raja and Bathyraja were rarely caught. Species composition varied between research blocks except for Macrourus spp. which dominated by-catch composition everywhere. The ratio by-catch to target catch was higher in the eastern part of Division 58.4.1. The ratio Macrourus to Dissostichus increased in every research blocks during the study period, particularly in the eastern blocks where Macrourus CPUE also increased in the last 3 years. Macrourus CPUE was 23kg/1000 hooks in average with relatively little spatial variations except in the east were it could reach 180kg/1000 hooks locally. As found in others areas of the Convention, Macrourus CPUE was 2 times higher for autolines than Spanish lines and trotlines, and it peaked at depths between 900 and 1300m. CPUE distribution of the others by-catch species were much lower and highly heterogeneous in space. Macrourus catch was dominated by females in all research blocks and length frequency distribution did not reveal any temporal changes within research blocks. Length at 50% maturity was estimated for the two most common species of Macrourus (Macrourus whitoni and Macrourus caml) and for Chionobathyscus dewitti. 95% of the Muraenolepis sp. and Antimora rostrata were females in every research blocks with spatial variations in total length frequency distribution.


BACKGROUND
The increase in the number of reported conversation partner programmes for conversation partners of people with aphasia demonstrates increased awareness of partner needs and the positive effect of trained partners on the communicative abilities of the person with aphasia. Predominantly small-scale studies describe the effectiveness of conversation partner training (CPT) and how partners perceive this training. The view of partners on this service commission remains largely unknown.

AIMS
To explore the experiences of partners of people with aphasia with a CPT programme when it was newly introduced into rehabilitation settings.

METHODS & PROCEDURES
Seventeen partners of people with aphasia were interviewed using a semi-structured format about their experience with Partners of Aphasic Clients Conversation Training (PACT). Transcribed interviews were analysed using qualitative content analysis.

OUTCOMES & RESULTS
Four categories representative of the practical nature and individual tailoring of PACT were identified: engaging with PACT; learning from PACT; reflecting on behaviour and emotions; and experiences with earlier speech and language therapy (SLT). Two themes were identified cutting across all categories: the nature of communication is difficult to grasp; and balancing roles as partner, carer and client.

CONCLUSIONS & IMPLICATIONS
Partners appreciated the training programme once their initial lack of awareness of the interactive nature of communication had been addressed. SLTs need to be clear about the collaborative nature of conversations and what can be offered within the rehabilitation trajectory to address conversation alongside language training.


This paper presents several possible complexity-based measures of effectiveness (MOE) that address some of the limitations imposed by the use of attrition as a primary MOE in evaluating results of combat models. The considered measures are Shannon entropy (especially spatial entropy), fractal dimension, symmetropy, and the Hurst coefficient. Some of these measures have been used before (entropy, fractal dimension), others have not (symmetropy, Hurst coefficient). The suitability of the measures for the assessment of crowd confrontation operations (CCO) is discussed. CCOs are a prime example of a case in which attrition provides inadequate information. At the same time, crowds, due to their inherent complexity are an excellent test bed for the proposed measures. It is demonstrated that the complexity-based MOEs are effective in capturing the temporal dynamics of CCOs. Furthermore, the use of these MOEs allows for identification of emergent behaviours and patterns in the system dynamics. It is suggested that the changes in crowd dynamics due to the interaction with the law enforcement are consistent with phase transitions in critical systems, namely with a self-organized criticality.


We study the role of the most primitive institution in society: the family. Its organization and relationship between generations shape values formation, economic outcomes, and influences national institutions. We use a measure of family ties, constructed from the World Values Survey, to review and extend the literature on the effect of family ties on economic behavior and economic attitudes. We show that strong family ties are negatively correlated with generalized trust; they imply more household production and less participation in the labor market of women, young adult, and elderly. They are correlated with lower interest and participation in political activities and prefer labor market regulation and welfare systems based upon the family rather than the market or the government. Strong family ties may interfere with activities leading to faster growth, but they may provide relief from stress, support to family members, and increased well-being. We argue that the values regarding the strength of family relationships are very persistent over time, more so than institutions like labor market regulation or welfare systems.


New paleoclimatic evidence from palynologic and vertebrate proxies provides more detailed data on climatic change during the Jurassic in Argentina. Comparison with paleomagnetic data shows that the Neuquen basin shifted from the highest paleolatitudes (50oS), by the end of the Triassic until the end of the Sinemurian. During the Pliensbachian-Toarcian it moved northward, reaching the lowermost paleolatitudes (25oS), and subsequently (Middle to Late Jurassic) the area moved again and attained eventually a position similar to its present-day position (30oS). These movements are reflected in the Jurassic palynofloras. The high frequency of the pollen genus Classopollis (Cheirolepidiacean gymnosperms) is of special paleoclimatic importance in the Argentinian Jurassic, as it is indicative of seasonal aridity or semiarid conditions during large intervals of this Period. During the shift of the South American continent to the northernmost position, the arrival of an important group of Araucariaceae, represented by Callialasporites spp., in the Toarcian could indicate an amelioration related to more humid conditions. Jurassic dinocyst assemblages studied in the Neuquen basin have proved to be useful paleoclimatic and paleobiogeographic proxies. Abundant remains of marine crocodiles in the Mid- and Late Jurassic of the Neuquen basin indicate warm water temperatures for this basin, probably in excess of 20° C. The occurrence of abundant turtles and other ectothermic vertebrates in the Middle Jurassic Canadon Asfalto Formation of Chubut is in general accordance with the warm climate indicated for this unit by geologic evidence.


Feline chronic gingivostomatitis (FCGS) is an inflammatory disease of the oral cavity that causes severe pain and distress. No specific treatment methods are available and little is known about its aetiology. The aims of this study were:- 1) to identify the bacterial flora, including uncultivable and potentially novel species, in healthy cats and those with FCGS, using 16S rRNA gene sequencing in combination with conventional culture methods; 2) to investigate the viral status of cats with and without FCGS; 3) to assess the immune response by investigating the expression of cytokine and Toll-like receptor (TLR) genes in tissue biopsies from normal cats and those with FCGS; 4) to investigate the histopathological changes in tissue biopsies from normal cats and those with FCGS, 5) to assess putative risk factors for FCGS by the use of a questionnaire-based study.
Oral swabs, mucosal biopsies and blood were collected and the location of the oral lesions was recorded. A total of 32 cats with FCGS and 16 normal cats were included in the study. Bacteria were identified from swabs by use of 16S rRNA gene sequencing and by conventional culture methods. Blood samples and swabs were used for diagnosis of infection with feline leukaemia virus (FeLV), feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV), feline herpes virus 1 (FHV-1), feline calicivirus (FCV) and for blood biochemistry and haematology. Gene expression levels for TLR2, TLR3, TLR4, TLR7 and TLR9, and cytokines IL-1β, IL-4, IL-6, IL-10, TNF-α and IFN-γ mRNA were determined using quantitative PCR in biopsy samples from healthy cats and cats with FCGS. Histopathological examination of the tissue biopsies was done using hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) staining.
In the healthy group, 16S rRNA gene sequencing demonstrated that the most prevalent bacteria were part of the Proteobacteria and Bacteroidetes phyla, plus a group of uncultured bacteria. The most prevalent species in the healthy group were Xanthomonadaceae bacterium (6.2 % of clones analysed), Capnocytophaga canimorsus (5.4%), Capnocytophaga cynodegmi (4.8%), Bergeyella species (4.5%) and Pasteurella multocida subspecies septica (4.4%). Uncultured bacteria accounted for 29% of the clones analysed. In the FCGS group most of the identified species were part of the phylum Proteobacteria. The most prevalent species in the FCGS group were P. multocida subsp. multocida (14.1%) P. multocida subsp. septica (11.5%), Pseudomonas sp. (7.3%), Tannerella forsythia (6.6%) and Porphyromonas circumdentaria (5.6%). A variety of uncultured bacteria represented 7.7% of all analysed FCGS clones. The culture data showed the most prevalent bacteria in the healthy group were P. multocida subsp. septica (9.9%), and uncultured bacteria (30.5%). In the FCGS group the most prevalent isolates were P. multocida subsp septica and P. multocida subsp. multocida (both 9.9%). Uncultured bacteria accounted for 21.7% of all isolates.
FCV was detected in 71% of cats with FCGS and in 13.3% of normal cats. FeLV antigen was detected in 33.3% of normal cats but not in any cats with FCGS. FIV antibodies were detected in 3.4% of cats with FCGS and in 33.3% of normal cats. FHV-1 was detected in 6.9% of cats with FCGS, but was not detected any of the normal cats.
In the FCGS group a significant increase was seen in the expression of TLR2 and TLR7 genes as well as TNF-α, IFN-γ, IL-1β and IL-6 cytokine genes. The healthy cats and cats with FCGS in the study that were found to harbour T. forsythia and P. circumdentaria showed an increase in the expression of several TLR and cytokine genes when compared to the group of cats in which these bacterial species were absent.
The most severely inflamed sites in the oral cavity of cats with FCGS included the tissue lateral to the palatoglossal folds and the maxillary attached gingiva. Histopathological analysis of the tissue from the palatoglossal folds showed two types of infiltrates:- 1) a combination of lymphocytes and plasma cells, most often seen in the milder inflamed tissue samples; 2) a predominantly plasmacytic infiltration, most often seen in the severely inflamed tissue samples.
Preliminary data from a questionnaire-based epidemiological study showed that the presence of potential environmental stress factors such as no ability to roam outdoors and the presence of more than one cat in the household is significantly higher in cats with FCGS when compared to normal cats.
This study highlights the possibility of a multifactorial aetiology for FCGS in which FCV, specific bacteria and stress factors may play an important role. Although species from the Bacteroidetes phylum appeared to be capable of eliciting an immune response, these were not the most prevalent species in the FCGS group. A shift could be seen in the composition of the bacterial flora when healthy cats and those with FCGS were compared.


The production and uses of coal tar are reviewed as are the uses of steroids and cytotoxic agents in the treatment of psoriasis with a review of the condition also. An attempt was made to improve the efficaciousness and cosmetic acceptability of a low temperature tar, by screening fractions of this tar, derived from a variety of separation procedures. The most efficacious fraction was the highest boiling acid fraction, which is believed to consist mainly of mono- and di-hydric phenols. A time and concentration study showed that the optimum regime was the application of a 10% concentration in 5% wool fat in soft, yellow paraffin daily for 21 days. The mouse tail skin was selected as an experimental model, to ascertain the efficaciousness of fractions, because of the similarities between this skin and the psoriatic lesion. The activity of a fraction was monitored by the inducement of a granular layer in the mouse tail epidermis. Because coal tar is not an easy medium to work with, and the active fractions showed no increase in cosmetic acceptability over the parent coal tar, likely coal tar constituents were selected for screening on the basis of phenolic character, and the molecular weight range elucidated by mass spectroscopy. 32 potential anti-psoriatic agents were screened on mouse tail. Two catechols, 3,5-di-t-butyl and 4-t-butyl catechols were active. Other structures showed little or no activity. 24 catechols were screened and two extremely active catechols were discovered, 3-methyl-5-t-octyl and 5-methyl-3-t-octyl catechols. The screening of catechol-rich coal tar fractions and a coal tar fraction which had had the catechols removed by oxidation, showed that some anti-psoriatic activity was contained in the catechol fraction of coal tar. Attempts to elucidate the mode of action of these two compounds met with little success, but two modes of action are suggested.


This volume contains extended versions of 28 carefully selected and reviewed papers presented at The Fourth International Conference on Mathematical Methods in Reliability in Santa Fe, New Mexico, June 21-25, 2004, the leading conference in reliability research. The meeting serves as a forum for discussing fundamental issues on mathematical methods in reliability theory and its applications. A broad overview of current research activities in reliability theory and its applications is provided with coverage on reliability modeling, network and system reliability, Bayesian methods, survival analysis, degradation and maintenance modeling, and software reliability. The contributors are all leading experts in the field and include the plenary session speakers, Tim Bedford, Thierry Duchesne, Henry Wynn, Vicki Bier, Edsel Pena, Michael Hamada, and Todd Graves.


The concept of 'sustaining production' is based on an integrated understanding of sustainability that recognises the limits to the regenerative capacity of natural and social systems within which all economic activity takes place. Sustaining production thus is defined as a quantity and quality of production that does not result in perturbations of natural and social systems that impede their assimilative and regenerative capacities to a critical degree. This definition places production not only within the temporal and spatial context of biological and ecological processes and functions but also within the socio–cultural context of social processes and functions. The knowledge demand of sustaining production is dramatically different from the standard concept of production put forth in mainline production theory. Sustaining production requires knowledge particularly of the linkages between production processes and the social, biological, chemical and physical parameters and functions that characterise their context. This contextual knowledge cannot rely on the contributions of experts alone, but needs to include the experience of those who provide essential social and environmental sustaining services, and of those most severely effected by their loss. In addition, the need to explicitly consider path–dependent definitions of sustaining production scenarios points to the limits of markets as allocation mechanisms. The need for participatory discourse in the public sphere between markets and macroeconomic institutions is offered as an institutional alternative. An example of narrative methodological expansions to standard economic assessment methods is presented to illustrate possibilities for a broad based participatory assessment process based on discourse.


The wooden furniture industry has shown a remarkable achievement over
the last decade, especially its export performances. This industry like other natural
evolving clusters is characterised by small-and-medium-scale industries (SMIs),
labour intensive and less specialise production technology. The turning point of
the industry began with the launching of the first Industrial Master Plan (1986-1995) (IMP), whereby the government provided consistent and user-friendly
policy measures to allow healthy competition among the manufacturers and
entrepreneurship development. The influx of foreign investments spurred the
technology transfer process in the furniture industry by introducing the private
subcontracting system which is a global marketing strategy especially the
Original Equipment Manufacturing (OEM), to local entrepreneurs. The resource
advantage and cheap unskilled labour allowed local entrepreneurs to have
sufficient time to nurture and to penetrate new markets.New opportunities and threats to the industry were unveiled when the
Second Industrial Master Plan underwent a revision in its objectives owing to the
changes of the internal and external factors of the industry. Malaysia has already
placed a firm economic foundation by establishing intra- and inter-linkages,
which to a certain extent provides better opportunities to adopt other global
marketing strategies. These strategies may even ensure a more sustainable growth
to the industry and is able to reap a price premium. On the other hand, the
Malaysian wooden furniture industry needs to deal with more uncertainties as its
close rivals; Thailand, Indonesia and China, as well as other emerging economies
such as Latin America, and East European countries, acquire similar marketing
strategy. The formation of the regional groupings such as the European Union and
North American Free Trade Agreement provide more uncertainties in the world
economy.
The objectives of the study are derived from feedbacks of the
manufacturers' point of view and the issues they put forwarded:
a) to analyse factors contributing to their global marketing strategy; and
b) to examine the factors leading to different global marketing strategies
adopted in the wooden furniture industry.
A comprehensive literature review highlighting a firm's decision maker in
exporting, the choice of competition on global marketing strategies, value chain
concept, as well as the Industrial Master Plan (1996-2005) have assisted the
formulation of the hypotheses. Hypothesis One proposes that the firm's decision
on a global marketing strategy for wooden furniture industry is influenced by the external and internal factors. The external factors include the government's
domestic incentives and the risk factors. The internal factors are the
competitiveness of the domestic and foreign rivals, the decision maker's previous
experiences and decision maker's attitude or expectation towards exporting.
Meanwhile, Hypothesis Two suggests that size of the firm's, the firm's
experiences in exporting, the decision maker's attitude, current global marketing
strategy and the firms establishment can affect the firm's choice in global
marketing strategy.
Through factors analysis, the findings confirm the government's primary
incentives, political environment risk factor, business risk factors, pioneer status,
firm's competitiveness over domestic rivals, firm' s competitiveness over foreign
rivals and the decision maker's expectation of exporting are the key factors
explaining 79.7 percent of the hypothesis. Firm's characteristics and the decision
maker's attitude towards exports are significant to Hypothesis Two.
The findings draw the attention to the manufacturers as well as the policy
makers that customers value and Porter's five-competitive forces of entries model
are important factors to consider in formulating both a business strategy and the
government policies. The policies that will bring about a strategy shift include
research and development, human resources development (HRD), marketing and
information gathering, infrastructure, financial assistant and raw material
procurement.


The need to use online technologies that favor the understanting of city dynamics has grown, mainly due to the ease in obtaining the necessary data, which, in most cases, are gathered with no cost from social networks services. With such facility, the acquisition of georeferenced data has become easier, favoring the interest and feasibility in studying human mobility patterns, bringing new challenges for knowledge discovery in GIScience. This favorable scenario also encourages governments to make their data available for public access, increasing the possibilities for data scientist to analyze such data. This article presents an approach to extracting mobility metrics from Twitter messages and to analyzing their correlation with social, economic and demographic open data. The proposed model was evaluated using a dataset of georeferenced Twitter messages and a set of social indicators, both related to Greater London. The results revealed that social indicators related to employment conditions present higher correlation with the mobility metrics than any other social indicators investigated, suggesting that these social variables may be more relevant for studying mobility behaviors.


Aggressive angiomyxoma was first described in 1983 by Steeper and Rosai, and fewer than 150 cases have been reported in the world medical literature. Aggressive angiomyxoma is a rare mesenchymal tumor occurring predominantly in the pelvic-perineal region of females of age group 30 to 50 yrs. These tumors are benign and often reach too large dimensions before becoming clinically symptomatic. We report such a case presented as broad ligament tumor, a very unusual presentation. Patient underwent laprotomy and tumor was successfully excised.


During nervous system development, growing axons must find their way to the appropriate regions and, once they have arrived, must remain in the proper place. Bülow et al. used genetic analysis to investigate the role of the Caenorhabditis elegans fibroblast growth factor receptor, EGL-15 (a receptor tyrosine kinase), in axonal pathfinding and maintenance of axonal position. C. elegans larvae that completely lacked EGL-15 activity showed defects in the extension (premature termination) and guidance (midline crossover defects) of ventral midline axons. Reducing EGL-15 activity with a hypomorphic allele or reducing the activity of the downstream guanosine triphosphatase LET-60 (Ras homolog) led to defects in axon guidance, whereas constitutively active let-60 allele rescued defects in axon extension in larvae lacking EGL-15 activity. Experiments with egl-15 gene reporters and with expression of egl-15 or let-60 under the control of tissue-specific promoters indicated that EGL-15 acted in the cells of the hypodermis (over which ventral nerve cord neurons grow) to affect axon outgrowth. Worms expressing a mutant allele that eliminated the activity of only one EGL-15 isoform, EGL-15(5A), showed no defects in embryonic axon extension or guidance but did exhibit position defects in adults, indicating a deficit in maintenance. A catalytically inactive mutant of EGL-15(5A) could not rescue the developmental defects that accompany loss of EGL-15 activity but could rescue the defects in maintenance produced by loss of egl-15(5A). Further, a construct that encoded a secreted form of the EGL-15(5A) ectodomain rescued these maintenance defects. Thus, EGL-15 appears to affect axon navigation and positional maintenance through distinct mechanisms, one of which is independent of its tyrosine kinase activity. H. Bülow, T. Boulin, O. Hobert, Differential functions of the C. elegans FGF receptor in axon outgrowth and maintenance of axon position. Neuron 42, 367-374 (2004). [Online Journal]


The recently proposed FixMatch achieved state-of-the-art results on most semi-supervised learning (SSL) benchmarks. However, like other modern SSL algorithms, FixMatch uses a pre-defined constant threshold for all classes to select unlabeled data that contribute to the training, thus failing to consider different learning status and learning difficulties of different classes. To address this issue, we propose Curriculum Pseudo Labeling (CPL), a curriculum learning approach to leverage unlabeled data according to the model's learning status. The core of CPL is to flexibly adjust thresholds for different classes at each time step to let pass informative unlabeled data and their pseudo labels. CPL does not introduce additional parameters or computations (forward or backward propagation). We apply CPL to FixMatch and call our improved algorithm FlexMatch. FlexMatch achieves state-of-the-art performance on a variety of SSL benchmarks, with especially strong performances when the labeled data are extremely limited or when the task is challenging. For example, FlexMatch achieves 13.96% and 18.96% error rate reduction over FixMatch on CIFAR-100 and STL-10 datasets respectively, when there are only 4 labels per class. CPL also significantly boosts the convergence speed, e.g., FlexMatch can use only 1/5 training time of FixMatch to achieve even better performance. Furthermore, we show that CPL can be easily adapted to other SSL algorithms and remarkably improve their performances. We open-source our code at https://github.com/TorchSSL/TorchSSL.


Modern broadband mobile networks such as 4G LTE are designed to cope with stringent performance levels, i.e. considerable peak data rates and low latencies. With the wide-spreading of LTE networks all over the world, the access to Internet services through mobile connections is increasing considerably, leading to a plethora of mobile services. However, the inherent characteristics of the radio interface results in variable service performance. First, radio resources are shared among the different mobile users and thus the eNB scheduling functions determine the assigned share of resources for each user in a dynamic way. Moreover, the channel quality of each individual user fluctuates over time due to propagation and fading effects. These aspects introduce new issues in the tasks of performance evaluation and adaptive traffic management at different layers of the protocol stack. Currently, there is a gap between advanced research proposals and the actual network and service performance experienced in commercial mobile networks. Although it is generally assumed that the radio channel may introduce considerable quality fluctuations, there is little evidence of the quality dynamics experienced in live LTE networks at different temporal scales. This PhD work aims at providing some insights of these quality variations by analyzing the Channel State Information generated by UEs. Specifically, the document focuses on the downlink direction and on the effects of using spatial multiplexing techniques. From field testing, the main characteristics of the channel quality are studied at the scale of one second. Besides, LTE emulation tests allow evaluating the characteristics of the reported channel quality at the scale of milliseconds. Therefore, valuable information is captured for different layers of the protocol stack. Finally, the impact of the dynamics of these Channel State Information values into different adaptive traffic management schemes is evaluated. For a comprehensive analysis, different mobile network architectures are considered including classical LTE systems and novel proposals such as centralized radio access networks and mobile edge computing.


Polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs) are biodegradable polymers synthesized in cytoplasmic granules in bacteria, such as Cupriavidus necator (Ralstonia eutropha), and several other bacteria. PHAs accumulation occurs in response to stress conditions, i.e. under high carbon and low nitrogen (24:1 ratio). In this study, E. coli was genetically modified for PHA production in biofermentors. PHA was synthesized in bacteria transformed with the operon phbA/phbB/phbC. The bacteria were fed using a basal medium supplemented with three different plant by-products, potato tuber skin hydrolysate, corn hydrolysate, and banana juice supplement. The growth in biofermentor was monitored through the evaluation of consumption of sugars and quantification of PHA synthesis. A microarray scanner was used to read fluorescence intensity of Nile Blue stained bacteria. PHA production by E. coli fed on a banana juice supplement outperformed all the other fermentation media, with highest amount of PHA per dry cell weight.


Seven hundred ninety six milk samples from 266 quarters of 69 lactating cows were subjected to microbiological investigations for identification of pathogens. One hundred ninety bacterial isolates were recovered from 89 infected quarters, among these monomicrobial infection was found in 50 (56.2%) quarters, whereas, mixed infection was observed in 39 (43.8%) quarters. Bacterial isolates identified were Staph. chromogenes (49.47%), Staph. hyicus (21.1%), Staph. epidermidis (11.05%), Str. agalactiae (5.8%), Staph. aureus (4.2%), Staph. intermedius (3.1%), Enterobacter sp. (1.5%), Klebsiella sp., E. coli (1.05%), Micrococcus sp. (1.05%) and Serratia marcescens (0.52%). Milk samples from every quarter of each cow were also subjected to 6 mastitis marker tests named Somatic cell count (SCC), California mastitis test (CMT), electrical conductivity (EC) by EC-meter as well as by hand-held mastitis detector, pH detection by impregnated paper strip and also by pH meter. Efficacy of mastitis markers for diagnosis of sub-clinical mastitis was determined by comparing results of mastitis marker tests with microbiological findings. Mean value of SSC in milk from healthy quarters was significantly lower (p≤ 0.01) than that in milk from infected quarters. Significantly higher (p≤ 0.01) value of SSC was observed in milk samples having coagulase positive staphylococci as compared to that in milk from quarter with coagulase negative pathogens. The mean electrical conductivity (EC) in milk samples from infected quarters was significantly higher (P<0.05) than that from healthy quarters. Numbers and percentages of samples showing true positive, true negative, false positive and false negative results with SSC, CMT, EC by EC-meter, EC by hand-held meter, pH by impregnated strips, pH by digital pH-meter tests were evaluated and compared. The sensitivity and specificity of impregnated pH paper strip, CMT, pH-meter test, SCC, electrical conductivity by EC-meter and the same by hand-held mastitis detector were evaluated The compatibility between the results of SCC, impregnated pH paper strip, CMT, EC-meter, pH-meter, hand-held mastitis detector and bacteriological culture examination (reference test) was found to be 64.4, 63.4, 61.5, 59, 59 and 53 respectively.


I study a problem of repeated moral hazard where the effect of effort is persistent over time: each period's outcome distribution is a function of a geometrically distributed lag of past efforts. I show that when the utility of the agent is linear in effort, a simple rearrangement of terms in his lifetime utility translates this problem into a related standard repeated moral hazard. The solutions for consumption in the two problems are observationally equivalent, implying that the main properties of the optimal contract remain unchanged with persistence. For illustration, I present the computed solution of an example.


In this paper, a secure multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) communication technique based on the singular value decomposition (SVD) is investigated. In a previous work, it has been shown that a secure MIMO communication based on the SVD, where interference signal and confidential signal are assigned to two different streams, can achieve positive secrecy rate. In this investigation, it was assumed that the stream assignment information is available at both the legitimate receiver and the eavesdropper. In fact, random stream assignment has a potential to increase the secrecy rate. Specifically, pilot signal is inserted into the pilot time frame and this is used to inform the stream assignment. If either the legitimate receiver or the eavesdropper decodes the pilot signal incorrectly, the receiver attempts to decode the interference signal in the following data time frame even if there is no information about the confidential signal. Therefore, we propose a signaling technique to expand the difference in mutual information between the legitimate receiver and the eavesdropper which leads to enhanced secrecy. In the proposed signaling technique, correlation between pilot signals in successive pilot time frames is provided. Due to this correlation, correct pilot signal decoding in the current pilot time frame requires the correct pilot signal decoding in the previous pilot time frame. Numerical result shows that the propose method can significantly decrease the mutual information between the transmitter and the eavesdropper which leads to increased the secrecy rate.


GRADUATE SCHOOL DECISIONS: THE IMPACT OF OUT-OF-CLASS COMMUNICATION ON FIRST-GENERATION COLLEGE STUDENTS KAITLYN VOGES 2017 First-generation college students possess barriers within academics that may be unique to the population. This thesis seeks to understand how instructors and advisors can use the memorable messages framework to encourage first-generation college students to attend graduate school despite barriers the students may possess. Thirteen first-generation college/graduate students were interviewed regarding their decisions to attend graduate school. Specifically, interviewees were asked if they received memorable messages from an outside source which encouraged them to pursue a master's degree. A majority of participants stated they had received a particular message from either an instructor or academic advisor. These messages tended to be one of two types: action-oriented or encouraging messages. Implications based on findings are discussed, as well as directions for future research.


Prediction is arguably one of the most basic functions of an intelligent system. In general, the problem of predicting events in the future or between two waypoints is exceedingly difficult. However, most phenomena naturally pass through relatively predictable bottlenecks---while we cannot predict the precise trajectory of a robot arm between being at rest and holding an object up, we can be certain that it must have picked the object up. To exploit this, we decouple visual prediction from a rigid notion of time. While conventional approaches predict frames at regularly spaced temporal intervals, our time-agnostic predictors (TAP) are not tied to specific times so that they may instead discover predictable "bottleneck" frames no matter when they occur. We evaluate our approach for future and intermediate frame prediction across three robotic manipulation tasks. Our predictions are not only of higher visual quality, but also correspond to coherent semantic subgoals in temporally extended tasks.


The purpose of this scientific article is to identify the most persistent motivational measures of conscripts applied at General Adolf Ramanauskas Combat Training Center. The article discusses motivation, motivating and motivation measures applied in contemporary civil organizations and the Lithuanian Armed Forces. The empirical part of the article is based on the authentic investigation of conscripts, which was carried out in the spring of 2018 in the "Vanagas" Operational Environment Company. The results of the research revealed that the most significant motivating factors for a conscript are such as the need for personal accomplishments and respect. What concerns the group of material motivation measures, the conscripts are best motivated by provision of health care services and social guarantees. In case of intangible values, they are most motivated by the opportunity to develop and pursue a career. Priority motivating measures that could encourage soldiers to serve better could be likewise: commanders' support and trust, a friendly team, clear and interesting tasks, increase of cash benefits and organization of leisure time activities. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5755/j01.ppaa.18.1.23132


In this paper, we present a vision-based method for the automatic inspection of defects on ball bearings. A supervised neural network, employing a Multilayer Perceptron trained with the BackPropagation algorithm, is applied for discriminating defects. The images of the ball bearings are first mapped to a new space, called Defect Evaluation Space, to simplify the process of analyzing the images. The obtained images are then processed in the new space and wavelet based feature vectors are extracted. Different combinations of the wavelet coefficients are used as input vectors to the neural classifier in order to carefully select those that produce the best results. The false alarm rate, evaluated on a test set of images, is low demonstrating the accuracy and robustness of the proposed approach.


Bile acids (BAs) have traditionally been viewed as mere 'detergent' molecules responsible for absorption of dietary fats and lipid-soluble vitamins. However, over the past decade, research in the field of bile acid biology has provided evidence which redefine BAs as potent circulating signalling molecules with the ability to regulate cell biology, metabolism and function of various extrahepatic organs,1 with potential effects on the heart. BAs are secreted in the duodenum and then reabsorbed efficiently from the ileum back to the liver via mesenteric and portal veins. This tightly regulated enterohepatic circulation is disrupted in diseases of the liver such as obstructive jaundice, intrahepatic cholestasis of pregnancy, chronic viral hepatitis and cirrhosis, which leads to spillage of these metabolites into the systemic circulation at pathologically high concentrations (>100–200 µmol/L), resulting in organ dysfunction.2 ,3

It has long been known that high levels of bile acids are toxic to the heart. The cardiotoxicity of bile acids was documented as early as 1863, by Rohrig, who showed that filtered ox bile when injected into the jugular veins of rabbits caused bradycardia, while repeated doses caused cardiac arrest, a phenomenon he described as 'cardiac paralysis'. At the same time, Landois …


Containerized plant production represents an extremely intensive agricultural practice; 40,000 to 300,000 containers may occupy one acre of surface area to which a large amount of chemical fertilizer is applied. Currently, recommended fertilizer application rates for the production of containerized nursery ornamental plants are in excess of plant requirements, and up to 50% of the applied fertilizers may run off or be leached from containers. Among the nutrients leached or allowed to runoff, nitrogen (N) is the most abundant and is of major concern as the source of ground and surface water pollution. In this report, current N fertilizer application rates for different container-grown nursery ornamental plants, the amount of nitrate leaching or runoff from containers, and the potential for nitrate contamination of ground and surface water are discussed. In contrast, our best N management practices include: (1) applying fertilizers based on plant species need; (2) improving potting medium's nutrient holding capacity using obscure mineral additives; (3) using controlled-release fertilizers; and (4) implementing zero runoff irrigation or fertigation delivery systems that significantly reduce nitrate leaching or runoff in containerized plant production and encourage dramatic changes in N management.


Uterine leiomyosarcoma (ULMS) is a rare malignancy of the myometrial smooth muscle that accounts for 1%–2% of cancers arising in women of postmenopausal age. ULMS is associated with significant morbidity and mortality, largely due to its ability to metastasize. The most common sites of metastasis include the lungs, bone, and liver. However, in rare cases, ULMS can metastasize to the heart and should be considered in patients with concomitant cardiovascular symptoms and known history of ULMS or risk factors of ULMS. Here, we report a case of a 74-year-old female who was diagnosed with ULMS-derived cardiac metastasis. Currently available treatment plans for cardiac metastasis involve a combination of medications such as mesna, doxorubicin, ifosfamide, and dacarbazine; radiation to the cardiac muscle; and resection of the mass. Given the significant improvement in the 5-year survival rate of patients who are promptly and accurately diagnosed, physicians should consider the possibility of cardiac metastases when patients with a history of ULMS present with cardiac abnormalities.


Introduction: to obtain the optimum extraction conditions of total phenolic content (TPC), total flavonoid content (TFC), antioxidant activity (AA) and angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitory activity from Peperomia pellucida (L.) Kunth. Method: TPC, TFC, AA and ACE inhibitory activity was measured by Folin-Ciocalteu method, AlCl3 method, DPPH and FRAP methods, and ACE kit- WST. MAE efficiency parameters used were ethanol concentration, a sample to solvent ratio, extraction time, and microwave power. Results: The optimum conditions of MAE for TPC (49.78 mg GAE/g extract) and TFC (37.18 mg QE/g extract) were 80% ethanol, sample-solvent ratio of 1:12, extraction time of 2 min, MAE power of 30% and 80% ethanol, ratio of 1:12, time of 2 min, and 70% power respectively. The optimum AA was obtained at 65% ethanol, ratio of 1:10, time of 3 min, 50% power (DPPH method), and 65% ethanol, the ratio of 1:12, time of 1 min, and 70% power (FRAP method) respectively. The optimum ACE inhibitory activity (54.73% at a concentration of 100 μg/mL) were obtained at 80% ethanol, ratio of 1:12, time of 2 min, and 70% power. Conclusion: The analysis of Pearson correlation indicated that there was no correlation between TPC with FRAP method; TPC with ACE inhibitory activity and TFC with DPPH method. Key words: ACE, Antioxidant Activity, Flavonoid Compounds, Microwave-Assisted Extraction, Peperomia pellucida (L.) Kunth, Phenolic Compounds.


Speculation is rife that by 2012 the elusive Higgs boson will be found at the Large Hadron Collider. If found, the Higgs boson would help explain why everything has mass. But there's more at stake--what we're really testing is our capacity to make the universe reasonable. Our best understanding of physics is predicated on something known as quantum field theory. Unfortunately, in its raw form, it doesn't make sense--its outputs are physically impossible infinite percentages when they should be something simpler, like the number 1. The kind of physics that the Higgs boson represents seeks to "renormalize" field theory, forcing equations to provide answers that match what we see in the real world. The Infinity Puzzle is the story of a wild idea on the road to acceptance. Only Close can tell it.


We report our observation of the signature of photon periodic orbits in the spontaneous emission spectra of large-aperture vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSELs). The high-resolution measurement clearly demonstrates that over a thousand cavity modes with a narrow linewidth can be perfectly exhibited in the spontaneous emission spectrum just below the lasing threshold. The Fourier-transformed spectrum is analyzed to confirm that the spontaneous emission spectra of large-aperture VCSELs can be exploited to analogously investigate the energy spectra of the 2D quantum billiards.


Objective: As the aging population in the United States is expected to double to over 85 million citizens by 2050, the demand for long-term-care services will dramatically increase, as 70% of elders will require some kind of support service in their lives. here is an increasing trend of long-term-care entities, such as the Jewish Association on Aging located in Pittsburgh, PA, adopting more "person-centered" care. These culture changes are a shift away from traditional institutional care and involve incorporating the wishes and values of the resident into his plan of care. Purpose: The purpose of this essay is to evaluate the Jewish Association on Aging's person-centered dining room initiative to determine its impact on both the organization and the lives of its residents. Public Health Relevance: With the increase in elders demanding long-term-care support, it is necessary to provide services to empower them continue this next chapter of their lives in a healthy, meaningful and positive manner These resident-centered initiatives represent a shift in the way care is delivered throughout all levels of care and hve real cost implications that can limit the high public health expenditures the nation faces Methods: Meal and dining cost data were compared between a traditional dining room, where food is brought up on trays from the kitchen, and the new person-centered dining room in the skilled nursing facility in which choices are made and meals are cooked in real-time in a home-like dining environment. These quantitative data were augmented with observational data and anecdotal evidence to compare perceptions and attitudes of residents and staff about the differences in dining experiences in the two different dining rooms. Conclusion: Tray service was found to produce significantly more pounds of waste and higher waste costs compared to the new resident-centered dining initiatives. Residents in the new dining unit spent more time eating and spent more time socializing with other residents and the staff. In the short-term, the new dining initiative improves the quality of dining experiences. It is reasonable to assume that in the long-run, this initiative will have a positive impact on physical health of residents.