Non-consumptive or risk effects imposed by predators can influence prey behaviour over different spatio-temporal scales. Prey vulnerability to predation can also be dependent on abiotic conditions, such as tidal height. We conducted direct field observations of juvenile lemon sharks Negaprion brevirostris in a tidally influenced mangrove-inlet. We also used acoustic tracking to determine the movement patterns of juvenile lemon sharks and their predators (sub-adult lemon sharks) across the tidal cycle. Results showed that greater numbers of juvenile lemon sharks used the mangrove-inlet for longer time periods at deeper and warmer high tide depths. This coincided with an increased presence of potential predators (sub-adult lemon sharks) in the surrounding areas. Furthermore, in accordance with body-size dependent anti-predatory investment, smaller juvenile lemon sharks visited the mangrove inlet more often, spent longer there and left latest on average. Our acoustic tracking data also revealed a tidally-influenced pattern, with both juvenile and sub-adult lemon sharks detected at locations inshore over the high tide and offshore during the low tide. We concluded that the mangrove lake served as a 'refuge' for juvenile lemon sharks over the high tide, providing safe habitat when inshore areas become accessible to large predators, such as sub-adult lemon sharks. We suggest that these decisions are updated through ontogeny and also with daily fluctuations in abiotic factors, such as water depth. This study provides evidence for how intra-specific predatorprey interactions in a top predator species influence juvenile habitat selection, with potential implications for population structure and regulation.


Efficiency-associated with individual discipline, superior management, and increased profits or productivity-often counts as one of the highest virtues in Western culture. But what does it mean, exactly, to be efficient? How did this concept evolve from a means for evaluating simple machines to the mantra of progress and a prerequisite for success? In this provocative and ambitious study, Jennifer Karns Alexander explores the growing power of efficiency in the post-industrial West. Examining the ways the concept has appeared in modern history-from a benign measure of the thermal economy of a machine to its widespread application to personal behaviors like chewing habits, spending choices, and shop floor movements to its controversial use as a measure of the business success of American slavery-she argues that beneath efficiency's seemingly endless variety lies a common theme: the pursuit of mastery through techniques of surveillance, discipline, and control. Six historical case studies-two from Britain, one each from France and Germany, and two from the United States-illustrate the concept's fascinating development and provide context for the meanings of, and uses for, efficiency today and in the future.


Increasing numbers of people in Lower Middle Income Countries (LMICs ) are living with upper
limb absence, however, access to P&O services are limited. This can have a devastating impact
on engagement in activities of daily living, as when living at a subsistence level and without
appropriate prostheses, daily tasks can be challenging to perform. The overall aim of this
study is to develop a 'fit-for-purpose' upper limb prosthesis. However, to optimise the use
and acceptability of a new prosthetic device, it is essential to understand the social, cultural
and historical context of the environment.
Scoping and exploratory work was carried out to underpin the research and design parameters
of a 'fit-for-purpose' body-powered upper limb prosthesis suitable for two LMICs, Uganda and
Jordan. This involved three key aspects:
1. Informal scoping interviews within a 'Public, Patient Involvement' (PPI) framework
with clinicians, technical staff, and people with upper limb absence
2. The development of thorough 'scoping reports' through the observations and note
taking across a range of public, NGO and charity services
3. Telephone and Skype PPI interviews with International Committee of the Red Cross
(ICRC) Rehabilitation Managers
The collated findings provide clear insight into the specific needs of the users and wider
stakeholder. This is essential for the next stage of the research in the following ways: a) an
insight into key social and cultural issues, b) influencing the remit of the study in terms of
adjustable socket designs, c) establishing system and manufacturing considerations to ensure
sustainability, and d) developing relationships and partnerships.
Acknowledgement
This work is funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council and National Institute
for Health Research under the grant number EP/R013985/1.
References
Sexton (2016), Rehabilitation of people with physical disabilities in developing
countries. Brussels, ISPO
WHO (2011), World report on disability, ISBN9789241564182


Chapter 7 "straight" bankruptcy discharge is a radical policy that has outlived its usefulness. This policy grants most individual debtors complete discharge of indebtedness from their creditors for little more than a filing fee. This article argues that straight bankruptcy should be abolished. In its place, individuals seeking debt relief should be required by statute to participate in a wage assignment plan for a limited period. In support of this argument the article challenges the three rationales for the validity of straight bankruptcy discharge: (1) the creditor-protection or "collection" rationale,; (2) the "mercy" rationale; and (3) the "rehabilitation" rationale. When these three rationales are placed in the historical contexts from which they arose, it becomes apparent that the rationales have not kept pace with historical change, especially in light of current economic conditions and other debtor-protection law. Finally, the article examines the validity of mandatory payment plans by considering the necessity and incentive structure of current bankruptcy law. An individual debt relief system that would require all debtors to use whatever future income they might have to fund a payment plan would integrate more smoothly with other debtorcreditor law, respond better to current economic reality, and more effectively address the goals of individual debt relief Such a regime would also communicate to the public a more acceptable message about debt relief and financial responsibility.


Balancing forest conservation with resource extraction by local people is challenging. In the mountain forests of Bwindi Impenetrable National Park in Uganda, this was addressed by permitting regulated access to certain forest products in specific areas by authorized local people. However, it remained unclear whether harvest levels were biologically sustainable. Here, we used matrix population models and long-term data to examine the impacts of bark harvesting on population dynamics of two important medicinal plants, Rytigynia kigeziensis and Ocotea usambarensis, in Bwindi. Only 4% of R. kigeziensis and 3% of O. usambarensis stems (>1.3 m height) showed signs of bark harvest, mostly mild harvesting. We found that the harvested populations of both species appeared stable or will moderately grow in the long run. Modelled population growth rates were mostly determined by survival probabilities. Similarity between the stable stage distributions predicted by the model and observed population structures suggests that our estimated vital rates (growth, recruitment and survival rates) are a reasonable representation of actual values in these populations. Thus, recent harvest levels of R. kigeziensis and O. usambarensis appear sustainable. Nonetheless, monitoring of harvested and unharvested populations by tagging, marking and remeasuring individuals should continue for both species.


Gene fusions are strong driver mutations in cancer and can be used as a diagnostic tool to predict different tumour phenotypes and treatments.
Several fusion detection algorithms for RNA-Seq data have been developed, but all of them report a consistently high number of false positive events. Therefore, new methods are crucial to accurately identify potential fusions that may be key drivers of oncogenesis.
We developed Fusion Validator, a new filtering tool able to discriminate false positive fusion transcripts from real fusions and significantly reduce the number of candidates to assess for experimental validation.
Fusion Validator perform a local realignment of reads on each fusion transcript sequence and tries to close the gap around the fusion breakpoint using both a de novo assembly and a seed-extend algorithm. If the algorithm fails to reconstruct the fusion transcript around the breakpoint, the fusion is considered as false positive and is discarded.
Additional filtering steps are used to remove fusions with breakpoints mapping on low complexity or homologous regions and to find correct fusion partners for promiscuous gene fusion events.
A final ranking score based on fusion annotation is created for each validated event to help distinguish real driver fusions from passengers one.
We tested Fusion Validator on simulated datasets of different coverage, read length and breakpoint positions, and on four published breast cancer Cell Lines, highlighting the massive increase in sensisitivity, precision and specificity of our algorithm, in comparison to other fusion-detection software.
Using this tool, we successfully detected 97.95% of PCR-validated kinase recurrent fusions in 190 pan cancer samples, removing approximately 79.95% of false positives.
Particularly in haematological disorders and childhood sarcomas, gene fusions are critical as diagnostic and prognostic factors. Therefore, development of this novel tool to increase the efficiency of detecting driver fusions is critical in disease detection and treatment.


This study covers a period when society changed from a pre-industrial agricultural society to a post-industrial service-producing society. Parallel with this social transformation, major population changes took place. In this study, we analyse how local population changes are affected by neighbouring populations. To do so we use the last 200 years of local population change that redistributed population in Sweden. We use literature to identify several different processes and spatial dependencies in the redistribution between a parish and its surrounding parishes. The analysis is based on a unique unchanged historical parish division, and we use an index of local spatial correlation to describe different kinds of spatial dependencies that have influenced the redistribution of the population. To control inherent time dependencies, we introduce a non-separable spatial temporal correlation model into the analysis of population redistribution. Hereby, several different spatial dependencies can be observed simultaneously over time. The main conclusions are that while local population changes have been highly dependent on the neighbouring populations in the 19th century, this spatial dependence have become insignificant already when two parishes is separated by 5 kilometres in the late 20th century. Another conclusion is that the time dependency in the population change is higher when the population redistribution is weak, as it currently is and as it was during the 19th century until the start of industrial revolution.


The implicit minority discount, or IMD, is a fairly new concept in Delaware appraisal law. A review of the case law discussing the concept, however, reveals that it has emerged haphazardly and has not been fully tested against principles that are generally accepted in the financial community. While control share blocks are valued at a premium because of the particular rights and opportunities associated with control, these are elements of value that cannot fairly be viewed as belonging either to the corporation or its shareholders. In corporations with widely dispersed share holdings, the firm is subject to agency costs that must be taken into consideration in determining going concern value. A control block-oriented valuation that fails to deduct such costs does not represent the going concern value of the firm. As a matter of generally accepted financial theory, on the other hand, share prices in liquid and informed markets do generally represent that going concern value, with attendant agency costs factored or priced in. There is no evidence that such prices systematically and continuously err on the low side, requiring upward adjustment based on an implicit minority discount.Given the lack of serious support for the IMD in finance literature, this Article suggests that the Delaware courts may be relying on the IMD as a means to avoid imposing upon squeezed-out minority shareholders the costs of fiduciary misconduct by the controller. Where either past or estimated future earnings or cash flows are found to be depressed as a result of fiduciary misconduct, however, or where such earnings or cash flows fail to include elements of value that belong to the corporation being valued, the appropriate way to address the corresponding reduction in the determination of fair value is by adjusting those subject company earnings or cash flows upward.This approach to the problem of controller opportunism is more direct, more comprehensive in its application, and more in keeping with prevailing financial principles, than the implicit minority discount that the Delaware courts have applied in the limited context of comparable company analysis. The Delaware courts can therefore comfortably dispense with resort to the financially unsupported concept that liquid and informed share markets systematically understate going concern value.


The aim of this study was to evaluate short-term intravenous anaesthesia with alfaxalone in chelonians. In the first part of the study, alfaxalone at a dose rate of 5 mg/kg was administered intravenously to 10 adult female red-eared terrapins (Trachemys scripta elegans) following 24 hours of fasting. The induction time, tracheal tube insertion time, surgical plane of anaesthesia interval, and full recovery time were recorded. The head, neck and leg withdrawal reflex was lost within 21.09±8.07 seconds. The mean tracheal tube insertion time, the time of surgical plane of anaesthesia and full recovery time were 27.50±12.96 seconds, 26.40±4.72 minutes and 33.70±4.76 minutes, respectively. In the second part of the study, 50 chelonians (20 red-eared terrapins, 10 Hermann's tortoises, eight spur-thighed tortoises, six marginated tortoises and six Russian tortoises) were treated intravenously with 5 mg/kg alfaxalone after administration of 1 mg/kg meloxicam and 2 mg/kg butorphanol intramuscularly. The head, neck and leg withdrawal reflex was lost within 21.52±6.57 seconds, the endotracheal tube could be inserted within 25.76±8.24 seconds, and the time to deep pain sensation loss was 29.46±9.67 seconds. Intravenous use of alfaxalone proved to be a suitable method of induction for inhalation anaesthesia in terrapins and tortoises.


Large graphics models require a large amount of memory to store and high end graphics capabilities to render. It is useful to store such virtual models on a server and stream it to a remote client on demand for visualization. In many dynamic environments, this is the only option available. We present the design and implementation of RemoteVIS, a system to perform . The goal of our system is to provide the best visualization quality given the capabilities and connection parameters of the client. The system is designed to adapt to a wide range of clients and connection speeds. The system uses a suitable streaming representation based on the situation. This could range from geometry-based representation combining levels of detail and visibility culling to an image-based representation for clients with low capability. The client's graphics and storage capabilities, the speed of viewer motion, and the network bandwidth and latency are taken into account for this. The client acquires model data sufficient for an interval in the future using path prediction for freeze and jerk free rendering. In a remote rendered walk through, the virtual environment including all models, textures and other data are stored on the server side. The client only receives the required parts of the virtual environment that the client is viewing without having to download the entire virtual environment. One of the major bottlenecks of the system is network bandwidth between the server and the client. The system optimizes the rendering quality and mesh detail of the world based upon this bandwidth. The geometry based renderer uses Object Based Visible Space Model Representation algorithms for selecting visible geometry to be transmitted to the client. This automatically culls out all hidden and invisible objects in the scene. On the client side, View Frustum Culling is used to render only the visible polygons. The client side code includes path based prediction of motion for a smooth jerk-free walk through. The image based renderer is useful in cases of extremely low bandwidth and/or when the client does not possess a hardware graphics accelerator. Our current implementation uses Visible Space Models as the geometry-based streaming format and trifocal tensors as the image-based streaming format. We present results of the study conducted on a representative range of the relevant parameters.


This year and next, global GDP will grow more strongly than expected. The growth rate should be just under four percent. In developed economies, the continuing improvement in the job market situation will drive consumption. Corporate investment activity will also gain momentum. Over the forecast horizon, a slowly rising inflation rate and somewhat tighter monetary policy will gradually slow private consumption down. Emerging countries are able to maintain somewhat more robust growth. Production is expanding again in China. In Brazil and Russia, stabilizing prices of raw materials and decreasing inflation rates are supporting economic momentum. Uncertainty about the US government's economic policy and the geopolitical conflict involving North Korea are current risks for the world economy.


This contribution examines the so-called ZAD of Notre-Dame-des-Landes, a municipality near the city of Nantes in the Western French department Loire-Atlantique. Officially, the abbreviation ZAD stands for the term "designated development area", zone d'aménagement différé. For decades the site was intended to be the building zone of a large airport project. The opponents of this infrastructure project reinterpreted the abbreviation ZAD: in their understanding and common parlance it means zone to defend- zone à défendre. Within the scope of large-scale protest against the airport project the site had been occupied since 2009. The article examines whether and to what extent the occupied ZAD of Notre-Dame-des-Landes could be described as a socially critical threshold space. In this context it seeks to explore the socio-critical potential and its spatial components with reference to geographical characteristics, location and ideas related aspects as well as action-related factors. The contribution refers to the situation in the first half of the year 2015, before the official abandonment of the airport project and the evacuation of the site. Due to the high dynamic of the developments within the ZAD the findings discussed in this article should be regarded as a "snapshot".


Background: The risk of anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury is higher in female soccer players than in male soccer players. The most common reason for non-contact ACL injury has been found to be a cutting or stopping maneuver combined with deceleration and landing from a jump. In a previous study, there was no difference in the incidence of ACL injury between offensive and defensive players and in the risk of ACL injury between goalkeepers and other players. Recently studies reported that the most frequent injury situation was pressing in male players. However, the most common type of situation associated with ACL injury in female soccer players has not been clarified. Objectives: The purpose of the present study was to identify the most common type of situation associated with ACL injury in female soccer players. Methods: We handed out questionnaires to 80 female soccer players with a history of ACL injury (90 ACL injuries). The players were asked about the injury characteristics, injury circumstance, maneuver being performed when the injury occurred, and playing type associated with the injury. The players responded to the questionnaire under the guidance of the medical staff of each team. Results: The 80 female soccer players reported a total of 90 ACL injuries during soccer. Among 55 non-contact injuries, 29 (55%) occurred during a cutting maneuver and 22 (44%) occurred during pressing. On assessing the frequency distributions of playing type (pressing vs. others) and body contact (contact vs. no contact), we found that non-contact injuries at pressing were significantly more common than contact injuries at pressing (odds ratio: 3.03; 95% confidence interval, 1.11 - 8.25, P = 0.036) Conclusions: ACL injury often occurs as non-contact injury during pressing at the time of defense, regardless of the playing area, in female soccer players.


Marine radiocarbon bomb-pulse time histories of annually resolved archives from temperate regions have been underexploited. We present here series of Δ14C excess from known-age annual increments of the long-lived bivalve mollusk Arctica islandica from 4 sites across the coastal North Atlantic (German Bight, North Sea; Troms⊘, north Norway; Siglufjordur, north Icelandic shelf; Grimsey, north Icelandic shelf) combined with published series from Georges Bank and Sable Bank (NW Atlantic) and the Oyster Ground (North Sea). The atmospheric bomb pulse is shown to be a step-function whose response in the marine environment is immediate but of smaller amplitude and which has a longer decay time as a result of the much larger marine carbon reservoir. Attenuation is determined by the regional hydrographic setting of the sites, vertical mixing, processes controlling the isotopic exchange of 14C at the air-sea boundary, 14C content of the freshwater flux, primary productivity, and the residence time of organic matter in the sediment mixed layer. The inventories form a sequence from high magnitude-early peak (German Bight) to low magnitude-late peak (Grimsey). All series show a rapid response to the increase in atmospheric Δ14C excess but a slow response to the subsequent decline resulting from the succession of rapid isotopic air-sea exchange followed by the more gradual isotopic equilibration in the mixed layer due to the variable marine carbon reservoir and incorporation of organic carbon from the sediment mixed layer. The data constitute calibration scries for the use of the bomb pulse as a high-resolution dating tool in the marine environment and as a tracer of coastal ocean water masses.


The water resources of the Hawaii Region, taken as a whole, are far greater than foreseeable future demands on them, but this is not so for the individual islands. Each and every island is independent with respect to water supply, and the occurrence and availability of water vary widely from island to island. The ground-water resources offer better prospects for supplying additional water needs in the future than the surface-water resources. Most of the surface supplies that are easy to develop have been fully utilized where needed, and conduits and reservoirs necessary to develop new or additional supplies would generally require large and perhaps prohibitive outlays of capital. In 1975, ground water supplied 46 percent, and surface water 54 percent of the water needs but, in the years ahead, these percentages will likely be reversed as more ground-water development takes place. Total water use, in 1975, averaged about 1,775 million gallons per day, ofwhich about 810 million gallons per day was ground water. The total water use is divided into public supply, 11 percent; self-supplied industrial use, 23 percent; and agricultural, 66 percent. Rainfall is the principal source of ground-water recharge. Local mean annual rainfall ranges from less than 20 inches to more than 300 inches, with the annual average rainfall on the large islands exposed to the trade winds being slightly more than 73 inches and that on the small islands situated in the rain shadow of the larger islands being less than 26 inches. Ground-water recharge has been estimated at about 2,400 billion gallons per year (6.5 billion gallons per day) or roughly 30 percent of the rainfall. Most fresh ground water in the region is stored below sea level in porous lava flows, much of it as basal-water lenses floating on saline ground water, as distinguished from dike-impounded water in the interior of the islands. The basal-water lens is maintained by recharge, which, if reduced, leads to thinning of the lens and subsequent encroachment of seawater. Seawater is the biggest pollutant of freshwater, and many of the ground-water problems are, in some way, associated with the encroachment of saline water induced by development. The major problem areas include the entire island of Oahu, south Kohala-Kona coast on the island of Hawaii, Lahaina District in Maui, and the Koloa and Kekaha-Mana areas in Kauai.


Chlamydia trachomatis is an obligate intracellular pathogen that can persist in the urogenital tract. Mechanisms by which C. trachomatis evades clearance by host innate immune responses are poorly described. CD1d is MHC-like, is expressed by epithelial cells, and can signal innate immune responses by NK and NKT cells. Here we demonstrate that C. trachomatis infection down-regulates surface-expressed CD1d in human penile urethral epithelial cells through proteasomal degradation. A chlamydial proteasome-like activity factor (CPAF) interacts with the CD1d heavy chain, and CPAF-associated CD1d heavy chain is then ubiquitinated and directed along two distinct proteolytic pathways. The degradation of immature glycosylated CD1d was blocked by the proteasome inhibitor lactacystin but not by MG132, indicating that degradation was not via the conventional proteasome. In contrast, the degradation of non-glycosylated CD1d was blocked by lactacystin and MG132, consistent with conventional cellular cytosolic degradation of N-linked glycoproteins. Immunofluorescent microscopy confirmed the interruption of CD1d trafficking to the cell surface, and the dislocation of CD1d heavy chains into both the cellular cytosol and the chlamydial inclusion along with cytosolic CPAF. C. trachomatis targeted CD1d toward two distinct proteolytic pathways. Decreased CD1d surface expression may help C. trachomatis evade detection by innate immune cells and may promote C. trachomatis persistence.


Superficial moraines grew in size during the entire 32-year-long period of direct monitoring of water and ice balance of the Djankuat Glacier in the Caucasus. The total area of debris cover on the glacier increased from 0.104 km 2 (3% of the entire glacier surface) in 1968 to 0.266 km 2 (8% of the glacier) in 1996. Such rapid dynamics of moraine formation greatly influences the ablation rate and distorts fields of mass-balance components. Sub-debris thawing can be calculated by means of a model, which describes the role of debris cover for the thermal properties of a glacier. Its meltwater equivalent depends mainly on debris thickness. In 1983 and 1994 the debris cover was repeatedly mapped over the whole glacier portion that was covered with morainic material. Sub-moraine ablation increases (vs. pure ice surface) under the thin, less than ca. 7-8 cm, debris layer, whereas the thicker debris cover reduces the liquid runoff due to its shielding effect. Zones differing due to their hydrological effect are depicted on the glacier map and the degree of debris influence on ablation is estimated quantitatively. As a whole runoff from debris-covered parts of the Djankuat Glacier has diminished due to the dominant shielding effect. Variation of the terminus is also shown to be dependent on the evolution of superficial moraine.


Species of wheat were used to study the effects of formation processes on carbonized grains. For this purpose, grains of recent wheat were heated under controlled anoxic conditions. These experiments have revealed that the grains of the various varieties of wheat are not homogeneous in physical and chemical properties. Seven varieties of emmer wheat, two varieties of bread wheat and one variety of macaroni wheat were used for the experiments. The grains, both mealy and vitreous ones, were heated to 270 ° C for 60 min under anoxic conditions. Bulk elemental data shows that the C content is similar for all of the untreated varieties, but that the N content varies. The results of DTMS-EI experiments show that the molecular composition of the various untreated grains are similar, which is also true for the heated counterparts. The morphology of the heated grains shows a wide variation between the grains of the tested varieties. The grains become swollen and show protrusions or open creases, or remain intact. The reasons for this variation are the mechanical properties of the pericarp and the proteinaceous matrix of the endosperm. On the basis of the results, a variety of emmer wheat was used for further experiments.


Abstract Background: The PREP (Pathways and Resources for Engagement and Participation), an innovative 12-week occupational therapy intervention that focuses on changing the environment, was found effective in improving the participation of youth in specific chosen community-based activities. Objective: To complement existing evidence, this study explored changes in overall participation patterns of youth with physical disabilities following the PREP intervention. Methods: Guided by time-geography approach, 13 youth aged 12–17 completed a 24-hr diary using the Aday app during one typical weekday and another day during the weekend, pre- and post-intervention. Data of 50 diaries were plotted and analyzed using the VISUALTimePAcTS program. Results: Following the PREP, youth were engaged in less digital media and more in study-related activities. Number of occurrences and time spent doing activities with friends were greater post-intervention, whereas time spent doing activities at home was quite similar, particularly during the weekdays. During the weekends, however, youth spent slightly less time at home. Conclusions and significance: Findings provide preliminary support for the effectiveness of the PREP, extending beyond the accomplishment of specific targeted activities towards a change in the overall daily patterns of youth. Such knowledge can redirect occupational therapists' attention to environment-focused interventions involving real-life experiences.


Part 1-The Literature Review explores the topic of attentional bias which is thought to be a component of many anxiety disorders. A review of the literature on dot-probe studies of anxious individuals which used faces as stimuli found 24 studies. Studies of both socially anxious and generally anxious individuals suggest attentional bias in the initial, orienting stage of attention, which is increased by conditions of social threat. The review concludes that attentional vigilance for threat is a consistent feature of anxiety disorders including both social anxiety and GAD. There is little or no evidence to support the view that anxiety disorders are characterised by attentional avoidance of threat faces, as measured by the dot-probe paradigm.
Part 2 -The Empirical Paper reports on a study of facial affect recognition and attentional bias in psychosis-prone participants. Data collection was shared with another trainee (see Appendix D). There was no difference in facial affect recognition between the two groups. The high schizotypy group did however display a significantly greater attentional bias score at 2000ms, and a significantly lower attentional bias score at lOOms, than the non psychosis-prone group. The limitations, clinical and research implications of this study are discussed.
Part 3 -The Critical Appraisal describes the selection of the topic, ethical and theoretical considerations, an appraisal of the design and methodology, as well as reflections on the research process as a whole.


Examination of Upper Miocene–Lower Pliocene sediments at IODP Site U1338, in the Eastern Equatorial Pacific, provided new data on the distribution range of the calcareous nannofossil genus Catinaster. In addition to the the well-known occurrence of Catinaster coalitus and Catinaster calyculus in the early Late Miocene, we document Catinaster mexicanus in both the mid-late Miocene and the Early Pliocene. We confirm its taxonomic validity, rejecting previous interpretations of Pliocene C. mexicanus specimens as the result of dissolution of Discoaster altus. Instead, the Pliocene appearance of C. mexicanus seems to originate from the D. altus lineage. The short interval of occurrence (c. 50 ka) in the Late Miocene may document a preliminary evolutionary emergence of C. mexicanus that lacks any relationship with the other Catinaster species. Clear ancestor species to validate its independent origin from Discoaster are, however, missing. In the stratigraphic intervals where Catinaster species are found, their co-occurrence with Discoaster species bearing a prominent star-shaped boss on one side is noteworthy. This suggests that Catinaster and Discoaster at times developed a common morphological feature (a stellate structure, with or without hexaradiate symmetry), possibly under recurrent changes in climatic/environmental conditions. The data presented on C. mexicanus suggest a wider geographical distribution than previously thought, extending from the tropical Pacific to the Gulf of Mexico, equatorial Atlantic and tropical Indian oceans.


Objective: To assess and compare the frequencies of personal and family history of autoimmune diseases (AID), autoinflammatory disorders (ID), and allergies in a population of patients, adults and children, with narcolepsy type 1 (NT1), narcolepsy type 2 (NT2), and idiopathic hypersomnia (IH), 3 central hypersomnia disorders, and healthy controls. Methods: Personal and family history of AID, ID, and allergies were assessed by questionnaire and medical interview in a large cohort of 450 consecutive adult patients (206 NT1, 106 NT2, 138 IH) and 95 pediatric patients (80 NT1) diagnosed according to the third International Classification of Sleep Disorders criteria in national reference centers for narcolepsy in France and 751 controls (700 adults, 51 children) from the general population. Results: Ten adults with NT1 (4.9%) had a comorbid AID vs 3.4% of adult controls, without between-group differences in adjusted models. AID frequency did not differ between children with NT1 and controls. Conversely, compared with controls, AID frequency was higher in adults with NT2 (p = 0.002), whereas ID (p = 0.0002) and allergy (p = 0.003) frequencies were higher in adults with IH. A positive family history of AID was found in the NT1 group and of ID in the IH group. Conclusions: NT1 is not associated with increased risk of comorbid immune disorders, in favor of a potentially unique pathophysiology. Conversely, compared with controls, the frequency of autoimmune diseases was higher in adults with NT2, whereas allergies and autoinflammatory disorders were more common in adults with IH, suggesting an immune dysregulation mechanism in these conditions.


OBJECTIVE
The aim of our current research project is to further evaluate the role of risk factors in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease; these include genetic variations, environmental factors and lifestyle issues.

METHODS
We have been conducting an association study on 373 patients with Alzheimer's disease and 286 unrelated control individuals. The occurrence and the age of onset of diabetes and cardiovascular diseases were evaluated in both groups. Apolipoprotein E genotype was analyzed in all subjects by PCR method.

RESULTS
We report that, in Czech population carrying ApoE4 allele increases risk of Alzheimer's disease 2.1-fold and genotype E4E4 increases the risk 8.4-fold. We have also identified a significant association between ApoE4 allele, Alzheimer's disease and hypertension. Hypertensive subjects with the ApoE4 allele have 1.5-fold greater risk of Alzheimer's disease. Thus, hypertension together with ApoE4 allele translates into 1.5-fold higher risk of AD. The most intriguing original finding in the present study is that Alzheimer's disease patients have significantly later onset of diabetes, hypertension and stroke in comparison with control subjects. This effect was not influenced by ApoE genotype. The diabetes appeared in AD patients on average more than 10 years later than in the control subjects (p<0.0001), hypertension was diagnosed 14 years later in AD patients (p<0.00001) and stroke occurred on average 6 years later (p<0.005), compared to the control group.

CONCLUSIONS
Overall, in addition to the above novel findings, our study expands the data base on risk factors that could be used in near future when testing for the genetic risk of Alzheimer's disease.


The contemporary colonial world is witnessing struggles for domination and existence that have led to exclusion of some groups on the basis of parameters defined by the powerful. This contribution observes practices and policies of belonging and exclusion developing in Zimbabwe and argues that higher education should take the lead in discussing and proposing citizenship education that would produce cosmopolitan patriots, responsible and tolerant citizens. The discussion is a critical discourse analysis of dominant colonial forces of authoritarian nationalism and neoliberalism supplemented by personal experience and engagement with students and faculty at the Great Zimbabwe University. What has been observed is the failure of civil society and state led programmes in this endeavour and the honours rests with higher education institutions to develop citizenship education rooted in ideals that critique hegemonic discourses. This demands a change in perspectival foci and this study advances the adoption of anti-colonial liberationist perspectives as one of the options if an end to classification of citizens as aliens and patriots is to come to an end.


Introduction: Overall health status of an individual is greatly influenced by the oral cavity. Periodontal disease (PDD) and dental caries are the biggest threats to oral health among the various oral diseases. Despite increasing awareness and improvement in oral health, the global epidemiological data suggests that a worldwide prevalence of periodontal disease is 11.2%. It is a complex chronic disease which can lead to chronic inflammation, destruction of tooth supporting structures, and tooth loss in adults. With this background the study was planned to determine the prevalence of periodontal disease and perceptions towards oral health among the community in Aurangabad district of Maharashtra. Methods: A community based cross-sectional study was conducted among 2151 subjects in Aurangabad district, being the capital of Marathwada region by Rural Health Training Center, Paithan under Govt. Medical College, Aurangabad. The standard pro-forma was designed and house to house survey was conducted over a period of 3 months i.e. from June to August 2021. Mouth mirrors, caries explorers and periodontal probes were used for oral examination with proper aseptic precautions. All the findings were recorded in the data sheet and descriptive statistics and chi-square test were applied using SPSS-17 version. Results: Prevalence of periodontal disease in the present study was found to be 31.06%. It was observed that various factors act as predicators for periodontal disease. Conclusion: For reducing the disease Burdon and its impact on the community, school and community based oral health awareness programs should be implemented.


The primary objective of this book is to provide an understanding of business information in the context of those who seek business information. Information-seeking behavior includes the underlying information needs that drive one to seek information, the types of information used to resolve information needs, the types of resources that contain the needed information, the channels used to secure that information, and effective strategies to locate the needed information.The reason for this approach is that effective business research depends upon the ability to identify the type of information that can be used to resolve a specific business problem rather than by depending on specific resources. Every organization will have access to different collections of resources and information services based on such factors as type of work and budget, among other things. Although there may be some resources that are considered 'better' than others, it is usually possible to find similar, if not identical, information in a variety of resources.Another reason for this approach is that the particular resources are constantly changing. In recent years, there have been numerous mergers among information producers, publishers, and vendors. We have seen a migration from print to electronic, specifically to web access. The tension between free and fee has heightened. Specific sources available today may not be available tomorrow and many will be altered or adapted with different limits placed upon their accessibility. But knowing the type of information needed to resolve a given problem and the strategies that lead quickly to the information enables both information seekers and information professional to find appropriate information even under such prospective changes in the range of source options open in the future.


Sumoylation--the posttranslational modification of proteins with the small ubiquitin-like modifier protein (SUMO)--is most familiar in the context of transcriptional regulation and nuclear transport; increasingly, however, roles for extranuclear sumoylation have begun to surface. Martin et al. found that the SUMO-conjugating enzyme Ubc9 and the SUMO ligase PIAS3 interacted with the GluR6 subunit of the kainate type of glutamate receptor (KAR) in a yeast two-hybrid screen of rat brain cDNA and coimmunoprecipitated with GluR6 from cultured hippocampal neuronal extracts. Truncation analysis indicated that interaction depended on a region of GluR6 containing the consensus sumoylation motif. Immunocytochemical analysis indicated that there was limited colocalization of GluR6 and SUMO-1 in cultured hippocampal neurons and that most of the sumoylated GluR6 was intracellular. Kainate, which stimulates KAR internalization and degradation, increased GluR6 sumoylation (as did glutamate), whereas desumoylation with the SUMO-specific isopeptidase SENP-1 inhibited kainate-dependent GluR6 endocytosis. Moreover, unlike fluorescently labeled wild-type GluR6a, a fluorescently labeled non-sumoylatable GluR6a point mutant expressed in COS-7 cells failed to undergo kainate-dependent endocytosis. Infusion of SUMO-1 into CA3 neurons in hippocampal slices decreased the amplitude of KAR-mediated excitatory postsynaptic currents (KAR-EPSCs) without affecting AMPA (α-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazole propionate) receptor-mediated EPSCs, whereas infusion of SENP-1 increased the amplitude of KAR-EPSCs. Thus, the authors conclude that, under certain conditions, sumoylation may modify the postsynaptic response to glutamate and propose that sumoylation may regulate the function of many other synaptic proteins as well. Coussen and Choquet discuss some of the implications of this research. S. Martin, A. Nishimune, J. R. Mellor, J. M. Henley, SUMOylation regulates kainate-receptor-mediated synaptic transmission. Nature 447, 321-325 (2007). [PubMed]


Background: Pneumonia is a major cause of death during induction chemotherapy for acute leukemia. Objectives: The purpose of this study was to quantify the incidence, risk factors, and outcomes of pneumonia in acute leukemia patients. Methods: We conducted a retrospective cohort study in adult patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML), acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), or high-risk myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) that underwent their first induction chemotherapy. Results: 801 patients received their first induction chemotherapy. The cumulative incidence of pneumonia at day 28 was 19.8% (95% confidence interval [CI], 16.9% to 22.8%). On multivariate analysis, age greater than 60 years, lower baseline platelet counts, low albumin level, and neutropenia were associated with an increased incidence of pneumonia. ALL was associated with a decreased incidence of pneumonia compared to AML (HR: 0.42; CI: 0.22-0.82). Fifty deaths occurred among the 801 patients, 39 of these in patients with pneumonia. On multivariate analysis, pneumonia, age greater than 60 years, elevated creatinine, poor performance status, and treatment in 2005 were associated with an increased risk of death, but pneumonia showed the strongest association (HR: 10.66; 95% CI, 5.40-21.04). Patients with pneumonia spent more days in the ICU and in the hospital, and had a 51% increase in hospital costs as compared to patients without pneumonia (P Conclusion: Pneumonia is common during induction chemotherapy for acute leukemia and is associated with increased morbidity, mortality, and health care resource utilization. There is an association between the type of leukemia and the incidence of pneumonia even after adjustment for neutropenia.


I. INTRODUCTION The United States is presently experiencing growing restrictionist attitudes toward immigration and illegal aliens.(1) American citizens are becoming furious over what they perceive as a drainage of public funds being used to provide health care and other services to illegal aliens.(2) Because of this fury, measures are being considered that will actually end up being counterproductive in the long run.(3) Denying health benefits and other prevent those immigrants infected with contagious diseases from entering the country. II. BACKGROUND ON IMMIGRATION America began as a land open to all, but has since struggled to remain open and preserve the national bounty for those already here.(9) Since 1875, Congress has been placing restrictions on immigration.(10) Despite this history, the Clinton administration has recently attempted a more moderate immigration policy.(11) In 1993, a new commissioner was appointed to the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) who advocated "control with compassion."(12) Recently, the administration passed measures to increase border themselves, rather than waiting to apprehend illegal aliens after they have already entered the country.(18) Illegal immigrants enter the country in many different ways, including entering without inspection or entering fraudulently or through misrepresentation.(19) There are many different opinions on the actual number of illegal aliens in this country. One study based on the 1980 census and INS records concluded that approximately two million illegal aliens were included in the 1980 census count.(20) Some reports propose that as many as three to eight million illegal aliens currently reside in this country.(21) Immigrants come to the United States for various reasons. Reasons for immigration have been termed "push-pull" factors.(27) The "push" factors encourage immigratnts to depart their countries of origin, while the "pull" factors attract illegal aliens to the United States.(28) Past public policies, national migrant communities within the United States, and U.S. foreign policy during the Cold War are some factors which played a role in encouraging immigration to the United States.(29) However, as one commentator explains, "there is no broad, or simple, explanation for ... migration."30 The federal government constantly struggles to protect national interests by proposing stricter immigration laws.(31) States may, and do, propose economic regulations which limit aid to immigrants to protect welfare interests.(32) States reserved the police power to protect property and the public's health and welfare.(33) California's Proposition 187 is one example of such state legislation. Proposition 187 reflects the growing anti-immigrant sentiment across the country.(34) These anti-immigrant attitudes appear to arise mostly from economic factors.(35) Opinions range from the view that immigrants assist the economy by creating jobs to the opposing views that assert immigrants steal jobs from citizens and soak up social services.(36) For example, in California, a significant portion of the public blames illegal immigrants for state ills such as unemployment, high taxes, urban decay, and crime.(37) In a speech to the House of Representatives, Representative Barbara Vucanovich of Nevada pleaded for stricter immigration measures with this same anti-immigrant attitude: Whereas, The United States government social budget increased from over $778 billion in 1991 to more than $859 billion in 1992, due largely to the increase in the number of illegal aliens, thus over-burdening our national, state and local health, welfare and educational systems; and Whereas, Some immigrants, including illegal aliens, unlike those of the past, now decline to assimilate, and demand the right to vote and to have ballots written in their own language; and Whereas, our nation, which is experiencing an increase in terrorism, lacks adequate safeguards insuring immediate hearings and deportation of immigrants without proper credentials or documentation, and few facilities for detention where appropriate or for the monitoring of undocumented aliens seeking political asylum; and Whereas, Admission of immigrants with communicable diseases, such as tuberculosis and AIDS, result in health problems of epidemic proportions and the care of the infected and contagious aliens adds to our disease control problems and strains the health care systems . …


This handbook is designed for all language teachers who are giving one-to-one lessons, either in person or as part of a distance learning programme. It helps teachers take advantage of the opportunities of one-to-one teaching, and also cope with its challenges. Part 1 provides practical guidelines on teaching individual learners, and looks at the roles a one-to-one teacher may have, such as 'conversation partner' or 'observer and listener'. A focus on these roles keeps interactions in lessons varied and offers ways to develop your teaching skills. Part 2 contains easy-to-use activities, through which both teacher and learner can focus on the language the learner wants to learn. Many of the activities include ideas for using technology and online resources, which can help to develop language skills as well as being fun to use. The accompanying CD-ROM provides material which can be printed out and photocopied for use in lessons.


In modern large-scale machine learning applications, the training data are often partitioned and stored on multiple machines. It is customary to employ the "data parallelism" approach, where the aggregated training loss is minimized without moving data across machines. In this paper, we introduce a novel distributed dual formulation for regularized loss minimization problems that can directly handle data parallelism in the distributed setting. This formulation allows us to systematically derive dual coordinate optimization procedures, which we refer to as Distributed Alternating Dual Maximization (DADM). The framework extends earlier studies described in (Boyd et al., 2011; Ma et al., 2015a; Jaggi et al., 2014; Yang, 2013) and has rigorous theoretical analyses. Moreover with the help of the new formulation, we develop the accelerated version of DADM (Acc-DADM) by generalizing the acceleration technique from (Shalev-Shwartz and Zhang, 2014) to the distributed setting. We also provide theoretical results for the proposed accelerated version and the new result improves previous ones (Yang, 2013; Ma et al., 2015a) whose runtimes grow linearly on the condition number. Our empirical studies validate our theory and show that our accelerated approach significantly improves the previous state-of-the-art distributed dual coordinate optimization algorithms.


This study was conducted to compare the developmental tasks of 3 years-old boys and girls. The study was delimited to only one private school of Lahore city. Sample of 30 boys and 30 girls were selected randomly. A checklist was developed by reviewing related literature and adapting Portage Early Education Programme Checklist Published by Nfer Nelson for 0-6 years-old children. The checklist was comprised of three categories such as motor development, cognitive development and social development. Each category was consisted of 33, 16 and 19 items respectively. Students were observed, interviewed and were asked to perform tasks in order to collect the data. Data were analyzed in terms of percentages and t-test. Results of the study revealed that there was no difference among 3 years-old boys and girls in motor development, cognitive development and social development.


A laboratory study was conducted to investigate mechanisms of bar formation with particular focus on infragravity wave and break point mechanisms. With one exception, all tests commenced with a planar beach composed of fine sand. Infragravity (IG) waves, the result of a biharmonic primary wave spectrum, were generated and documented. For various frequency differences of the components of the primary spectrum and thus the frequencies of the IG wave, the changes in nodal/antinodal positions were compared with the changes in positions of the bar formed during the experiment. It was found that the bar position experienced relatively small movements whereas the nodal/antinodal positions changed substantially as expected with the difference frequency of the primary waves. The approximately constant bar position was interpreted as due to the relatively constant primary wave height characteristics. The effects of the wave spectrum and wave height distribution on bar formation were investigated. The shape of the wave height probability distribution function was found to exert a noticeable control on the degree of bar relief, with those distributions characterized by a substantial concentration near the maximum wave height causing the more prominent bars. This is interpreted in terms of a transport influence function which, if held stationary, would result in a narrow prominent bar. The distributions with a small concentration near the maximum wave height resulted in a less prominent bar. A conceptual model is proposed which incorporates the transport distribution function and which results in bar characteristics which depend on the initial conditions.


Homotopy Type Theory promises a unification of the concepts of equality and equivalence in Type Theory, through the introduction of the univalence principle. However, existing proof assistants based on type theory treat this principle as an axiom, and it is not yet clear how to extend them to handle univalence internally. In this paper, we propose a construction grounded on a univalent version of parametricity to bring the benefits of univalence to the programmer and prover, that can be used on top of existing type theories. In particular, univalent parametricity strengthens parametricity to ensure preservation of type equivalences. We present a lightweight framework implemented in the Coq proof assistant that allows the user to transparently transfer definitions and theorems for a type to an equivalent one, as if they were equal. Our approach handles both type and term dependency. We study how to maximize the effectiveness of these transports in terms of computational behavior, and identify a fragment useful for certified programming on which univalent transport is guaranteed to be effective. This work paves the way to easier-to-use environments for certified programming by supporting seamless programming and proving modulo equivalences.


Since the collapse of the USSR, the post-Soviet states have attempted to establish their legitimacy through a process of nation-building, involving the creation of new systems of social meaning and order. In Russia, this has also involved establishing market institutions, as well as resocializing the populace to behave like rational individualists. Naturally, the chief object of such efforts was initially the still-malleable generation of young people that came of age during perestroika or after the fall of communism. Increasingly, however, a wide range of objective indicators suggested that the country's youth was facing a veritable crisis of impoverishment, ill health, and alienation. By the mid-to-late 1990s, this led to mounting anxiety that Russia was truly on the verge of losing a generation, which in turn spawned a state-led effort to rectify the problems of youth. Unfortunately, achieving this was extraordinarily difficult, since the dislocation of young people happened to coincide with a sudden, massive exposure to globalization, as well as a general breakdown in social organization, economic function, and government capacity.


Dear Sir:

Concomitant occurrence of acute myocardial infarction (MI) and stroke is infrequently encountered in emergent patients. Acute MI within the previous 3 months is considered a relative contraindication for therapy with alteplase or intravenous tissue plasminogen activator (IV rtPA).1 The use of IV rtPA for stroke in patients with a recent MI is associated with an increased risk of cardiac rupture, secondary to breakdown of the existing fibrin clot within the necrotic myocardium and/or degradation of collagen2. Whether it is appropriate to perform thrombolysis in an emergent patient with concomitant ischemic stroke and MI remains a matter for debate.

A 44-year-old Caucasian man with a past history of binge drinking and heavy smoking since childhood, presented to the emergency department (ED) with a history of sudden onset of focal neurologic deficits, which had stared 1 hour previously. Neurological examination revealed dysarthria, left-sided homonymous hemianopia, facial central paresis, hemiparesis, and hemineglect (National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale [NIHSS] score, 11). His general examination was unremarkable. Blood pressure was 110/70 mmHg, temperature was 36.8℃, and pulse was 61 bpm. There was no jugular venous distension. He also complained of an intermittent vague ache in the anterior thoracic region and left shoulder, which had been present for the preceding 48 hours. The patient's electrocardiogram showed signs compatible with inferior MI with 2:1 atrioventricular block (Figure 1A). Cardiac troponin I level was elevated at 16.045 ng/mL (normal value, ≤0.04 ng/mL). Emergent bedside transthoracic echocardiography showed the presence of inferior wall hypokinesis with good left ventricular systolic function. Computed tomography brain scan (brain CT) showed early signs of ischemia in the territory of the right middle cerebral artery (Figure 1B).

Figure 1

(A) Electrocardiogram showing sinus rhythm, with 2:1 conduction block; two p waves (blue arrows) and one QRS wave (blue circle) are shown. ST elevation is visible in leads II, III, and aVF (red arrows), with ST depression in leads I and aVL (white arrows). ...

IV t-PA (0.9 mg/kg over 1 hour, total dose 80 mg) was administered 2 h after stroke onset. The patient's condition improved with thrombolysis (NIHSS score, 4). Approximately 10 hours after thrombolysis, he developed persistent bradycardia (40-50 bpm) and hypotension (100-90 mmHg systolic, 40-60 mmHg diastolic), requiring treatment with volume expanders. Transthoracic echocardiography revealed expansion of the MI to the right ventricle, without cardiac tamponade or depression of systolic function. Brain CT was repeated after 24 hours and showed the presence of ischemia in the cortical territory of the right middle cerebral artery (Figure 1C). Results of the remaining investigations, including a metabolic panel (glucose levels, hemogram, blood coagulation times, ionogram, renal function, hepatic enzymes), were normal. The patient was transferred to the intensive care unit after successful resuscitation for ventricular fibrillation. He remained in the intensive care unit for 2 consecutive weeks, during which time he had several medical complications, including refractory malignant arrhythmias with a recurrent need for resuscitation. Brain CT was repeated 8 days after the stroke and showed 2 new lesions in the posterior cerebral artery territory (Figure 1D). On discharge from the ICU, he had Psychomotor slowing, left-sided hemiparesis/hemihypesthesia and mild appendicular ataxia (NIHSS score, 9). Six months after the stroke, he resumed his normal life (Rankin 2).

The inclusion of MI as a relative or absolute contraindication for IV rtPA in acute stroke is not evidence-based.1,2 Although cardiac wall rupture and tamponade are very rare in patients presenting acute stroke and MI, these complications may constitute a major barrier for IV rtPA in such patients.2 Factors known to be associated with an increased risk of cardiac wall rupture and tamponade include older age, female sex, large anterior MI, longer time from symptom onset to thrombolysis, infarct size, transmural extent, and pericardial involvement.3,4 The overall frequency of these complications is approximately 1% in patients treated with thrombolysis for acute MI.3 However, in comparison to controls, with the exception of patients older than 75 years, the occurrence of and the risk of mortality from cardiac rupture is not increased after treatment of acute MI with rtPA.3,4,5

There are no evidence-based guidelines for the management of patients with concomitant acute MI and acute stroke, nor are there published clinical studies addressing the decision-making process in such cases. Depending on the clinical picture, physicians may focus on the management of either the stroke or the MI. Obviously, independent management of one thrombosed territory will delay the treatment of the other vascular bed. Although superior to thrombolysis for acute MI,6 primary percutaneous coronary intervention would delay rtPA for stroke, increasing the risk of severe neurological disability in our case. Furthermore, intravenous heparin bolus during, and dual antiplatelet therapy (aspirin plus clopidogrel) following coronary angioplasty, would potentiate the risk of hemorrhagic complications related to rtPA for stroke. Mechanical thrombectomy for acute stroke, a procedure that is not available in most hospitals including ours, could theoretically be combined with percutaneous coronary intervention. While we did not find any single report of such combined intervention, some authors believe that in the presence of acute ischemic emergent conditions affecting different territories or organs, intravenous thrombolytic therapy is a reasonable option.7

In a patient without demographic risk factors for cardiac tamponade, we decided to offer thrombolysis in a balanced attempt to treat both myocardial and brain infarction, after excluding any relevant change on bedside transthoracic echocardiography.

In conclusion, given the current knowledge limitations, treatment decisions in cases of concomitant acute MI and acute ischemic stroke should be individualized. The delicate balance between the presence or absence of risk factors for cardiac tamponade and the potential cardiac or neurological disability may guide the clinician in such a difficult scenario. Alteplase should probably not be avoided in eligible patients with ischemic stroke and MI in the absence of the aforementioned risk factors for cardiac complications associated with intravenous thrombolysis.


Prof. Giulio Giorello is amongst the most prominent philosophers of science in Italy and in the world. He is currently Professor of the Philosophy of Science at the University of Milan, Director of the Series 'Science and Ideas' (Raffaele Cortina Books Editor), and Literary Journalist of the cultural pages of the Corriere della Sera , one of the most important of the Italian newspapers. In this keynote presentation, in interview form, he talks about the value that the Earth sciences have had through history, framing this group of disciplines in ethical and epistemological terms, and highlighting some important elements that have to be considered in geological activities.


Aneuploidy is the most frequent single cause leading into the termination of early development in human and animal reproduction. Although the mouse is frequently used as a model organism for studying the aneuploidy, we have only incomplete information about the frequency of numerical chromosomal aberrations throughout development, usually limited to a particular stage or assumed from the occurrence of micronuclei. In our study, we systematically scored aneuploidy in in vivo mouse embryos, from zygotes up to 16-cell stage, using kinetochore counting assay. We show here that the frequency of aneuploidy per blastomere remains relatively similar from zygotes until 8-cell embryos and then increases in 16-cell embryos. Due to the accumulation of blastomeres, aneuploidy per embryo increases gradually during this developmental period. Our data also revealed that the aneuploidy from zygotes and 2-cell embryos does not propagate further into later developmental stages, suggesting that embryos suffering from aneuploidy are eliminated at this stage. Experiments with reconstituted live embryos revealed, that hyperploid blastomeres survive early development, although they exhibit slower cell cycle progression and suffer frequently from DNA fragmentation and cell cycle arrest.


Nitrous oxide (N2O) plays an important role in the atmospheric radiative balance and in stratospheric ozone chemistry and has a global warming potential 298 times higher than CO2. Grasslands occupy two thirds of the agricultural land in the UK. have been estimated to emit up to 0.54 – 0.58 Gg of N2O per year. N2O is produced as a result of nitrifying and denitrifying soil microbial communties. Both microbial groups are strongly influenced by soil physical factors such as oxygen availability, with decreases in soil oxygen increasing N2O production from the soil. Grasslands are subject to a range of managment treatments that enhance the production of N2O, such as cattle traffic and the movement of heavy agricultural machinery, which increases soil bulk density, resulting in a reduction in available air-filled pore space. This in combination with the use of fertilisers, such as urea and cattle slurry and also the deposition of urine, lead to the ideal conditions for N2O production to proceed. Mitigation techniques, such as the use of nitrification inhibitors, such as Dicyandiamide (DCD) are used to reduce these emissions, however, even with the use of these nitrification inhibitors N2O emissions still proceed. An improved understanding of the effect of bulk density and soil water-filled pore space (WFPS), as well as the movement of gas through compacted soils is elucidated. The importance of soil heterotrophic nitrification was observed in compacted grassland soils and a crucial pathway of the effect of a commonly used eukaryotic protein synthesis inhibitor (cylcoheximide) used to distinguish between soil bacterial and fungal activity was highlighted and the implication for its use in soil nitrogen cycling studies is discussed. Limitations of DCD were also highlighted, with indications of alternative pathways of microbial N2O production in grassland soils treated with this nitrification inhibitor.


Recent research on the professional knowledge of mathematics teachers, which hasbeen carried out in the last decade, is in the focus of this paper. Building on theinternational IEA Teacher Education and Development Study – Learning to TeachMathematics (TEDS-M), this paper describes a more situated way of evaluating theprofessional knowledge of teachers. The theoretical framework of the follow-upstudy of TEDS-M takes up the novice-expert framework and analyses via videobasedassessment instruments the structure and development of the professionalknowledge of mathematics teachers. More recent concepts on noticing andinterpreting classroom situations and students' activities are also incorporated intothe analysis. Connecting the results of the study TEDS-FU with the study TEDS-Mgives insight into the development of the professional knowledge of mathematicsteachers.


Micron-scale structures, including but not limited to MEMS devices, are a class of mechanical systems with a wide range of real-world applications. One important type of dynamic properties are modal, or vibrational, characteristics, which can have great effects on performance, reliability, and useful life of a system. This makes the determination of these characteristics an important element in the design and testing of these systems. The research described in this thesis addresses important challenges in experimental modal characterization of micron-scale structures, including difficulties in: applying suitable known excitations; measuring small magnitude response motions; avoiding excessive mass loading; and dealing with high natural frequencies. Two forms of experimental modal analysis are investigated, being output-only and base excitation based methodologies. In the case of output-only, an existing implementation of the Stochastic Subspace Identification algorithm, known as MACEC, was used, while for base excitation, an algorithm based on the complex exponential method was implemented. Several representative structures were tested in this research: a set of micro-cantilever MEMS-based switches, cercal mechanosensory hairs of crickets, and several lengths of fine wire, selected to have first natural frequencies in the range expected for the mechanosensory hairs. The switches and wires were examined using both output-only and base excitation methods, while the mechanosensory hairs were examined using the output-only method alone. In applying excitations, a piezoelectric stack actuator was used as a shaker for applying base excitations, while for output-only identification excitation was provided by way of the integrated electrostatic actuator for the switches, and by moving air with a loudspeaker for the wires and mechanosensory hairs. The micro-cantilever switches were found to have modal characteristics substantially in agreement with those predicted by Euler-Bernoulli beam theory for their design parameters. Notably, no significant effect on modal parameters of actuator position or size was found. For the mechanosensory hairs, behaviours significantly different from those previously reported in the literature were observed, with highly complex modes being seen.


Academic investigators are generating a plethora of insights and technologies that have the potential to significantly improve patient care. However, to address the imperative to improve the quality, cost and access to care with ever more constrained funding, the efficiency and the consistency with which they are translated into cost effective products and/or services need to improve. Healthcare commercialization programs (HCPs) are described and proposed as an option that institutions can add to their portfolio to improve translational research. In helping teams translate specific healthcare innovations into practice, HCPs expand the skillset of investigators and enhance an institution's innovation capacity. Lessons learned are shared from configuring and delivering HCPs, which build on the fundamentals of the National Science Foundation's Innovation Corps program, to address the unique challenges in supporting healthcare innovations and innovators.


In this paper, we analyze the equilibrium on the market for schooling where both public and private schools coexist and where individuals are differentiated by income and ability. We introduce a non linear in means model of peer effect by shedding the light on the fact that school quality is not solely dependent on mean ability but also on the dispersion of abilities. We study the distribution of students across sectors while examining the conditions for the existence of a majority voting equilibrium in the context of non single peaked preferences. Finally, we examine the presence of a hierarchy of school qualities. In the paper we shed the light on equity problems related to the access to educational quality while analyzing the functioning of the educational system.


This paper introduces an efficient modular solution kit for intralogistic drives, which reduces the total energy consumption of all drives in an automated warehouse by more than 15%. The reduction of energy consumption results from the interaction of optimized components (motors, control techniques and regeneration units), which are described in detail in this paper. Different motor concepts like the induction motor, the synchronous reluctance motor and the permanent magnet synchronous machine are compared according to the special requirements for intralogistics applications. Different control techniques are presented in order to achieve sensorless and efficient-optimal operation of these motors. The sensorless control technique uses signal injection to detect the rotor position sufficiently exact also in case of speed near standstill. Efficient-optimal operation is achieved by reducing the motor current with regard to the torque (MTPA-control). Furthermore this paper introduces a regeneration unit that can be connected between the DC link of frequency inverters and the mains to feed back regenerative energy. The regeneration unit consisting of a buck converter, a synchronous inverter and a line-filter can work in parallel to commonly used uncontrolled rectifiers. Its functioning is shown with the help of measurement results of a 1kW laboratory prototype. The last section shows a demonstrator in which a conventional conveyer system (with induction motor and braking resistor) is compared with an optimized one using the presented components. Power versus time measurements show specific energy savings resulting from the interaction of the optimized components.


The chitinozoan biostratigraphy of four Ordovician impact craters has been investigated. Three of these (Tvären, Kärdla and Lockne) contain complete sequences of early Caradoc age, while the Granby crater contains rocks of late Arenig age yielding two bentonitic horizons at their top. Chitinozoans, together with graptolites and other planktic organisms, were the first to invade the craters after the impact event. It has therefore been possible to date the impact events with a precision of less than one million years. An immigration of graptolites from Australia during the late Arenig corresponds to an immigration of chitinozoans from Gondwana at this time. Two stratigraphically important taxa, not previously described or discussed, Lagenochitina sp. A aff. capax and Laufeldochitina sp. A aff. striata are commented upon. Three species. Cyathochitina hunderumensis, Spinachitina tvaerenensis and Tartuchitina granbyensis, are described as new.


Raised plasma homocysteine (tHcy) concentrations are caused by genetic mutations, vitamin deficiencies, renal and other diseases, numerous drugs, and increasing age. Raised tHcy concentrations are associated with laboratory evidence of atherogenesis (eg, endothelial dysfunction) and thrombosis, and epidemiological evidence of an increased risk of atherothrombotic vascular disease. An association between raised tHcy concentration and an increased risk of atherothrombosis is independent of other vascular risk factors, strong, dose‐related and biologically plausible, but has not been proven to be causal in randomised controlled trials. A recent trial identified no significant benefit from lowering tHcy concentration by folic‐acid‐based multivitamin therapy among 3680 patients with recent ischaemic stroke, but did not reliably exclude a modest but important reduction in the relative risk of stroke of up to 20%; a difference of only 2 mmol/L in tHcy concentration between the two treatment groups was probably due to widespread vitamin use and fortification of grains and staple foods with folate in North America. There is currently insufficient evidence to recommend routine screening and treatment of high tHcy concentrations with folic acid and other vitamins to prevent atherothrombotic vascular disease.


Drought occurs when there is a deficit in soil water supply to the plant. Severe drought limits crop yield by causing the plant's water use to be limited compared with a well-watered crop. Too much water (flooded soils) also causes stress to the plant whose roots are in saturated soil for long periods. Both situations lead to crop water stress, ultimately resulting in reduced crop yield. Since flood and drought can occur intermittently in cropping, an effective yield predictor should contain both flood and drought stress components for better representation of the range of natural conditions the plant might encounter during its growth period. This paper details the modification of the Crop-Specific Drought Index (CSDI) model by introducing a soil saturation factor, resulting in a Crop-Specific Stress Index (CSSI) model. The study was conducted in eastern Nebraska and southeastern Minnesota. The coefficients used in the CSSI model were estimated by a jackknifing procedure based on 1971–2002 climate data, nonirrigated yield data of corn (Zea mays L.), and soil information retrieved from the STATSGO database in the crop districts. Results show that all indicators of agreement between the estimated and actual yields show improvement of the new CSSI model over the old CSDI model in all districts. Results also show that the CSSI model outperforms the CSDI model in years characterized by soil saturation. For instance, the CSDI for 1993 overestimates the relative yield in northeastern Nebraska by about 28% while the CSSI underestimates the 1993 yield by 3%.


Seismometers are highly sensitive instruments to not only ground motion but also many other nonseismic noise sources (e.g., temperature, pressure, and magnetic field variations). We show that the Alaska component of the Transportable Array is particularly susceptible to recording magnetic storms and other space weather events because the sensors used in this network are unshielded and magnetic flux variations are stronger at higher latitudes. We also show that vertical-component seismic records across Alaska are directly recording magnetic field variations between 40 and 800 s period as opposed to actual ground motion during geomagnetic events with sensitivities ranging from 0.004 to 0.48  (m/s2)/T. These sensitivities were found on a day where the root mean square variation in the magnetic field was 225 nT. Using a method developed by Forbriger (2007, his section 3.1), we show that improving vertical seismic resolution of an unshielded sensor by as much as 10 dB in the 100–400 s period band using magnetic data from a collocated three-component magnetometer is possible. However, due to large spatial variations in Earth's magnetic field, this methodology becomes increasingly ineffective as the distance between the seismometer and magnetometer increases (no more than 200 km separation). A potential solution to this issue may be to incorporate relatively low-cost magnetometers as an additional environmental data stream at high-latitude seismic stations. We demonstrate that the Bartington Mag-690 sensors currently deployed at Global Seismographic Network sites are not only acceptable for performing corrections to seismic data, but are also capable of recording many magnetic field signals with similar signal-to-noise ratios, in the 20–1000 s period band, as the observatory grade magnetometers operated by the U.S. Geological Survey Geomagnetism Program. This approach would densify magnetic field observations and could also contribute to space weather monitoring by supplementing highly calibrated magnetometers with additional sensors.


Synthesis

The tissue chemistry of plants can influence ecosystem processes including growth, herbivory, and decomposition. Our comparison of nitrogen and phosphorus in over 1700 autotroph taxa demonstrates that latitudinal trends in tissue chemistry are consistent across non-vascular and vascular species in freshwater, terrestrial, and marine ecosystems. Tissue chemistry varies most within species and taxonomic lineages, yet the nitrogen to phosphorus ratio within individuals is strikingly similar among species in different ecosystems. These results shed new light on existing hypotheses, suggesting that light (e.g. photon flux) and growing season duration are primary drivers of latitudinal gradients in tissue chemistry, but providing little support for temperature, nutrient supply, or soil substrate age.

Photoautotroph nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) tissue concentrations can influence ecosystem function via processes including growth, decomposition, and consumption, and may reflect traits maintaining coexistence. Studies in terrestrial systems have led to hypotheses that latitudinal trends in the N and P content of leaves may be driven by soil substrate age, environmental temperature, or season length; however, terrestrial patterns alone cannot differentiate these mechanisms. Here, we demonstrate that broad geographical patterns of N and P in freshwater and marine multicellular photoautotrophs are concordant with those in terrestrial ecosystems. Our > 6800 record database reveals that mean tissue N and P increase with latitude in all ecosystems, but P increases more rapidly, causing N:P to decline; mean N:P scaling within individuals also is identical among systems, despite very different evolutionary environments. A partitioning of the variance in these data suggests that species composition and local environmental context likely lead to the variation observed within a latitudinal band. However, the consistency of trends in photosynthetic tissue chemistry across Earth's ecosystems suggests that biogeographical gradients in insolation and growing season length may constrain tissue N and P, whereas global trends in temperature, nutrient supply, and soil substrate age are unlikely to generate the consistent latitudinal trends among ecosystems. Thus, this cross-ecosystem comparison suggests a new hypothesis, global patterns of insolation, while also providing a new perspective on other mechanisms that have been hypothesized to underlie latitudinal trends in photosynthetic tissue chemistry.


OBJECTIVE
The study adds important information regarding the descriptive anatomy of a very rarely reported unilateral chondrocoracoideus muscle (of Wood). Additionally it highlights the concomitant muscular and neural alterations.

CASE REPORT
The current case presents the occurrence of a chondrocoracoideus muscle situated left-sided, as an extension of the abdominal portion of the pectoralis major muscle (PM). The chondrocoracoideus coexisted with a contralateral atypical PM, partially blended with the clavicular fibers of the deltoid muscle. There was an accessory head of the biceps brachii while the palmaris longus was absent on the right side of a 78-year-old Greek male cadaver.

CONCLUSION
The above mentioned muscular abnormalities are shown as disturbances of embryological pectoral muscle development, and their documentation is essential in order to increase awareness among clinicians of their potential impact on the diagnosis and treatment of several pathologies.


Living benthic foraminiferal assemblages were monitored between January and July 2004 in the Kiel Bight, Baltic Sea. Phytoplankton blooms and the deposition of organic detritus were depicted by fluorometer hydro casts and pigment concentrations in surface sediments. Three depositional pulses of organic matter were identified by high phytoplankton concentrations above the sea floor and elevated pigment concentrations in the surface sediment. The foraminiferal assemblage composition remained rather constant but the population density of Elphidium excavatum clavatum showed a two- to six-fold increase within a few days after organic detritus deposition. The foraminiferal assemblage composition was compared to earlier studies in this area. Elphidium excavatum, Ammotium cassis and E. incertum dominated the living fauna in the 1960s and 1970s. The recent survey revealed a predominance of E. excavatum subspecies (more than 90% of the living assemblage). The average population densities were six times higher than in the 1970s. Data structure and model calculations suggested that E. excavatum clavatum is able to reproduce rapidly, with high offspring numbers at elevated food supply. The diminution of A. cassis has occurred in Kiel Bight during the last ten years and was most likely induced by a period of low deep-water salinities in the early 1990s.


Citizen sensing, with a billion plus active users and billion plus tweets/week, is complemented by shared information from contextually relevant Web of Data (blogs, news, and media objects) and background knowledge. How can these enable us in informing, understanding and managing a broad variety of activities and events locally and around the world? Twitris, currently in version 3, is a scalable and interactive platform which continuously collects, aggregates, integrates, and analyzes the above forms of data and knowledge to give deeper insights, as well as facilitate research and development on coordination and targeted actions related to any event. In this demonstration, we will show Twitris' comprehensive capabilities in spatio-temporal-thematic, people-contentnetwork, and sentiment-emotion-subjectivity analyses, with examples from business intelligence including brand tracking and advertising campaigns, social/political unrests, and disaster events such as U.S. Election 2012, Occupy Wall Street (OWS) protest, Hurricane Sandy, etc. Visitors from diverse backgrounds will be able to play with the system for analyses of archived as well as live events during the demo.


Benefit transfer (BT) is a pragmatic way of estimating values by transferring values from existing valuation studies to a target area of interest. BT using choice modeling (CM) is a potentially cost-effective method for valuing differences in improvements in environmental quality. After taking into account a range of policy options, ecosystem service attributes, socioeconomic characteristics and attitudinal variables for two winegrowing regions and populations, this study uses CM to value the marginal benefits of improvement in selected ecosystem services associated with winegrowing. This study tests the transferability of willingness-to-pay or welfare measures of equivalence across two sites to check the suitability of the estimates to be transferred between the sites. Policy implications conclude the paper.


Skull stripping in brain imaging is the removal of the parts of images corresponding to non-brain tissue. Fast and accurate skull stripping is a crucial step for numerous medical brain imaging applications, e.g. registration, segmentation and feature extraction, as it eases subsequent image processing steps. In this work, we propose and compare two novel skull stripping methods based on 2D and 3D convolutional neural networks trained on a large, heterogeneous collection of 2777 clinical 3D T1-weighted MRI images from 1681 healthy subjects. We investigated the performance of the models by testing them on 927 images from 324 subjects set aside from our collection of data, in addition to images from an independent, large brain imaging study: the IXI dataset (n = 556). Our models achieved mean Dice scores higher than 0.978 and Jaccard indices higher than 0.957 on all tests sets, making predictions on new unseen brain MR images in approximately 1.4s for the 3D model and 12.4s for the 2D model. A preliminary exploration of the models' robustness to variation in the input data showed favourable results when compared to a traditional, well-established skull stripping method. With further research aimed at increasing the models' robustness, such accurate and fast skull stripping methods can potentially form a useful component of brain MRI analysis pipelines.


So many books have been written on corporations but no one seriously thought about the impact on the poor, that is why the seriousness of the issue kept on growing, but the most alarming situation is, business schools and the institutes instead of realizing this issue, they are portraying the corporations as the country saviour (Madeley, 1999). Capitalism bully ascertains finds the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), which primarily deals with the most robust economies in the world. Wilder and widens the inequality between rich and poor. According to OECD in the period 2007-2010, the gap between rich and poor widened longer than the 12 years that have been preceded (Fraczek, 2013). In 33 countries covered by OECD, 10 percent of the wealthiest residents acquire income 9.5 times more than the poorest in 2010, compared with 9 times in 2007. The biggest differences between wealthy and poor citizens appeared in U.S., Turkey, Mexico and Chile. Countries with the smaller comparative deviations are Iceland, Norway, Denmark and Slovenia. Of course, OECD analysts point out that after taxes and social transfers, levels of income inequality and relative poverty in OECD countries was only slightly higher in 2010 as compared to 2007 (OECD, 2011). Data set from 1965 to onward explains that the wealth gap is constantly getting wider and wider between the developed and poor nations (Parente and Prescott, 1993).


From the Publisher:
Java 2 by Example, Second Edition gives novice programmers in-depth coverage of both object-oriented programming and Java fundamentals. It starts with an overview of Java, including a survey of development tools beginners should use. The book explains the basics of the Java language, including operators, expressions, statements and more; and Object-Oriented Programming with classes and objects, inheritance, and dynamic methods. The author includes a chapter applying the concepts of OOP to object-oriented analysis and design methods. Later chapters demonstrate organizing data in collections and utilizing Java's built-in mathematical functions. Along the way, readers learn from hundreds of examples explaining every concept. Plus, each chapter ends with a series of review questions to ensure that readers are caught up - with answers provided in an appendix.


The future of economic and monetary integration in the European Union is of outstanding importance for the Central- and East-European Member States of the European Union. Three of the Central- and East-European countries have already joined the Euro Area and their experiences show that only those countries are successful in adapting a common currency and a common monetary policy where the economy is competitive, where macro-economic imbalances are under control and where the institutional system provides for avoiding the creation of bubbles and for preserving international competiveness. For non-Euro Area Central- and East-European countries there are a lot of pro- and contra arguments concerning the adaption of the euro. The fiscal and institutional crisis of the Euro Area will make these countries more careful in passing the necessary decisions. The fulfilling of the Maastricht criteria itself will not be enough for a successful participation in the common currency area.


This project sought to study issues of student poverty within the BGSU student population. To accomplish this, a survey was developed to gather data on student employment, material hardship, and financial status. The survey returned 1,502 responses, equating to a response rate of approximately 5%. Students reported substantial levels of financial anxiety across class standing and employment status, and a sizable minority reported frequently being unable to purchase basic necessities such as groceries, sanitary products, and laundry services. Though most respondents (71.69%) identified as female, enough identified as male to allow for a comparison between the reported financial anxiety and status of these two groups. Female respondents reported substantially higher anxiety levels than males, while financial status and employment outcomes were roughly identical between these groups. This study identifies several areas where further study and analysis is warranted, and the results provide university administration with some information with which to ameliorate some problems/hardship faced by the BGSU student population.


The modern marketer needs to learn how to employ strategic thinking alongside the use of digital media to deliver measurable and accountable business success. Digital Marketing Strategy covers the essential elements of achieving exactly this by guiding you through every step of creating your perfect digital marketing strategy. It contains analysis of the essential techniques and platforms of digital marketing including social media, content marketing, SEO, user experience, personalization, display advertising and CRM, as well as the broader aspects of implementation including planning, integration with overall company aims and presenting to decision makers.

 Simon Kingsnorth brings digital marketing strategy to life through best practice case studies, illustrations, checklists and summaries, to give you insightful and practical guidance. Rather than presenting a restrictive 'one size fits all' model, this book gives you the tools to tailor-make your own strategy according to your unique business needs and demonstrates how an integrated and holistic approach to marketing leads to greater success.


In dense plasma focus (DPF) machines, the high-pressure (HP) regime of operation can be used as alternative technique to short-circuit (SC) test as the current sheet motion is minimal. The SC test was performed to get the right values for the static parameters of the machine. HP shots of more than 30 mbar were performed on the 2.5-kJ Kansas State University DPF machine to determine the deviation of HP values from SC values in computed static inductance and resistance. The test was performed using various gases over a wide range of molecular/atomic mass, starting from hydrogen as the lightest gas up to argon. It was found that the deviation in static inductance and resistance computed from HP method is inversely proportional to gas molecular mass at a certain pressure. The heavy gases like neon and argon were found to give the most accurate results. At 60 mbar of argon, the inductance deviation was 6.5%, and the resistance deviation was 14%. It was found also that increasing gas pressure over 30 mbar using heavy gases like Ar or Ne gives no effective improvement on the computed static impedance. Snowplow model was used to predict the axial position and the axial speed of the current sheet during the HP regime. The model showed that the average axial speed in heavy gases like argon was 0.8 cm/ μs, whereas in hydrogen, it was 1.6 cm/μs.


Discrete Choice Experiments (DCEs) designed to estimate willingness-to-pay (WTP) values are very popular in health economics. With increased computation power and advanced simulation techniques, random-coefficient models have gained an increasing importance in applied work as they allow for taste heterogeneity. This paper discusses the parametrical derivation of WTP values from estimated random-coefficient models and shows how these values can be simulated in cases where they do not have a known distribution.


An innovative release method of polymer cantilevers with embedded integrated metal electrodes is presented. The fabrication is based on the lithographic patterning of the electrode layout on a wafer surface, covered by two layers of SU-8 polymer: a 10-mum-thick photo-structured layer for the cantilever, and a 200-mum-thick layer for the chip body. The releasing method is based on dry etching of a 2-mum-thick sacrificial polysilicon layer. Devices with complex electrode layout embedded in free-standing 500-mum-long and 100-mum-wide SU-8 cantilever were fabricated and tested. We have optimized major fabrication steps such as the optimization of the SU-8 chip geometry for reduced residual stress and for enhanced underetching, and by defining multiple metal layers [titanium (Ti), aluminum (Al), bismuth (Bi)] for improved adhesion between metallic electrodes and polymer. The process was validated for a miniature 2times2 mum2 Hall-sensor integrated at the apex of a polymer microcantilever for scanning magnetic field sensing. The cantilever has a spring constant of cong1 N/m and a resonance frequency of cong17 kHz. Galvanometric characterization of the Hall sensor showed an input/output resistance of 200Omega, a device sensitivity of 0.05 V/AT and a minimum detectable magnetic flux density of 9 muT/Hz1/2 at frequencies above 1 kHz at room temperature. Quantitative magnetic field measurements of a microcoil were performed. The generic method allows for a stable integration of electrodes into polymers MEMS and it can readily be used for other types of microsensors where conducting metal electrodes are integrated in cantilevers for advanced scanning probe sensing applications


In a world awash with data, the ability to think and compute with data has become an important skill for students in many fields. For that reason, inclusion of some level of statistical computing in many introductory-level courses has grown more common in recent years. Existing literature has documented multiple success stories of teaching statistics with R, bolstered by the capabilities of R Markdown. In this article, we present an in-class data visualization activity intended to expose students to R and R Markdown during the first week of an introductory statistics class. The activity begins with a brief lecture on exploratory data analysis in R. Students are then placed in small groups tasked with exploring a new dataset to produce three visualizations that describe particular insights that are not immediately obvious from the data. Upon completion, students will have produced a series of univariate and multivariate visualizations on a real dataset and practiced describing them.