This paper presents a systematic design of high-fidelity tele-operated scaled vehicles to be used as a research and development platform for intelligent transportation technologies. Compared to computer simulation and full-scale physical tests, the use of high-fidelity scaled setups provides advantages on testing time and financial effectiveness. The physical design of the vehicles features a 1:14 scale with realistic appearance licensed by car manufacturers. Customized steering system and propulsion control provide high-fidelity maneuver characteristics. Remote control is deployed using a target-host structure over WiFi and can provide seamless switching between human driving and autonomous/assisted driving on the host side. Several possible solutions for real-time panoramic vision feedback are explored, with a tri-camera design based on parallel acquisition interfaces adopted. An adaptive color compression technique is developed to shorten the video streaming latency. A customized miniature LIDAR system is introduced to provide an ultra-small package for on-board installation. As a solution balancing between test fidelity and costs, the proposed scaled vehicles are especially suitable for validation tests during the early stage of research and development. With a long-term goal of developing a multi-vehicle traffic network test platform, ongoing and future work on the construction of scaled buildings and road systems is also discussed.


This Article uses basic mathematics and statistics to construct an optimal general strategy for election lawyers to use in recounts. In doing so, it identifies a likely reason why election lawyers, to their detriment, are prone to buck the conventional wisdom on recount strategy.The conventional wisdom — which tracks the optimal strategy quite well — advises recount challengers to fight to recount most subgroups of votes that are expected to favor the opponent. That advice is counterintuitive to recount neophytes, but it is nevertheless correct. A principal objective of this Article is to explain and defend this counterintuitive requirement so that more candidates and lawyers embrace it. To summarize, recount challengers must consider not just a recount's expected results but also the level of uncertainty surrounding those expectations; when the uncertainty level is high enough, even likely negative results become worth seeking.Part I of this Article derives some elementary mathematical principles of optimal recount strategy, and compares them to the conventional wisdom of recount experts. Part II applies this optimal strategy to the 2000 presidential recount, looking only at what the parties knew or should have known at the time. It concludes that Al Gore's strategy was mathematically unsound, in ways that required no hindsight to realize. Part III summarizes the discussion and offers concluding advice for would-be recount challengers and their lawyers.


Dyslexia is a disorder which affects language and writing skills, remaining of crucial importance to undertake an appropriate diagnosis and treatment to avoid subsequent problems. Nowadays, there are not many tools in the market which use serious games for the treatment of this disorder. Experts use tests in their therapies but they lack the possibility of measuring important parameters such as response time or user's errors. By means of this innovative work a platform adapted to professionals as well as to people with dyslexia is shown, thanks to which people suffering from dyslexia are able to exercise, work and improve the skills they face difficulties in, through an easy and enjoyable way. Besides, it provides those responsible with a support in which the results the participants have been obtained along the games are registered, thus being able to check the evolution and the progress of those. In this very first stage encouraging results were obtained, to be able to continue widening the platform by proving the improvement the participants experienced.


The future challenges within science communication lie in a 'grey area' where the frontiers between production and sharing of knowledge are blurred. An area in which we can satisfy at the same time and within the same activity the autonomous interests of researchers and those of other stakeholders, including lay publics. Settings are emerging, where we can provide real contribution to scientific research and at the same time facilitate the publics in their process of hacking scientific knowledge to serve autonomously defined and often unpredictable functions. Some are linked to research institutes, others to science centres, others are precisely inbetween. This editorial explores why these special places are needed, and present some case studies, leading to the need of interpreting science culture centres as research facilities. Abstract


. Objectives: Melanoma is one the most lethal form of skin cancer with a survival rate of less than 5% and thus possesses biggest challenge for its therapy among research scientists. The Melanoma progression within a tumor is guided by multiple mechanisms, thereby hindering the development of successful therapies. Therefore, there is a urgent demand to identify potential targets against melanoma cancer cells as well as to develop potent inhibitors in order to reduce melanoma at the very onset of cancer cell growth through targeting mutidrug resistance. It is well reported that curcumin is acting as inhibitor for metastasis of melanoma cancer cells. The most potential target of melanoma cancer cells has to be identified in order to reduce the relapse as well as to overcome multidrug drug resistance. Methods: In this study, the potency of curcumin analogues as well as their interaction with potential targets was identified by insilico approaches.Their efficacy has been examined through invitro assay. Results: Based on both invitro and insilico studies, few curcumin analogues have shown higher inhibitory activity against melanoma cancer cells than curcumin. Conclusion: The present study predicts some novel curcumin analogues that can act as potent inhibitor of melanoma cancer cells.


Existing techniques for inference in probabilistic logic programs are sequential: they first compute the relevant propositional formula for the query of interest, then compile it into a tractable target representation and finally, perform weighted model counting on the resulting representation. We propose TP-compilation, a new inference technique based on forward reasoning. TP-compilation proceeds incrementally in that it interleaves the knowledge compilation step for weighted model counting with forward reasoning on the logic program. This leads to a novel anytime algorithm that provides hard bounds on the inferred probabilities. Furthermore, an empirical evaluation shows that TP- compilation effectively handles larger instances of complex real-world problems than current sequential approaches, both for exact and for anytime approximate inference.


Transient asynchrony induced by an implanted pacemaker improves pathobiology of heart failure in large animals. Disruptive technology Healthy and the majority of failing hearts beat synchronously. However, some hearts contract with poor coordination and if they are weak, this worsens clinical outcomes. Pacemakers used to reset a heart's rhythm can also change the synchrony of contraction, making it better or worse, and current therapy called resynchronization makes it better. Perhaps counterintuitively, Kirk et al. demonstrate that using a pacemaker to purposely induce dyssynchrony—but only for part of each day—makes the synchronous failing heart better. In their process, pacemaker-induced transient asynchrony (PITA), the heart's right ventricle is paced to induce a 6-hour period of dyssynchrony each day, followed by atrial pacing to resynchronize the heart for the remaining 18 hours. In dogs with heart failure, PITA halted chamber dilation and negative remodeling of the heart tissue, improved cellular signaling and force generation, and resulted in normal muscle fiber structure and function, similar to healthy controls. PITA may help the majority of patients with heart failure who have synchronous contraction and thus are not treated with standard resynchronization pacemakers. Uncoordinated contraction from electromechanical delay worsens heart failure pathophysiology and prognosis, but restoring coordination with biventricular pacing, known as cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT), improves both. However, not every patient qualifies for CRT. We show that heart failure with synchronous contraction is improved by inducing dyssynchrony for 6 hours daily by right ventricular pacing using an intracardiac pacing device, in a process we call pacemaker-induced transient asynchrony (PITA). In dogs with heart failure induced by 6 weeks of atrial tachypacing, PITA (starting on week 3) suppressed progressive cardiac dilation as well as chamber and myocyte dysfunction. PITA enhanced β-adrenergic responsiveness in vivo and normalized it in myocytes. Myofilament calcium response declined in dogs with synchronous heart failure, which was accompanied by sarcomere disarray and generation of myofibers with severely reduced function, and these changes were absent in PITA-treated hearts. The benefits of PITA were not replicated when the same number of right ventricular paced beats was randomly distributed throughout the day, indicating that continuity of dyssynchrony exposure is necessary to trigger the beneficial biological response upon resynchronization. These results suggest that PITA could bring the benefits of CRT to the many heart failure patients with synchronous contraction who are not CRT candidates.


An iterative regularization path with structural sparsity is proposed in this paper based on variable splitting and the Linearized Bregman Iteration, hence called \emph{Split LBI}. Despite its simplicity, Split LBI outperforms the popular generalized Lasso in both theory and experiments. A theory of path consistency is presented that equipped with a proper early stopping, Split LBI may achieve model selection consistency under a family of Irrepresentable Conditions which can be weaker than the necessary and sufficient condition for generalized Lasso. Furthermore, some $\ell_2$ error bounds are also given at the minimax optimal rates. The utility and benefit of the algorithm are illustrated by applications on both traditional image denoising and a novel example on partial order ranking.


We show how we can implement chaotic inflation in the context of supergravity by conveniently selecting the functional form of a strong enough non-minimal coupling between the inflaton and the Ricci scalar curvature. The procedure can be applied when a gauge singlet or non-singlet inflaton is coupled to another singlet superfield within linear-quadratic, trilinear or bilinear superpotential terms. The tachyonic instability occurring along the direction of the accompanying non-inflaton field can be cured by expanding the kinetic part of the frame function up to the fourth order in powers of the various fields. In the case of a gauge non-singlet inflaton, though, a conjugation symmetry has to be imposed on these terms in order for the flatness of the inflationary potential is maintained. On the other hand, some of these terms assist us to precisely reconcile the resulting scalar spectral index with the current PLANCK measurements while the other inflationary observables are in agreement with data.


Rationale: As a hallmark of various heart diseases, cardiac fibrosis ultimately leads to end-stage heart failure. Anti-fibrosis is a potential therapeutic strategy for heart failure. Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) have emerged as critical regulators of heart diseases that promise to serve as therapeutic targets. However, few lncRNAs have been directly implicated in cardiac fibrosis. Methods: The lncRNA expression profiles were assessed by microarray in cardiac fibrotic and remote ventricular tissues in mice with myocardial infarction. The mechanisms and functional significance of lncRNA-AK137033 in cardiac fibrosis were further investigated with both in vitro and in vivo models. Results: We identified 389 differentially expressed lncRNAs in cardiac fibrotic and remote ventricular tissues in mice with myocardial infarction. Among them, a lncRNA (AK137033) we named Safe was enriched in the nuclei of fibroblasts, and elevated in both myocardial infarction and TGF-β-induced cardiac fibrosis. Knockdown of Safe prevented TGF-β-induced fibroblast-myofibroblast transition, aberrant cell proliferation and secretion of extracellular matrix proteins in vitro, and mended the impaired cardiac function in mice suffering myocardial infarction. In vitro studies indicated that knockdown of Safe significantly inhibited the expression of its neighboring gene Sfrp2, and vice versa. The Sfrp2 overexpression obviously disturbed the regulatory effects of Safe shRNAs in both the in vitro cultured cardiac fibroblasts and myocardial infarction-induced fibrosis. Dual-Luciferase assay demonstrated that Safe and Sfrp2 mRNA stabilized each other via their complementary binding at the 3'-end. RNA electrophoretic mobility shift assay and RNA immunoprecipitation assay indicated that RNA binding protein HuR could bind to Safe-Sfrp2 RNA duplex, whereas the knockdown of HuR dramatically reduced the stabilization of Safe and Sfrp2 mRNAs, down-regulated their expression in cardiac fibroblasts, and thus inhibited TGF-β-induced fibrosis. The Safe overexpression partially restrained the phenotype change of cardiac fibroblasts induced by Sfrp2 shRNAs, but not that induced by HuR shRNAs. Conclusions: Our study identifies Safe as a critical regulator of cardiac fibrosis, and demonstrates Safe-Sfrp2-HuR complex-mediated Sfrp2 mRNA stability is the underlying mechanism of Safe-regulated cardiac fibrosis. Fibroblast-enriched Safe could represent a novel target for anti-fibrotic therapy in heart diseases.


The majority of rivers around Europe have been modified in one way or another, and no longer have an original, continuous flow from source to outlet. The presence of weirs and dams has altered habitats, thus affecting the wildlife that lives within them. This is especially true for migrating rheophilic fish species, which, in addition to safe passage, depend on gradient and fast-flowing waters for reproductive success and early development.
Thus far, research has focused on investigating the impacts of weirs and dams on fish passage, with less attention paid to the loss of habitat entrained by such infrastructure. The loss of rheophilic habitat is particularly important in lowland streams, where gradient is limited, and dams and weirs can be constructed with less effort.
Denmark is considered a typical lowland country, where the landscape around streams and rivers has been modified by agriculture and other human activities for centuries, leaving management practitioners wondering how much change is acceptable to maintain sustainable fish populations and fisheries practices.
With examples from Denmark, this paper attempts to conceptualize the loss in habitat as a result of barriers in lowland streams and rivers, and the repercussions that such alterations may have on rheophilic fish populations. Furthermore, the need for management to address habitat loss and its related consequences concurrently with the improvement of fish passage is emphasized.


In hyperspectral imagery one pixel typically consists of a mixture of the reflectance spectra of several materials, where the mixture coefficients correspond to the abundances of the constituting materials. We assume linear combinations of reflectance spectra with some additive normal sensor noise and derive a probabilistic MAP framework for analyzing hyperspectral data. As the material reflectance characteristics are not know a priori, we face the problem of unsupervised linear unmixing. The incorporation of different prior information (e.g. positivity and normalization of the abundances) naturally leads to a family of interesting algorithms, for example in the noise-free case yielding an algorithm that can be understood as constrained independent component analysis (ICA). Simulations underline the usefulness of our theory.


This article addresses the question of a lawyers professional responsibility when a seemingly simple domestic relations case begins to turn into a major criminal catastrophe. Starting with ABA Model Rule 1.2(d) that an attorney "shall not counsel or assist in criminal or fraudulent conduct but may discuss the legal consequences of proposed conduct…"it analyzes the attorney's responsibilities in the context of a hypothetical case involving hidden assets and misrepresented financial statements. Options to withdraw under Model Rule 1.16(b) are discussed along with the questions raised therefrom and the lawyer's Model Rule 4.1(b) obligation not to knowingly fail to disclose material facts. From there the nightmare turns criminal as the hypothetical client is indicted raising issues ranging from emergency lawyering under Model Rule 1.1 to the lawyers own fees being subject to forfeiture. In conclusion it is nearly impossible to screen out every client who may bring criminal activities into family law representation. However, with careful research, clear communication, and documentation, a lawyer will be able to find a route out of the nightmare without being caught up in the criminal activity itself.


Machine learning tools represent key enablers for empowering material scientists and engineers to accelerate the development of novel materials, processes and techniques. One of the aims of using such approaches in the field of materials science is to achieve high-throughput identification and quantification of essential features along the process-structure-property-performance chain. In this contribution, machine learning and statistical learning approaches are reviewed in terms of their successful application to specific problems in the field of continuum materials mechanics. They are categorized with respect to their type of task designated to be either descriptive, predictive or prescriptive; thus to ultimately achieve identification, prediction or even optimization of essential characteristics. The respective choice of the most appropriate machine learning approach highly depends on the specific use-case, type of material, kind of data involved, spatial and temporal scales, formats, and desired knowledge gain as well as affordable computational costs. Different examples are reviewed involving case-by-case dependent application of different types of artificial neural networks and other data-driven approaches such as support vector machines, decision trees and random forests as well as Bayesian learning, and model order reduction procedures such as principal component analysis, among others. These techniques are applied to accelerate the identification of material parameters or salient features for materials characterization, to support rapid design and optimization of novel materials or manufacturing methods, to improve and correct complex measurement devices, or to better understand and predict fatigue behavior, among other examples. Besides experimentally obtained datasets, numerous studies draw required information from simulation-based data mining. Altogether, it is shown that experiment- and simulation-based data mining in combination with machine leaning tools provide exceptional opportunities to enable highly reliant identification of fundamental interrelations within materials for characterization and optimization in a scale-bridging manner. Potentials of further utilizing applied machine learning in materials science and empowering significant acceleration of knowledge output are pointed out.


The motivation for this study centres on the labour-and cost-intensive nature of wine grape production and the potential opportunities for robotic technology. The objectives of this study are to develop cost of production budgets for five representative wine grape vineyards in four US states, assess the economic viability of wine grape production under current operating conditions, evaluate labour costs by production task, and identify common production challenges and tasks that could be augmented with robotic technology development. Investigators have worked with grower panels to develop a production budget for representative vineyards in four states, and to gather input on production tasks that the growers and technology developers feel would be most suitable for robotic technology. A stochastic simulation model was developed to assess baseline pro-forma financial statements for each vineyard size. Combined, the results help in exploring opportunities to strengthen vineyard profitability and competitiveness using robotics.


Once heavily industrial and polluted, the current site of the New Milan Trade by architect Massimiliano Fuksas has been converted into an iconic new destination. Nearly 1.5 km in length, the New Milan Trade fair is much more than a simple building. The various conventional halls, retail areas, offices, and administrative buildings are united by the great central canopy, a swirling and undulating sail that floats aboveground, creating a spectacular vision in the Milan skyline. Through a detailed set of construction drawings, panoramic photography, and short texts, the book of the Milan Trade Fair is a journey itself: join us for a stroll into the well-known and unknown aspects of this building, which is more a city than a solitary structure.


INTRODUCTION Solar power is the conversion of sunlight into electricity, either directly using photovoltaics (PV), or indirectly using concentrated solar power (CSP). Concentrated solar power systems use lenses or mirrors and tracking systems to focus a large area of sunlight into a small beam. Photovoltaics convert light into an electric current using the photovoltaic effect. The International Energy Agency projected in 2014 that under its "high renewables" scenario, by 2050, solar photovoltaics and concentrated solar power would contribute about 16 and 11 percent, respectively, of the worldwide electricity consumption, and solar would be the world's largest source of electricity. Most solar installations would be in China and India. Photovoltaics were initially solely used as a source of electricity for small and medium-sized applications, from the calculator powered by a single solar cell to remote homes powered by an offgrid rooftop PV system. As the cost of solar electricity has fallen, the number of gridconnected solar PV systems has grown into the millions and utility-scale solar power stations with hundreds of megawatts are being built. Solar PV is rapidly becoming an inexpensive, low-carbon technology to harness renewable energy from the Sun. Commercial concentrated solar power plants were first developed in the 1980s. The 392 MW Ivanpah installation is the largest concentrating solar power plant in the world, located in the Mojave Desert ofCalifornia. Other large CSP plants include the SEGS (354 MW) in the Mojave Desert of California, the Solnova Solar Power Station (150 MW) and the Andasol solar power station (150 MW), both in Spain. The 579 MW Solar Star, in the United States, is the world's largest PV power station. Technologies


In this paper we present encouraging preliminary results into the problem of social causality (causal reasoning used by intelligent agents in a social environment) in online social interactions based on a model of reciprocity. At every level, social relationships are guided by the shared understanding that most actions call for appropriate reactions, and that inappropriate reactions require management. Thus, we present an analysis of interpersonal relationships in English reciprocal contexts. Specifically, we rely here on a large and recently built database of 10,882 reciprocal relation instances in online media. The resource is analyzed along a set of novel and important dimensions: symmetry, affective value, gender}, and {\em intentionality of action which are highly interconnected. At a larger level, we automatically generate {\em chains of causal relations} between verbs indicating interpersonal relationships. Statistics along these dimensions give insights into people's behavior, judgments, and thus their social interactions.


When Northrop Frye refers in Fearful Symmetry to the relationship between Songs of Innocence and Songs of Experience as mutual satire with "double-edged irony," he uses the term "satire" in an unusual way. Frye argues that pastoral poetry traditionally satirizes "the artificiality of the court or city."(1) The notion, however, that two texts satirize each other seems to stretch the common meaning of the term. Whether satire is directed at contemporary society or, as in burlesque and parody, at another text, it is usually a oneway street. Most subsequent criticism has focussed on just one side of Frye's satirical equation, the irony directed against innocence. Thus, for example, Donald A. Dike, in "The Difficult Innocence: Blake's Songs and Pastoral," focuses his attention on irony in Songs of Innocence that undercuts innocence and that is therefore not "double-edged."(2) And when David V. Erdman in Blake: Prophet Against Empire discusses satire in Songs of Innocence, the satire is not directed at Songs of Experience. Erdman classifies "Holy Thursday," "Nurse's Song" and "Little Boy Lost" as satirical because they originate in the satirical context of An Island in the Moon.(3) With regard to "Nurse's Song," he goes on to suggest, somewhat equivocally, that it is a "gentle parody" of Anna Barbauld's "Hymn II" and "Hymn V" in Hymns in Prose for Children. Erdman replaces Frye's mutual with a regressive satire, so that Songs of Experience becomes in effect a parody of a parody. Although both Erdman and Frye are pointing at something serious and important in Songs of Innocence, Erdman himself as much as acknowledges that "parody" is not the right term when he withdraws it immediately: "Mrs. Nan's song is a gentle parody of--or at least derives phrasing, images, and mood from--Mrs. Anna's second and fifth Hymns in Prose for Children."(4) If parody "imitates the serious materials and manner of a particular literary work, or the characteristic style of a particular author ... and applies this to a lowly or comically inappropriate subject,"(5) then a parody of Barbauld's text would focus our attention on her text as an object of ridicule. In Mrs. Nannicantipot's song, Blake was particularly influenced by the following passage from "Hymn V": The little birds have ceased their warbling; they are asleep on the boughs, each one with his head behind his wing. There is no murmur of bees around the hive, or amongst the honeyed woodbines; they have done their work, and lie close in their waxen cells. The sheep rest upon their soft fleeces, and their loud bleating is no more heard amongst the hills. There is no sound of a number of voices, or of children at play, or the trampling of busy feet, and of people hurrying to and fro. The smith's hammer is not heard upon the anvil; nor the harsh saw of the carpenter. All men are stretched on their quiet beds; and the child sleeps upon the breast of its mother. Darkness is spread over the skies, and darkness is upon the ground; every eye is shut, and every hand is still. Who taketh care of all people when they are sunk in sleep; when they cannot defend themselves, nor see if danger approacheth? There is an eye that never sleepeth; there is an eye that seeth in dark night, as well as in the bright sun-shine. When there is no light of the sun, nor of the moon; when there is no lamp in the house, nor any little star twinkling through the thick clouds; that eye seeth every where, in all places, and watcheth continually over all the families of the earth. The eye that sleepeth not is God's; his hand is always stretched out over us.(6) A parody of this passage would, for example, take Barbauld's question, "Who taketh care of all people when they are sunk in sleep; when they cannot defend themselves, nor see if danger approacheth?" and make Barbauld's concern seem pompous and silly by reducing it to the relatively trivial worries of an anonymous baby sitter, a mock-heroic Barbauld. …


Hugh Kenner's observation that "commentators tour the Eliot territory in chartered buses" (x-xi) rings true even today, particularly in reference to Four Quartets. Post-deconstructionist criticism may have taken us beyond Dame Helen Gardner's orotund assessment of the poem as "beautiful, satisfying, self-contained, self-organized, complete," but delusions of critical mastery--the perfect "tour" of Eliot territory--still persist. Even with the use of various interpretive maps or grids, however, the reader of Four Quartets still finds it difficult to recover a clear "narrative." Harriet Davidson's insight into The Waste Land is equally, perhaps even more apt when applied to Four Quartets: "the opacity remains stubbornly there, not dissolved by any interpretation" (Davidson 5). While this opacity may be attributable to the dense fabric of the poems' intertextuality, it is equally attributable, I suggest, to the ways in which place, or space, functions in the poems. Numerous readers have argued that the historical and autobiographical significance of the house, gardens, and pools of Burnt Norton, the ancestral "old stone" and loam of East Coker, the river landscapes of the Dry Salvages, and, especially, the unique religious community at Little Gidding are central to our understanding of Eliot's life and work. This essay argues that while place functions as setting, subject, or point of reference in Eliot's poetry, it also functions as a trope of displacement, or potential exile, a means to problematize the spiritual journey that Four Quartets describe. This essay suggests one possible philosophical configuration through which to consider place in Four Quartets. The poems of Four Quartets turn between two contrasting topographies. The first topography can be described in terms adapted from St. Augustine: it is a regio dissimilitudinis, a region of difference that keeps the speaker from a reaching a place of "complete simplicity" ("Little Gidding"). One of the prime features of this land "where all is different" is language; to be exiled here is to "struggle through trackless wastes" (Augustine, Confessions vii) of time and change, escapable only through the (non-discursive) Incarnation. The second topography of Four Quartets is that of a continuously deferred place, what might be called a necessary exile. Jacques Derrida considered this kind of exile a necessary condition for poetry; together with the commentary it inspires, he wrote, poetry is "the very form of exiled speech" (67). Interestingly, both Augustine and Derrida see exile as existing within language; the difference lies in the value each attaches to this situation. For Augustine, the definitive characteristic of an exile distant from the "land of peace" is language; in the progression of words in time "there is no place to rest" (Confessions iv). Margaret Ferguson has written that "unlike many modern theorists, when faced with the contradictions between a philosophy of essence and a linguistics of difference, Augustine chooses to relinquish language rather than God" (845). Clearly, Derrida is one of those modern theorists: in contrast to Augustine, he sees displacement and difference--an "absence of locality" (69)--as vital to poetic autonomy. The connection between place and language has a long history, and has been both intriguing and useful to a variety of writers and theorists. For Augustine, the "place of peace" is in God alone (Confessions IV). His writings are filled with spatial metaphors. "Make your dwelling in him, my soul," writes Augustine in Book IV of the Confessions. Describing the process of his own religious awakening, he writes in Book VII: "Your light shone upon me in its brilliance, and I thrilled with love and dread alike. I realized that I was far away from you." In this land of dissimilarity, words are equated with sequence, difference, and the body. Language is viewed as inevitably partial, and thus inherently flawed and deficient. …


Objective Vedolizumab, a monoclonal antibody directed against the integrin heterodimer α4β7, is approved for the treatment of Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis. The efficacy of vedolizumab has been suggested to result from inhibition of intestinal T cell trafficking although human data to support this conclusion are scarce. We therefore performed a comprehensive analysis of vedolizumab-induced alterations in mucosal and systemic immunity in patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), using anti-inflammatory therapy with the TNFα antibody infliximab as control. Design Immunophenotyping, immunohistochemistry, T cell receptor profiling and RNA sequencing were performed using blood and colonic biopsies from patients with IBD before and during treatment with vedolizumab (n=18) or, as control, the anti-TNFα antibody infliximab (n=20). Leucocyte trafficking in vivo was assessed using single photon emission computed tomography and endomicroscopy. Results Vedolizumab was not associated with alterations in the abundance or phenotype of lamina propria T cells and did not affect the mucosal T cell repertoire or leucocyte trafficking in vivo. Surprisingly, however, α4β7 antibody treatment was associated with substantial effects on innate immunity including changes in macrophage populations and pronounced alterations in the expression of molecules involved in microbial sensing, chemoattraction and regulation of the innate effector response. These effects were specific to vedolizumab, not observed in response to the TNFα antibody infliximab, and associated with inhibition of intestinal inflammation. Conclusion Our findings suggest that modulation of innate immunity contributes to the therapeutic efficacy of vedolizumab in IBD. Trial registration number NCT02694588


The article considers some key aspects of transposition of the Directive on Collective Management of Copyright and Related Rights into Estonian legislation. Estonia's collective management system has been in place for more than 20 years without any substantial need for review. It is therefore disputable whether the requirements created by the directive improve the Estonian copyright system or not, but the complicated task of transposition is underway nonetheless. Some fundamental amendments are to be made, the most important one being the introduction of state supervision exercised over collective management organisations. In addition, the article addresses further challenging practical and theoretical issues such as cross-border rights management, the compatibility of activities of collective management organisations with competition regulations (with respect to abuse of dominant position), and matters of cultural diversity that are important to Estonia as a small country.


Most of the time we encounter problems where quantities cannot be expressed by crisp numbers; instead, the use of vague qualifications is preferred. The Fuzzy Set Theory (FST), developed by Lotfi A. Zadeh, is an effective framework which can be used in the solution of such problems. In FST, the objects belong to a set to a degree between [0,1]. The degree of belongingness is referred to as the membership degree. FTS states that utilizing this membership degree is more profitable than just partitioning the objects dichotomously as in classical bivalent (two-valued) set theory. In most of the problems, where linear programming can be applied , the decision maker choses to state the inequalities and the coefficients used in objective function and constraints by vague expressions. Fuzzy Linear Programming, based on the FST, is developed to model and solve such problems. In this thesis, the proposed aproach, in the most general case, first compares the fuzzy left-hand side with the fuzzy right-hand side and the fuzzy objective function with a fuzzy goal by means of a membership function based on the fuzzy relation using "min" function. After determination of these membership functions associated with the constraints and the objective function, a new auxiliary problem is formed. The obtained auxiliary problem is a non-linear fractional programming problem with its nominator are defined by linear functions. The optimal solution of such a problem can be found by solving a sequence of linear programs. In this study, the solution approaches present in the literature for fuzzy linear programming are categorized, some points which are unclear is identified and tried to be improved, and finally the proposed solution methodology is applied to so-called fuzzy analytical hierarchy process.


Designing bug-free medical device software is difficult, especially in complex implantable devices that may be used in unanticipated contexts. In the 20-year period from 1985 to 2005, the US Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) Maude database records almost 30,000 deaths and almost 600,000 injuries from device failures [8]. There is currently no formal methodology or open experimental platform to validate and verify the correct operation of medical device software. To this effect, a real-time Virtual Heart Model (VHM) has been developed to model the electrophysiological operation of the functioning (i.e. during normal sinus rhythm) and malfunctioning (i.e. during arrhythmia) heart. We present a methodology to extract timing properties of the heart to construct a timed-automata model. The platform exposes functional and formal interfaces for validation and verification of implantable cardiac devices. We demonstrate the VHM is capable of generating clinically-relevant response to intrinsic (i.e. premature stimuli) and external (i.e. artificial pacemaker) signals for a variety of common arrhythmias. By connecting the VHM with a pacemaker model, we are able to pace and synchronize the heart during the onset of irregular heart rhythms. The VHM has been implemented on a hardware platform for closed-loop experimentation with existing and virtual medical devices. The VHM allows for exploratory electrophysiology studies for physicians to evaluate their diagnosis and determine the appropriate device therapy. This integrated functional and formal device design approach will potentially help expedite medical device certification for safer operation.


The study of the bio-recognition phenomena behind a biological process is nowadays considered a useful tool to deeply understand physiological mechanisms allowing the discovery of novel biological target and the development of new lead candidates. Moreover, understanding this kind of phenomena can be helpful in characterizing absorption, distribution, metabolism, elimination and toxicity properties of a new drug (ADMET parameters). Recent estimations show that about half of all drugs in development fail to make it to the market because of ADMET deficiencies; thus a rapid determination of ADMET parameters in early stages of drug discovery would save money and time, allowing to choose the better compound and to eliminate any losers.
The monitoring of drug binding to plasma proteins is becoming essential in the field of drug discovery to characterize the drug distribution in human body. Human serum albumin (HSA) is the most abundant protein in plasma playing a fundamental role in the transport of drugs, metabolites and endogenous factors; so the study of the binding mechanism to HSA has become crucial to the early characterization of the pharmacokinetic profile of new potential leads. Furthermore, most of the distribution experiments carried out in vivo are performed on animals. Hence it is interesting to determine the binding of new compounds to albumins from different species to evaluate the reliability of extrapolating the distribution data obtained in animals to humans.
It is clear how the characterization of interactions between proteins and drugs determines a growing need of methodologies to study any specific molecular event.
A wide variety of biochemical techniques have been applied to this purpose. High-performance liquid affinity chromatography, circular dichroism and optical biosensor represent three techniques that can be able to elucidate the interaction of a new drug with its target and with others proteins that could interfere with ADMET parameters.


Fine structure dips in the fission fragment mass distribution in 238U(18O; f ) reaction arise mainly due to breakdown of the spin-isospin symmetry. The average proton-neutron interaction for each decay mode is calculated by using double differences of binding energies, It is shown that its decreasing trend at N=82 has direct relevance with the breakdown of spin-isospin symmetry. The maxima in the p-n interaction correspond to partial restoration of spin-isospin symmetry and therefore, help in limiting the number of neutrons evaporated in each decay channel. Also, calculations based on the asymmetric two-center shell model explain not only the observed mass distribution nicely but suggests a possible value of extending these experiments beyond their present mass limits.


This chapter examines the power of gender in global politics. It considers the different ways in which gender shapes world politics today, whether men dominate global politics at the expense of women, whether international—and globalized—gender norms should be radically changed, and if so, how. The chapter also discusses sex and gender in international perspective, along with global gender relations and the gendering of global politics, global security, and the global economy. Two case studies are presented, one dealing with the participation of female guerrillas in El Salvador's civil war, and the other with neo-slavery and care labour in Asia. There is also an Opposing Opinions box that asks whether war is inherently masculine.


This paper measures trends in global interpersonal inequality during 1975–2010 using data from the most recent version of the World Income Inequality Database (WIID). The picture that emerges using 'absolute,' and even 'centrist' measures of inequality, is very different from the results obtained using standard 'relative' inequality measures such as the Gini coefficient or Coefficient of Variation. Relative global inequality has declined substantially over the decades. In contrast, 'absolute' inequality, as captured by the Standard Deviation and Absolute Gini, has increased considerably and unabated. Like these 'absolute' measures, our 'centrist' inequality indicators, the Krtscha measure and an intermediate Gini, also register a pronounced increase in global inequality, albeit, in the case of the latter, with a decline during 2005 to 2010. A critical question posed by our findings is whether increased levels of inequality according to absolute and centrist measures are inevitable at today's per capita income levels. Our analysis suggests that it is not possible for absolute inequality to return to 1975 levels without further convergence in mean incomes among countries. Inequality, as captured by centrist measures such as the Krtscha, could return to 1975 levels, at today's domestic and global per capita income levels, but this would require quite dramatic structural reforms to reduce domestic inequality levels in most countries.


The federal criminal sentencing system is in the throes of change due to the Supreme Court's holding in United States v Booker that juries, not judges, must find any fact that increases a defendant's maximum sentencing exposure under the original mandatory Federal Sentencing Guidelines, and its judicial amendment of the Sentencing Reform Act to transform the Guidelines, at least for the moment, into an essentially advisory system. The only question is whether the guidelines system is going to change only a little, or a lot, or something in between. This Article lays out a proposal for something in between. The proposal advanced here rests on six premises. First, sentencing guidelines are a good idea and an improvement on systems that rely on unguided judicial sentencing discretion. Second, the Federal Sentencing Guidelines have failed of their promise because of flaws in their basic design. Third, despite the Supreme Court's ruling in Booker, the Guidelines system could survive either virtually unchanged (if Congress adopts the simple expedient of removing or declaring advisory the tops of the existing guideline ranges) or with relatively modest changes (if the courts interpret Booker to give the now-advisory guideline ranges presumptive status or if the Sentencing Commission were to slightly simplify the Guidelines and subject aggravating Guidelines factors to proof by plea or jury trial). Fourth, while each of these modest legislative or judicial alterations to the original Guidelines design has some immediate appeal as a response to the systemic disruption caused by Blakely and Booker, all of them are undesirable as permanent measures precisely because they would reinstitute a fundamentally flawed regime that needs a major redesign. Fifth, all of the other suggested permanent replacements for the current Guidelines (such as voluntary or purely advisory guidelines, a system of presumptive maximum sentences, or increased use of hard mandatory minimum sentences) suffer from crippling flaws, either in design or political viability. Sixth, what is required in a long-term replacement for the current federal guidelines is a system which: (a) is consistent with the Supreme Court's new Sixth Amendment jury trial jurisprudence; (b) is workable by lawyers and judges; (c) addresses the most fundamental design defects of the current system, particularly those relating to institutional imbalances between sentencing actors; and (d) has some reasonable prospect of political viability. This Article proposes a simplified sentencing table consisting of nine base sentencing ranges, each subdivided into three sub-ranges. The base sentencing range would be determined by combining offense facts found by a jury or admitted in a plea with the defendant's criminal history. A defendant's placement in the sub-ranges would be determined by post-conviction judicial findings of sentencing factors. No upward departures from the base sentencing range would be permissible, but defendants might be sentenced below the low end of the base sentencing range as a result of an acceptance of responsibility credit or due to a downward departure motion. Both the government and the defendant would retain rights of appeal of post-conviction judicial findings of fact and of misapplications of the law. This revised sentencing guidelines system would increase the role of the jury in setting federal criminal sentences while retaining a role for post-conviction judicial fact-finding. It would reduce the number of legally consequential decision points necessary to individual sentencings while incorporating the work done by Congress and the Sentencing Commission over the past several decades in identifying aggravating and mitigating factors thought relevant to punishment. Most importantly, it would promote a healthier institutional balance between Congress, the Sentencing Commission, the judiciary, and the Department of Justice.


In this Essay, Levine focuses on a particular hermeneutic approach common to the interpretation of the Torah and the United States Constitution: a presumption against superfluity. This presumption accords to the text a considerable degree of omnisignificance, requiring that interpreters pay careful attention to every textual phrase and nuance in an effort to find its legal meaning and implications. In light of this presumption, it might be expected that normative interpretation of both the Torah and the Constitution would preclude a methodology that allows sections of the text to remain bereft of concrete legal application. In fact, however, both the Torah and the United States Constitution contain sections that, notwithstanding a textual appearance of actual implementation, have been interpreted by at least some legal authorities as not susceptible to practical application. Specifically, in the case of the United States Constitution, the Ninth Amendment appears on its face to serve as a basis for the identification of constitutional rights not enumerated elsewhere in the Constitution. In practice though, the Ninth Amendment has not served such a function; its harshest critics have characterized the amendment as the functional equivalent of an inkblot, while the United States Supreme Court, though not as dismissive in tone, has resisted arguments that would rely on the Ninth Amendment as a source for the derivation of unenumerated, individual constitutional rights. In an effort to reconceptualize the function of the Ninth Amendment in American constitutional interpretation, Levine looks to the analogue of the Biblical account of the "stubborn and rebellious son," one of three legal scenarios in the Torah that, in the views of some Talmudic authorities, will never occur. According to a number of Jewish legal scholars and philosophers, the Talmud ascribes to these sections of the Torah considerable legal significance, albeit of secondary or symbolic legal value. Although these legal scenarios may never occur, the lessons derived from the text have both pedagogical and practical implications for understanding and interpreting the laws of the Torah. Likewise, perhaps the Ninth Amendment functions neither as a primary source for the derivation of unenumerated constitutional rights nor as an inkblot. Instead, the Ninth Amendment may serve a secondary role, providing both practical and symbolic lessons for understanding and interpreting the United States Constitution.


A must-have study guide for exam 640-911 on Cisco's Unified Data CenterThe Cisco Certified Network Associate Data Center certification is Cisco's newest certification, covering the Cisco Unified Data Center technologies. Written by unparalleled author and Cisco authority Todd Lammle, and CCIE John Swartz, this comprehensive study guide is essential reading for anyone preparing to take the 640-911 exam (Introducing Cisco Data Center Networking), providing in-depth coverage of all the exam's objectives. In addition, it offers expanded coverage on key topics reflected on the exam. Addresses understanding basic networking and ethernet technologiesReviews the OSI and DoD model and TCP/IP Transport LayerCovers basic IP routing technologies, layer 2 switching technologies, and routing principlesProvides an introduction to Nexus switch as well as how to configure it CCNA Data Center Study Guide offers you access to additional study tools, including bonus practice exams, electronic flashcards, a searchable PDF of a glossary of terms. Plus, you will be able to use the free nexus simulator to perform all the hands-on labs in the book.


The Faraglioni Village at volcanic island of Ustica (Palermo, Sicily) is one of the best preserved coastal Middle Bronze Age site of the Mediterranean area. It was built on a marine terrace overlooking the sea. Although the southern border of the Village is well defined, many doubts concern its past extent toward the sea. Around 3250-3200 BP the inhabitants suddenly abandoned the site, leaving all their belongings. This sudden flight could be related to a natural disaster that induced the population to find a safer place, or to a hostile invasion from the sea. The coast is formed by 20 m-high sea cliffs, which are often subject to collapses. A small platform develops at the cliff toe and it is locally covered by a beach with pebbles, cobbles and rounded blocks. Off-shore, in front of the archaeological village, a stack, called Colombaio, occurs. It is 17 m x 11 m wide at the top, roughly at the same elevation above the sea level of the terrace on which is located the Faraglioni Village, and it lies about 60 m from the sea cliffs. The latter are cut in columnar basalts, roughly 1 meter in size. A sea cave, 14 m long, 6 m large and 9 m high was discovered inside the stack during the field surveys. There are many submerged or slightly emerged rocks in the canal between the stack and the mainland. Since archaeological remains have been found on the top of the stack, archaeologists suppose that there was a connection with the mainland. Literature suggested that most probably a natural bridge connected the stack and the coast; and that it collapsed as a result of a natural catastrophic event, such as an earthquake. Bathymetric data compared to the sea level change models suggest that the area of the village was largest than nowadays, but the retreat rate is unknown, so it is impossible to estimate the Bronze Age extent of the village and assert that it was certainly connected with the stack. The separation of the stack from the coast could have happened long time before the Bronze Age. Probably, only the so-called Nerone stack was connected during the Bronze Age. However, it is not necessary to hypothesize the occurrence of a natural "bridge" or a human -made connection with the stack from the mainland at the same elevation of the village, because during the Middle Bronze Age, about 3400-3200 BP, the sea level was 3 meter lower than today and the path between the mainland and the stack was about 1 m above the past sea level. The stack was isolated from the village only during severe storms.


With this book, Anna Case-Winters provides a reconstruction of the doctrine of God based on process theology and feminist thought. She takes a fresh approach to the problem of theodicy (the justification of God's goodness and omnipotence in view of the existence of evil) and contends that traditional attempts to address this problem are unsuccessful because they do not discuss the meaning of omnipotence. Once the dispute is recast, it is not a question of how much power is attributed to God, but what kind. Case-Winters provides a coherent and theologically viable doctrine of omnipotence that avoids the pitfalls of traditional beliefs.


Rainwater harvesting systems are a recognised technique for reducing reliance on potable mains supply and as a potential way to save money. However, the widespread uptake of these systems has been slow partly due to the level of uncertainty surrounding hydraulic and financial performance. Current methods of assessment tend to be simplistic, using generalised rather than site-specific data. Often little account is taken of financial issues other than capital costs, such as operating/maintenance and decommissioning expenses. To overcome these shortcomings, a computer based modelling tool called RainCycle was developed that has the capability to perform more detailed analysis than is possible with existing methods. The program includes a detailed hydraulic model of a typical rainwater harvesting system and also has the ability to explicitly account for all major costs associated with these systems. Modelling a number of proposed designs revealed that many of the current methods overestimate the hydraulic efficiency and potential cost savings that are achievable. However, it was found that water and monetary savings are still possible under favourable conditions. Further, it was found that capital maintenance and required mains top-up water account for the majority of the whole life costs, whilst energy and decommissioning costs represent a small fraction of the required lifetime expenditure.


The study of belonging, its underlying notions, and the politics of belonging shows that social, political, and territorial demarcations are still based on essentialist conceptions of the collective. These are often applied and reproduced in the social sciences as a result of methodological nationalism. Space-sensitive studies of migration and globalization and a return to the material have recently challenged social constructivist lines of argumentation and have provoked a conceptual shift from analytical categories with inherent spatiality, territoriality, and boundary marking to concepts based on movement and flow. In this paper the analysis of belonging and the related politics of belonging in migration studies incorporates space as an analytical category that cross-cuts established categorizations such as race, class, gender, and stage in the life cycle, and integrates a material semiotic perspective more systematically into the study of social relations at the intersection of the social categories mentioned. A new concept of belonging is defined which reflects the complex relations that individuals have with other people, circulating objects, artefacts, and changing social, political, and cultural landscapes, thus mirroring both the material conditions and the underlying power relations. Such an understanding of belonging proceeds from social naturalizations and fixations to the multiplicity and situatedness of individual attachments, which entangle social, imagined, and sensual-material relations that are constantly re-articulated and re-negotiated by actors in their day-to-day practices. In such a reading, belonging comes into being as a result of individual life stories, versatile contexts, and situated experiences and acts. In times of constant exchange through travel, mass media, and communication technologies, the conceptualization of belonging questions established sociocultural and political demarcations, indicates the compatibility of ascribed socio-cultural difference and stresses the permeability of borderlines. A space-sensitive theorization of social relations and belonging opens up new perspectives on the question of how social collectives are naturalized and by whom, and under which conditions they open up to new forms of belonging; it thus brings forth new findings about collectivization, social mobilization, and change.


"Wool, one of the oldest textile fibers, remains an important textile fiber today. However, wool has been in relative decline for more than 100 years, in the process, shifting from a commodity to a luxury good. Nearly a quarter of a century has passed since the last two significant studies on wool consumption were published - Tisdell's (1977) review of the global wool market and Kirby and Dardis's (1992) analysis of demand for textile fibers in the United States textile industry. There is a need to expand and update the literature. In particular, research is needed that tests the association of a broader array of demand and supply-side variables with fiber consumption. This research employs independent variable analysis and odds ratio analysis techniques to build upon previous studies' explorations of the associations between key independent variables and changes in global mill consumption of Australian wool from 1981 to 2001. Results suggest that fiber prices have the strongest association with Australian wool consumption. Findings also suggest that the associations between the variables reviewed and Australian wool consumption vary greatly across changing periods of wool marketing programs."--Abstract from author supplied metadata.


Leishmaniasis emergence in Europe is reviewed, based on a search of literature up to and including 2009. Topics covered are the disease, its relevance, transmission and epidemiology, diagnostic methods, treatment, prevention, current geographical distribution, potential factors triggering changes in distribution, and risk prediction. Potential factors triggering distribution changes include vectorial competence, importation or dispersal of vectors and reservoir hosts, travel, and climatic/environmental change. The risk of introducing leishmaniasis into the European Union (EU) and its spread among Member States was assessed for the short (2-3 years) and long term (15-20 years). There is only a low risk of introducing exotic Leishmania species because of the absence of proven vectors and/or reservoir hosts. The main threat comes from the spread of the two parasites endemic in the EU, namely Leishmania infantum, which causes zoonotic visceral and cutaneous leishmaniasis in humans and the domestic dog (the reservoir host), and L. tropica, which causes anthroponotic cutaneous leishmaniasis. The natural vector of L. tropica occurs in southern Europe, but periodic disease outbreaks in Greece (and potentially elsewhere) should be easily contained by surveillance and prompt treatment, unless dogs or other synanthropic mammals prove to be reservoir hosts. The northward spread of L. infantum from the Mediterranean region will depend on whether climate and land cover permit the vectors to establish seasonal biting rates that match those of southern Europe. Increasing dog travel poses a significant risk of introducing L. infantum into northern Europe, and the threat posed by non-vectorial dog-to-dog transmission should be investigated.


The generic mechanisms of anomalous transport in porous media are investigated by computer simulations of two-dimensional model systems. In order to bridge the gap between the strongly idealized Lorentz model and realistic models of porous media, two models of increasing complexity are considered: a cherry-pit model with hard-core correlations as well as a soft-potential model. An ideal gas of tracer particles inserted into these structures is found to exhibit anomalous transport which extends up to several decades in time. Also, the self-diffusion of the tracers becomes suppressed upon increasing the density of the systems. These phenomena are attributed to an underlying percolation transition. In the soft potential model the transition is rounded, since each tracer encounters its own critical density according to its energy. Therefore, the rounding of the transition is a generic occurrence in realistic, soft systems.


The demographic framework of Emilia-Romagna region shows, in the last ten years, fast and deep changes. After a long stationary period the total amount of population has recorded a positive variation. The demographic rebirth, like shown by many studies relative to the entire regional territory, is manly due to the immigration from South Italy and abroad, to the new life of the fertility process and to the decreasing trend of the ageing process. The proposed analysis concerns the identification of sub-regional areas, homogeneous with respect to the above mentioned population's process, focused on the last ten years where the change appeared with more importance; the scope is to describe and understand the demographic heterogeneity of the Emilia-Romagna region. Applying a cluster analysis with preliminary data treatment and posterior check, the study results in five homogeneous areas characterized by different demographic behaviour.


An Examination of the Student-Focused Transition Planning Process in a Rural Setting by Pamela Brezenski MA, Minot State University, 2010 BS, University of Maryland University College, 1999 Project Study Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Education Walden University May 2018 Abstract In the local state special education transition aged postoutcome survey measurements, high school students with disabilities (HS-SWDs) continue to demonstrate problems with unemployment, independent living, and postsecondary education as they transition to adult life. HS-SWDs receive instruction from transition planning teams (TPTs) to address educational attendance, independent living, agency collaboration, and employment skills.In the local state special education transition aged postoutcome survey measurements, high school students with disabilities (HS-SWDs) continue to demonstrate problems with unemployment, independent living, and postsecondary education as they transition to adult life. HS-SWDs receive instruction from transition planning teams (TPTs) to address educational attendance, independent living, agency collaboration, and employment skills. When these knowledge and skills are not acquired, HS-SWDs cannot gain employment or attend postsecondary institutions. The purpose of this qualitative, bounded case study was to explore the TPT members' perspectives of the transition planning process. Kohler's transition taxonomy guided this study. The research questions were used to identify TPT members' perspectives of the transition planning process. A purposeful sample of 3 special education teachers, 2 general education teachers, 3 district administrators, 3 agency representatives, 2 graduated HS-SWDs, and 3 parents volunteered and participated in semistructured interviews. An inductive approach was used to analyze the interview and data were coded using open and thematic coding strategies. Participants identified challenges in student-centered planning related to family involvement, student development, support and resources, and TPT team collaboration. Based upon the findings, an electronic meeting preplanning tool was created to increase team member participation and input in the transition planning process. These endeavors may lead to positive social change when TPT members increase participation in student-centered meetings to provide quality transition planning that results in HS-SWDs' success in attaining employment or postsecondary education as well as adult independence. An Examination of the Student-Focused Transition Planning Process in a Rural Setting


Composite nanocoating of cationic polyacrylamide and aqueous dispersion of hydroxyl-functionalized carbon nanotubes (CNTs) with pre-adsorbed alkali lignin on lignocellulose wood microfibers has been developed to produce lightweight, flexible, and electrically conductive paper sheets from a simple, low-cost, and well-established papermaking process. Electron microscopy and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy revealed the formation of strong interfacial hydrogen bonding between the oxygen-containing functional groups on the CNT surfaces and the hydroxyl groups of the cellulose microfibers. As a result, the mechanical properties of the papers with CNT content as low as 2.5 wt% were greatly improved compared to the pristine materials, with up to 10, 55, and 422% increases in tensile strength, internal bonding strength, and wet strength retention, respectively. The multifunctional sensing behavior of the CNT–cellulose composite papers to tensile strain and liquid water was examined comprehensively. Results show that these papers have superior tensile strain sensitivity compared to conventional foil gauges. Moreover, the water-induced electrical resistance changes can be tailored by the paper composition and resistance variations of more than three orders of magnitude were achieved without any degradation of the sensing performance through cycling. These smart papers provide a low-cost and renewable alternative to petrochemical-based materials for portable electronics and sensing applications.


The water-soluble zinc salts gluconate, sulfate, and acetate are commonly used as supplements in tablet or syrup form to prevent zinc deficiency and to treat diarrhea in children in combination with oral rehydration. Zinc citrate is an alternative compound with high zinc content, slightly soluble in water, which has better sensory properties in syrups but no absorption data in humans. We used the double-isotope tracer method with 67Zn and 70Zn to measure zinc absorption from zinc citrate given as supplements containing 10 mg of zinc to 15 healthy adults without food and compared absorption with that from zinc gluconate and zinc oxide (insoluble in water) using a randomized, double-masked, 3-way crossover design. Median (IQR) fractional absorption of zinc from zinc citrate was 61.3% (56.6–71.0) and was not different from that from zinc gluconate with 60.9% (50.6–71.7). Absorption from zinc oxide at 49.9% (40.9–57.7) was significantly lower than from both other supplements (P < 0.01). Three participants had little or no absorption from zinc oxide. We conclude that zinc citrate, given as a supplement without food, is as well absorbed by healthy adults as zinc gluconate and may thus be a useful alternative for preventing zinc deficiency and treating diarrhea. The more insoluble zinc oxide is less well absorbed when given as a supplement without food and may be minimally absorbed by some individuals. This trial was registered at clinicaltrials.gov as NCT01576627.


We develop the climate finance-gender equity framework in this paper and use the 'contextual-procedural-distributive' equity as a lens of analysis to examine how climate finance helps challenge, and reinforce, gender inequities in the mitigation, adaptation and disaster management strategies. Focusing on the examples of tree-planting, smart-agriculture and disaster information dissemination projects, this paper argues that climate finance can achieve gender equity if three aspects are critically considered: (1) how different incentives and preferences, between men and women, are shaped by their livelihood experiences and priorities, and what factors enable, and restrict, their access to resources; (2) how formal and informal participatory arena offers a genuine space for women, and men, to make decisions that empower them; and (3) how women's practical and strategic needs are met and the contradictions resolved. This paper also suggests that climate finance needs to address and challenge unequal socio-political arrangements, such as access to land rights, that help perpetuate gender inequities.


We present a measuring procedure that allows the quantification of gross photosynthesis at the ambient light intensity, P(I), from light transition measurements similar to those employed in the light‐dark shift method but without the necessity of achieving complete darkness. The method is thus more readily applicable in situ, where, during daylight, complete sample darkening is very difficult or even impossible to achieve. The procedure involves rapid microsensor‐based monitoring of oxygen in the sample during a series of light transitions from ambient light intensity to a few intermediate levels, and determination of the initial rates of oxygen decrease during each partial darkening (shading) period. P(I) is then recovered by fitting the measured rates with a function derived from the model describing the change in photosynthesis rate with light intensity (P‐I curve) and extrapolating it to the full light‐to‐dark transition. We validated this approach in the lab on coral and microbial mat samples and found that a satisfactory estimate of P(I) can be obtained with as few as 4–5 shade levels. We also applied the procedure in situ and showed that the gross photosynthesis rate at the ambient sunlight in the microbial mat and in the coral reached, respectively, approximately 50% to 65% and 94% to 97% of the saturated rate.


Returning clippings can provide N to turf, but the amount of plant-available N derived from clippings is not easy to quantify. An accurate estimate of N released by clippings would be useful in guiding turf N fertilizer recommendations. The objective of this study was to determine if anion-exchange membranes (AEMs) could be used to quantify plant-available soil N when clippings are returned. A greenhouse and two field experiments were set out in randomized block designs using a factorial arrangement of 2 clipping practices [removed (CRM) and returned (CRT)] and 4 rates of N fertilization (0 to 392 kg N ha yr) on a cool-season lawn turf. Cumulative N uptake in the clippings was determined and correlated to AEM desorbed NO3–N. Returning clippings resulted in greater overall N uptake and AEM desorbed NO3–N. However, the response of N uptake to AEM desorbed NO3–N was not the same for CRM and CRT treatments. Uptake was greater for CRT than CRM at any given AEM desorbed NO3–N level past the minimum values. This suggests that, in addition to NO3–N, other N forms (most likely NH4–N) are being released from the clippings and taken up by the turf. Anion-exchange membranes alone are not adequate to quantify the plant-available N provided by returned clippings. To accurately assess the total pool of plant-available N to turf when clippings are returned with ion-exchange technology, cationand anion-exchange resins are needed to quantify the total plant-available N pool derived from clippings. Abbreviations: AEM-anion exchange membrane, CRT-clippings returned, CRM-clippings removed


We present our latest progress using new neuromorphic paradigms for optical information processing in silicon photonics. We show how passive reservoir computing chips can be used to perform a variety of tasks (bit level tasks, nonlinear dispersion compensation, ...) at high speeds and low power consumption. In addition, we present a spatial analog of reservoir computing based on pillar scatterers and a cavity, that can be used to speed up classification of biological cells.


A new method is proposed to simulate the Kolmogorov phase screen. A hybrid phase screen is achieved by linearly combining two phase screens simulated by both spectral and Zernike polynomials methods. Unlike the imperfection of phase structure function existing at some spatial frequencies in each of the two methods, the mean structure function of the hybrid phase screens coincides remarkably well with theory in the whole spatial frequency domain. Apart from advantage on accuracy, the proposed method also saves considerable computational time. For a phase screen with certain accuracy, the new method is ten times and seven times faster compared with the spectral method and Zernike polynomials method, respectively.


Immune checkpoint blockade (ICB) immunotherapy induces potent antitumor immunity across multiple solid tumors, although few patients respond well to this therapy. An emerging biomarker for predicting responsiveness to ICB immunotherapy is tumor mutational burden (TMB). Although several surrogate biomarkers, including deficient mismatch repair, TP53/KRAS mutations, and comutations in DNA damage response pathways, have been shown to be effective for predicting the response to checkpoint blockade immunotherapy, each is positive for only a small cohort of candidates, and many potential responders to ICB are inevitably missed. Here, we found that titin (TTN), which is frequently detected in solid tumors, is associated with increased TMB and correlated with objective response to ICB. In 7 public clinical cohorts, all patients with mutated TTN showed longer progression-free survival or overall survival than those with wild-type status. Furthermore, an improved objective response rate and higher TMB were identified in cohorts with accessible information. Identification of TTN mutation as a predictor of improved outcomes in response to ICBs provides a clinically feasible assessment for estimating TMB and ICB therapy outcomes.


Recent evidence demonstrated CIN4 as a predictive marker of anthracycline benefit in early breast cancer. An analysis of the NCIC CTG MA.21 clinical trial was performed to test the role of existing CIN gene expression signatures as prognostic and predictive markers in the context of taxane based chemotherapy. RNA was extracted from patients in cyclophosphamide, epirubicin and fluorouracil (CEF) and epirubicin, cyclophosphamide and paclitaxel (EC/T) arms of the NCIC CTG MA.21 trial and analysed using NanoString technology. After multivariate analysis both high CIN25 and CIN70 score was significantly associated with an increased in RFS (HR 1.76, 95%CI 1.07-2.86, p=0.0018 and HR 1.59, 95%CI 1.12-2.25, p=0.0096 respectively). Patients whose tumours had low CIN4 gene expression scores were associated with an increase in RFS (HR: 0.64, 95% CI 0.39-1.03, p=0.06) when treated with EC/T compared to patients treated with CEF. In conclusion we have demonstrated CIN25 and CIN70 as prognostic markers in breast cancer and that CIN4 is a potential predictive maker of benefit from taxane treatment.


A surface shedding discrete vortex method has been developed for stimulating incompressible flows around pitching aerofoils. The method is able to predict both attached and separated flows, the latter typified by the formation and transport of large vortices. The structures of dynamic stall flow are well captured without the need for other means to predetermine the separation points. In contrast to most other vortex methods, the method presented herein can perform quantitative analysis. Throughout a wide range of incidence, the pressure distributions are smooth and the normal force and pitching moment are in good agreement with experimental data. The method is also able to predict the flow with external constraints for simulating the effects of wind tunnel blockage. In this regard quantitative results and flow structures have been obtained which are consistent with those expected.

Following the review of previous work presented in the introduction, the mathematical formulation of the method is expounded. A velocity expression is theoretically derived for flows with both a moving inner boundary (aerofoil) and fixed external constraints (wind tunnel walls). To maintain both no penetration and no slip conditions, it is concluded that an external constraint parallel to the free stream can be modelled by placement of a constant vortex sheet along the boundary, and the introduction of distributed vortices next to the constraint to represent the boundary layer. The vortex sheet strength is equivalent to the free stream velocity while the strength of the vortices can be calculated in the same manner as for the internal boundary. This conclusion avoids the necessity of employing mirror vortices and iteration techniques in traditional models.

The aerodynamic loads are computed from the pressure distribution. For the computation of surface pressures, the relationship between the pressure gradient and the rate of vorticity creation on the surface has been developed for a moving boundary.


Objective: We evaluated the use of a mixture of water-soluble, viscous fibers and phytosterols/phytostanols (Fibermet®) in controlling body weight, body mass index, waistline, hip size, basal glycemia, post-prandial glycemia, cholesterol and triglycerides in overweight/obese subjects poorly adherent to follow a low-calorie diet and physical exercise regimen. Methods: Enrolled participants (N=50) were divided into a treatment and a control group. The treatment group (N=28) consisted of subjects poorly adherent to follow a low-calorie diet and prescribed physical exercise. The control group (N=22) consisted of subjects closely adherent to prescribed lifestyle changes. Anthropometric measurements and blood analysis were performed at enrolment and at the end of the study (T=28 days). Results: All 50 enrolled subjects completed the study. Subjects treated with Fibermet® significantly reduced their body weight and body mass index. Blood analysis revealed significant reductions of about 9% in post-prandial glycemia, total and LDL cholesterol, and triglycerides. Body weight and body mass index were also reduced in the control group (lifestyle intervention). No other parameters were modified by the intervention. Conclusions: Our results show that in subjects poorly adherent to hypocaloric diet and lifestyle changes, a mixture of water-soluble, viscous fibers together with phytosterols and phytostanols could help reduce overweight/obesity, post-prandial hyperglycemia and raised cholesterol and triglycerides.


As we advance towards high-performance buildings, it is becoming necessary to reinforce and extend the role of building information modelling (BIM) to better support performance-based design. To achieve an optimally functioning building that fulfils the need of the end-user and is designed in an environmentally conscious manner necessitates considering energy performance, environmental performance, indoor air quality, lighting, and acoustics. To consider these multiple criteria, use of computer-based modelling tools and comprehensive simulation methods becomes essential. These criteria are typically assessed after the main phases of architectural design of the building, and the knowledge is passed on to the engineers for development of the technical design. During the technical design process, the exchange of data between the design model and a selected building performance aspect may occur. This paper investigates the potential of BIM-based models at the core of providing input data required for performance-based simulations (BPS) to enable iterative multi-criteria assessment towards high performance buildings. A comprehensive literature review of 249 documents was conducted to identify the current state of knowledge and provide future directions for design and simulation tools to better quantify and evaluate the performance aspects. Furthermore, it explains and clarifies stakeholders' current ability, needs, barriers, and potentials in using BIM for assessing building performance through nineteen expert interviews of key BIM stakeholders in Finland.


Concern over global warming and depletion of the ozone layer has stimulated research to develop cooling methods that do not employ environmentally damaging working fluids such as CFCs and HCFCs. Two methods that have been considered are absorption and thermoelectric `Peltier' cooling systems. Absorption systems, using H20/LiBr have the advantage of being able to use low-grade waste heat. However, the large volume, high capital cost and low performance of these systems have inhibited their widespread application.

Thermoelectric systems were developed in the 1950s and use of this technology for air-conditioning applications was investigated as early as the 1960s. However, the continued development of thermoelectric systems was slow owing to technical difficulties and the superior performance of vapour-compression systems in terms of coefficient of performance (COP). It is known however that most working fluids employed in vapour-compression systems are damaging to the environment, and as vapour-compression systems contain moving parts, they have the further disadvantage of being noisy and requiring regular maintenance. In recent years therefore, there has been stimulated interest in using thermoelectric "Peltier" cooling systems for domestic refrigerators and air conditioning.

Investigation of novel thermoelectric refrigeration systems was carried out in this research. The systems use thermoelectric "peltier" coolers (thermoelectric modules) to produce cooling or heating. Thermoelectric modules are solid state heat pump, which have the advantage of being environmentally friendly, being quiet, have no moving parts and can operate using direct current supplied from photovoltaic solar cells (PVs).

This work mainly investigated a passive technology based on integration of a thermal diode and thermoelectric modules for building integrated heat pump. The heat pump uses thermoelectric modules to produce cooling or heating, and the thermal diode to transfer heat in or out of the building, and prevent reverse heat flow in the event of power failure. The heat pump was designed to have the following features:
• Very compact and suitable for incorporation within the building structure;
• Does not require a plant room and simple to construct;
• Easily switched between cooling and heating modes;
• Can prevent reverse heat flow in the event of power failure;
• Low manufacturing cost;
• Environmentally friendly;
• Can be driven by solar photovoltaic panels.

This work also investigated the potential application of phase change materials (PCMs) in the thermoelectric refrigeration system. The system employs phase change material to improve the performance of a thermoelectric refrigerator as well as the cooling storage capability. The refrigerator employing phase change material was designed to have following features:
• Be able to overcome the peak loads and losses during door openings and power-off periods.
• Prevent reverse heat flow via thermoelectric modules in the event of the power being turned off by integrating the thermosyphon with the phase change material.
• Low manufacturing cost.
• Environmentally friendly.
• Can be driven by solar photovoltaic panels

The research initially involved the investigation of the performance of the components of the thermoelectric refrigeration systems, including thermoelectric modules, heat pipes and heat sinks. The analytical models were developed to evaluate the heat transfer and optimise the design of these components. Correlations between heat transfer and fluid flow inside the heat pipes were explored by computer modelling.

The research work further involved the design, modelling, construction and tests of a thermoelectric heat pump prototype. A computer model was developed to evaluate the performance of the heat pump system for two different modes, i. e., cooling and heating, under various operating and ambient temperatures. Laboratory tests were carried out to validate the modelling predictions and experimentally examine the thermal performance of the heat pump. Comparison was made between the modelling and testing results, and the reasons for error formation were analysed and correction was given. Further experimental investigation showed that reducing the temperature of the condenser of the thermal diode could provide a significant improvement of the efficiency of the coefficient of performance (COP) of the system in cooling mode. This can be achieved by using the evaporation of water on the heat sink attached to the condenser.

The research work also involved the design, construction and tests of a thermoelectric refrigerator employing phase change material. The work intended to investigate the potential application of phase change materials (PCMs) in the thermoelectric refrigeration system. The system was first fabricated and tested using a conventional heat sink system as the cold heat sink. In order to improve the performance and the storage capability, the system was reconstructed and tested using an encapsulated PCM as a cold heat sink. Results of tests of the latter system showed an improved performance compared with the former system. However, to improve the storage capability, in particular during off-power periods, it was found necessary to integrate the PCM with a thermosyphons, which would allow heat flow in one direction only. Results of tests carried out on the system employing phase change material integrated with thermosyphons showed considerable improvement in the storage capability of the thermoelectric refrigeration system compared with the previous ones.

On the basis of the above investigation the further work for improving the performance of the thermoelectric refrigeration system was suggested, which is illustrated in Chapter 7, and its key technical issues are discussed.


Unknowns around the environmental effects of marine renewable energy have slowed the deployment of this emerging technology worldwide. Established testing methods are necessary to safely permit and develop marine energy devices. Magnetic fields are one potential cause of environmental effects and are created when electricity is generated and transmitted to shore. Further, the existing variation of the background magnetic field at sites that may be developed for marine energy is largely unknown, making it difficult to assess how much additional stress or impact the anthropogenic magnetic field may have. This study investigates two instruments for their ability to characterize the background magnetic fields at a potential marine energy site in Sequim Bay, WA. Based on this evaluation, this study recommends an Overhauser magnetomer for assessing the background magnetic field and demonstrates the use of this sensor at a potential marine energy site.


: This study analyzes the relationship between work engagement (WE) and job performance based on data from 3,296 individuals obtained in an internet survey. First, the analysis was conducted with WE as an explanatory variable, as well as with job performance, which was measured as the difference in personal and workmate evaluations, as an objective variable, and yet no clear relationship was found. Job performance was then used as an explanatory variable and WE as an objective variable, and that analysis discovered a clear inverse U relationship between the two. In other words, WE is low when job performance is low or high, and high when job performance is in the middle range. Also, when an analysis was done with the prediction that sum of, rather than differences in, personal and workmate assessments will have a strong relationship with WE, it was found that there was a clear, positive linear relationship between the two. In other words, the more a person highly evaluates not only oneself but also one's workmates, the higher the WE. Existing studies tend to believe that WE heightens job performance, yet this study indicates that the converse is perhaps true in this cause and effect relationship. It also suggests that WE increases as one builds healthy relationships with workmates, evaluates them highly, and works hard and competes in a friendly manner with them.


The administrative state has been bedeviled by doubts about its democratic legitimacy and its questionable Constitutional provenance. Courts and scholars attack or shore up this weakness, but almost all proceed on the assumption that the administrative state is a modern leviathan unimaginable to the Founders. Consequently, questions about the role of politics in agency decisions assign a disfavored role to "pure politics" in rulemaking. This Book Review Essay challenges that assumption and its implications for the role of politics in administrative decisionmaking. Centering on a review of Jerry L. Mashaw's new book, Creating the Administrative Constitution: The Lost One Hundred Years of American Administrative Law, the Essay describes the book's argument that administrative governance began immediately upon the founding of the Republic. Mashaw uncovers a substantial body of internally developed administrative law, previously ignored by legal scholars, amounting to an unwritten administrative constitution. I contend that this has significant implications for the role of political oversight of administrative decisionmaking, lending it substantial legitimacy if coupled with greater transparency.


Faces provide not only cues to an individual's identity, age, gender and ethnicity, but also insight into their mental states. The ability to identify the mental states of others is known as Theory of Mind. Here we present results from a study aimed at extending our understanding of differences in the temporal dynamics of the recognition of expressions beyond the basic emotions at short presentation times ranging from 12.5 to 100 ms. We measured the effect of variations in presentation time on identification accuracy for 36 different facial expressions of mental states based on the Reading the Mind in the Eyes test (Baron-Cohen et al., 2001) and compared these results to those for corresponding stimuli from the McGill Face database, a new set of images depicting mental states portrayed by professional actors. Our results show that subjects are able to identify facial expressions of complex mental states at very brief presentation times. The kind of cognition involved in the correct identification of facial expressions of complex mental states at very short presentation times suggests a fast, automatic Type-1 cognition.


Background: Pancreatic cancer is one of the cancers where anti-PD-L1/PD-1 immunotherapy has been unsuccessful. What confers pancreatic cancer resistance to checkpoint immunotherapy is unknown. The aim of this study is to elucidate the underlying mechanism of PD-L1 expression regulation in the context of pancreatic cancer immune evasion. Methods: Pancreatic cancer mouse models and human specimens were used to determine PD-L1 and PD-1 expression and cancer immune evasion. Histone methyltransferase inhibitors, RNAi, and overexpression were used to elucidate the underlying molecular mechanism of PD-L1 expression regulation. All statistical tests were two-sided. Results: PD-L1 is expressed in 60% to 90% of tumor cells in human pancreatic carcinomas and in nine of 10 human pancreatic cancer cell lines. PD-1 is expressed in 51.2% to 52.1% of pancreatic tumor–infiltrating cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs). Tumors grow statistically significantly faster in FasL-deficient mice than in wild-type mice (P = .03–.001) and when CTLs are neutralized (P = .03–<.001). H3K4 trimethylation (H3K4me3) is enriched in the cd274 promoter in pancreatic tumor cells. MLL1 directly binds to the cd274promoter to catalyze H3K4me3 to activate PD-L1 transcription in tumor cells. Inhibition or silencing of MLL1 decreases the H3K4me3 level in the cd274promoter and PD-L1 expression in tumor cells. Accordingly, inhibition of MLL1 in combination with anti-PD-L1 or anti-PD-1 antibody immunotherapy effectively suppresses pancreatic tumor growth in a FasLand CTL-dependent manner. Conclusions: The Fas-FasL/CTLs and the MLL1-H3K4me3-PD-L1 axis play contrasting roles in pancreatic cancer immune surveillance and evasion. Targeting the MLL1-H3K4me3 axis is an effective approach to enhance the efficacy of checkpoint immunotherapy against pancreatic cancer.


The internet provides a vast amount of data which can be utilized to explore different approaches to solving industry problems. Efficient methods for the retrieval of this information are essential for streamlined business processes.

Information Retrieval Methods for Multidisciplinary Applications provides innovative research on information gathering, web data mining, and automation systems. Addressing multidisciplinary applications and focusing on theories and methods with an enterprise-wide perspective, this book is essential for information engineers, scientists, and related professionals.


This article analyzes the long tradition of Venezuelan populist and authoritarian presidents who use media to advance their agendas and promote their cults of personality. In Latin America, there is a tradition of left and right populists using "old" and "new" media to legitimate ideology. But I demonstrate how this phenomenon of the caudillismo mediatico takes a sui generis character in Venezuela insofar as it is the region's only petrostate. My twofold argument is as follows. First, although Hugo Chavez, who presided over Venezuela's most prominent media populism, is often depicted as an outlier, he has to be understood by way of his populist democratic and autocratic predecessors, themselves beneficiaries of "spectacular modernity." Second, because this spectacular modern media populism's roots are in Venezuelan totalitarianism, and its realization occurred during Venezuela´s "classical" populism era, the Venezuelan media presidency is imbricated in a complex populism-authoritarian dialectic.


This submission by IFTR's Performance and Disability working group features responses by six participants – voices projected from Canada, New Zealand, Norway, Wales, England and Australia – to Per.Art's production Dis_Sylphide, which was presented on 7 July 2018 at the Cultural Institution Vuk Karadžić as part of IFTR's conference in Belgrade at the invitation of the Performance and Disability working group. Per.Art is an independent theatre company founded in 1999 in Novi Sad, Serbia, by the internationally recognized choreographer and performer Saša Asentić, the company's artistic director. The company brings together people with learning disabilities, artists (theatre, dance and visual arts), special educators, representatives of cultural institutions, philosophers, architects and students to make work. This co-authored submission examines how the production responds to three important dance works of the twentieth century – Mary Wigman's Hexentanz (1928), Pina Bausch's Kontakthof (1978) and Xavier Le Roy's Self Unfinished (1998) – to explore normalizing and normative body concepts in dance theatre and in society, and how they have been migrating over the course of dance histories. The shared experience of witnessing the performance provoked discussion on the migration of dance forms across time and cultures, as well issues of access and (im)mobility, which are especially pertinent to a disability studies context.


The European debate on abuse of dominance issues in antitrust has been recently characterized by an emphasis on purely economic aspects, and by an emerging consensus on the merits of taking an "effects-based approach" aimed at the maximization of consumer welfare and the protection of competition. The European Commission has recently issued a Guidance Paper on exclusionary abuses which purports to move EU enforcement on abuse of dominance in this direction. In spite of these developments, we are still far from reaching any consensus on the best way to apply competition policy to specific issues such as predatory pricing, bundling, vertical restraints, exclusive dealing and so on. We analyze the genesis of the European approach to antitrust and discuss the leading economic theories on competition policy and abuse of dominance, as developed by the Chicago School, the post-Chicago approach and the endogenous market structures approach. Finally, we use these economic foundations to analyze the EU approach to abuse of dominance, we examine the Guidance Paper, we provide a comparison with the American approach, and we discuss the implications of some recent important cases.


Grapheme–color synesthesia is a perceptual phenomenon where single graphemes (e.g., the letter "E") induce simultaneous sensations of colors (e.g., the color green) that were not objectively shown. Current models disagree as to whether the color sensations arise from increased short-range connectivity between anatomically adjacent grapheme- and color-processing brain structures or from decreased effectiveness of inhibitory long-range connections feeding back into visual cortex. We addressed this issue by examining neural synchrony obtained from EEG activity, in a sample of grapheme–color synesthetes that were presented with color-inducing versus non-color-inducing graphemes. For color-inducing graphemes, the results showed a decrease in the number of long-range couplings in the theta frequency band (4–7 Hz, 280–540 msec) and a concurrent increase of short-range phase-locking within lower beta band (13–20 Hz, 380–420 msec at occipital electrodes). Because the effects were both found in long-range synchrony and later within the visual processing stream, the results support the idea that reduced inhibition is an important factor for the emergence of synesthetic colors.