This paper presents a method which can be used to study the post-failure behavior of low-rise reinforced concrete (RC) shear wall structures subjected to axial and lateral loads. The method is based on a nonlinear plane stress finite element modeling. In the analysis cracked reinforced concretes are located as orthotropic materials on the basis of a smeared, rotating crack model. The geometrical non-linearity is taken into account by using Green's strain formulation. To trace the non-linear equilibrium path beyond the limit point, an iterative incremental displacement method is established by combining the new element formulation and Newton-Raphson method. Numerical examples are provided to show the effectiveness and efficiency of the method. Numerical results for pre-failure analysis obtained by using present method are compared with those obtained either numerically or experimentally and available in the literature. The comparisons show that the present study can provide not only a satisfactory pre-failure analysis but also a higher convergent rate in the non-linear iterations. New results are presented to show the post-failure behavior of the RC shear walls.


AbstractEnergy storage alternatives that help storing excess energy and then using it when the system needs it has become more important in recent years. Determination of the most suitable energy storage alternative can be analyzed by using multi criteria decision making (MCDM) techniques. There are many criteria that affect the best energy storage alternative and the aims are contrasting so, MCDM methodology is a good approach to solve these problems. In this paper, a hybrid MCDM methodology that consists of analytic hierarchy process (AHP) and TOPSIS based on type-2 fuzzy sets is proposed. To obtain more flexible evaluation and more precise results the proposed methodology combines type-2 fuzzy AHP that used to determine the weights of criteria and type-2 fuzzy TOPSIS methodology that analyzes the alternatives with respect to criteria and weights. The proposed methodology has been used to determine the most suitable energy storage alternatives. For this aim, 6 electrical energy storage alternatives are ...


Euclid is a proposed high-precision survey mission to map the geometry of the Dark Universe with demonstrated feasibility. Euclid's Visible - Near-InfraRed imaging and spectroscopy of the extragalactic sky will further produce extensive legacy science to the boundaries of the visible universe. The mission is optimised for two primary cosmological probes: Weak gravitational Lensing (WL) and Baryonic Acoustic Oscillations (BAO). Euclid's wide survey will cover 20,000 deg2, measuring shapes and redshifts of galaxies to redshift 2. For weak lensing, Euclid will measure the shape of over 2 billion galaxies with a density of 30-40 resolved galaxies per arcmin2 in one broad visible R+I+Z band (550-920 nm) down to AB mag 24.5 (10sigma). The photometric redshifts for these galaxies are derived from three additional Euclid NIR bands (Y,J,H in the range 0.92-2.0 micron) reaching AB mag 24 (5sigma) in each, complemented by photometry from ground based surveys. The BAO are determined from a NIR spectroscopic survey with a redshift accuracy of dz/(1+z) =0.001. The baseline payload consists of a Korsch telescope with a primary mirror of 1.2 m diameter and is designed to provide a large field of view (0.5 deg2) to three scientific instruments: (1) VIS: a CCD based optical imaging channel, (2) NIP: a NIR imaging photometry channel, and (3) NIS: a NIR spectrometric channel. This report presents an overview of the assessment study phase of the Euclid candidate M-class Cosmic Vision mission; it will provide a description of the Euclid science objectives, the mission implementation and payload, and the envisaged data handling.


Recent advances in multi-modal vision and language tasks enable a new set of applications. In this paper, we consider the task of generating natural language fashion feedback on outfit images. We collect a unique dataset, which contains outfit images and corresponding positive and constructive fashion feedback. We treat each feedback type separately, and train deep generative encoder-decoder models with visual attention, similar to the standard image captioning pipeline. Following this approach, the generated sentences tend to be too general and non-informative. We propose an alternative decoding technique based on the Maximum Mutual Information objective function, which leads to more diverse and detailed responses. We evaluate our model with common language metrics, and also show human evaluation results. This technology is applied within the ``Alexa, how do I look?'' feature, publicly available in Echo Look devices.


Day and Lawrence discuss mechanisms by which organisms can control size and shape. Topics covered include the relationship of cell size to ploidy in both animals and plants, and mechanisms for detecting cell number or dimensions. The authors describe the intrinsic and extrinsic pathways that control wing development in Drosophila as an example of how various signals, such as nitric oxide and signals propagated by the insulin receptor, cellular competition for survival, and morphogen gradients, all contribute to controlling the size and shape of a specific tissue. The authors favor a model in which patterning by morphogens in conjunction with thresholds for responding to the morphogen gradient dictate the final number of cells as well as the dimensions and shape of the wing. Day, S.J. and Lawrence, P.A. (2000) Measuring dimensions: the regulation of size and shape. Development 127: 2977-2987. [Online Journal]


This paper compares nominal price rigidity in retail stores during two 28-month periods: 1889-1891 and 1997-1999. The 1889-1891 microdata price quotes show: 1. a lower frequency of price changes; 2. a smaller average magnitude of price changes; 3. fewer small price changes; and, 4. fewer temporary price reductions. These differences are consistent with the 1889-1891 period having a higher cost of changing prices resulting in less adjustment to transitory price shocks. Changes in the retailing environment that may have led to a higher cost of changing prices in 1889-1891 are discussed.


Over a decade ago, the Collaboratory for GIS and Mediterranean (CGMA) was created with two stated goals: (1) to create an on-line GIS inventory of survey projects in the greater Mediterranean and Europe and (2) to introduce advanced undergraduates to GIS concepts through Mediterranean archaeology. Through a specialized GIS course a small group of advanced undergraduate students learned how to interpret map data, create effective maps, and build map hypothesis skills that are recognized as necessary for enhancing spatial thinking and thus spatial literacy. In the last decade GIS technologically has changed dramatically. The advent of Geospatial Semantic Web (Web 2.0) now makes it possible to integrate spatial thinking concepts at all levels of the undergraduate curriculum. This paper argues that spatial literacy must be more intentionally integrated into the Classical Studies curriculum and illustrates how we have begun to do that at DePauw University.


The large number of protein structures deposited in the protein database provide an opportunity to examine the structure relations using computational algorithms, which can be used to classify the structures based on shape similarity. In this paper, we report the result of the SHREC 2017 track on shape retrievals from protein database. The goal of this track is to test the performance of the algorithms proposed by participants for the retrieval of bioshape (proteins). The test set is composed of 5,854 abstracted shapes from actual protein structures after removing model redundancy. Ten query shapes were selected from a set of representative molecules that have important biological functions. Six methods from four teams were evaluated and the performance is summarized in this report, in which both the retrieval accuracy and computational speed were compared. The biological relevance of the shape retrieval approaches is discussed. We also discussed the future perspectives of shape retrieval for biological molecular models.


Abstract The Hybrid Soil Moisture Deficit (HSMD) model has been used for a wide range of applications, including modelling of grassland productivity and utilisation, assessment of agricultural management opportunities such as slurry spreading, predicting nutrient emissions to the environment and risks of pathogen transfer to water. In the decade since its publication, various ad hoc modifications have been developed and the recent publication of the Irish Soil Information System has facilitated improved assessment of the spatial soil moisture dynamics. In this short note, we formally present a new version of the model (HSMD2.0), which includes two new soil drainage classes, as well as an optional module to account for the topographic wetness index at any location. In addition, we present a new Indicative Soil Drainage Map for Ireland, based on the Irish Soil Classification system, developed as part of the Irish Soil Information System.


New high-order microring filter architectures based on the coupling between counterpropagating modes in the microring resonators are proposed and analyzed. The dual-mode nature of the resonators is exploited to maximize the spectral response order, thereby enabling novel reflection filters to be realized with a superior performance than conventional single-mode microring filters in terms of flat passband and steep skirt rolloff. Filter topologies for two general classes of devices, the serial and parallel reflection filters, will be presented along with general techniques for synthesizing their spectral responses. It is shown that a serial reflection filter consisting of N microring resonators can realize a filter response order of up to 2(N - 1), while the parallel reflection type can be used to realize ldquosuperflatrdquo filters, which exhibit a much flatter bandpass response than conventional maximally flat filters having the same number of cavities.


Within the pulp and paper industry, the recycling of water to reduce water consumption leads to accumulation of colloidal material in the process water and greater risk of deposition. Resinous materials, arising from the wood extractives released during papermaking, form colloidal particles in solution that agglomerate and deposit onto the different surfaces within the mill. The formation of the resinous deposits, known as pitch, can be detrimental to the paper quality, process control and efficiency. A major factor in the colloidal stability of these substances is the presence of natural polymers originating from the wood and salts that accumulate in the process water as a result of increased system closure. To date, most work has looked at the stability of northern hemisphere woods. The work of this thesis explores the stability and formation of southern hemisphere Pinus radiata wood resins through the application of novel techniques. It investigates the factors that affect the stability of wood extractive colloids under varying conditions of ionic strength, ionic valency, shear, temperatures, pH, and mixtures of cations and wood polymers released from Pinus radiata thermomechanical pulp.
Electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) was used to study model wood extractive colloids. Nitroxides were chosen as EPR probes to gain a greater understanding of the different interior vs. surrounding parts of the colloidal droplet in order to assess current proposed models of the structure of the wood extractive colloid. Additionally, salt was added to solution in order to understand the macroscopic environmental interactions that the colloid experiences. A revised model for the colloid structure has been proposed to better explain the behaviour of the wood extractive colloids.
Through the use of the photometric dispersion analyser (PDA), the coagulation kinetics for wood resins were determined. The coagulation kinetics allowed the stability factor (W) for the addition of various concentrations of salt to be determined with variation in a number of supernatant physiochemical factors (salt type, valency, temperature, pH, shear and simultaneous addition of multiple salts).
Coagulation of a colloidal wood extractive solution by a single salt was found to follow the Schultz-Hardy rule, with the critical coagulation concentration (CCC) for a salt strongly influenced by salt valency (z). Addition of trivalent salts indicates that the affinity of aluminium and iron salts for the colloidal wood resin surface is greater than their affinity for hydrating water molecules.
Changes in temperature and pH of an aqueous colloid suspension were observed to affect the concentration of salt required to destabilise the colloid, as expected from DLVO theory. An increase of the supernatant's pH resulted in an increase in the CCC for calcium. An increase in temperature resulted in an increased CCC for all salts tested. The degree of variation in CCC with temperature was found to be valency dependant.
The stability of the colloidal wood resins was found to be highly dependent on the shear within the system. This aspect had not been reported before, particularly the effect of shear and metal ion valency. Increased shear within the system was found to decrease the CCC. The effect was found to be dependent on both the salt type and the valency of the metal ion. A change to the DLVO theory has been postulated to explain this. It is proposed that hydrodynamic forces need to be included in the relationship between the CCC and the counter ion charge: \(CCC\) `α (Ωz)^(-6τ)` or \(CCC\) `α [z^(-6τ) + Ω]`; where `Ω=f(G)` and `τ = g(G)`.
The addition of multiple salts simultaneously to solution (essential for industrial colloids) was explored. The interaction between multiple salts and the colloids resulted in complex behaviour, both in destabilisation and restabilisation of the colloid. A nonlinear decrease in the CCC was found. Restabilisation of the colloids was observed to occur at high salt concentrations when two salts of differing valency were added. This restabilisation is thought to occur as a result of charge reversal mechanism by which metal cations are adsorbed onto the colloid surface.
The coagulation kinetics for the addition of water-soluble wood polymers to the wood resins dispersions was determined in the same manner as the addition of salt through the use of the PDA. The interaction between the wood resin and the water-soluble wood polymer showed complex behaviour with two stages of destabilisation of the wood extractive colloids, separated by an apparently stable region. The behaviour was typical of aggregation by synthetic polymers: first, polymer bridging at low polymer additions caused colloid destabilisation with subsequent steric stabilisation of the colloids at medium concentration of the polymer, and then depletion flocculation was followed finally by depletion stabilisation at higher polymer concentrations.
The deposition rate of colloidal wood resin onto hydrophobic and hydrophilic model surfaces was measured at the solid-liquid interface by impinging jet microscopy (IJM) and the effect of cation specificity in solution on deposition was quantified. On both model surfaces, the wood resin deposition was slightly faster with calcium ions than with magnesium at the same salt concentration (800 mg/L). The rate of colloidal wood resin deposition on hydrophobic surfaces was far greater (up to a 2.5 times) than on hydrophilic surfaces for both salts. Film thinning, or spreading of the wood resin particles, occurred on the hydrophobic surfaces with calcium and to a lesser extent with magnesium salt. The formation of oil films has not been previously reported.


Engineering failures get a lot of attention—inciting morbid curiosity and fueling concern over the condition of our infrastructure. But every engineering loss is the start of a forensic investigation into how, why, and what can be done to prevent future failures. As with scientific failures, engineering failures can be very instructive in teaching us what does not work. Beyond Failure presents the circumstances of important failures that have had far-reaching impacts on civil engineering practice. Each case study narrates the known facts: design and construction, the failure, subsequent investigation or analysis, and, where appropriate, additional issues such as technical concerns, ethical considerations, professional practice issues, and long-term effects. The case studies are organized around eight common topics of undergraduate engineering courses and include teaching points and a reading list, so this book is useful to engineering faculty and students. With more than 40 full cases, including the Silver Bridge collapse in Point Pleasant, WV; the levee breaches in New Orleans, LA; and the Challenger space shuttle explosion, this book will also appeal to practicing engineers with an interest in forensic investigations or the analysis of historic failures.


This article argues that the Nigerian federation epitomises an incomplete federal arrangement. The feelings of marginalisation, which had been suppressed during the military era are fully expressed by ethno-regional groups in the postmilitary era and these feelings finds expression in the potent agitation for a more functional federal system. The Nigerian political elites have at different times attempted to grapple with the imperfections inherent in the country's federal system by putting in place a range of distributive and structural mechanisms but the increasing agitation for "true federalism" indicates that the governmental system is defective and in serious need of some bold political reform. Nigeria: A Federation in Search of Federalism | 2


The Gravettian technocomplex was present in Europe from more than 30,000 years ago until the Last Glacial Maximum, but the source of this industry and the people who manufactured it remain unsettled. We use genome-wide analysis of a ~36,000-year-old Eastern European individual (BuranKaya3A) from Buran-Kaya III in Crimea, the earliest documented occurrence of the Gravettian, to investigate relationships between population structures of Upper Palaeolithic Europe and the origin and spread of the culture. We show BuranKaya3A to be genetically close to both contemporary occupants of the Eastern European plain and the producers of the classical Gravettian of Central Europe 6,000 years later. These results support an Eastern European origin of an Early Gravettian industry practiced by members of a distinct population, who contributed ancestry to individuals from much later Gravettian sites to the west.


The explosive ammonoid rediversification after the Permian–Triassic mass extinction is now well understood in terms of taxonomic richness and biogeography. Using an updated dataset of Early Triassic ammonoids, we compare morphological disparity and taxonomic richness patterns at the regional and global scales. Disparity evolved similarly at both scales, suggesting a global influence of abiotic factors. Morphological diversification occurred early in the Smithian and a marked contraction of the morphospace took place during the end-Smithian extinction. We confirm that trends in disparity and richness were decoupled during the Griesbachian and Dienerian. Three macroevolutionary processes may be involved: (1) a nonselective extinction at the Permian–Triassic boundary; (2) a Dienerian constrained radiation with several homeomorphic genera; (3) a potential deterministic extinction during the end-Smithian crisis. We also demonstrate a superfamily imprint upon disparity for the Spathian when most superfamilies occupied a restricted part of the morphospace. Sphaerocones were the most affected by the Dienerian and end-Smithian extinction, but explanations remain elusive. On the one hand, this may be linked to widespread harsh conditions at those times. On the other hand, as the sphaerocones occurred episodically during the Early Triassic, this might be explained by a relaxing of ecological constraints or simply by convergent evolution. Supplementary materials: The database, including measurements of specimens illustrated in previously published plates and of unpublished specimens from Utah, South China and Spiti, as well as the number of genera present in each studied substage of the Early Triassic, are available at www.geolsoc.org.uk/SUP18571.


LEPTOSPIROSIS is a zoonosis that is found worldwide and affects most mammalian species, including dogs (Faine and others 1999). The treatment of acute canine leptospirosis often requires intensive management of the affected animal, during which staff may be exposed to Leptospira excreted in the dog's urine. It is commonly assumed that urinary shedding of Leptospira ceases rapidly after the initiation of appropriate antibiotic therapy (Greene 2006). This short communication documents ongoing urinary shedding of spirochaetes in a dog with acute leptospirosis, despite treatment with doxycycline for seven days, highlighting a significant zoonotic risk for carers and owners of infected animals.

A five-year-old entire female labrador, with a known history of hunting rats, was presented to the University Veterinary Hospital, Dublin, Ireland with a five-day history of pyrexia, jaundice, inappetence and vomiting. The dog had been treated with intravenous penicillin for four days before referral and was reported as having been vaccinated against leptospirosis in the past six months (the vaccination record was not available). Physical examination of the dog revealed marked jaundice, approximately 5 per cent dehydration and ptyalism. Haematology revealed mild anaemia (packed cell volume 0.36 l/l, reference range 0.37 to 0.55 l/l; haemoglobin 118 g/l, reference range 120 to 180 g/l; red blood cell count 4.97 × 1012/l, reference range 5.5 × 109 to 8.5 × 1012/l) and leucocytosis (white blood cell count 18 × 109/l, reference range 6 × 109 to 17 × 109/l) due to mature neutrophilia (13.5 × 109/l, reference range 3 …


Cartographic maps have guided our explorations for centuries, allowing us to navigate the world. Science maps have the potential to guide our search for knowledge in the same way, allowing us to visualize scientific results. Science maps help us navigate, understand, and communicate the dynamic and changing structure of science and technology--help us make sense of the avalanche of data generated by scientific research today. Atlas of Science, featuring more than thirty full-page science maps, fifty data charts, a timeline of science-mapping milestones, and 500 color images, serves as a sumptuous visual index to the evolution of modern science and as an introduction to "the science of science"--charting the trajectory from scientific concept to published results. Atlas of Science, based on the popular exhibit, "Places & Spaces: Mapping Science," describes and displays successful mapping techniques. The heart of the book is a visual feast: Claudius Ptolemy's Cosmographia World Map from 1482; a guide to a PhD thesis that resembles a subway map; "the structure of science" as revealed in a map of citation relationships in papers published in 2002; a visual periodic table; a history flow visualization of the Wikipedia article on abortion; a globe showing the worldwide distribution of patents; a forecast of earthquake risk; hands-on science maps for kids; and many more. Each entry includes the story behind the map and biographies of its makers. Not even the most brilliant minds can keep up with today's deluge of scientific results. Science maps show us the landscape of what we know.


In February 1917 the residents of Banff, Alberta hosted the first Banff Winter Carnival. Aimed at a regional middle class market, the winter carnival became the base of local efforts to get people to visit the Rocky Mountains at a time of year when external promoters, like the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR), were not interested in bringing tourists to the region. Local boosters used the established representation of Banff as a wilderness area and incorporated photographs into promotional text to create a different image of place informed by the experience of living in a national park. A careful examination of the 1920 promotional booklet, Banff Winter Sports: Banff Canada's National Park in Winter, Canada's Winter Playground, illustrates how Banff boosters used winter recreation and a visual emphasis on people at play in the mountains to make the town a place worth visiting in the winter months.


Abstract: This article discusses the socio-political implications of user-generated applications and platforms through the prism of the Arab revolutions. Popular postmodern conceptualisations such as (post-nation state) network societies, (post-class) immaterial economies and (horizontal) political resistance through multitudes requires rigorous reassessment in the aftermath of the events in the MENA. Although the revolutions have led to a resurgence of debates about the power of new media, such arguments (or rather assertions) are echoes of earlier suggestions related to peculiar fetishisations of ICT in general and social media in particular. The point of my critique is not to deny the social and political usefulness of new media but to examine the pros and cons of the internet. I tackle the juxtaposition of the internet and political activism through the Marxist concept Mediation and investigate how the social, political and cultural realms of capitalism (superstructure) are both conditioned by and react upon the political-economic base. This helps us to understand structural factors such as ICT ownership (political-economic decision making of social media); while deconstructing the effect of cultural hegemony disseminated through mass media. It also overcomes an unfortunate weakness of some "academic Marxism" (an overwhelming focus on theory) by anchoring the theoretical arguments in an anthropological approach


Social media are becoming relied upon for information concerning large-scale weather events, crises, and other occurrences that pose potential risks. Little is known about the effectiveness of social media strategies in delivering information effectively to at-risk audiences, or the ease with which audiences can locate information. A content analysis examined a sample of 800 tweets retrieved using localized and national hashtags in the early stage of a major winter storm. Results are consistent with past research suggesting that Twitter may be used more for affective display than for information seeking. It also extends previous research by offering that actionable information appears to be more common with localized hashtags. Results are discussed in terms of implications for future research and practical applications.


Differences in farm structures between Russia and western market economies can hardly be made consistent with the neoclassical textbook idea of a technologically determined farm size operating in a perfect market environment. The main aim of the paper is to identify embedded institutions that provide an explanation for the persistent differences. It is shown that these institutions vary widely across countries. We argue that the historical contingency of a patrimonial society that is both hierarchical and egalitarian also has an important bearing on the current persistence of large farming structures in Russia. The cultural beliefs based on this contingency explain the relative absence of entrepreneurial attitude in the rural society, the lack of trust in formal transactions with strangers, and the unwillingness to deviate from collective behaviour. Managers of former collective farms together with regional government authorities had strong incentives to secure their status-quo rents by inhibiting individualisation in agriculture. In addition, based on their ideological background in communism and their lifelong experience, many of them simply could not imagine how food security and social safety in the countryside should be provided without large farms. It is argued that the evolution of super-large farms could only arise because cooperative and corporate farms survived up to bankruptcy and because embedded institutions impeded the foundation of family farms. Mental models of policy makers did contribute to the amalgamation of corporations and cooperatives into super-large farms. The paper ends with an evaluation from the economic point of view of the existence of super-large farms and with a projection of what may happen in the future.


This paper proposes an extended hierarchical hyperprior structure for kernel regression with the finality of solving the so-called Neyman-Scott problem inherent in the now very popular Relevance Vector Machine (RVM). We conjecture that the proposed prior helps achieve consistent estimates of the quantities of interest, thereby overcoming a limitation of the original RVM for which the estimates of the quantities of interest are shown to be inconsistent. Unlike the majority of other authors interested who typically used an Empirical Bayes approach for RVM, we adopt a fully Bayesian approach. Our consistency claim at this stage remains only a conjecture, to be proved theoretically in a subsequent paper. However, we use a computational argument to demonstrate the merits of proposed solution.


Through changing the connection between insurance and employment, the Affordable Care Act (ACA) has affected people's incentives to obtain education. We employ a triple-difference strategy comparing counties with different levels of uninsurance pre-ACA and in states with different Medicaid expansion decisions across time to investigate changes in enrollment in different types of higher education institutions. We find that enrollment in less-than-two-year for-profit colleges increased more between high- and low-uninsurance counties in states that expanded Medicaid relative to states that did not do so, with nearly all the increase taking place after the 2012 Supreme Court decision that gave states the right to choose not to expand Medicaid. Differential enrollment is flat for all other comparable college types. We find this differential increase in less-than-two-year for-profit college enrollment to be remarkably general across demographic groups, although the effect is statistically and economically more significant for Hispanics. Studying effects on degree completion, we find strong evidence that the increase in enrollment led to an increase in certificates awarded, most prominently in vocational fields. This pattern is consistent with the notion that by relaxing job-lock, the ACA encouraged individuals to seek training in vocational fields that would facilitate employment in low-insurance industries. Our results are robust to controlling for confounders such as the differential impact of the Great Recession, changes in state appropriations for higher education, and differences in age composition across counties, thus ruling out the role of the young adult provision of the ACA in contributing to our results, and they survive a plethora of sensitivity checks.


I tackle the topic of quantization of intrinsic QSO redshifts, especially based on the lifetime work of Halton Arp, examining first the potential relationship between intrinsic QSO redshift and QSO mass, then the phenomenon of quantization for both QSO mass and redshift. My approach is primarily a mathematical one, as developing a theory for intrinsic QSO redshift, let alone its quantization, is beyond my expertise. I postulate a geometric explanation of intrinsic redshift given a possible dependence on mass to the 2/3 power, related to possible attenuation of light energy (and therefore frequency) within the "emitting nucleus" of a QSO, compounded by a further "dilution," and therefore energy (and frequency) decrease due to spread over the surface area. To do the quantization aspect justice, I summarize three theories by other experts and examine the plausibility of the two within my realm of knowledge. Finally, I offer at least a mathematical representation of the quantization aspect as "food for thought."


In this study, the lytic phage for multidrug-resistant (MDR) Pseudomonas aeruginosa was isolated; this phage belongs to the Myoviridae and Siphoviridae. Analysis of its genome sequences highlighted by different antibiotic resistance gene primers offered the most direct and sensitive method of determining the therapeutic status of this lytic phage. Interestingly, this approach reveals the existence of vanAcassette in the genome of this lytic phage. Whereas van B gene primers highlighted the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) product of 1248 bp, which has shown a relation with ABC transport proteins ofEnterococcus faecalis V583 instead of the ligase meant for the van B resistance trait. BLASTn analysis of the sequenced product has shown the existence of small stretches on Pseudomonas phage PCR product. These predicted signature sequences of phage PCR product are 100% identical with signature sequences of the same size but located at different sites on the genome of E. faecalis V583 corresponding to ABC transporter proteins. Six signature sequences were identified. These signatures are different from Walker A and human ABC signatures. Presumably, these signatures reflected the relation with Walker B sequence. Our data suggested that Pseudomonas lytic phage has some proteins that have partial homologous structure to ABC-transporter with Walker B motifs. The existence of these unique signature sequences once in different ABC transporter in E. faecalis V583 and phage genome has reflected the presence of some functional domains on these proteins that have not yet been identified, and their function need to be elucidated.

 Key words: Bacteriophage, lytic phage, van B, ABC-transporters, Walker B signature.


Acoustic Communication in Birds, Volume 2: Song Learning and Its Consequences investigates acoustic communication in birds, with emphasis on song learning and its consequences. Some issues in the study of bird sounds are discussed, with particular reference to evolutionary considerations. The ontogeny of acoustic behavior in birds is also considered, along with sound production, neural control of song, and auditory perception. Comprised of nine chapters, this volume begins with an introduction to the nature, extent, and evolution of vocal learning in birds. Several well-documented examples in which vocal development appears to proceed independently of audition (and therefore independently of vocal learning) are presented, together with aspects of selective vocal learning; the timing of vocal learning; and selective forces that may have promoted the evolution of vocal learning in birds. Subsequent chapters explore the role of subsong and plastic song in the vocal learning process; the function and evolution of avian vocal mimicry; the ecological and social significance of duetting in birds; and microgeographic and macrogeographic variation in the acquired vocalizations of birds. The book also examines genetic population structure and vocal dialects in Zonotrichia (Emberizidae). This monograph will be of interest to ornithologists, evolutionary biologists, and zoologists, as well as to students of communication and bioacoustics.


Aim: The aim of this thesis was to validate the 2010 American College of Rheumatology/European League Against Rheumatism classification criteria for rheumatoid arthritis (RA), in particular with respect to its construct validity and the role of autoantibodies within the criteria.Methods: This thesis used data from the Norfolk Arthritis Register, a longitudinal inception cohort of adults (16 years and over) with inflammatory polyarthritis (IP), defined as at least 2 swollen joint for at least 4 weeks. The 2010 criteria were used to define RA, firstly in a re-estimation of the incidence rates (IR) with comparisons made to incidence defined by the previous criteria set; and secondly in a study comparing mortality rates in patients with RA to those of the general population, and how these rates changed over time. Analyses were performed testing the ability of the 2010 criteria to identify those patients with IP at increased risk of mortality, disability, disease severity and radiographic damage. The levels and number of autoantibodies present were investigated as predictors of mortality in patients with IP. The association between anti-carbamylated protein (anti-CarP) antibodies and long term disease outcomes were investigated.Results: The incidence of RA was 40 per 100 000 population; baseline IRs were similar to the cumulative IRs using the previous criteria set over 5 years. Patients who were seronegative were less likely to be classified as RA by the 2010 criteria. Mortality rates in patients with RA were higher compared to the general population (standardised mortality ratio 1.16, 95 percent confidence interval (CI) 1.04-1.29) and declined over the study period at the same rate as the general population. Patients with IP who fulfilled the 2010 criteria had increased risk of early death (hazard ratio (HR) 1.35, 95 percent CI 1.13-1.64), as well as increased levels of disability (beta 0.38, 95 percent CI 0.33-0.43), disease severity (beta 1.63, 95 percent CI 1.54-1.73) and radiographic damage (beta 0.33, 95 percent CI 0.20-0.47) throughout follow up. Patients with two autoantibodies had an increased risk of early death (HR 1.35, 95 percent CI 1.09-1.68), but there was no association with early death and the levels of these antibodies. Anti-CarP antibody positivity was independently associated with worse disability (beta 0.12, 95 percent CI 0.02-0.21) and disease severity (beta 0.23, 95 percent CI 0.07-0.39) throughout follow up.Conclusions: The 2010 ACR/EULAR classification criteria for RA identify patients with IP early in their disease course and recognise those at increased risk of mortality and poor outcomes. The 2010 criteria may miss a subgroup of seronegative patients who nevertheless have a poor prognosis. Novel autoantibodies may be useful to identify this subgroup.


PURPOSE
To determine the presence of small lesions in the pyramidal tract in patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) by using magnetization-transfer (MT) measurements and MR imaging.

METHODS
MT ratios (MTRs) were measured in the posterior limb of the internal capsule in nine patients with ALS and in nine healthy volunteers.

RESULTS
The mean value of MTRs (%) in patients with ALS was 15.76 +/- 1.48, while that of the control subjects was 19.83 +/- 1.54. The difference was statistically significant.

CONCLUSIONS
MT measurements are useful for detecting abnormalities associated with degeneration of the pyramidal tract in patients with ALS.


The teaching of statistics at the elementary and secondary level is a relatively new expansion of the curriculum. Considering the many challenges faced by teachers of statistics in higher education, there is a continuing need to evaluate and monitor teaching and learning at this level. The purpose of this study was to survey elementary and secondary teachers to determine their attitudes about statistics, their perceptions related to student attitudes and achievement, and their attitudes about their preparation and training. The findings based on the results of a survey suggest that although most of the teachers have overall positive attitudes about their statistics experiences, many were undecided about their experiences, and most reported that they need additional preparation and training. Implications are discussed from the results and suggestions are offered to statistics educators in an effort to improve and advance the teaching and learning of statistics in P-12 education. Introduction The reform movement in statistics education helped to shape the emergence of statistics as a separate discipline (Bessant & MacPherson, 2002; Higgins, 1999; Moore, 1998) and has revolutionized the teaching and learning of statistics in all levels of education. The Undergraduate Statistics Education Initiative (USEI) of the American Statistical Association (ASA) is one of the many projects designed to advance this movement Its mission is to expand and improve undergraduate statistical education by organizing symposia and workshops, creating guidelines for programs, marketing statistics education products and programs, and supporting the continuing development and delivery of the modern statistics curriculum (Amstat News, 1999). Many other ASA-sponsorcd affiliates such as the Center for Statistics Education, the section of Statistical Education, and the ASA -MAA (Mathematical Association of America) Joint Committee on Undergraduate Statistics also have similar objectives. As a result of the many reform efforts, "statistical literacy" has become an important objective in many undergraduate and graduate level classrooms as well as across various disciplines. The teaching and learning of statistics has increased dramatically in the elementary and secondary schools over the past few years. The Quantitative Literacy Project of the American Statistical Association, which began in the 1980s, provides instructional materials related to statistics and probability for the pre-coliege curriculum, in addition, the release of a standards-based curriculum (National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM), 1989; 1991; 2000), designed to improve mathematics education from pre-kindergarten to grade 12 (P-12), includes content standards that emphasize probability and statistical reasoning (i.e.. Data Analysis and Probability). As a result, more students are studying statistics, particularly hi secondary education. One indication is that the number of students taking the Advanced Placement (AP) statistics examination has more than quadrupled from 1997 to 2000 (Peck, 2001). Teacher Preparation In response to the recent demands placed on P-12 teachers to teach statistics, there continues to be much discussion and research about how to best train and prepare teachers for the classroom. Administrators, statistics educators, and other organizations are also involved with advancing the development of the teaching of statistics in the P-12 curriculum. The AP statistics program, in association with the College Board, offers programs such as Pre-AP while Beyond AP Stats (BAPS) and the Adopt-a-School Program are ASA-affiliated programs - all provide support for the teaching and learning of statistics for teachers and students in P-12 education. In addition, pre-and in-service workshops are also offered by many school districts and local universities for the ongoing and continuing education needs of elementary and secondary teachers. …


Chest wall tumors may originate from the skin, muscles, adipose tissue, nerves and blood vessels, bone and cartilage tissue. Primary malignant tumors of the chest wall are rare. When contextualized, soft tissue stands out as the major origin of primary chest wall tumors. Lipomas, one of the most common benign soft tissue lesions, may mimic malignant masses with their clinical and radiological manifestations. We aimed to present a case of giant lipoma with the complaint of severe pain with the review of the literature.


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Models increasingly pervade conservation and development practice – model policies, model countries, model regions, model states, model projects, model villages, model communities and so on. These are idealized, bounded, miniature entities that seek to demonstrate the efficacy of a more substantive policy, scheme or intervention. Although political ecologists and critical scholars have analyzed models in specific interventions, there has been relatively little reflection on the common logics central to models more generally. Drawing on critical conservation and development literature and in-depth case studies of REDD+ in Tanzania and Nigeria, we identify and elaborate three core model logics: 1) problematization of the field of intervention and valorization of microcosms within it; 2) isolation and bounding which seek to order complexity and etch microcosms in space and time; 3) enrolment of actors. Although ambitious and transformational in its claims and aspirations, REDD+ has thus far manifested as an extensive network of models across socio-political scales. We argue that idealized REDD+ models enable proponents to demonstrate and 'sell' REDD+ as a 'successful' intervention, thereby allowing the scheme to persist in policy circles in spite of its failures on the ground and its lack of viability at scale. We therefore argue that models  often become an end in themselves, paradoxically failing to herald the transformational intervention they were originally meant to epitomize. Keywords: Conservation, development, models, Nigeria, Tanzania, REDD+


Policymakers concerned with climate change face a complex risk management problem. The final objective of climate risk management is to avert climate-induced loss of livelihood and economic damage. This can be achieved by two major strategies: first, mitigation, aimed at reducing the probability of climate damage; second, adaptation, aimed at reducing the severity of climate damage. It is recognized that the most appropriate means to combat climate change is a portfolio of adaptation and mitigation policies; it is, however, often overlooked that the optimal composition of this portfolio not only depends on immediate costs and benefits, but also on the strategic interdependencies between mitigation and adaptation. This dissertation analyses the strategic relevance of adaptation in international climate policy. Its key finding is that the possibility to adapt to climate change aggravates the social dilemma associated with reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The first part proposes a game-theoretic model of the climate risk management problem. The model is set up in general terms with mitigation and adaptation levels as individual decision variables. The particular structure of expected utilities under climate risk is made explicit by applying an endogenous probability distribution over different states of nature. Adaptation lowers the individual damage suffered if an extreme weather event occurs. Aggregate mitigation lowers the probability of an extreme weather event. The possibility to adapt causes two opposite effects: adaptation can serve as a partial substitute for mitigation, which has a positive direct welfare effect, provided that adaptation is individually more profitable than mitigation. This same substitution, however, lowers the aggregate level of mutually beneficial mitigation, which has a negative strategic effect. The strategic effect tends to outweigh the direct effect if the number of countries involved is large, if the damage from climate change is large, and if the relative costs of adaptation are high. The second part describes an experimental test of the strategic impact of adaptation on climate risk management decisions and on the resulting expected payoffs. The design is a simplified version of the generic model presented in the first part. The experiment is set up as a non-cooperative, symmetric, one-shot game with homogeneous players. Six treatments were played to independently set three treatment variables: (i) possibility to adapt (yes/no), (ii) unit cost of adaptation (low/high), and (iii) group size (small/large). The results yield qualitative support for the hypotheses derived from the theoretical model: adaptation decreases and mitigation increases as adaptation costs increase. Payoffs behave non-monotonically: they are lower for medium high adaptation cost than for low adaptation cost, but higher for prohibitively high adaptation cost than for medium high adaptation cost. The direct effect of substitution outweighs the strategic effect for smaller groups, and the strategic effect outweighs the direct effect for larger groups.
The third part describes an experimental test of the implications of adaptation cost heterogeneity for investment decisions regarding mitigation and adaptation. A particular focus is set on interpersonal differences in expected payoffs. As in the second part, the experiment is designed as a non-cooperative one-shot game, based upon the theoretical model presented in the first part; however, this experiment features heterogeneous adaptation cost. We define three cost types differing in their unit cost of adaptation. Subjects are assigned to cost types and split into groups of four according to nine treatments covering different group compositions. Subjects respond to their co-players' cost type as predicted by the model: mitigation decreases as the co-players' adaptation cost increase, adaptation remains unchanged, and the average expected payoff increases. Within heterogeneous groups, the higher-cost type contributes a bigger share to the aggregate mitigation level than the lower-cost type. Beyond these confirmative results, we observe some quantitative deviations from the model predictions. In the heterogeneous games, the type-specific proportional shares of group aggregate mitigation are less divergent than predicted, which leads to more equitable payoffs, but also entails an efficiency loss. We attribute this behavior to inequity aversion.


Conrad Black (winter 1997-8) wants Canada to be a 'first level power, not just a middle power, and argues that, to be so, we must end the ambiguity about Quebec's future and stop the brain drain to the United States. He is probably right about this, although my own experience abroad suggests that Canada is admired in many countries partly because we are able to make a virtue of the Janus-like face we present to the world -- in peacekeeping for example -- and because the ambiguity contains or postpones separation, a fate that others have suffered. In any event, Canadian leaders have sought, consciously or not, to make Canada's role in world politics a source of pride for all Canadians, and have usually succeeded. But, I agree that, if we fail to maintain what unity we do have, our foreign policy will count for little in world affairs.As for our relations with the United States, the pull of superior wealth and power will always be a major challenge. But whether this ought to lead us to build 'a system of civilized individualism,' as Black hopes, or to maintain at least a shell of collective responsibility for the well-being of our citizens, as I would prefer, is a question that can be argued elsewhere. Canada-United States relations, however, are obviously the first priority of Canadian foreign policy, and Black is right to emphasize them. To believe we ought to be 'supportive allies in all major issues external to North America' is another matter. Canadian governments have always walked a thin line between uneasy support and nervous doubt about American threat or use of force, direct or indirect, against weaker states, perceived either to be pawns in a game of great-power chess, as in Vietnam or Cuba, or as threats to American national interests, as in the case of Iraq. Where such use has some form of United Nations sanction, as it did in Korea and later in 1991 against Iraq, Canada has offered help. But otherwise we have preferred caution or to look the other way.Black is especially critical of Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau's occasional efforts to soften the edges of American policies during the cold war, but let me assure him that, during the early Reagan period, when I was in Moscow, no member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) was more eager to cut virtually all non-diplomatic ties with the USSR than was Canada. When tension rose to dangerous levels in 1983, Trudeau, aware that his personal reputation in Moscow continued to enjoy respect, embarked on a tour of world capitals to propose ways of reducing tensions. Whether or not his mission helped in the end to do so, it was hardly an attempt to placate the Soviet Union, as I know from my efforts to persuade them to co-operate. …


Central banks have evolved for close to four centuries. This paper argues that for two centuries central banks caught up to the strategies followed by the leading central banks of the era; the Bank of England in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries and the Federal Reserve in the twentieth century. It also argues that, by the late 20th century, small open economies were more prone to adopt a new policy regime when the old one no longer served its purpose whereas large, less open, and systemically important economies were more reluctant to embrace new approaches to monetary policy. Our study blends the quantitative with narrative explanations of the evolution of central banks. We begin by providing an overview of the evolution of monetary policy regimes taking note of the changing role of financial stability over time. We then provide some background to an analysis that aims, via econometric means, to quantify the similarities and idiosyncrasies of the ten central banks and the extent to which they represent a network of sorts where, in effect, some central banks learn from others.


. This work was supported in part by a research grant from Enterprise Ireland Abstract-This paper describes an automatic digital modulation scheme recognition technique. The technique is designed for a real-time software radio using general-purpose processors and is based on a modified pattern recognition approach. It is designed to be robust and efficient with a processing time overhead that still allows the software radio to maintain its realtime operating objectives. Experimental results for GMSK recognition over a fading, ISI channel with AWGN and random phase noise are presented. One test scenario, where an intercepted signal is either BPSK or QPSK modulated, using an AWGN channel with random phase noise shows that correct modulation scheme classification is possible to a lower-bound channel SNR of approximately 9dB.


In the last ten years, the market and studies related with nanofibers are considerably increasing in the areas such as filtration, energy harvesting, medical textile. Electrospinning is one of the most widely used techniques for nanofiber production. Mainly, two different types of electrodes in the electrospinning process are used: one is the conventional narrow nozzle and the other is the nozzle- less system. Conventional narrow nozzle is not preferred at industrial applications due to several problems such as low productivity, non-homogeneous coating and clogging. It is mostly preferred at laboratory applications, because of low price, wide production range and easy use. However, main disadvantages of nozzle-less system are high price (cost) and narrow production flexibility (range) compared to conventional narrow nozzle system. In this study, new novel nozzle prototype has been designed and studied to eliminate the disadvantages of conventional narrow nozzle system. From trials, it has been seen that production increased about 3 times compared to conventional narrow nozzle system, while homogenous coating could be obtained without clogging problem. It has also very low cost compared to nozzle-less system.


Woven fabrics have a wide range of appearance determined by their small-scale 3D structure. Accurately modeling this structural detail can produce highly realistic renderings of fabrics and is critical for predictive rendering of fabric appearance. But building these yarn-level volumetric models is challenging. Procedural techniques are manually intensive, and fail to capture the naturally arising irregularities which contribute significantly to the overall appearance of cloth. Techniques that acquire the detailed 3D structure of real fabric samples are constrained only to model the scanned samples and cannot represent different fabric designs. This paper presents a new approach to creating volumetric models of woven cloth, which starts with user-specified fabric designs and produces models that correctly capture the yarn-level structural details of cloth. We create a small database of volumetric exemplars by scanning fabric samples with simple weave structures. To build an output model, our method synthesizes a new volume by copying data from the exemplars at each yarn crossing to match a weave pattern that specifies the desired output structure. Our results demonstrate that our approach generalizes well to complex designs and can produce highly realistic results at both large and small scales.


This dissertation uses a common grammatical phenomenon, light verb constructions (LVCs) in English and German, to investigate how syntax-semantics mapping defaults influence the relationships between language processing, representation and conceptualization. LVCs are analyzed as a phenomenon of mismatch in the argument structure. The processing implication of this mismatch are experimentally investigated, using ERPs and a dual task. Data from these experiments point to an increase in working memory. Representational questions are investigated using structural priming. Data from this study suggest that while the syntax of LVCs is not different from other structures', the semantics and mapping are represented differently. This hypothesis is tested with a new categorization paradigm, which reveals that the conceptual structure that LVC evoke differ in interesting, and predictable, ways from non-mismatching structures'.


The ichnological fossil record has previously provided key evidence for the diversification of land vertebrates (tetrapods) during the Carboniferous Period, following the invasion of the land. Within the UK, tetrapod ichnofossils from the late Carboniferous of the English Midlands are well documented, but few such fossils are known from earlier in the period. We present a rare ichnological insight into early Carboniferous tetrapod diversification in the United Kingdom based on a Visean-aged specimen collected from an interdistributary trough palaeoenvironment at Hardraw Scar, Wensleydale, North Yorkshire. This specimen represents the stratigraphically oldest known tetrapod trackway from the UK. We refer this specimen to Palaeosauropus sp., providing the earliest known occurrence of an edopoid temnospondyl. Supplementing the sparse record of contemporary body fossils from the early Carboniferous, this provides further insights into the diversification of temnospondyl amphibians across Euramerica. Supplementary material: A 3D model of the plaster cast produced from the trackway specimen is available at https://doi.org/10.5519/0022377 and a lower resolution version is available on Sketchfab (https://skfb.ly/6OAxR).


in the sea and catch 128 fish, that is your sample. If bottom oxygen is measured to be 1.28 mg l −1 , oxygen deficiency is undoubtedly an issue, within the uncertainty of the instrument, more is the effi-1. ABSTRACT: The aphorism, 'All models are wrong, but some models are useful', originally referred to statistical models, but is now used for scientific models in general. When presenting results from a marine simulation model, this statement effectively stops discussions about the quality of the model, as there is always another observation to mismatch, and thereby another confirmation why the model cannot be trusted. It is common that observations are less challenged and are often viewed as a 'gold standard' for judging models, whereas proper interpretations and the true value of models are often overlooked. Models are not perfect, and there are many exam-ples where models are used improperly to provide misleading answers with great confidence, but to what extent does an observation represent the truth? The precision of the observational gear may be high, but what about representativeness? The interpretation of observations is simply another model, but this time not coded in a computer language but rather formed by the individ-ual observer. We submit that it would be more productive to initiate a process where the norm is that models and observations are joined to strengthen both. In the end, neither method is the goal, but both are useful tools for disclosing the truth. Biased views on either observational or modeling approaches would limit us from achieving this goal.


Analysis of the formation of a dynamic membrane (DM) was conducted in detail; based on a great deal of experiments, a practical model was proposed to characterize the formation process of the dynamic membrane. In order to validate the model, the following experiments were done: effects of crossvelocity and transmembrane pressure on the formation process of DM were examined with kaolins of 1,250 mesh and 6,000 mesh as DM materials respectively. The experimental results showed that the experimental values approached the theoretical values in steady state and unsteady state when the system constant of ko was 2 and 10 respectively. But differently from the model, the filtrate flux was still declining with time in the steady state.


With the goal to enhance easily accessible telehealth infrastructure, we demonstrate an in-house and cost effective solution to enable rehabilitation that can provide a simple alternative for conventional therapeutic methods. We also test the effectiveness of this system in addressing shoulder rehabilitation by measuring the subjects' reflex reactions through repetitive trials. A commercially-available low-cost camera sensor was used to play a ball tracking game to test the system. The objective of the game was to track a ball involving only shoulder movements, across the screen for about 30 seconds with increasing difficulty per level. Single trial lasted for few minutes per day and for four days per subject. Reflex times of each subject were recorded, monitored and the data were analyzed. A group of 23 healthy subjects volunteered for the trials. A case study with a single subject with shoulder injury was also carried out. Statistical analysis showed significant improvement in the movement of the injured shoulder. The game along with the sensor proves to be a new rehabilitation method that can simulate a vibrant therapeutic environment. Results show that the game is effective in bringing about an improvement in the subjects shoulder flexion. The capabilities of the game and the device that includes customization based on the need, opens a new platform in the field of rehabilitation.


Food and drinks are commonly used to facilitate administration of paediatric medicines to improve palatability and enhance patient compliance. However, the impact of this practice on drug solubility and on oral drug bioavailability is not usually studied. Based on recommended strategies for oral administration of paediatric medicines with food and drink vehicles, the aims of this study were (i) to measure the physicochemical properties of (soft) food and drink vehicles, commonly mixed with paediatric medicines prior to administration, and (ii) to assess the impact of the co-administered vehicles on the solubility of two poorly soluble paediatric drugs. Montelukast (sodium) and mesalazine were selected as the model compounds. Distinct differences were observed between the physicochemical properties (i.e. pH, surface tension, osmolality, viscosity and buffer capacity) and macronutrient composition (i.e. fat, sugar and protein content) of the different soft foods and drinks, not only among vehicle type but also within vehicles of the same subtype. Solubility studies of the two model compounds in selected drinks and soft foods resulted in considerably different drug solubility values in each vehicle. The solubility of the drugs was significantly affected by the vehicle physicochemical properties and macronutrient composition, with the solubility of montelukast being driven by the pH, fat and protein content of the vehicles and the solubility of mesalazine by vehicle osmolality, viscosity and sugar content. This vehicle-dependent impact on drug solubility could compromise its bioavailability, and ultimately affect the safety and/or efficacy of the drug and should be taken into consideration during paediatric product development.


Objective: To estimate age-specific incidence rates of AD in the Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging (BLSA). Background: The BLSA is a volunteer cohort of normal subjects followed longitudinally with biennial evaluations at the Gerontology Research Center of the National Institute on Aging. Methods: Subjects are 1236 participants (802 men, 434 women) in the BLSA with longitudinal follow-up between January 1985 and May 1998. The average length of follow-up was 7.5 years, with participants evaluated every 2 years by physical, neurologic, and neuropsychological examinations. Using Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 3rd ed., revised and National Institute of Neurological and Communicative Disorders and Stroke–Alzheimer's Disease and Related Disorders Association criteria, the authors diagnosed dementia and AD. Results: The authors diagnosed 155 cases of dementia, of which 114 (74%) were AD. Incidence rates of AD increased with age from an estimated 0.08% per year (95% CI 0.00 to 0.43) in the 60 to 65 age group to an estimated 6.48% per year (95% CI 5.01 to 8.38) in the 85+ age group for men and women combined. The doubling time of incidence rates was estimated to be approximately 4.4 years and the median time of conversion from mild cognitive impairment to diagnosis of AD was estimated to be 4.4 years. There was a trend for women to have higher incidence rates than men and for fewer years of education to be associated with higher incidence rates; however, these effects were not significant. Conclusion: Incidence rates for AD in the BLSA are consistent with published rates in other studies. The longitudinally followed subjects of the BLSA offer a unique opportunity to prospectively investigate the antecedents of AD.


Abstract. Enormous amounts of 13C-depleted carbon rapidly entered the exogenic carbon cycle during the onset of the Paleocene-Eocene thermal maximum (PETM), as attested to by a prominent negative carbon isotope (δ13C) excursion and deep-sea carbonate dissolution. A widely cited explanation for this carbon input has been thermal dissociation of gas hydrate on continental slopes, followed by release of CH4 from the seafloor and its subsequent oxidation to CO2 in the ocean or atmosphere. Increasingly, papers have argued against this mechanism, but without fully considering existing ideas and available data. Moreover, other explanations have been presented as plausible alternatives, even though they conflict with geological observations, they raise major conceptual problems, or both. Methane release from gas hydrates remains a congruous explanation for the δ13C excursion across the PETM, although it requires an unconventional framework for global carbon and sulfur cycling, and it lacks proof. These issues are addressed here in the hope that they will prompt appropriate discussions regarding the extraordinary carbon injection at the start of the PETM and during other events in Earth's history.


OBJECTIVE
Calcitriol analogues might represent an interesting new therapy for benign prostate hyperplasia (BPH). We here report the preclinical characterization of BXL-628, an analogue selected for an ongoing double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled phase II trial in BPH.

DESIGN
Experiments with BXL-628 were carried out in human BPH cells and in the ventral prostate of intact and castrated rats.

METHODS
BPH cell and rat prostate growth were evaluated along with morphological and biochemical hallmarks of apoptosis.

RESULTS
BXL-628 inhibited human BPH cell proliferation and induced apoptosis even in the presence of androgens or growth factors. It also decreased prostate growth to an extent similar to finasteride, inducing DNA fragmentation and apoptosis, both in intact and in testosterone-supplemented castrated rats. Accordingly, BXL-628, like finasteride, increased the expression of clusterin, a prostatic atrophy marker. However, BXL-628 did not inhibit 5 alpha-reductase 1 and 2, did not bind to the androgen receptor (AR) in BPH homogenates and did not affect AR-coupled luciferase activity. In addition, BXL-628 did not affect rat pituitary and testis activity or calcemia.

CONCLUSIONS
BXL-628 inhibited in vitro and in vivo prostate cell proliferation, and therefore might represent a novel, interesting option for the treatment of BPH.


Some safe havens and protected areas are safer than others for internally displaced persons situated in war zones. The research presented compares three such areas: the 'safe cities' of Bosnia-Herzegovina, a UN-sanctioned 'preventive zone' in Southern Somalia, and an 'open relief centre' in Northern Sri Lanka. Each of these safe spaces has distinct political antecedents, peacekeeping components, and histories prior to war that have shaped the success of such areas in protecting people during conflict. In comparing the safety and well-being of displaced civilians in the three countries, the importance of consent by warring parties to the international designation of safe space emerges as critical. The authorization of a chosen safe area, by the UN Security Council or by warring factions, plays an important role in relation to its efficacy. The research presented suggests that zones of peace and protected areas cannot solely be enforced by international peacekeepers, but must be negotiated at a political level.


Heavy metals are inadvertently released during manufacture of various industrial products. They are serious pollutants due to their toxicity, persistence and bioaccumulation problems. Microorganisms have the potential to alter the reactivity and mobility of metals and thus facilitating the use of bioremediation as a form of treatment for metal contaminated soils. Utilizing microbes for bioremediation possesses various merits such as their natural occurrence, cheap production, easy availability and high selectivity in terms of removal and recovery of specific metals. This paper summarizes the general processes of bioremediation within the soil environment. The effect of environmental factors which governs the rate of biodegradation is addressed together with limitations and potential of ex situ and in situ bioremediation.


The absolute photoabsorption, photoionization and photodissociation cross sections and the photoionization quantum efficiency of ammonia and deuterated ammonia have been measured from the ionization threshold to 25 eV using a double ion chamber and monochromated synchrotron radiation. The photoabsorption spectrum displays extensive vibrational progressions associated with Rydberg series converging onto excited vibrational levels of the 2A2´´ state. New structure has been observed for ND3 in the 10.0-11.3 eV range, and vibrational progressions due to transitions into the , and Rydberg states have been recorded with improved resolution. Features have been observed, for the first time, in the photoabsorption spectra of NH3 and ND3 due to Rydberg series converging onto the à 2E ionization threshold, and interpretations for some of these features have been proposed based upon the corresponding photoelectron spectra. The He I excited NH3+(1a2´´)-1 2A2´´ photoelectron band has been studied experimentally at a resolution of 3 meV and two vibrational progressions, each involving excitation of the 2+ mode, have been observed. The vibrational lines in the main progression show a complex structure associated with rotational excitations. This structure changes gradually in a way that can be explained by the variation of the H-N-H bond angle with the 2+ mode. The effective bond angle has been found to be 120° for v2+ = 0, and similar to that of the neutral ground state near v2+ = 6. The second progression, of weak lines, has been interpreted tentatively as being due to n2++4+. The 4+ mode is doubly degenerate and the excitation of a single quantum has been explained by vibronic coupling with the à 2E state. In addition, He II excitation has been used to record the entire valence shell photoelectron spectrum.


This study, conducted from June 1996 to July 1997, was directed at determining the abiotic environmental factors governing the distribution of the bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus) and the pan-tropical spotted dolphin (Stenella attenuata) in Golfo Dulce. The spotted dolphin was associated with significantly deeper zones (t-test = -9.761; p < 0.001, n = 202) and with higher salinity (t-test = -3.538; p = 0.001; n = 202) than the bottlenose dolphin. The combi- nation of environmental variables in the distribution areas of each species in Golfo Dulce was different, both spatially (F = 9.724, df = 12; p < 0.001) and seasonally (F = 9.735; df = 12; p < 0.001). Of all the environmental variables considered, Multiple Discriminant Analysis showed depth to be the main factor differenciating the distribution areas of the two species. The relationship between group size in each species, depth, and the location of their distribution areas in relation to the shore were analyzed and evidence regarding these aspects and variations in foraging strategies and prey composition was proposed to explain the differences found in their spatial distributions. Seasonal variations in salinity in the distribution areas and their inverse relationship with the time of the year were analyzed in relation to their possible combined effects on prey composition during different seasons in order to explain the seasonal variations in distribution patterns.


This paper discusses results of the CLOUD-MAP (Collaboration Leading Operational UAS Development for Meteorology and Atmospheric Physics) project dedicated to developing, fielding, and evaluating integrated small unmanned aircraft systems (sUAS) for enhanced atmospheric physics measurements. The project team includes atmospheric scientists, meteorologists, engineers, computer scientists, geographers, and chemists necessary to evaluate the needs and develop the advanced sensing and imaging, robust autonomous navigation, enhanced data communication, and data management capabilities required to use sUAS in atmospheric physics. Annual integrated evaluation of the systems in coordinated field tests are being used to validate sensor performance while integrated into various sUAS platforms. This paper focuses on aspects related to atmospheric sampling of thermodynamic parameters with sUAS, specifically sensor integration and calibration/validation, particularly as it relates to boundary layer profiling. Validation of sensor output is performed by comparing measurements with known values, including instrumented towers, radiosondes, and other validated sUAS platforms. Experiments to determine the impact of sensor location and vehicle operation have been performed, with sensor aspiration a major factor. Measurements are robust provided that instrument packages are properly mounted in locations that provide adequate air flow and proper solar shielding.


We propose a simple approach to manipulating the constellation of a multilevel modulation signal in the optical domain. By exploiting degenerate four-wave mixing (FWM) in highly nonlinear fibers and adopting 16-ary quadrature amplitude modulation (16-QAM) signal, we demonstrate 10-Gbaud/s optical variable symbol-wise hexadecimal coding/decoding assisted by a continuous-wave (CW) pump or a phase-modulated pump. The former takes the coding through the phase conjugation of degenerate FWM, and the latter offers enhanced coding via the combined contributions from the phase modulation of the pump and the phase-conjugated FWM. The penalty of optical signal-to-noise ratio for coding/decoding is measured to be <formula formulatype="inline"><tex Notation="TeX">${< }1.1$</tex> </formula> dB with a CW pump and <formula formulatype="inline"> <tex Notation="TeX">${< }1.2$</tex></formula> dB with a <formula formulatype="inline"> <tex Notation="TeX">$(0, \pi/4)$</tex></formula> phase-modulated pump at a bit-error rate of 2e-3 (enhanced forward error correction threshold). The dependence of coding/decoding performance on the phase modulation depth of the pump and the signal/pump misalignment is also investigated. Moreover, considering that a hexadecimal number denotes four binary numbers, we develop the symbol-wise hexadecimal coding/decoding to general binary coding/decoding, i.e., 10-Gbaud/s symbol-wise hexadecimal coding/decoding is accompanied by 40-Gbit/s binary coding/ decoding.


ABSTRACT Industrial renewal in the 21st century: evidence from US cities. Regional Studies. Where and why do new industries emerge? Using revisions of official industrial classifications, this paper documents the appearance of new industries in the US economy between 2000 and 2010 stemming directly from technological advances. Examining differences in new industry creation across cities, this paper shows that new industries mainly emerge in human capital abundant places and cities that specialize in industries that demand similar skills. Instrumental variables estimates that exploit the location of 19th-century land-grant colleges as an instrument for contemporary differences in human capital assigns a causal interpretation to these results.


Heterotrophic bacteria play a key role in marine carbon cycling, and understanding their activities in polar systems is important for considering climate change impacts there. One goal of the ASPIRE project was to examine the relationship between the phytoplankton bloom and bacterial heterotrophy in the Amundsen Sea Polynya (ASP). Bacterial abundance, production (BP), respiration, growth efficiency, and extracellular enzyme activity (EEA) were compared to nutrient and organic matter inventories, chlorophyll a (Chl a), viral and microzooplankton abundance, and net primary production (NPP). Bacterial production and respiration clearly responded (0.04–4.0 and 10–53 μg C L−1 d−1, respectively) to the buildup of a massive Phaeocystis antarctica bloom (Chl a: 0.2–22 μg L−1), with highest rates observed in the central polynya where Chl a and particulate organic carbon (POC) were greatest. The highest BP rates exceeded those reported for the Ross Sea or any other Antarctic coastal system, yet the BP:NPP ratio (2.1–9.4%) was relatively low. Bacterial respiration was also high, and growth efficiency (2–27%; median = 10%) was similar to oligotrophic systems. Thus, the integrated bacterial carbon demand (0.8–2.8 g C m−2 d−1) was a high fraction (25–128%; median = 43%) of NPP during bloom development. During peak bloom, activity was particle-associated: BP and EEA correlated well with POC, and size fractionation experiments showed that the larger size fraction (> 3 μm) accounted for a majority (∼ 75%) of the BP. The community was psychrophilic, with a 5x reduction in BP when warmed to 20°C. In deeper waters, respiration remained relatively high, likely fueled by the significant downward particle flux in the region. A highly active, particle-associated, heterotrophic microbial community clearly responded to the extraordinary phytoplankton bloom in the ASP, likely limiting biological pump efficiency during the early season.


The paper starts with a reflection on various perceptions of rationality in decision making; by concentrating on so-called deliberative decision making and examining its analogy to cognitive processes, a case for including intuitive decisions into the concept of rational decision making is made. The role of "Gestalt" images and basic concepts in perceiving reality is stressed. Intuitive decision making is operationally defined and various phases of intuitive decision processes are examined. Special attention is paid to creative decision processes, when the decision maker is facing a novel problem of strategic importance. Issues of possible empirical studies of intuitive decision making are outlined. Since this paper is constructed as a "thought experiment" (Kuhn, 1964) in order to clarify some concepts of perception related to intuition, possible implications for the philosophy of science are also indicated.


As an emerging computer networking paradigm, Software-Defined Networking (SDN) empowers network operators with simplified network configuration and centralized network management. Recently, distributed controller architectures have become a notable invention where multiple controllers are jointly deployed in the network for request processing. One major research challenge for distributed controller architectures is to effectively manage the controller resources including allocating sufficient controllers to the suitable network locations and making the best use of the given controller resources.   In general, existing approaches for managing the controller resources in the literature can be classified into three main directions. Designing new controller architectures belongs to the first direction, where the focus is on enabling workload shifting among controllers using switch migration. Designing controller placement algorithms to identify the number and locations of controllers is the second direction. Given the controller placement solution, the third direction is controller scheduling which aims to make the best use of the shared controllers by properly distributing requests among them.   However, existing approaches have three major limitations. First, existing controller architectures feature a switch-controller binding which restricts the requests generated by a switch to only be processed by a predefined controller. Since each switch comes with different workload and the workload can be time-variant, the binding renders the bound controller susceptible to either being overloaded or underloaded. Second, existing placement algorithms have consistently underestimated the importance of controller scheduling. Due to the NP-hardness of the placement problem, Genetic Algorithm (GA) is a promising candidate. However, as a population-based approach, GA can be computationally expensive. Especially in a large network, the corresponding search space becomes too large for GA to handle effectively. Third, existing approaches for controller scheduling are mostly designed under the switch-controller binding constraint. When the scheduling is performed at a per-request level, the scheduling complexity increases significantly, rendering the efficiency and effectiveness of existing algorithms questionable. Apart from that, existing studies mainly focus on manually designing request dispatching policy which strongly relies on domain knowledge and involves a time-consuming fine-tuning process.  The overall goal of this thesis is to effectively manage the controller resources in distributed SDN controller architectures. To address the three major limitations, three research objectives are established. First, this thesis aims to propose a new controller architecture to enable flexible controller placement and scheduling. Second, the thesis focuses on effectively and scalably identifying suitable controller placement while jointly taking the controller scheduling problem into consideration. Third, the thesis seeks to incorporate machine learning techniques in the request dispatching policy design to automatically learn adaptive and effective policies.   To achieve the first objective, this thesis proposes a new BindingLess Architecture for distributed Controllers (BLAC) which features bindingless association between switches and controllers. With the newly introduced scheduling layer, requests can be transparently and flexibly dispatched among multiple controllers without invoking the time-consuming and complicated switch migration. Experiments conducted in this thesis show that BLAC significantly reduces the average response time and improves the throughput compared to existing SDN architectures.   To achieve the second objective, this thesis proposes a Clustering-based Genetic Algorithm with Cooperative Clusters (CGA-CC) to tackle the controller placement problem. Particularly, CGA-CC partitions a large network into non-overlapping sub-networks to substantially reduce the search space of GA. Within each sub-network, GA is applied to identifying the placement solution. The quality of any given placement solution is evaluated by a gradient-descent-based scheduling algorithm which is developed to optimize the probability distribution of requests among all controllers. Moreover, a greedy load re-distribution mechanism is developed to handle unexpected demand variations by dynamically forwarding indigestible requests to adjacent sub-networks. Extensive simulations show that our algorithms can significantly outperform several existing and state-of-the-art algorithms and is more robust in handling unexpected traffic bursts.  To achieve the third objective, this thesis proposes a Multi-Agent (MA) deep-reinforcement-learning-based approach with the aim to automatically learn adaptive, effective, and efficient policies used by each switch. In particular, a new adaptive policy representation is proposed to support networks with a changing number of controllers. To enable the training of an adaptive policy, a new policy gradient calculation technique is developed. Then the policy design problem is formulated as an MA Markov Decision Processing and a new MA training algorithm is proposed. The results show that the policy designed by our algorithm can easily adapt to networks with a changing number of controllers. Moreover, our policy can achieve significantly better performance compared with existing policies including the man-made policy (e.g., weighted round-robin), the model-based policy (e.g., the gradient-descent-based scheduling algorithm), and policies designed by other reinforcement learning algorithms (e.g., the proximal policy optimization algorithm).


Background: The global policy focus of today's HIV efforts and strategies is to reverse the spread of HIV/AIDS and provide care, treatment and support. A key component of this strategy is to increase individual HIV status awareness through expansion of HIV testing and counselling (HTC). However, the numbers tested still remain and evidence suggests that there are significant missed opportunities for HIV testing in clinical settings. One key strategy to expand HTC in clinical settings has been to implement a policy of 'provider initiated counselling and testing' (PITC) in which all patients accessing health facilities for treatment are routinely offered a HIV test. The introduction of PITC has brought with it a 'dilution' of the previously lengthy and stringent testing process by doing away with signed informed consent and extensive pre and post-test counselling. The previous process was recognised as a barrier to public health gains of HIV testing expansion, particularly as it differentiated an HIV test from other routine medical tests resulting in a sense of HIV exceptionalism. In its place, the PITC policy recommends an opt-out approach and replaces the extensive pre-test counselling with an information giving session placing more emphasis on post-test counselling in cases where the result is positive. This change has given rise to debates about the potential for PITC to infringe patients' rights to informed consent and counselling especially in developing countries. Emerging evidence from the exploration of the PITC process within antenatal settings in the Sub Saharan Africa has revealed some of the complexities of implementing PITC guidelines in different cultural and healthcare contexts.These studies suggest that information giving and consent are difficult to apply in contexts characterized by healthcare worker dominance, lack of sufficient resources and time constraints. This study aims to specifically investigate how patients [and counsellors] co-construct informed consent and perform counselling during the PITC consultation. Thus it examined 'real time' patient-counselor interaction within hospital outpatient and inpatient settings in Kenya; to explore the patient's experience of a routine HIV test and to evaluate how sociocultural norms influence the PITC process in this context. Methods: In order to explore the context of the routine testing consultation and the way the interaction played out, a qualitative research approach was adopted, utilizing multiple data collection methods (interviews, observations and audio recording of consultations). The study was carried out in two government run health facilities in Kenya's capital, Nairobi. The intention was to follow patients through the PITC process, i.e. before testing, during the HIV test and (whenever possible) after the HIV test. To get a broader picture of the events during the routine HIV testing consultation, additional interviews were conducted with 5 nurse-counsellors whose consultations had been observed. Ethical approval was obtained from the Kenya National Research Council, Kenya Medical Research Institute and the Aga Khan University Ethics Committee. The data were analysed using Charmaz's constructivist grounded theory approach which allowed for a systematic yet flexible approach to analysis. This method facilitated immersion and engagement with the data, and provided a means of managing the different data sets in the study and undertaking a process of constant comparison within and between data sets. Findings: Results from the study suggest that HIV remains a highly stigmatised illness in Kenyan society and is associated with death and perceived lack of morality. This is still the case in spite of years of health promotion and high profile media campaigns raising awareness about HIV and the availability and effectiveness of treatment. The context of stigma shaped the consultation so that both patients and counsellors worked together to help patients to maintain a 'moral face'. Patients tended to withhold information on risky sexual behaviour whilst the counsellors avoided inquiring into this domain. The PITC consultation was characterised by a counsellor dominated approach to communication and health promotion. Counsellor inputs were generic, highly scripted and didactic rather than patient-centred. As a result, the counsellors' style of communication allowed little space for personalised risk assessment or for patients to ask questions or to express concerns. Further on, the findings suggest that informed consent requiring explicit refusal of the test offer was difficult to achieve in an environment where the HIV test was not framed as a choice and patients came to the health facility expecting to be told what to do. Nevertheless, in spite of the obvious lack of explicit informed consent and the counsellor dominated interaction, post-test interviews revealed that patients were satisfied with the nature of the interaction. Implications: The study concludes that there is a considerable distance between the policy recommendations and their implementation on the ground due to the complexity of real world practice. This distance does not necessarily constitute a disregard for the guideline recommendations but, rather, is an attempt to adapt to the prevailing environment. Lay constructions about HIV (HIV stigma) and the existing norms of patient-provider interaction that are characterised by a passive patient and a dominant health care provider shape the way the consultation unfolds. PITC training programs and manuals need to include skills and strategies that can support counsellors to navigate the consultation and provide quality care within this prevailing context.


Entrepreneurship has been regarded as a new science in the promotion of economic development, which has led to rapid development in entrepreneurship education. The growing number of students enrolled in entrepreneurship programs creates unprecedented challenges on educators. Although multiple teaching and learning activities are adopted in entrepreneurship education, these are mainly carried out using traditional classroom lectures, case studies and group discussions. Nowadays, information & communication technology (ICT) is used to enhance the effectiveness of traditional teaching methods and competency training. PowToon is a web-based ICT tool that hat allows teachers and students to quickly and easily create animated presentations. Using quasi-experimental design and qualitative method, this study is to examine whether PowToon is an effective tool for business plan presentation. The study find that the animated presentations attracted more investment than the groups that did not prepare animated videos. It reflects that developed videos which helps entrepreneurial team to better deliver their business ideas to investors in a well-thought out way. In addition, the results of the study show that individuals who generate a business idea did not necessarily significantly influence their investment decisions. Our findings challenge the concept on self-biases evaluations of the economic potential of their own business ideas. Finally, the students were very willing to adopt new ways of delivering their business ideas.


Wikipedia has emerged as the largest multilingual, web based general reference work on the Internet. A huge amount of human resources have been invested in the creation and update of Wikipedia articles which are ideally complemented by so-called infobox templates defining the type of the underlying article. It has been observed that the Wikipedia infobox type information is often incomplete and inconsistent due to various reasons. However, the Wikipedia infobox type information plays a fundamental role for the RDF type information of Wikipedia based Knowledge Graphs such as DBpedia. This stimulates the need of always having the correct and complete infobox type information. In this work, we propose an approach to predict Wikipedia infobox types by using word embeddings on categories of Wikipedia articles, and analyze the impact of using minimal information from the Wikipedia articles in the prediction process.


The six Veillonella species found in the human oral cavity are among the most abundant members of the oral flora, occurring in both supra- and subgingival dental plaque as well as on the oral mucosa. Epidemiological data have also implicated these species in the development of the most common oral diseases. Despite their ubiquity, abundance, and ecological significance, surprisingly little is known about Veillonella biology, largely due to the difficulties associated with their genetic manipulation. In an effort to improve genetic analyses of Veillonella species, we isolated a collection of veillonellae from clinical plaque samples and screened for natural competence using a newly developed transformation protocol. Numerous strains of V. parvula were found to exhibit a natural competence ability that was highly influenced by growth medium composition. By exploiting this ability, we were able to utilize cloning-independent allelic exchange mutagenesis to identify the likely source of DNA uptake machinery within a locus homologous to type II secretion systems (T2SS). Interestingly, V. parvula natural competence was found to exhibit a clear hierarchy of preference for different sources of DNA (plasmid < PCR product < genomic DNA), which is unlike most naturally competent species. Genomic comparisons with other members of the Veillonellaceae family suggest that natural competence is likely to be widely distributed within this group. To the best of our knowledge, this study is the first demonstration of natural competence and targeted allelic exchange mutagenesis within the entire Veillonellaceae family and demonstrates a simple and rapid method to study Veillonella genetics.


The chip-refining stage in the production of high yield pulps as TMP and CTMP determines a large part of the optical and mechanical characteristics of the pulp. Softening of the raw material influences where the fiber walls fracture sites will be located.In the thermomechanical pulping (TMP) processes, refining is performed at temperatures close to the lignin softening temperature, which normally leads to fractures located in the in the primary wall and outer parts of the secondary wall. When wood material is chemically treated before chip-refining the position of the fracture is altered due to that the softening and swelling properties of the fiber walls are changed. In the chemi-thermomechanical (CTMP) process most of the fractures are, therefore, located in the middle lamella or in the primary wall due to introduction of charged groups in the lignin which facilitates the fiber separation. At alkaline pH phenolic lignin structures are sulphonated, at lower pH non-phenolic structures in the lignin are also sulphonated. In the mechanical pulping processes the wood material is subjected to both low strain rates (e.g. plug screw treatment) and high strain rates (refining). Since wood is a viscoelastic material it behaves differently at different strain rates.In this study, sulphonation has been carried out using different sulphite concentrations and pH-levels and we have thereby influenced the sulphonation degree as well as where in the lignin the sulphonation takes place.We used a hydraulic testing machine for low strain-rate testing and a Split-Hopkinson pressure bar device for high strain-rate testing to categorize pretreatments according to their material softening effect and the energy needed for fiber separation. This gives us increased fundamental knowledge of how the mechanical properties of wood are affected by the sulphonation in order to develop new/improved pretreatments.