HIV-1 exists as a genetically heterogeneous population within infected individuals and in infected population. Genetic variability or viral heterogeneity plays an important role in transmission, pathogenesis, immune response, disease progression and therapy as well as is the most effective way for the virus to evade the host immune response and persists in infected individuals. We have used HIV-1 infected motherinfant pairs as a transmitter-recipient model to elucidate the role of the molecular and biological properties of HIV-1 associated with transmission and pathogenesis. HIV-1 sequences derived from infected mothers were more heterogeneous than their younger infected infants' HIV-1 sequences. However, the infants' HIV-1 sequences diversified as they grew older. HIV-1 infants' sequences were different from each other but similar or closer to their mother's sequences. We found that the minor genotypes of HIV-1 found in mothers were transmitted to their infants, which was initially maintained as a homogeneous population in infants and diversified as the infants grew older. In addition, the phenotype of these minor geno types was macrophage-tropic, nonsyncytium inducing (NSI) referred as R5 HIV-1. We also analyzed several other regions of HIV-1 genome, including env, gag p17 and NC, pol RT, tat, rev, vif, vpr, vpu and nef infected mother-infant pairs and found that there was a high functional conservation of these genes. These findings suggested that HIV-1 heterogenity plays an important role in vertical transmission and pathogenesis. The properties of transmitted viruses and those that are associated with disease progression should be targeted for the development of new strategies for prevention and treatment of HIV-1 infection. Research should focus utilizing these findings in the development of better strategies for prevention and treatment of HIV-1.


Bioinformatics is a broad realm of research in which Computer Science has much to offer. Collecting, sorting, and analyzing statistical information for DNA and protein sequences is difficult due to the sheer amount of available data. Tools have been created to do this, but they have generally been limited by speed or robustness. In addition to analyzing the statistical properties of biological sequences, it is also important to model and understand their chemical and physical properties. A number of valuable software tools are available for modeling and predicting the properties of biological sequences in Computational Chemistry, including molecular docking, and homology modeling. These tools are typically command-line driven, have a steep learning curve, and generally must be used in conjunction with other programs to extract the desired information. The average chemist or biologist is not well-versed in Computer Science principles nor command-line tools and involved scripting, and therefore finds it difficult to realize the full potential of tools that are available to them. The work completed here assists the field of Bioinformatics with two software packages for biological sequence data analysis. One is CseqStat, which processes and gathers statistical data from large repositories of genome sequence data. The algorithms I have developed in CseqStat help speed up processing large amounts of sequencing data for nucleotides and proteins in the NCBI database. This application is robust in its abilities, finding the frequency of all sequences of a given length, in a reasonable time frame, determined by the length and the amount of input data, vi storing the results in an efficient manner, and providing a mechanism for quick and easy retrieval of such data. The second utility is DockoMatic, a multi-faceted software package offering the ability to run high-throughput experiments, structure creation, and molecular docking. I have collaborated with members of the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at Boise State University to gain valuable insight to improve existing methods. DockoMatic was developed to allow a user to invoke and manage large numbers of molecular binding calculations, linear and cyclic peptide analog structure creation, and molecular modeling experiments on a single computer or cluster. Specifically, DockoMatic was created to • automate peptide-based ligand creation based on single-letter residue codes, • automate AutoDock job creation, submission, and management for high-throughput docking experiments, • automate competitive binding experiments, • track multiple jobs in real-time on a cluster, • organize results in a useful manner, • provide an intuitive GUI, • automate cyclic peptide analog creation, and • provide a simple interface for creating molecular models.


A native of Nanmor near Beddgelert, Rhys Goch Eryri was one of the most notable of the Welsh poets who lived during the years following the failure of the Glyndŵr rebellion. One of his ancestors had travelled widely in continental Europe as a member of the court of Edward I, and Rhys Goch himself travelled from Anglesey to Gwent, visiting some of the most important centres of patronage in the history of Welsh poetry, such as Penrhyn, Llandygai and Raglan. Rhys Goch Eryri stands on the threshold of the golden age of the Poets of the Nobility and his work mirrors the cultural and political complexities of early fifteenth-century Wales. The way he responds to poems by Llywelyn ab y Moel and Sion Cent is of quintessential importance, since it reflects the philosophy of the age with regard to the origin and purpose of Welsh poetry. He did not lack humour, and his work shows a readiness to laugh at himself as well as to expose others to satire. Although comparatively small in quantity, his output displays the variety and richness of the period at its best.


The surge of American states' adoption of policies to mitigate climate change in the late 1990s and 2000s appeared to constitute a first wave of expanding use of market-based policy tools such as carbon cap-and-trade in the absence of binding federal constraints. Instead, a substantial number of states have rescinded earlier policy commitments, as have Canadian provincial partners, while others have remained engaged or even expanded their policies. This article examines the durability of the three regional cap-and-trade zones that were established with comparable structure and intent but met very different fates. The analysis of these regional entities places particular emphasis on their political resilience across election cycles, their ability to be flexible and adapt administratively through mid-course adjustments, and their capacity to build constituency support through benefit-allocation to offset opposition linked to cost imposition.


Background The aims of the study were to assess prevalence and gender differences of addictive behaviors (substance- and non-substance-related) in an adolescent population, and their association with psychopathological features and academic performance. Material and methods A sample of high school Italian students (n = 996; M = 240, F = 756) was examined using a self-report survey concerning sociodemographic characteristics, cigarette smoking, alcohol and substance use, perceived academic performance, activities, and behaviors (Internet use, gambling, and physical exercising). The Internet Addiction Test, the South Oaks Gambling Screen-revised Adolescent, and the Exercise Addiction Inventory-Short Form were administered to identify problematic behaviors. The Barratt Impulsiveness Scale for Adolescent, the Snaith–Hamilton Pleasure Scale, the Dissociative Experience Scale for Adolescent, and the Toronto Alexithymia Scale were used to investigate psychopathological dimensions. Results Frequent alcohol intake and lifetime substances consumption were more common among males. The occurrence of other addictive behaviors was 22.1% for problematic Internet use (M = F), 9.7% for at-risk/problematic gambling (M > F), and 6.2% for maladaptive physical exercise (M = F). We also found an association between substance-/non-substance-related addictive behaviors and psychopathological dimensions. Addictive behaviors were more frequent among students reporting poor school performance. Conclusion Our study showed a relevant prevalence of addictive behaviors in a sample of Italian high school students, with specific gender differences. We underlined the cooccurrence of substance and non-substance-related addictive behaviors, and their association with worse school performance. Dissociative proneness, anhedonia, alexithymia, and impulsivity were associated with addictive behaviors in adolescents and might represent vulnerability factors for the development of psychiatric disorders in adulthood. A better understanding of psychopathological features associated with addictive behaviors might be useful for the prevention/early intervention.


The neocortex is the evolutionarily newest and most complex part of the mammalian brain. The neurons of the neocortex are born from different neural stem and progenitor cells (for simplicity collectively referred to as progenitors) that reside in proliferative zones during embryonic development. During the neurogenic period, distinct populations of neural progenitors appear, each having specific molecular and cell biological characteristics. These characteristics and the environment of the neural progenitor are responsible for the self-renewing or neurogenic potential of each neural progenitor type. The fate of daughter cells after neural progenitor division is determined by the mode of division, intrinsic factors such as transcription factors or regulatory ribonucleic acids (RNAs), and by extrinsic signals coming from the surrounding cells. This tight regulation controls the rate of production of neural progenitor types and neurons. The ratios of different progenitor types have a huge impact on the final number of neurons in the adult neocortex, and are partly responsible for vast differences in the brains of different mammals.

Key Concepts:

Neocortex is a part of the brain characteristic of mammals.

Neocortex is a six-layered structure comprised of post-mitotic neurons and glial cells.

Neocortical neurons are born from neural progenitor cells, mostly during embryonic development.

Neural progenitor cells can be classified into different populations based on molecular and cell-biological features.

The molecular and cell-biological features of neural progenitor cells influence their propensity to self-renew or produce neurons.

Neural progenitor cells are under tight intrinsic and extrinsic control, in order to maintain the equilibrium between proliferative and neurogenic divisions.

The relative abundance of different progenitor populations influences the final number of neurons in the adult neocortex.

Keywords:

mammals;
neurogenesis;
neocortex;
neural progenitor;
(a)symmetric division;
evolution


Angular distributions of spectral reflectance for four common arctic surfaces: snow-covered sea ice, melt-season sea ice, snow-covered tundra, and tundra shortly after snowmelt were measured using an aircraft-based, high angular resolution (1°) multispectral radiometer. Results indicate bidirectional reflectance is higher for snow-covered sea ice than melt-season sea ice at all wavelengths between 0.47 and 2.3 w m, with the difference increasing with wavelength. Bidirectional reflectance of snow-covered tundra is higher than for snow-free tundra for measurements less than 1.64 w m, with the difference decreasing with wavelength. Bidirectional reflectance patterns of all measured surfaces show significant reflectance maxima in the forward scattering direction of the principal plane with identifiable specular reflection for the melt-season sea ice and snow-free tundra cases. The snow-free tundra had the most significant backscatter (similar to other vegetative bidirectional reflectance patterns such as for Cerrado in Brazil), and the melt-season sea ice the least. For sea ice, bidirectional reflectance changes due to snowmelt were more significant than differences among the different types of melt-season sea ice. The spectral-hemispherical (plane) albedo of each measured arctic surface was also computed. Comparing measured nadir reflectance to albedo for sea ice and snow-covered tundra shows nadir reflectance 5-40% smaller, with the largest difference at wavelengths beyond 1 w m. For snow-free tundra, nadir reflectance is 30-50% smaller than the plane albedo.


Digital platforms that facilitate interactions among users underpin the business models of some of the world's most successful ventures. What makes digital platform business models so successful is their potential for network effects. Existing research on digital platforms and network effects has largely focused on how platform operators can attract users to generate network effects and implicitly assumed that these users will remain active once attracted. However, as practice shows, it is not only important to attract users to benefit from network effects but also to manage and sustain their ongoing activity. Drawing on literature from behavioral economics, information systems, and management, we develop an integrative framework of four types of digital nudges-user-interface design elements that purposefully guide user behavior towards specific choices. Researchers can use the framework to analyze, explain, and predict and practitioners to understand, design, and orchestrate user activity and network effects on digital platforms.


Chronic migraine (CM) is a common disorder that compromises the quality of life of patients, decreases functionality, is frequently misdiagnosed, and has poor response to treatment even when diagnosed. Rare and randomized controlled studies on chronic migraine have revealed limitations within current therapeutic options. While pharmacologic treatment includes acute and preventive treatment options, it may lead to some adverse effects, which challenge the tolerance of patients. An increased number of studies in recent years have shown that behavioral interventions such as cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), biofeedback (BFD), relaxation techniques and neurostimulation procedures lead to a significant improvement in the treatment of chronic migraine. For this reason, such treatment options are recommended, especially in persistent cases with poor response to treatment. The treatment of chronic migraine is more challenging compared with episodic migraine (EM), and recent studies suggest that non-pharmacologic approaches and neurostimulation techniques will increase the chance of success in the treatment of chronic migraine.


Summary
1.
The authors experimentally infected themselves with the sparganum larva of Spirometra mansonoides on November 26, 1938, by introducing the heads of three larvae beneath the skin of the left arm over the biceps muscle, two into Mueller, one into Coulston. These heads measured at most 2 mm. in length.
2.
On February 2, 1939 a sparganum 50 mm. in length, representing a growth of 48 mm., was removed from Coulston's arm after it had migrated from the site of injection to the region of the axilla, a distance of about 12 cm., where it was found under the deep fascia.
3.
On February 3, 1939 a sparganum 60 mm. long, representing a growth of about 58 mm., was removed from the biceps muscle of Mueller under local anesthetic. Only a fragment of the tail end of the other worm, about 10 mm. long, could be found at this time.
4.
On March 4, 1939, a second sparganum about 60 mm. long was removed from Mueller.
5.
This last sparganum was fed to an ova-free, known unin-fected cat, and produced a normal adult worm 50 inches in length. Ova of this worm were cultured and the procercoids found infective for rhesus monkeys demonstrating that the worm had not suffered any loss of vigor by human passage.
6.
Symptoms associated with infection were local induration at the site of the worm, periodic giant urticaria, edema, and erythema. These periodic symptoms appeared to coincide with movements of the worm which from time to time broke out of the surrounding reaction zone, presumably liberating into the circulation walled off toxins. These periodic local reactions were attended by chills and fever and feelings of profound depression and malaise.
7.
Eosinophilia appeared, rising to 10 per cent in Mueller on the 32nd day, and to 9 per cent in Coulston on the 23rd to the 27th day.
8.
A positive skin reaction was elicited to scratch tests or intradermal tests with antigens prepared from Spirometra mansonoides adult and sparganum, T. crassicollis adult and cysticercus, T. pisiformis adult and cysticercus, and T. serrata. Also with the substance of a plerocercoid found in Great Lakes ciscoes. Antigens for intradermal use were prepared by Dr. J. T. Culbertson of Columbia University. They were not lipid free.
9.
While the subjects were still infected skin testing did not elicit any immediate reaction, only delayed reaction after about 10 or 12 hours.
10.
After removal of the worms the subjects developed an immediate reaction to skin tests, while retaining the delayed reaction. The delayed reaction in the case of the scratch tests is recurrent several times at 10 to 12 hour intervals.
11.
In over 60 control skin tests on volunteers only one "false positive" was obtained, and that in the case of a student who gave a history suggesting that he may at one time have been infected with a sparganum.
12.
The two authors still show strongly positive reactions to skin tests at the present writing (January 8, 1941), almost 20 months after removal of the worms.
13.
Complement fixation tests were unsatisfactory on the two experimentally infected humans, possibly because of the employment of too weak an antigen, or more probably because the serum was kept for too long a time before performing the tests.
14.
Pathological changes were extensive and in the nature of chronic inflammatory reaction, with local necrotic areas surrounding the worm.
15.
In both subjects the spargana exhibited migration, in one case penetrating and forming a gallery in the biceps muscle, in the other passing to the region of the axilla. Encapsulation though extensive was not sufficient to wall off the spargana.
16.
With the establishment of Spirometra mansonoides as a potential human parasite physicians throughout the geographic range of the worm should be informed of its nature and educated to watch out for it. The use of antigens of tapeworm substance for diagnosis is recommended.
17.
It further appears that this parasite may constitute another potential waterborn disease throughout its range in the eastern United States, and render swimming in certain natural bodies of water carrying the copepod intermediate host, or the use of shallow well or spring water, etc., dangerous.
18.
Such antigens as we used are not specific, since they retain the lipid fraction. Spirometra antigens elicited positive reactions in hydatid disease patients. It is probable that a more specific antigen can be prepared by preliminary removal of the lipids before extraction.


Abstract If Knobe is right that ordinary judgments are normatively suffused, how do scientists free themselves from these influences? I suggest that because science is distributed and externalized, its claims can be manipulated in ways that allow normative influences to be hived off. This allows scientists to deploy concepts which are not normatively suffused. I suggest that there are good reasons to identify these normatively neutral concepts with the folk concepts.


We show theoretically that two-dimensional (2D) photonic crystals in semiconductor membranes strongly modify the radiative decay of dipole emitters. Three-dimensional finite-difference time-domain calculations show over 7 times inhibition and 15 times enhancement of the emission rate compared with vacuum for judiciously oriented and positioned dipoles. Emission rate modifications inside the membrane mimic the local mode density in a simple 2D model. The inhibition of emission saturates with crystal size around the source, with a 1/e size that scales as the inverse gap bandwidth. Owing to the vertically guided mode structure, inhibition occurs only near the slab center, but enhanced emission persists also outside the membrane. We find that emission changes can even be observed in experiments with ensembles of randomly oriented dipoles.


Mine closures will be especially widespread in eastern China. However, Because of relatively high residual coal-bed methane content, the abandoned coal mine methane (ACMM) reserves of China are huge, and from a greenhouse gas control perspective it is preferable that they be developed and utilized, rather than allowed to vent to the atmosphere. The exploitation and development of ACMM in China is still in its infancy, with theory and practice undergoing rapid development. Four factors are particularly influential on design of ACMM recovery strategies. The first factor is what may be termed the "enrichment space", which reflects the final state of the strata after completion of longwall extraction and subsequent strata settlement, and is here defined as the region between the outer, limit of stress relief and the limit of the extracted panels. Quantitative analysis of the components of gas mixtures recovered from the enrichment space can be tracked using stable carbon isotope techniques. The second factor is the permeability field surrounding the abandoned mine voids. The thick mudstones that commonly overlie the coal seams serve to confine the water and gas within the enrichment space and old mine voids. The geometry of these confining layers can be confirmed by seismic reflection or other geophysical methods, which can reveal the extent of the zone affected by fracture development. On this basis, models of methane movement in abandoned mines can be constrained, allowing valuable predictions of availability of ACMM resources under different mining and post-closure drainage conditions.


European Contexts for English Republicanism offers new perspectives on early modern English republicanism through its focus on the Continental reception of and engagement with seventeenth-century English thinkers and political events. Looking both at political ideas and at the people that shaped them, the collection examines English republican thought in its wider European context during the later seventeenth and eighteenth century. In a number of case studies, the contributors assess the different ways in which English republican ideas were not only shaped by the thought of the ancients, but also by contemporary authors from all over Europe, such as Hugo Grotius or Christoph Besold. They demonstrate that English republican thinkers did not only act in dialogue with Continental authors and scholars, their ideas in turn also left a long-lasting legacy in Europe as they were received, transformed and put to new uses by thinkers in France, Italy, the Netherlands, Germany and Poland.

Far from being an exclusively transatlantic affair, as much of the established scholarship suggests, English republican thought also left its legacy on the European Continent, finding its way into wider debates about the rights and wrongs of the English Civil War and the nature of government, while later translations of English republican works also influenced the key thinkers of the French Revolution and the liberals of the nineteenth century.

Bringing together a range of fresh and original essays by British and European scholars in the field of early modern intellectual history and English studies, this collection of essays revises a one-sided approach to English republicanism and widens the scope of study beyond linguistic and national boundaries by looking at English republicans and their continental networks and legacy.


Crowd work has the potential of helping the financial recovery of regions traditionally plagued by a lack of economic opportunities, e.g., rural areas. However, we currently have limited information about the challenges facing crowd workers from rural and super rural areas as they struggle to make a living through crowd work sites. This paper examines the challenges and advantages of rural and super rural Amazon Mechanical Turk (MTurk) crowd workers and contrasts them with those of workers from urban areas. Based on a survey of 421 crowd workers from differing geographic regions in the U.S., we identified how across regions, people struggled with being onboarded into crowd work. We uncovered that despite the inequalities and barriers, rural workers tended to be striving more in micro-tasking than their urban counterparts. We also identified cultural traits, relating to time dimension and individualism, that offer us an insight into crowd workers and the necessary qualities for them to succeed on gig platforms. We finish by providing design implications based on our findings to create more inclusive crowd work platforms and tools.


This comprehensive book is the first of its kind to take scientists and engineers beyond simply getting a patent granted. Through the author's extensive technical background and experience in intellectual property licensing, it ties the many technical, legal and business aspects of patent enforcement to the innovation and patenting stage in the patent value chain, with the objective of helping inventors to create valuable patents that can be capitalized. In easy-to-understand language, this book covers various aspects, including basic concepts of patent laws and rules, innovation protection, patenting, patents post-granting and patent licensing. With over 40 tables, 70 figures, nearly 100 cases and examples, and a comprehensive index table, it serves as a practical handbook for inventors and patent practitioners. This second edition incorporates the latest changes in the America Invents Act (AIA), with additional case studies and illustrations throughout the book. For inventors who want to file patents by themselves, this new edition provides guidelines and step-by-step instructions on preparing and filing a US provisional patent application, while avoiding the pitfalls that commonly occur in do-it-yourself patenting.


The Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act ("HSR Act") is a centerpiece of federal antitrust law. Designed to aid enforcement of Clayton Act Section 7, which prohibits mergers and acquisitions that "may... substantially... lessen competition" or "tend to create a monopoly," the statute requires purchasers of an issuer's voting securities exceeding a certain amount to notify the Federal Trade Commission ("FTC") and the Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice ("DOJ") of the potential acquisition, pay a filing fee, and observe a thirty-day waiting period before proceeding. The FTC or DOJ may thereafter issue to the proposed acquirer a "second request" for additional information about the acquisition, and then conduct an investigation, take testimony, and seek to prevent the acquisition. Investors that have acquired shares without complying with these requirements are subject to civil penalties up to $40,000 per day. Because the HSR Act is supposed to concern itself only with transactions which may lessen competition, when Congress enacted the statute in 1976 it exempted eleven types of transactions from its filing requirement, and also authorized the FTC to exempt other acquisitions "not likely to violate the antitrust laws." The most prevalent and important exemption is the "Investment-Only" carve-out, which applies to "acquisitions, solely for the purpose of investment, of voting securities, if, as a result of such acquisition, the securities acquired or held do not exceed 10 [percent] of the outstanding voting securities of the issuer."
Congress created these exemptions intending that the filing requirement would apply only to "the very largest corporate mergers — about the 150 largest out of the thousands that take place every year." But things have turned out quite differently. Even with the numerous exemptions, in recent years the HSR Act's filing requirement has applied to more than ten times the number of transactions originally envisioned. This is in part due to the fact that the FTC has consistently advanced and enforced an unduly restrictive view of the Investment Only ("I-O") Exemption. While the antitrust laws are unquestionably important for well-functioning markets and a vibrant economy, the government's enforcement of them is subject to constitutional constraints. The enforcement agencies have veered off course by effectively coercing large numbers of speakers qualifying for the I-O Exemption to abstain from engaging in otherwise permissible speech in order to avoid the HSR filing fee and waiting-period (and by coercing others to pay the filing fee and observe the thirty-day waiting period so that they can engage in permissible speech), thereby effecting a widespread infringement of the First Amendment which cannot be justified by legitimate antitrust enforcement objectives.


Researchers often talk about specific technical trends or research topics. But we rarely talk about how and why we do the research that we do. The process of submitting and reviewing papers puts our ideas through a particular kind of filter that may make all of the research seem like it follows some standard rubric, a SIGCOMM Normal Form if you will. During a panel at HotNets'21, five researchers---Hari Balakrishnan, Jon Crowcroft, Jennifer Rexford, Scott Shenker, and David Tennenhouse---each answered three questions about how they pick their own research topics, what areas they would like to see more research on, and how they evaluate conference papers. Due to the unexpectedly positive response to that panel, CCR will be publishing a series of answers to these three questions, starting with two participants from the panel but reaching out to others to provide answers from a broader cross-section of the SIGCOMM community.


People often prioritize their own interests, but also like to see themselves as moral. How do individuals resolve this tension? One way to both maximize self-interest and maintain a moral self-image is to misremember the extent of one's selfishness. Here, we tested this possibility. Across three experiments, participants decided how to split money with anonymous partners, and were later asked to recall their decisions. Participants systematically recalled being more generous in the past than they actually were, even when they were incentivized to recall accurately. Crucially, this effect was driven by individuals who gave less than what they personally believed was fair, independent of how objectively selfish they were. Our findings suggest that when people's actions fall short of their own personal standards, they may misremember the extent of their selfishness, thereby warding off negative emotions and threats to their moral self-image.


This paper aims at characterizing the scattering mechanisms occurring at the ground level in a tropical forest illuminated by a P-band synthetic aperture radar (SAR). The analysis is carried out based on the multibaseline, fully polarimetric, data set collected by ONERA over Paracou, French Guyana, in the frame of the European space agency campaign TropiSAR. The favorable baseline distribution of this data set results in the possibility of removing most contributions from the vegetation layer by tomographic techniques, thus allowing the generation of a new fully polarimetric single look complex SAR image relative to scattering contributions from the ground level only. Such a ground layer image is then analyzed by considering the variation of its polarimetric signature with respect to terrain local slope and Radar look angle. Two major conclusions are drawn: 1) double bounce scattering from trunk-ground interactions is observed to be the dominant scattering mechanism at the ground level on flat terrains, whereas it rapidly tends to vanish as the topographic slope increases, and 2) the characteristic parameter that rules trunk-ground scattering is not the tree height, but rather the available free path facing the tree, as a result of the presence of nearby trees, undulating topography, or understory preventing double bounce scattering from taking place whenever the ground bounce occurs too far away from the considered tree. The mean free path length resulting from the analysis of this data-set is found to be L ≅ 7 m. Finally, we discuss how the concept of free path length can be accounted for in simple terms by assuming an equivalent extinction model characterized by a variation along the horizontal dimension.


Video desnowing has become a challenging research topic in computer vision in recent years. Existing methods cannot remove most of the snow in heavy snow scenes and will cause the deformation of moving objects when used for snowy videos that include moving objects. These methods have poor generalizability, exhibiting poor performance when removing snow from videos with different resolutions. In this paper, we propose a new video snow removal method based on self-adaptation snow detection and a patch-based Gaussian mixture model (VSRSG). First, an optical flow estimation method and a support vector machine (SVM) are used to detect snowflakes, and a self-adaptation threshold process is used to remove dense snowflakes in the snowflake detection map to obtain a sparse snowflake detection map. Then, a patch-based Gaussian mixture model (PBGMM), which can remove moving objects and both sparse and dense snowflakes from videos and restore a clear video background, is applied for background modeling. A Markov random field (MRF) and self-adaptation threshold processing are used to extract sparse snowflakes and moving objects and combine them with the background to form an input video without dense snowflakes. Finally, a similar block matching method is employed to fill in the detected snowflake pixels with the information from adjacent frames to remove the sparse snowflakes in the near range. This method can also remove snowflakes in front of moving objects. Experiments show that the proposed method can simultaneously remove sparse snowflakes, dense snowflakes and snowflakes in front of moving objects and outperforms other state-of-the-art methods.


This paper presents an updated meta-analysis of the eect of currency unions on trade, focusing on the Euro area. Using meta-regression meth- ods such as funnel asymmetry test, evidence for strong publication bias is found. The estimated underlying eect for currency unions other than Eu- rozone reaches more than 60%. However, according to the meta-regression analysis, the Euro's trade promoting eect corrected for publication bias is insignicant. The Rose eect literature shows signs of the economics research cycle: reported t-statistic is a quadratic concave function of publi- cation year. Explanatory meta-regression (robust xed eects and random eects), that can explain about 70% of the heterogeneity in the literature, suggests that results published by some authors might consistently dier from the mainstream output and that study outcomes are systematically dependent on study design (usage of panel data, short- or long-run nature, number of countries in the dataset).


This paper describes the distribution, seismic characteristics and potential volume of gas hydrates in the eastern part of the North Makassar Basin, Indonesia. Identification of the gas hydrates depends entirely on the presence of extensive bottom simulating reflectors (BSR) which are distributed primarily within the offshore extension of the West Sulawesi Fold Belt. Turbidite deposition within the fold belt mini-basins provides a reservoir and a source of organic material for the production of biogenic methane gas. Several seismic examples are shown, including a suspected palaeo-BSR on the crest of an eroded anticline, a submarine mud volcano and an occurrence of rotated slump blocks and debris flows that glide along the hydrate/free gas interface. Geothermal gradients derived from the BSR database averaged 4.7°C/100 m, whilst derived heat flow values varied from 20 mW m−2 to 60 mW m−2, comparing favourably with regional heat flow data. Gas-in-place estimations for the most contiguous accumulation of gas hydrates (c. 8000 km2) yielded an estimated 1.89×1012 m3 (67×1012 SCF) of methane gas. Free gas in place below the hydrate zone within the same area was estimated to be 379×109 m3 (13×1012 SCF).


This book is based on my PhD dissertation, entitled Representations of the Concept of "Americanness" in the Canon of Antebellum American Literature. It is a work in cultural history and literary theory that suggests a fresh and potentially fruitful approach to the old notion of Americanness, an idea that lay at the foundation of American studies in mid-twentieth century, only to be exposed as "ideological fiction" by the New Americanists. Surprisingly, neither its advocates nor its critics have made the scholarly effort necessary to theorize or conceptualize Americanness. The subtitle indicates what is distinctive about this project: this is a study of the concept of Americanness. Thus, following Reinhart Koselleck's history of concepts (Begriffsgeschichte), I propose that "Americanness" is not an ordinary word, but a concept with a broad, albeit historically specific, semantic field. Thus, in the three decades before the Civil War, the semantic field of "Americanness" was constituted at the intersection of several concepts, in different stages of their respective histories; among these, nation, representation, individualism, sympathy, race, and womanhood. By tracing the representations of these concepts in literary texts of the antebellum era, paying attention to their overlapping with the rhetoric of national identification, I uncover some of the meaning of "Americanness" in that period. As far as literary history writing is concerned, Begriffsgeschichte has a double potential: first, to explain the source of confusion between historically different semantic loads of the same concept and, second, to check the critic's tendency to relativize concepts and therefore make the past a little too familiar. The concept-focused close reading of literary works of the past involves a reformulation of the text/context binary so as to account for contingencies without diminishing the importance of exegesis (a crippling tendency in contemporary literary studies); ultimately, this work aims to reconsider the relationship between history and literature.To lay out the meaning of "Americanness" I analyze a wide range of antebellum texts by Emerson, Melville, Thoreau, Douglass, Whitman, Stowe, Jacobs, Hawthorne, Poe, and Fuller, against the background of critical reception and recent scholarship. Thus, to college students and faculty, this book offers a period study of major American writers of the antebellum era.


The research methodology will be developmental research, defined as 'The systematic study of designing, developing and evaluating instructional programs, processes and products that must meet the criteria of internal consistency and effectiveness.' (Richey and Nelson, 1996, p. 1213). Using this kind of methodology will allow me to find outcomes on a Self-Direction Learning (SDL) design process together with colleagues and student teachers - and to carry out several designed learning arrangements from an educational perspective. From the pedagogic perspective I intend to improve the relation between teacher trainer and student teacher with the accent on development, stimulation and support of SDL. This will be done during the design and carrying out of learning arrangements and also by training teacher trainers in the necessary skills of SDL in the context of relational/pedagogic didactic. Looking from both related perspectives it will lead to a construction of an SDL-environment in which teacher trainers and student teacher will learn effectively together.


Senilityconsists of ages nearing or surpassing the life expectancy of human begins, and thus the end of the human life cycle.WHO reports that there are currently about 6000 million old-age persons in the world aged 60 years and above;they have frustration and feeling of stress and anxiety about their remaining life.Changing family structure and attitude of younger generation towards the aged have led to a sharp rise in old age homes.To promote the psychological wellbeing and general health by reducing the stress and anxiety through the most effective therapy applicable for all age group is laughter therapy. So the study was to assess the effectiveness of laughter therapy on stress and anxiety among elderly at selected old age home, Puducherry. The aim of the study wasto evaluate the effectiveness of laughter therapy on stress and anxiety among elderly at selected old age home, Puducherry. The Preexperimental study with one group pretest and posttest design was conducted among 60 elderly of Hospice Home for the aged. The samples were selected by using simple random sampling technique. The pretest of Stress and Anxiety was assessed by using Modified Cohen Perceived Stress Scale and Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale.The laughter therapy was administered for 20 minutes daily for 21 days. The Post test was conducted by using same tool. The study result showed that out of 60 elderly, the post-test level of stress median score (17.5) was significantly less than the pre-test level of stress median score (23.5) by using Wilcoxon Signed Ranks test ( 6.383) and the post-test level of anxiety median scores (16) was significantly less than the pre-test level of anxiety median scores (19) by using Wilcoxon Signed Rank Test ( 6.383) and indicates that laughter therapywas significantly effective in reducing stress and anxiety P-value <0.001. Thus this study proves that "Laughter therapy was effective in reduction of Stress and Anxiety among elderly", who residing in Old Age Home.


For the first time, a student can now find all the key plans in one place. Featuring more than 100 of the most significant and influential buildings of the twentieth century, this book includes both classic works by such seminal architects as Le Corbusier, Frank Lloyd Wright, Mies van der Rohe and Alvar Aalto, as well as those by more recent masters, such as Norman Foster. Frank Gehry and Rem Koolhaas. For each of the buildings included there are numerous, accurate scale plans showing each floor, together with elevations, sections and site plans where appropriate. All of these have been specially commissioned for the book and are based on the most up-to-date information and sources. There is also a concise text explaining the significant architectural features of the building and the influences it shows or generated, together with full-colour images. Cross-references to other buildings in the book highlight the various connections between these key structures.


The Willamette Valley of Oregon has extensive areas of poorly drained, commercial grass seed lands. Little is know about the ability of riparian areas in these settings to reduce nitrate in water draining from grass seed fields. We established two study sites with similar soils and hydrology but contrasting riparian vegetation along an intermittent stream that drains perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne L.) fields in the Willamette Valley of western Oregon. We installed a series of nested piezometers along three transects at each site to examine NO3-N in shallow ground water in grass seed fields and riparian areas. Results showed that a noncultivated riparian zone comprised of grasses and herbaceous vegetation significantly reduced NO3-N concentrations of shallow ground water moving from grass seed fields. Darcy's law-based estimates of shallow ground water flow through riparian zone A/E horizons revealed that this water flowpath could account for only a very small percentage of the streamflow. Even though there is great potential for NO3-N to be reduced as water moves through the noncultivated riparian zone with grass-herbaceous vegetation, the potential was not fully realized because only a small proportion of the stream flow interacts with riparian zone soils. Consequently, effective NO3-N water quality management in poorly drained landscapes similar to the study watershed is primarily dependent on implementation of sound agricultural practices within grass seed fields and is less influenced by riparian zone vegetation. Wise fertilizer application rates and timing are key management tools to reduce export of NO3-N in stream waters.


Because of the secularity of sociology, religion remains a relatively marginal field of study and the insights of the sociology of religion are generally ignored or overlooked within other subfields. But religion can be a force that deeply influences personal, community, and national life in nonobvious ways through shaping the social and political structures of society. Consequently, including an analysis of religion as a fundamental factor of social life could greatly enrich and even transform many subfields of sociology. In this essay, I focus on the sociology of migration and immigration, my area of research, and show how religion plays a central role in social, economic, and political processes surrounding migration. Drawing on case studies of migration and immigration of groups from India based on my research and that of others, I discuss how religion, through a variety of indirect and direct mechanisms, shapes migration patterns, remittance use, social incorporation into receiving societies, and forms of political mobilization.


Specialist accommodation operations are a rapidly expanding nature-based accommodation
sector contributing to the expansion of tourism in regional and rural areas near protected
areas in Australia. Specialist accommodation operations are characterised by being owner operated
accommodation styles having a small room capacity, a high host-guest interaction,
the location, features or services of the establishment provide a special opportunity for
guests, and there are special activities offered to guests. The styles of accommodation
included in the study were bed and breakfasts, farm stays, cabins, cottages, houseboats,
licensed public hotels, backpacker hostels, ecolodges, retreats and spas, and guest houses.
This thesis examines the implementation of environmental management practices and the
environmental attitudes held by the owners of specialist accommodation establishments
neighbouring or located within 50 kilometres of the Wet Tropics World Heritage Area in
North Queensland. The study provides an understanding of how specialist accommodation
operators located near protected areas contribute to the ecological sustainability of the
natural environment.

A total of 101 specialist accommodation operators located on the Atherton Tablelands
(n=50), in the Daintree region (n=32) and the Mission Beach region (n=19), completed a
purposely designed postal survey investigating the characteristics of the accommodation
business, demographic information about the owner-operators, perceptions of
environmental certification and codes-of-conduct, the implementation of 43 environmental
management practices for water conservation, energy conservation, liquid and solid waste
management, sustainable design and other sustainable practices, and the environmental
attitudes of the owner-operators were measured with the New Ecological Paradigm (NEP)
(Dunlap, Mertig, O'Leary & Jones, 2000). Semi-structured interviews were held with 30 of
the specialist accommodation operators in the sample, seven local Shire Council town
planners and the Wet Tropics Management Authority. A brief one-page survey emailed or
posted to tourism and accommodation associations asking of environmental policies and
codes for members was returned by 14 associations.

All of the specialist accommodation operators surveyed are located within 50 kilometres of
a protected area and 30.0% are neighbouring a protected area, mostly the WTWHA. Bed
and breakfasts, cabins, cottages and caravan parks made up more than 60.0% of the sample.
The mean number of rooms for an establishment is 5.8. Specialist accommodation
operators are predominantly husband and wife teams aged over 40 years with tertiary or
trade qualifications. More than 70.0% of these people have operated their specialist
accommodation for less than eight years. The most dominant reason for operating a
specialist accommodation is for a change of lifestyle. Approximately 95.0% of the
operators are members of a tourism or accommodation association.

Environmental management practices readily adopted by specialist accommodation
operations are dual flush toilets, purchasing local goods and services, bulk purchasing
practices, the use of bio-degradable cleaning products, the use of ceiling fans not air
conditioning, and the sustainable design techniques of maximizing natural ventilation and
natural light, and their landscaping reflecting the natural environment. The implementation
of alternative sustainable environmental management practices using wind, solar or water
are minimal. Almost all of the operators had a personal concern for the environment with
more than 50.0% of operators stating this was their reason for voluntarily adopting an
environmental code-of-conduct; others followed a code for better environmental
management. The achievement of environmental certification with Ecotourism Australia,
Green Globe or AAA Tourism Green STARS is minor with most specialist accommodation
operators believing certification is beneficial to their business or will benefit their
marketing activities.

The New Ecological Paradigm showed operators are generally pro-environmental holding
an ecological worldview to varying degrees. Three factor groups were found to exist –
those who co-exist with nature, anthropocentrics and pro-environmentalists. Correlates of
environmental concern indicators were found to be either non-existent, statistically
insignificant or empirically weak. To understand the correlation between an owner operator's
environmental attitudes and an individual's intention to behave environmentally, the Framework of Environmental Behaviour recognises situational, psychological and
demographic factors which affect an individual's environmental behaviour intention.
Barriers to implementing environmental management techniques included location,
climate, knowledge, cost, time and the style of specialist accommodation.

Regulatory bodies interacting with the specialist accommodation sector in this study were
the seven local Shire councils of Atherton, Mareeba, Eacham, Herberton, Douglas,
Johnstone and Cardwell, the Wet Tropics Management Authority and 14 tourism and
accommodation associations. In essence, research of the regulatory agencies focused on
the existence of environmental policies, codes-of-conduct and guidelines for the specialist
accommodation operators located near protected areas. Shire council planning schemes
have the opportunity to provide advice on environmental best practice to new development
applications assessed under recent relevant codes. There is no mechanism to encourage
environmental best practice management to existing specialist accommodation operations.
The Wet Tropics Management Authority recognises a cooperative approach between
stakeholders of the Wet Tropics is imperative for the future sustainability of this world
heritage listed bioregion. The benefits of working with the community have been
previously recognised by WTMA with the encouragement of a landholders/ neighbours
liaison group. WTMA also encourage and promote voluntary conservation agreements
with private landowners within the Wet Tropics region particularly where cassowary
habitat corridors are located. The most dominant purpose of tourism and accommodation
associations is collective marketing. Environmental codes-of-conduct, recommendations
for environmental best practice or environmental awards to encourage best practice
techniques for their members is minimal.

This discussion of the study findings has provided further support to the proposition that
specialist accommodation operations are more conscious of, and compatible with, the
principles of ecologically sustainable tourism than traditional accommodation (Morrison et
al., 1996). A personal concern for the environment was apparent and widespread. The
majority of specialist accommodation operators are aware of the importance of their environmental actions and the consequences of improper environmental management.
There are internal and external factors impeding the implementation of some environmental
management practices.

This study has provided an initial understanding of the specialist accommodation sector and
their contribution to the future preservation of protected areas. Knowledge transfer is
imperative for the future ecological sustainability of tourism operations located near or
neighbouring protected areas in North Queensland. The results have proven specialist
accommodation owner-operators are contributing to the protection and management of
protected areas with ecological significance through a personal concern for the
environment, the implementation of sustainable environmental management practices and
principles, and guest education initiatives, all to the best of their knowledge and abilities.


Fairness of classification and regression has received much attention recently and various, partially non-compatible, criteria have been proposed. The fairness criteria can be enforced for a given classifier or, alternatively, the data can be adapated to ensure that every classifier trained on the data will adhere to desired fairness criteria. We present a practical data adaption method based on quantile preservation in causal structural equation models. The data adaptation is based on a presumed counterfactual model for the data. While the counterfactual model itself cannot be verified experimentally, we show that certain population notions of fairness are still guaranteed even if the counterfactual model is misspecified. The precise nature of the fulfilled non-causal fairness notion (such as demographic parity, separation or sufficiency) depends on the structure of the underlying causal model and the choice of resolving variables. We describe an implementation of the proposed data adaptation procedure based on Random Forests and demonstrate its practical use on simulated and real-world data.


A new efficient algorithm is presented for joint diagonalization of several matrices. The algorithm is based on the Frobenius-norm formulation of the joint diagonalization problem, and addresses diagonalization with a general, non-orthogonal transformation. The iterative scheme of the algorithm is based on a multiplicative update which ensures the invertibility of the diagonalizer. The algorithm's efficiency stems from the special approximation of the cost function resulting in a sparse, block-diagonal Hessian to be used in the computation of the quasi-Newton update step. Extensive numerical simulations illustrate the performance of the algorithm and provide a comparison to other leading diagonalization methods. The results of such comparison demonstrate that the proposed algorithm is a viable alternative to existing state-of-the-art joint diagonalization algorithms. The practical use of our algorithm is shown for blind source separation problems.


A promising strategy to enable patient stratification for targeted therapies is to monitor the target expression in a tumor by radionuclide molecular imaging. Affibody molecules (7 kDa) are nonimmunoglobulin scaffold proteins with a 25-fold smaller size than intact antibodies. They have shown an apparent potential as molecular imaging probes both in preclinical and clinical studies. Earlier, we found that hepatic uptake can be reduced by the incorporation of negatively charged purification tags at the N-terminus of Affibody molecules. We hypothesized that liver uptake might similarly be reduced by positioning the chelator at the N-terminus, where the chelator-radionuclide complex will provide negative charges. To test this hypothesis, a second generation synthetic anti-HER2 ZHER2:2891 Affibody molecule was synthesized and labeled with (111)In and (68)Ga using DOTAGA and DOTA chelators. The chelators were manually coupled to the N-terminus of ZHER2:2891 forming an amide bond. Labeling DOTAGA-ZHER2:2891 and DOTA-ZHER2:2891 with (68)Ga and (111)In resulted in stable radioconjugates. The tumor-targeting and biodistribution properties of the (111)In- and (68)Ga-labeled conjugates were compared in SKOV-3 tumor-bearing nude mice at 2 h postinjection. The HER2-specific binding of the radioconjugates was verified both in vitro and in vivo. Using the DOTAGA chelator gave significantly lower radioactivity in liver and blood for both radionuclides. The (111)In-labeled conjugates showed more rapid blood clearance than the (68)Ga-labeled conjugates. The most pronounced influence of the chelators was found when they were labeled with (68)Ga. The DOTAGA chelator gave significantly higher tumor-to-blood (61 ± 6 vs 23 ± 5, p < 0.05) and tumor-to-liver (10.4 ± 0.6 vs 4.5 ± 0.5, p < 0.05) ratios than the DOTA chelator. This study demonstrated that chelators may be used to alter the uptake of Affibody molecules, and most likely other scaffold-based imaging probes, for improvement of imaging contrast.


The aim of our project to develop a system that can be used as tracking device in the satellite signal denied region. This technology allows us to create a new horizon of possibility in many applications like military services, trekking, mining etc. where Global Positioning System (GPS) is unavailable. Very few navigation devices are available for tracking but depends on the GPS values or they are complicated, bulky, difficult to install and requires technical person to operate. The system that is developed here eliminates all the above specified limitations. There are number of motes, one as display mote and rest as reference motes are implemented. The display mote is given to an individual and reference motes are placed on the way to the destination. So person when gets lost from the camping site with the help of this display mote they can reach the destination by tracking their way without any difficulty. The reference motes guide the way to the destination.


L-Dopa markedly increased the efflux of tritiated dopamine and tritiated serotonin from rat brain slices. This action appeared contingent on the decarboxylation of L-dopa to dopamine, since it could be blocked by an inhibitor of L-amino acid decarboxylase. Selective destruction of catecholamine-containing nerve terminals by 6-hydroxydopamine significantly decreased the uptake and release of tritiated dopamine but not that of tritiated serotonin. These observations support the hypothesis that a portion of exogenously administered L-dopa may enter central serotonin terminals and undergo decarboxylation to the amine with resultant displacement of the endogenous indoleamine from vesicular stores.


"More political than cultural in its emphasis, this enormously detailed, scholarly yet thoroughly readable book about modern Spain under Franco should fascinate any reader curious to know what changes have been wrought in that country in the past 30 years. Professor Herr (UCLA and Berkeley) has researched painstakingly and drawn a clear, authentic and meaningful portrait of Spain today as it is rapidly being transformed from an agrarian society to one now predominantly industrial." (Publishers Weekly). "Professor Herr is also seeking the origins of modern Spain; his history is Aristotelian in that the end dominates the process. He seeks these origins in the later eighteenth century when the traditional order was perceived to be a bar to progress. A group of civil servants influenced by the European Enlightenment sought to bring Spain into Europe believing that industrial progress, education and agrarian reform would do the trick; but all their reforms were opposed by Catholic traditionalists. Hence the division into the 'two Spains.' Yet it is not the old crude version of two Spains, so often served up to explain everything from the failure of university reform to the Civil War, that Professor Herr plumps for. He sees the course of Spanish history explained by the rise and modification of the Moderado oligarchy...he does throw out a lifeline in a sea of complexities and gives us the best short account of Franco Spain." (Spectator). "This is a work of substantial interest and value which must be recommended as a well-balanced, readable, and scholarly introduction to a subject which has never ceased to be controversial and is still in the process of reinterpretation...commands a high place among the general histories of Spain." (Journal of Modern History).


OBJECTIVES
  The authors assessed whether there was a sex disparity in testing of patients after coronary computerized tomographic angiography (CTA) was performed for emergency department (ED) patients with potential acute coronary syndromes (ACS). In theory, once coronary anatomy has been determined, any disparity in subsequent workup should not be the result of differences in presentation.

METHODS
  This was a prospective cohort study of ED patients who presented with potential ACS and received coronary CTAs at a university hospital. Demographics, history, cardiac risk factors, follow-up testing, and procedures were recorded. Follow-up at 30 days was obtained by structured record review and telephone contact. Patients were stratified by sex and coronary CTA results (max stenosis: none, 1% to 24%, 25% to 49%, 50% to 69%, and ≥70%). Main outcome was the relative risk (RR) of a male receiving a stress test or catheterization within 30 days, stratified by categories of percent maximal stenosis.

RESULTS
  A total of 1,144 patients received coronary CTAs (mean ± SD age = 47.8 ± 8.7 years), 55% were female, and 64% were black or African American. Overall, 161 patients received follow-up testing within 30 days, 113 during their index visit. Men were more likely to receive further testing (RR = 1.51; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.14 to 1.99) compared to women. However, when stratified by percentage of stenosis, men were not more likely to receive further testing within 30 days after coronary CTA compared to women (RR = 1.14; 95% CI = 0.68 to 1.91). In multivariable modeling for risk of further testing, stenosis remained significant (adjusted relative risk [aRR] = 1.51; 95% CI = 1.19 to 1.91), while male sex, age, race, and Thrombolysis in Myocardial Infarction (TIMI) risk score were not.

CONCLUSIONS
  Male patients with potential ACS who receive a coronary CTA as a part of their ED evaluation were no more likely than female patients to receive further testing within 30 days.


The cell surface complex (Detering et al., 1977, J. Cell Biol. 75, 899-914) of the sea urchin egg consists of two subcellular organelles: the plasma membrane, containing associated peripheral proteins and the vitelline layer, and the cortical vesicles. We have now developed a method of isolating the plasma membrane from this complex and have undertaken its biochemical characterization. Enzymatic assays of the cell surface complex revealed the presence of a plasma membrane marker enzyme, ouabain-sensitive Na+/K+ ATPase, as well as two cortical granule markers, proteoesterase and ovoperoxidase. After separation from the cortical vesicles and purification on a sucrose gradient, the purified plasma membranes are recovered as large sheets devoid of cortical vesicles. The purified plasma membranes are highly enriched in the Na+/K+ ATPase but contain only very low levels of the proteoesterase and ovoperoxidase. Ultrastructurally, the purified plasma membrane is characterized as large sheets containing a "fluffy" proteinaceous layer on the external surface, which probably represent peripheral proteins, including remnants of the vitelline layer. Extraction of these membranes with Kl removes these peripheral proteins and causes the membrane sheets to vesiculate. Polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis of the cell surface complex, plasma membranes, and Kl-extracted membranes indicates that the plasma membrane contains five to six major proteins species, as well as a large number of minor species, that are not extractable with Kl. The vitelline layer and other peripheral membrane components account for a large proportion of the membrane-associated protein and are represented by at least six to seven polypeptide components. The phospholipid composition of the Kl-extracted membranes is unique, being very rich in phosphatidylethanolamine and phosphatidylinositol. Cholesterol was found to be a major component of the plasma membrane. Before Kl extraction, the purified plasma membranes retain the same species-specific sperm binding property that is found in the intact egg. This observation indicates that the sperm receptor mechanisms remain functional in the isolated, cortical vesicle-free membrane preparation.


Previous research has found that there is variability in the effectiveness of different types of digitally facilitated communication, but no research has been conducted on whether the mode of communication being used impacts the desire to engage in subsequent conversations with a particular individual. This study examined whether the mode of initial communication would have an impact upon the desire to engage in subsequent conversations. In a sample of 33 participants ages 18-22, I sought to examine how phone conversations and texting differ as methods of initial communication in regard to their impact on participants' expressed desire for continued communication. In order to examine this relationship, I conducted an experiment in which I randomly assigned subjects to either call or text a confederate. After the experiment, participants completed a survey in order to measure their desire to engage in further communication with the confederate. An independent samples t-test was conducted to compare participants' desire for subsequent communication in phone calling and texting conditions. Our hypothesis was that there would be a significant difference in the desire to engage in further communication as a direct result of the mode of communication being used. There was no significant difference found between the calling and texting groups, suggesting that in regard to fostering a rapport after an initial meeting, there is no difference between calling and texting.


Properties of nanoparticles are size dependent, and a model to predict particle size is of importance. Gold nanoparticles are commonly synthesized by reducing tetrachloroauric acid with trisodium citrate, a method pioneered by Turkevich et al (Discuss. Faraday Soc. 1951, 11, 55). Data from several investigators that used this method show that when the ratio of initial concentrations of citrate to gold is varied from 0.4 to similar to 2, the final mean size of the particles formed varies by a factor of 7, while subsequent increases in the ratio hardly have any effect on the size. In this paper, a model is developed to explain this widely varying dependence. The steps that lead to the formation of particles are as follows: reduction of Au3+ in solution, disproportionation of Au+ to gold atoms and their nucleation, growth by disproportionation on particle surface, and coagulation. Oxidation of citrate results in the formation of dicarboxy acetone, which aids nucleation but also decomposes into side products. A detailed kinetic model is developed on the basis of these steps and is combined with population balance to predict particle-size distribution. The model shows that, unlike the usual balance between nucleation and growth that determines the particle size, it is the balance between rate of nucleation and degradation of dicarboxy acetone that determines the particle size in the citrate process. It is this feature that is able to explain the unusual dependence of the mean particle size on the ratio of citrate to gold salt concentration. It is also found that coagulation plays an important role in determining the particle size at high concentrations of citrate.


Two key aspects of problem solving are representation and search heuristics. Both theoretical and experimental studies have shown that there is no one best problem representation nor one best search heuristic. Therefore, some recent methods, e.g., portfolios, learn a good combination of problem solvers to be used in a given domain or set of domains. There are even dynamic portfolios that select a particular combination of problem solvers specific to a problem. These approaches: (1) need to perform a learning step; (2) do not usually focus on changing the representation of the input domain/problem; and (3) frequently do not adapt the portfolio to the specific problem. This paper describes a meta-reasoning system that searches through the space of combinations of representations and heuristics to find one suitable for optimally solving the specific problem. We show that this approach can be better than selecting a combination to use for all problems within a domain and is competitive with state of the art optimal planners.


It seems incredible now, but in the late 1980s hospitals in areas with high rates of HIV infection were full of young men with AIDS, many with neurological complications. The HIV epidemic seemed set to spread and one could foresee the management of neurological complications of HIV becoming a large part of neurological practice. Fortunately, public health interventions and highly effective antiretroviral treatments have dramatically changed this. While HIV is still a mimic for many conditions and remains a diagnostic challenge its effect on other pathologies is rather less than one might expect – as illustrated in the case of leprosy reported by Clare Galtrey and colleagues (see page 135). As the threat of HIV receded in the late 1990s, the exponential rise of new variant Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease (CJD) in the UK threatened another neurological epidemic. Once again this fortunately did not develop, presumably because of the public health measures. However, the threat renewed the focus on all forms of CJD, both scientifically and clinically. The UK units in Edinburgh and London collaborated to provide a national surveillance service and to provide excellent clinical and diagnostic input to neurologists who contact them. Simon Mead and Peter Rudge (see page 113) provide us the benefit of this experience in describing the mimics and chameleons of CJD. A tricky differential but one we do not have to consider as frequently as once we feared. How often do you ask your patients about their hobbies? When considering patients for surgery, particularly epilepsy surgery, we worry about language lateralisation and potential motor deficits but do we think sufficiently about the impact the surgery might have on their musicality, the appreciation or performance of music (which your patients may regard as being rather more than just a 'hobby')? Melissa Maguire discusses these issues on page 86 – and other links between music and epilepsy (including lowlevel evidence for the antiepileptic effect of Mozart). In contrast, Ray Wynford-Thomas and Rob Powell (see page 122) work from structure to function and tell us all about that odd bit of cortex that doesn't quite make it to the surface of the brain – the insula (or Island of Reil) – what does it do and what we do we need to know about it? For some it is the fifth lobe of the brain, adapting emotions and behaviour to changes in the external environment, in what Walter Bradford Cannon (1871–1945) once called, 'The wisdom of the body'. We have two very practical reviews to help the jobbing neurologist. Alexander McGeachan and Chris McDermott (see page 96) update us on managing oral secretions in neurological disease, to help our patients with difficult drooling and other salivary problems. Simon Cronin and colleagues provide tips to help the neurologist to assess referrals on the renal unit (see page 104). In this edition we have a Test Yourself (from Gemma Maxwell and colleagues, see page 154) and a Clinicopathological Conference (CPC) – from the Edinburgh course (Fiona Moreton and colleagues, see page 159). Both provide the opportunity to think through challenging clinical cases and of course in the CPC you can pit your wits against the discussant, Robert Brenner, who talks us through his take on the case. But please try to avoid looking at the answers first. . .. As always, we have an assortment of difficult cases, neurological rarities, striking images and the latest in the Neuromythology series, along with reports from Book Club and Carphology. Everyone can find something useful and practical somewhere in this issue.


A model for the calculation of the diffuse reflectance and transmittance of a single interference layer with rough interfaces on a transparent substrate is presented. The model is based on electric field calculations and scalar scattering theory, and it assumes that the interfaces of the layer are totally uncorrelated. Examples are given of calculated spectra in which the parameters of the model are varied systematically to show the influence from different interface roughness and refractive index combinations as well as absorption in the film. A wavelength-dependent effective root-mean-square roughness is introduced. This depends on the nature of the roughness, and the bandwidth limits are given by the experimental conditions. Finally, total integrated scattering spectra are calculated and the importance of taking multiple reflections in the substrate into account is shown.


Starting-point for the two pilot studies reported here was the question whether systematicity in interlanguage is the same for different types of L2 behavior. We hypothesized that:1. If L2 learners know the correct L2 rule they make more errors (deviations from that particular L2 rule) in an oral production task in which they are pressed for time than in a task where they can speak as slowly as they want, provided that they have not yet reached the level of complete automatic mastery of the rule. In other words, under these conditions L2 learners show variability.2. If L2 learners do not know the correct L2 rule, they make the same number of errors in the + time limit as in the - time limit task. In this case their interlanguage is invariable.These hypotheses are consistent with both skill theory (Levelt 1976) and with an early version of the Monitor Theory, which predicts that, with increasing processing time, L2 output will improve due to the monitor. In both studies we analysed word order errors in Dutch (L2) made by adult speakers of English (LI) who live in Holland and are learning Dutch. The first pilot study consisted of two longitudinal case studies (fig. I). In the second pilot study 18 Ss where scored on 3 tests:1. A knowledge test for the L2 word order rules under investigation. Ss had to correct sentences containing word order errors. This test yielded a criterion for classifying Ss as having + or - knowledge.2. An oral production test (retelling in L2 of passages of LI speech) with restricted time. Response length was the same as the length of the stimulus passage, i.e. about 24 seconds.3. The same test as under 2, the difference being that Ss had ample time for their responses.Each group (+ and - knowledge according to test 1) made as many errors in test 2 as in test 3 (+ and - time limit): table 3. Thus no evidence was found for hypothesis I , which, however , does not mean that it has been falsified. Two possible explanations are offered, both in accordance with a later version of the Monitor Theory (Krashen 1979). First, Ss may have concentrated on communication rather than on grammatical correctness, in both oral tests. Second, word order rules may be so hard for most learners that their performance does not improve even when they have plenty of time for planning their utterances.


Males and females of nearly all animals differ in their body size, a phenomenon called sexual size dimorphism (SSD). The degree and direction of SSD vary considerably among taxa, including among populations within species. A considerable amount of this variation is due to sex differences in body size plasticity. We examine how variation in these sex differences is generated by exploring sex differences in plasticity in growth rate and development time and the physiological regulation of these differences (e.g., sex differences in regulation by the endocrine system). We explore adaptive hypotheses proposed to explain sex differences in plasticity, including those that predict that plasticity will be lowest for traits under strong selection (adaptive canalization) or greatest for traits under strong directional selection (condition dependence), but few studies have tested these hypotheses. Studies that combine proximate and ultimate mechanisms offer great promise for understanding variation in SSD and sex differences in body size plasticity in insects.


Patterns of biodiversity and evolutionary processes controlling them are still poorly studied in desert biomes. Fine-scale markers could help answer some of the pressing research questions for desert biomes and Sahara in particular. Such markers are available for some large mammals and crocodiles, but not for small vertebrates. Here we present a battery of microsatellite loci developed for Agama boulengeri, a promising model to study evolutionary and demographic processes in the Sahara-Sahel. Loci were selected by sequencing enriched DNA libraries with 454 pyrosequencing. A total of 23 polymorphic loci were successfully amplified in four multiplex reactions. Crossamplification of all microsatellite loci in A. agama and A. boueti was partially successful. These markers are a promising tool for assessing genetic diversity, gene-flow dynamics and demographic patterns in this group. Given the genus Agama is distributed throughout Africa, results presented here might also facilitate studies in other regions.


The purpose of this paper is to provide a research brief on current studies related to utilizing a flipped learning model. The flipped model entails students engaging with a recorded lecture prior to live class time, allowing for more student engagement with content, classmates, and the instructor during class time. A flipped model empowers students with more choice and control over their learning, can improve student achievement, and can reduce student anxiety. During a global pandemic when nearly all higher education institutions have rapidly transitioned to online learning platforms, a flipped model can provide a blended, balanced approach to student learning.


Social entrepreneurs are springing up everywhere across the globe and they are gaining increasing recognition for their activities as agents of change. More and more citizens are using entrepreneurial skills in building sustainable enterprises, profit and non-profit to bring change in country and to address global societal, ethical or environmental value issues primarily at local level. But it is imperative to scale up the operations and maintain acceptable quality standards through the perspective of productions and operations management. This study provides a comparative analysis of eight cases of social entrepreneurship in the field of healthcare and education sectors in India and suggests factors associated with scaling up of operations that leads to significant changes at the base of pyramid to marginalised and poor people and are able to overcome the hurdles to socio-economic and sustainable development in poor countries.


Foreword by Dan Jenkins Acknowledgments Introduction by John Schulian Part 1. In a Class by Themselves Down Great Purple Valleys "The Haig": Rowdy Rebel of the Fairways Part 2. Bats and Brawls Babe Herman Good-by to All That Memoirs of Old Satch Most Blood for Your Money The Home of the Bean and the Kid The World's Richest Problem Child Hard-way Bill on the Mississippi They Walked by Night Baseball Eye Passing of an Unlicensed Hero The All-American Rookie Ball Fans and Other Primates Memoirs of a Mild Fanatic Razor Blades Amok The Space Revolution Part 3. Cauliflower Alley Morgan on Jaws Bag Hits Baer The Boy Bandit Upsy Downsy Death of a Simian and a Scholar The Case of the Chilly Giant Mr. Percentage Life with Eddie The Sweet and the Tough John Arthur Johnson Fun at the Scales Now Pitching for Bartlett's When in Doubt, Hang the Judge No Scar, No Memory Part 4. Cautionary Tales The Life and Loves of the Real McCoy Mysterious Montague Battling Siki Part 5. Other Precincts The Roller Derby Sleeper for '44 The Old Postgraduate Try Rooney's Ride An Angel on Horseback Little Bill Strong Cigars and Lovely Women What Was That Again? Mr. Jacoby and the National Folly The Best of the Browsers Maybe in Memoriam The Life of T-ts Sh-r What Price Olympic Peace? Part 6. Two for the Money Titanic Thompson The Sack of Shelby


We characterized the passive mechanical properties of the affected and contralateral musculotendon units in 9 chronic stroke survivors as well as in 6 neurologically-intact controls. Using a position-controlled motor, we precisely indented the distal tendon of the biceps brachii to a 20 mm depth from skin, recording both its sagittal motion using ultrasound movies and the compression force at the tip of the indenter. Length changes of 8 equally-spaced features along the aponeurosis axis were quantified using a pixel-tracking protocol. We report that, on the aggregate and with respect to contralateral and control, respectively, the affected side initiates feature motion at a shorter indentation distance by 61% and 50%, travels further by 15% and 9%, at a lower rate of 28% and 15%, and is stiffer by 40% and 57%. In an extended analysis including the spatial location of the 8 designated features, we report that in contrast to the contralateral and control muscles, the affected musculotendon unit does not strain measurably within the imaging window. These results confirm that chronic stroke-induced spasticity changes musculotendon unit passive mechanics, causing it to not strain under stretch. The mechanisms responsible for altered passive mechanics may lie within extracellular matrix fibrosis.


Ethnographic research, including interviews, focus groups, and observations were conducted to explore gendered dimensions of smoking among low level smokers, including the acceptability of smoking in different contexts; reasons for smoking; the monitoring of self and friends' smoking; and shared smoking as a means of communicating concern and empathy. Important gendered dimensions of smoking were documented. Although males who smoked were described as looking manly, relaxed, and in control, among females, smoking was considered a behavior that made one look slutty and out of control. Young women were found to monitor their own and their friends' smoking carefully and tended to smoke in groups to mitigate negative perceptions of smoking. Gender-specific tobacco cessation programs are warranted on college campuses.


The skin erythema meter is a fibre-optic, dual wavelength reflectance meter which measures the reflectance of the skin on two wavelengths, one the blood/haemoglobin absorption band (555 nm) and another a reference (660 nm). The instrument consists of a fibre-optic sensor head, a microprocessor-based control and analysis unit and a plotter, and it presents the relation between the measured reflectance results in terms of a reflectance index (R(555nm):R(660nm)). The measurement cycle, including printing, takes 5 seconds. Stability tests on the erythema meter (constant distance, reference object) showed the standard deviation of the reflectance index to be +/- 0.1%, while that in repeatability tests was <+1- 0.5% for skin and <+1- 0.2% for paper with hand-held positioning and repetition. The dynamic change in the reflectance index was about 30% with strong irritation. Results of various irritation test series on human skin are also presented. Finally, the performance and applicability of the skin erythema meter with respect to allergy test procedures, irritancy testing and measurement of UV-induced erythema are discussed.


Semantic heterogeneity is a common problem when trying to unify information from disparate data systems. In order to overcome these heterogeneities it is generally understood that no one system or convention is the best, rather that mechanisms need to be implemented in which researchers can both agree on terms or keywords used and also the establishment of a keyword structure so their relationship to each other are known. This paper introduces an application developed for the hydrologic community that allows viewing and editing of the underlying keyword ontology without the need for specific knowledge of ontology editors like Protege and also permitting the tagging of individual variable names to its relevant search keywords to support another application (HydroSeek). The underlying keyword ontology is a concept ontology that is used a base for searching for hydrologic data across various data sources.


Occasionally (and fortunately), circumstances and timing combine to allow an individual, almost singlehandedly, to generate a paradigm shift in his or her chosen field of inquiry. William R. ('Bill') Evitt (1923–2009) was such a person. During his career as a palaeontologist, Bill Evitt made lasting and profound contributions to the study of both dinoflagellates and trilobites. He had a distinguished, long and varied career, researching first trilobites and techniques in palaeontology before moving on to marine palynomorphs. Bill is undoubtedly best known for his work on dinoflagellates, especially their resting cysts. He worked at three major US universities and spent a highly significant period in the oil industry. Bill's early profound interest in the natural sciences was actively encouraged both by his parents and at school. His alma mater was Johns Hopkins University where, commencing in 1940, he studied chemistry and geology as an undergraduate. He quickly developed a strong vocation in the earth sciences, and became fascinated by the fossiliferous Lower Palaeozoic strata of the northwestern United States. Bill commenced a PhD project on silicified Middle Ordovician trilobites from Virginia in 1943. His doctoral research was interrupted by military service during World War II; Bill served as an aerial photograph interpreter in China in 1944 and 1945, and received the Bronze Star for his excellent work. Upon demobilisation from the US Army Air Force, he resumed work on his PhD and was given significant teaching duties at Johns Hopkins, which he thoroughly enjoyed. He accepted his first professional position, as an instructor in sedimentary geology, at the University of Rochester in late 1948. Here Bill supervised his first two graduate students, and shared a great cameraderie with a highly motivated student body which largely comprised World War II veterans. At Rochester, Bill continued his trilobite research, and was the editor of the Journal of Paleontology between 1953 and 1956. Seeking a new challenge, he joined the Carter Oil Company in Tulsa, Oklahoma, during 1956. This brought about an irrevocable realignment of his research interests from trilobites to marine palynology. He undertook basic research on aquatic palynomorphs in a very well-resourced laboratory under the direction of one of his most influential mentors, William S. 'Bill' Hoffmeister. Bill Evitt visited the influential European palynologists Georges Deflandre and Alfred Eisenack during late 1959 and, while in Tulsa, first developed several groundbreaking hypotheses. He soon realised that the distinctive morphology of certain fossil dinoflagellates, notably the archaeopyle, meant that they represent the resting cyst stage of the life cycle. The archaeopyle clearly allows the excystment of the cell contents, and comprises one or more plate areas. Bill also concluded that spine-bearing palynomorphs, then called hystrichospheres, could be divided into two groups. The largely Palaeozoic spine-bearing palynomorphs are of uncertain biological affinity, and these were termed acritarchs. Moreover, he determined that unequivocal dinoflagellate cysts are all Mesozoic or younger, and that the fossil record of dinoflagellates is highly selective. Bill was always an academic at heart and he joined Stanford University in 1962, where he remained until retiring in 1988. Bill enjoyed getting back into teaching after his six years in industry. During his 26-year tenure at Stanford, Bill continued to revolutionise our understanding of dinoflagellate cysts. He produced many highly influential papers and two major textbooks. The highlights include defining the acritarchs and comprehensively documenting the archaeopyle, together with highly detailed work on the morphology of Nannoceratopsis and Palaeoperidinium pyrophorum using the scanning electron microscope. Bill supervised 11 graduate students while at Stanford University. He organised the Penrose Conference on Modern and Fossil Dinoflagellates in 1978, which was so successful that similar meetings have been held about every four years since that inaugural symposium. Bill also taught many short courses on dinoflagellate cysts aimed at the professional community. Unlike many eminent geologists, Bill actually retired from actively working in the earth sciences. His full retirement was in 1988; after this he worked on only a small number of dinoflagellate cyst projects, including an extensive paper on the genus Palaeoperidinium.


Fusarium head blight (FHB) is a disease of wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) that causes major yield losses in South America, as well as many other wheat growing regions around the world. FHB results in low quality, contaminated grain due to the production of mycotoxins such as deoxynivalenol (DON). In Brazil, FHB outbreaks are increasing in frequency and are currently controlled by fungicides which are costly and potentially harmful to the wider environment. To identify the genetic basis of resistance to FHB in Brazilian wheat, two mapping populations (Anahuac 75 × BR 18-Terena and BR 18-Terena × BRS 179) segregating for FHB resistance were phenotyped and quantitative trait loci (QTL) analysis was undertaken to identify genomic regions associated with FHB-related traits. A total of 14 QTL associated with FHB visual symptoms were identified, each of which explained 3.7–17.3% of the phenotypic variance. Two of these QTL were stable across environments. This suggests FHB resistance in Anahuac 75, BR 18-Terena and BRS 179 is controlled by multiple genetic loci that confer relatively minor differences in resistance. A major, novel QTL associated with DON accumulation was also identified on chromosome 4B (17.8% of the phenotypic variance), as well as a major QTL associated with thousand-grain weight on chromosome 6B (16.8% phenotypic variance). These QTL could be useful breeding targets, when pyramided with major sources of resistance such as Fhb1, to improve grain quality and reduce the reliance on fungicides in Brazil and other countries affected by FHB.


Several reclamation-reforestation techniques were studied on a reclaimed surface mine in southern West Virginia to develop practical guidelines for the establishment of eastern white pine (Pinus strobus L.) forests interplanted with black locust (Robinia psuedoacacia L.). The study was designed to investigate (i) two herbaceous ground cover mixes (a conventional erosion control cover and a tree-compatible reforestation cover) ; (ii) the effectiveness of establishing white pine and black locust by direct seeding versus hand-planting ; and (iii) the effect of fertilizing white pine with a fertilizer tablet. The study was established on a 40% slope with a minesoil derived primarily from an acidic (pH 4.8), oxidized sandstone. With an experimental variance from the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection, final surface grading was minimized to avoid compaction. The reforestation ground cover was sparser than the conventional cover during the first year and denser after 5 yr, but the difference was not statistically significant and did not affect tree establishment. Although some white pines were established by direct seeding (2 kg/ha), their distribution was irregular. Black locusts were readily established by direct seeding (0.5 kg/ha), but the number of trees established was excessive and interfered with the growth of planted pine. Overall, growth of planted pine was very good, and fertilizer tablets did not result in significantly larger pines after 5 yr. Based on results from this study, the most practical way to establish a productive white pine-black locust plantation is to plant pine seedlings and interplant or spot-seed locusts between pines.


Recent research shows that a nocturnal hawkmoth, Manduca sexta, inspects flowers in search for nectar by means of a series of hovering and proboscis movements controlled by different sensory modalities, mainly vision and mechanoreception. The diurnal Macroglossum stellatarum is a closely related hawkmoth challenged with the same task but under illuminances 6--8 orders of magnitude higher. Here, we use flower models presenting color markings, 3D features, or both to study innate flower movements and sensory cues involved in the innate inspection behavior of M. stellatarum. On flat plain colored models, moths scanned the whole corolla with their proboscis, attaining intermediate success levels. When models presented color markings, moths biased proboscis placement, which affected inspection efficiency. Three-dimensional features affected inspection behavior and efficiency, by provoking strong "diving" responses. When both visual and tactile features were present, visual cues showed prevalence in the control of the inspection behavior. We evaluated learning abilities of moths, finding that M. stellatarum cannot only improve their efficiency by calibrating innate responses but also by changing their innate strategy. We discuss results on flower inspection behavior of M. stellatarum comparatively with known aspects of this behavior in M. sexta. Motor responses appear to be shared by these hawkmoths, but their sensory control shows important differences. Future studies will evaluate whether these differences are the result of an evolutionary divergence of their innate behavior associated with a switch to diurnal activity or the result of a flexible use of sensory information by the naive animals. Copyright 2011, Oxford University Press.


The yield of soybean was influenced by the chemical and microbiological properties of the soil, which was favored by management techniques that promote improvement in soil quality. The objective of this study was to evaluate soybean yield, chemical and microbiological quality of the soil as a function of biological fertilization and soil cover conditions. The experiment was conducted in both crops seasons 2015/16 and 2016/17 with experimental design in randomized blocks, with the agronomic characteristics of the soybean analyzed as a function of the factors of biological fertilization and soil cover conditions, as well as the chemical and microbiological indicators of the soil, besides the two factors mentioned earlier, fragment of forest. It was observed higher height of plants, pods with three grains, leaf area and yield of soybean cultivated on Crotalaria ochroleuca, followed by Pennisetum glaucum. Biological fertilizer, P. glaucum and C. ochroleuca promoted increases in the fertility of soil cultivated with soybean, mainly potassium, and contributed to reduce carbon losses, indicated by lower basal respiration and soil metabolic quotient. Based on the results, we conclude that the soybean presented highest grain yield with C. ochroleuca, and the biological fertilization and cover plants increased the chemical and microbiological quality of the soil. These techniques can be implemented in the soybean farming system.

 Key words: Fertility of soil, microbiological quality, Glycine max, yield, management.


New architectures of telecommunications networks like the Intelligent Network (IN) proposal allow an ever easier way to introduce new services into a network. However, this facility and the short delays that can be achieved between the first informal specification of a service and its deployment appeal for automated validation methods to gain confidence in the new services before they are actually introduced. In this thesis, the usage of an object-oriented methodology is advocated for the specification of telecommunications services. Such methodologies are better suited to the needs of service specifiers. Therefore it is proposed to specify telecommunications services with the object-oriented analysis method Fusion. However, the notations defined by the Fusion methodology are not formal enough to allow an automated validation of the specification. Therefore these notations are extended and formalized to obtain a language called FUS++. A FUS++ specification contains two parts: A "constructive" part which defines the behavior of the specified system. The semantics of this part can be expressed with an extended finite state machine (EFSM). A "property-oriented" part which contains properties that must be satisfied by the specified system. These properties are expressed in linear time temporal logic (LTL). Special constructs were added to FUS++ in order to allow an easy merging of services that where specified independently. The semantics of these new constructs is based on the mechanisms foreseen by the IN for the introduction of services in the network. Being able to combine freely services in a system allows us to address the problem of the detection of interactions between these services. Detecting problems in a specification is done during the validation phase. To validate a FUS++ specification, it is translated to Promela; the Promela program is then validated with the validation tool Spin. During this phase, one proves that the properties of the specification are satisfied by the constructive part. In the second part of this work, it is shown how the properties of a FUS++ service specification can be validated for the implementation of the service in a real intelligent network. Consequently, a mapping function is specified between the states of an intelligent network and the states of an abstract mode1 of such a network.