The thesis addresses a topical and exciting question in cryospheric biology: are microorganisms capable of metabolism in debris-rich basal ice of a polar glacier? The research was carried out on debris-rich basal ice from a cold-based glacier, Taylor Glacier, McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica. A key component of the research was the collection and analysis of large parallel samples of basal ice for analysis of sediment concentration and mineralogy, nutrient and ion chemistry, gas composition, isotopic gas composition, cell density and metabolic activity on individual ~1-2cm thick layers. The primary material for the thesis was from a 4 m high section of basal ice collected from a vertical shaft at the end of a 15m tunnel chainsawed into the northern margin of the Taylor Glacier. Some data was derived from ice samples collected from tunnels 500m upglacier and downglacier from the 2007 tunnel, excavated in 1999 and 2009 respectively. The main research findings presented in this dissertation are that (a) debrisrich basal ice is a viable habitat for microbial life, (b) in situ microbial heterotrophic respiration is a source of CO2 in debris-rich basal ice, and (c) microbially-mediated weathering of entrained mineral debris is a source of solute in the ice. Geologic debris in basal ice is the key component for microbial activity since it leads to a higher fraction of liquid water in the ice and provides both organic and inorganic substrates to organisms in the ice. Microbial activity in the ice produces isotopic and geochemical signatures that could be used as biomarkers for exploration of other icy systems. The results of the thesis enforce the notion that the debris-rich basal ice environment is a viable microbial habitat that supports life at temperatures below 0°C. This has broader implications at the ice sheet scale since recent discoveries in East Antarctica, indicate significant basal ice up to 1100 m thick with approximately the same volume as the world's fourth largest freshwater lake, Lake Michigan-Huron.


▪ Abstract Understanding adaptation in morphological and physiological traits requires elucidation of how traits relate to whole-organism performance and how performance relates to fitness. A common assumption is that performance capacities are utilized by and important to organisms. For some systems, it is assumed that high levels of physical fitness, as indexed by measures of locomotor performance, lead to high fitness levels. Although biologists have appreciated this, little attention has been paid to quantifying how organisms use their performance capacities in nature. We argue that for the study of adaptation to proceed, greater integration of laboratory studies of performance and behavioral/ecological studies is needed, and we illustrate this approach by examining two questions. First, how does the environment affect locomotor function in nature? Second, what percentage of locomotor capacities do animals use in nature? A review of studies in several animal groups shows widespread effects of the envi...


Objective: To summarise the main results of a community-based study on physical activity promotion — "Romsås in Motion". Methods: The study assessed changes in physical activity, body mass and psychosocial mediators of physical activity from a pseudo-experimental cohort study involving two districts with low socioeconomic status in Oslo, Norway. In 2000, baseline investigation included 2950 30–67-year-olds — 48% of those invited. At follow-up in 2003 we measured 1776 subjects (67% of those eligible). A set of theoretically informed strategies targeting individuals, groups and the environment were implemented, tailored towards groups with different psychosocial readiness for change. Net changes (the difference between changes in the intervention and control districts) and results of mediation analyses related to the effect of the intervention are reported. Results: The increase in physical activity measured by two questionnaires was 9.5% (p = 0.008) and 8.1% (p = 0.02), respectively. The proportion who increased their body mass was reduced by 50% compared with the control district. Participation in walking and aerobic exercise groups, having seen the "Walk the stairs" poster and used the walk path, were particularly effective intervention components. The most promising psychosocial mediators of forward transition in stages of change were physical activity identity, perceived control, support from friends and family, and self-efficacy when facing psychological barriers. Conclusion: Through a theoretically informed, low-cost, population-based intervention programme an increase in physical activity levels and a reduced weight gain were observed. Mediation findings regarding forward transition in stages of change enhance our understanding of psychosocial mechanisms of behaviour change, and may prove helpful in guiding implementation and evaluation of future interventions.


The two questions in science ``why" and ``how" are hereby answered in the context of statistical signal processing applied to vibration analysis and ultrasonic testing for fault detection and characterization in critical materials such as rolling bearings and thin layered media. Both materials are of interest in industrial processes. Therefore, assuring the best operating conditions on rolling bearings and product quality in thin layered materials is important.The methods defended in this thesis are for retrieval of the impulsive signals arising from such equipments and materials, representing either faults or responses to an excitation. As the measurements collected via sensors usually consist of signals masked by some unknown systems and noise, retrieving the information-rich portion is often challenging. By exploiting the statistical characteristics due to their natural structure, a linear system is designed to recover the signals of interest in different scenarios. Suppressing the undesired components while enhancing the impulsive events by iteratively adapting a filter is the primary approach here. Signal recovery is accomplished by optimizing objectives (skewness and $\ell_1$-norm) quantifying the presumed characteristics, rising the question of objective surface topology and probability of ill convergence. To attack these, mathematical proofs, experimental evidences and comprehensive discussions are presented in the contributions each aiming to answer a specific question.The aim in the theoretical study is to fill a gap in signal processing by providing analytical and numerical results especially on \emph{skewness} surface characteristics on a signal model (periodic impulses) build on harmonically related sinusoids. With understanding the inner workings and the conditions to suffice, the same approach is applied to different class of signals in ultrasonic testing, such as aperiodic finite energy signals (material impulse response) and a very short duration impulse as an excitation. A similar optimization approach aiming to enhance another attribute, \emph{sparseness}, is experimented numerically on the aforementioned signals as a case study. To summarize, two different objectives each quantifying a certain characteristic are optimized to recover signals carrying valuable information buried in noisy vibration and ultrasonic measurements.Considering the fact that a research is qualified as successful if it creates more questions than it answers and lets ideas flourish creating scientific value, the presented work aims to achieve this in statistical signal processing. Analytical derivations assisted with experiments form the basis for observations, discussions and further questions to be studied and directed on similar phenomena arising from different sources in nature.


Background and aims : The construction industry is known as one of the most dangerous industries in terms of work-related mortality, injury rates and workers compensation payment. Therefore, safety risk assessment is a key step to be performed for management of major construction projects. Method S: Failure Mode and Effects Analysis (FMEA) is a risk assessment tool that mitigates potential failures in systems, processes, designs or services and is used in a wide range of industries. The purpose of this research is to employ the combination of fuzzy logic and FMEA, FTA, AHP-DEA methods for safety risk assessment of mass housing construction. Results : In the case study section, for the purpose of safety risk assessment, two different types of mass housing projects are investigated. According to the results, the risks of falls from height in both projects are identified as the most significant risks. Hence, risk reduction strategies and actions for prevention and mitigation of hazards are presented. Conclusion : The ranking of the risks and the highest risks found in this research are consistent with the previous research and with the report of the Iranian Social Security Organization (ISSO). In addition, the root causes of the major risks match up with similar studies. Moreover, the validity of the research findings is approved by the risk assessment group. Hence, this model (which is able to consider the current safety condition) can help safety professionals in construction sites to identify risks, explore their root causes and to develop accurate tools to control them. __________________________________


Structure learning of Gaussian graphical models typically involves careful tuning of penalty parameters, which balance the tradeoff between data fidelity and graph sparsity. Unfortunately, this tuning is often a "black art" requiring expert experience or brute-force search. It is therefore tempting to develop tuning-free algorithms that can determine the sparsity of the graph adaptively from the observed data in an automatic fashion. In this paper, we propose a novel approach, named BISN (Bayesian inference of Sparse Networks), for automatic Gaussian graphical model selection. Specifically, we regard the off-diagonal entries in the precision matrix as random variables and impose sparse-promoting horseshoe priors on them, resulting in automatic sparsity determination. With the help of stochastic gradients, an efficient variational Bayes algorithm is derived to learn the model. We further propose a decaying recursive stochastic gradient (DRSG) method to reduce the variance of the stochastic gradients and to accelerate the convergence. Our theoretical analysis shows that the time complexity of BISN scales only quadratically with the dimension, whereas the theoretical time complexity of the state-of-the-art methods for automatic graphical model selection is typically a third-order function of the dimension. Furthermore, numerical results show that BISN can achieve comparable or better performance than the state-of-the-art methods in terms of structure recovery, and yet its computational time is several orders of magnitude shorter, especially for large dimensions.


A major project at Lancaster University is the development of network infrastructures capable of supporting the quality-of-service (QoS) requirements of a wide range of distributed multimedia applications. The project includes more than thirty researchers and covers not only the network support but also the enabling technologies. The authors believe that QoS development cannot be done in isolation from the applications to be supported, which must form an integral part of the project. They focus on three application areas: interactive teaching and learning, mobile systems, and virtual reality. They chose applications that stretch network support to its limit. To realize the full potential of these distributed multimedia applications, the underlying network must satisfy all these requirements concurrently. They give a brief overview of their activities to this end and discuss the need for QoS support.


In nuclear reprocessing, PUREX, a solvent extraction process, has long been the separation method employed for the separation of the bulk components of irradiated nuclear fuel (namely uranium and plutonium) from the fission products and other minor actinides produced during the fuel use. The uranium and plutonium constitutes approximately 96 % by mass of the irradiated fuel and for this to be removed, requires large volumes of extractant and equipment with large surface area contactors and therefore floor space requirements.
The PUREX process has for nearly 60 years been the largely unchallenged separation technology for the reprocessing of irradiated fuel, for both nuclear weapon production and commercial nuclear power generation. The merits and ability of this process are unquestionable since it achieves the objectives of highly purified plutonium and uranium which both can be eventually recycled.
Although well proven and predictable, the PUREX process is not without its challenges: the generation of significant quantities of highly active aqueous liquid containing fission products (FPs) and minor actinides (MAs), and the degradation of the solvent phase reagents and non-specific nature of the extractant TriButylPhosphate (TBP) may have contributed to only a fraction of the total annual output of irradiated fuel being reprocessed.
Fission products are elements which are produced in a nuclear reactor and are the atomic fragments left after a large atomic nucleus (typically uranium-235) undergoes nuclear fission, splitting into two smaller nuclei, along with a few neutrons, the release of heat energy (kinetic energy of the nuclei), and gamma rays.
Minor actinides such as neptunium, americium, curium, berkelium, californium, einsteinium, and fermium are the actinide elements in irradiated nuclear fuel other than uranium and plutonium; they are minor as they represent a very small proportion of actinides in comparison to U and Pu.
This thesis explores the possibility of using a continuous chromatographic method to extract the lesser components of the irradiated fuel. One of the major problems with the use of chromatography as an industrial process is the expansion from the batch separations on the bench top to a continuous efficient process, capable of processing large volumes. This thesis, through existing concepts, will describe a proof of concept chromatographic separation of surrogates and isotopes of the components of irradiated fuels which can be readily scaled up to a continuous chromatographic separation.
The project is a radical departure from PUREX and will offer many advantages over PUREX. It is based on the separation of FPs and MAs from uranium and plutonium isotopes using continuous chromatographic separation.
This thesis assesses a number of commercial resins for their suitability for the proposed continuous chromatography reprocessing method. The experiments were all undertaken at elevated nitric acid concentrations and as such are describing interactions which are rarely required commercially and therefore seldom reported, with batch studies to assess separation factors between ions, uptake kinetics and isotherms over a range of nitric acid concentrations to more dynamic column breakthrough and eventually separations.
The research demonstrates that a separation can be achieved at an elevated HNO3 concentration on a commercially available ion exchange resin.


Some laboratory models of slip find that a critical amount (or velocity) of slow slip is required over a nucleation patch before dynamic failure begins. Typically, such patch sizes, when extrapolated to earthquakes, have been thought to be very small and the precursory slip undetectable. Ohnaka (1992, 1993) has proposed a model in which foreshocks delineate a growing zone of quasi-static slip that nucleates the dynamic rupture and suggests that it could be large enough (∼10 km across) to be detectable and thus useful for short-term earthquake prediction. The 1992 Landers earthquake (M 7.3) had a distinctive foreshock sequence and initiated only 70 km from the strain meters at the Piñon Flat Observatory (PFO). We use this earthquake to investigate the validity and usefulness of Ohnaka's model. The accurate relocations of Dodge et al. (1995) show that the foreshock zone can be interpreted as expanding from an area of 800 m (along strike) by 900 m (in depth), to 2000 by 3200 m in the 6.5 hr before the mainshock. We have calculated the deformation signals expected both at PFO and 20 km from the foreshock zone, assuming either constant slip or constant stress drop on a circular patch expanding at 5 cm/sec over 6.5 hr. We find the slips or stress drops would have to have been implausibly high (meters or kilobars) to have been detectable on the strain meters at PFO. Slightly better limits are possible only 20 km from the source. Even though the distance from Landers to PFO is small compared with the average spacing of strain meters in California, we are unable to prove or disprove Ohnaka's model of earthquake nucleation. This suggests that even if the model is valid, it will not be useful for short-term prediction.


Porous-permeable tissues have often been modeled using porous media theories such as the biphasic theory. This study examines the equivalence of the short-time biphasic and incompressible elastic responses for arbitrary deformations and constitutive relations from first principles. This equivalence is illustrated in problems of unconfined compression of a disk, and of articular contact under finite deformation, using two different constitutive relations for the solid matrix of cartilage, one of which accounts for the large disparity observed between the tensile and compressive moduli in this tissue. Demonstrating this equivalence under general conditions provides a rationale for using available finite element codes for incompressible elastic materials as a practical substitute for biphasic analyses, so long as only the short-time biphasic response is sought. In practice, an incompressible elastic analysis is representative of a biphasic analysis over the short-term response deltat<<Delta(2) / //parallelC(4)//K//, where Delta is a characteristic dimension, C(4) is the elasticity tensor, and K is the hydraulic permeability tensor of the solid matrix. Certain notes of caution are provided with regard to implementation issues, particularly when finite element formulations of incompressible elasticity employ an uncoupled strain energy function consisting of additive deviatoric and volumetric components.


Because the 60–40 allocation is very simple to implement (subject to rebalancing rules)—and because it has generated strong absolute and relative risk-adjusted returns over time (i.e., it had a significantly higher Sharpe ratio than did an allocation to either equities or bonds alone)—it has long been a benchmark asset allocation method for endowment and pension fund managers. Thus, it is likely that endowment and pension funds will perform well if the 60–40 allocation performs well (and vice versa). This article provides evidence that the drivers of US equity market returns have changed over time. Specifically, while equity returns are more rate driven in earlier periods (i.e., lower rates are better for equities), they are more economically driven in more recent periods (i.e., a stronger economy is more compatible with equities). Therefore, if the US economy remains sluggish and rates are still low, the 60–40 allocation is likely to perform more poorly in the future than in the past, and, by extension, so are endowment and pension funds. TOPICS: Foundations & endowments, portfolio management/multi-asset allocation, portfolio theory, portfolio construction, performance measurement Key Findings ▪ In the future, endowment and pension fund returns will be primarily driven by the performance of risk assets. It follows that endowment and pension funds will only be able to achieve their objectives if the future environment is favorable to equities. An analysis of recent years' returns reveals that the only environment in which equities are expected to perform well in the future is one of sustained strong economic growth coupled with accommodative monetary policy. In the absence of such an environment, endowments and pension funds may be unable to sustain planned spending levels. ▪ Individual investors' future asset allocation choices will necessarily involve real trade-offs. In the past, the 60-40 allocation generated equity-like returns with bond-like volatility, so investors who chose the 60-40 allocation had 'it all': high returns and low volatility. However, in the future, the 60-40 allocation will likely generate sharply lower volatility but also meaningfully lower returns, relative to a 100% equity allocation. Investors focused on reducing risk may still find the 60-40 allocation useful, but investors with funding needs and higher returns targets will need to increase their allocation to risk assets. ▪ Individual investors allocating to illiquid risk assets need to be aware that endowments and pension funds will likely significantly increase their allocations to illiquid risk assets in an attempt to achieve their required returns. The magnitude of these institutional inflows may lead to lower returns for illiquid risk assets, as is often the case when large amounts of capital chase a more limited opportunity set.


Flip-flop operations of anti-resonant reflecting-optical-waveguide (ARROW) vertical-cavity semiconductor optical amplifiers (VCSOAs) under the influence of undesired high-order injection modes are investigated theoretically. Three types of flip-flop operations, namely: (1) flip-flop triggered by optical injection, (2) inverse flip-flop triggered by optical injection, and (3) flip-flop triggered by injection current, are to be considered in the studies. It is found that with the presence of ARROW, all three types of optical flip-flop are insensitive to high-order injection modes, and stable single-mode flip-flop can be maintained in the operation.


Brain metastases are an increasingly important determinant of survival and quality of life in patients with cancer. Current approaches to the management of brain metastases are driven by prognostic factors, including the Karnofsky Performance Status, tumor histology, number of metastases, patient age, and status of systemic disease. Most brain metastases are treated with radiosurgery, computer-assisted surgery, or whole brain radiation therapy. Remarkable advances in computer-assisted neuronavigation have made neurosurgical removal of metastases safer, even in eloquent areas of the brain. Computerization also enhances the efficacy and safety of conformal radiosurgery planning using various modern stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) technologies, including newer frameless-based systems. Controversial issues include whether to defer whole brain radiotherapy (WBRT) in patients undergoing SRS or image-guided surgery and when to use SRS "boost" in a patient undergoing WBRT. The determination of how best to apply these treatments for individual patients cannot be standardized to a single paradigm, but data from well-controlled studies help physicians make informed decisions about the benefits and risks of each approach.


There is great societal need for improved energy storage technology, in applications ranging from electric vehicles to grid storage to emergency power systems. New polymeric membranes with enhanced ion conductivities are needed in batteries and fuel cells to improve these technologies. Despite decades of research, these membrane materials are still not adequate for commercial use. The primary metric that requires improvement is ion or proton conductivity of the membrane under desirable operating conditions. Modifying linear polyethylene by the addition of precisely periodic functional groups leads to a rich array of intriguing morphologies and properties. Depending on the functional group chemistry and periodicity, functionalization can (1) increase or decrease the melting point; (2) produce amorphous, semicrystalline, or nearly fully crystalline morphologies; (3) cause hairpin chain folds within the crystalline regions; and (4) exhibit high proton conductivity when hydrated. In this dissertation, we focus on polyethylenes with longspaced functional groups, which form layered crystallites. Herein, we show that incorporating backbone sulfone groups into polyethylene gives rise to nylon-like semicrystalline morphologies, where the sulfone groups form layers within the crystalline regions and hydrogen bond, increasing the melting temperature. The melting point is proportional to the sulfone concentration. Conversely, when the polyethylene contains pendant carboxylic acid groups, it exhibits hairpin folds at the position of each acid group within the crystalline regions. This produces multiple layers of acid groups whose normal vectors are oriented approximately perpendicular to the normal vector of the lamellar crystallite. Layers with this orientation could provide pathways through crystallites for selective transport of protons, ions, water, or other small molecules, allowing the use of a semicrystalline polymer for various membranes. Replacing carboxylic acid with sulfonic acid produces a nearly fully crystalline morphology containing hydrated acid layers, resulting in high proton conductivity. This is the first time, to our knowledge, that proton or ion conductivity has been reported in this type of morphology. Finally, we show that functionalized polyethylenes with a nearly precise placement of functional group – variable by one backbone methylene group – has a similarly well-ordered morphology as a truly precise polymer, and could provide a more practical route to the morphologies and properties discussed above. Degree Type Dissertation Degree Name Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) Graduate Group Materials Science & Engineering First Advisor Karen I. Winey This dissertation is available at ScholarlyCommons: https://repository.upenn.edu/edissertations/2891


Comparison is held to be one of the central methods of the academic study of religion. While many ostensibly engage in the comparative act, often overlooked is what it actually means to do this. What is comparison? Why engage in it and for what purposes? Can there be such a thing as a valid or invalid comparison? This book starts with the premise that while there are good comparisons and bad comparisons, what is common to both is the sheer artificiality of the enterprise. It then develops an analytical framework for using the method in the context of religious studies. After briefly tracing the history and genealogy of the category, Hughes draws on his extensive work in Judaism and Islam to argue that comparison can be a useful method, but only under strictly controlled conditions.


The dopamine hypothesis is one of the major etiological hypotheses of schizophrenia. The well-established role of genetic factors in schizophrenia together with reports of increased D2 dopamine receptor densities in untreated schizophrenic patients support the D2 dopamine receptor gene as a strong candidate gene for schizophrenia. The recent cloning of the D2 dopamine receptor gene made it possible to test the involvement of the D2 dopamine receptor locus (DRD2) in a large Swedish and a smaller Californian schizophrenia pedigree. Using multipoint linkage analysis between schizophrenia and a genetic map that includes the DRD2 locus and assuming a dominant mode of inheritance, we were able to exclude the DRD2 locus with a lod score of -4.14 for the penetrance of 0.72 and with a lod score of -3.05 for the lower bound penetrance of 0.56. The area of exclusion (lod score, less than -2.00) extended 27 centimorgans. These results provide strong evidence against linkage of the D2 dopamine receptor gene region to schizophrenia in the two pedigrees investigated. We conclude that the genetic predisposition to schizophrenia in these pedigrees is not due to aberrations in the DRD2 locus or the porphobilinogen deaminase locus. Our results do not support the D2 dopamine receptor hypothesis of schizophrenia. However, they cannot exclude the possibility that other genes regulating aspects of D2 dopamine expression might be involved in the etiology of schizophrenia, such as the expression of two D2 dopamine receptor subtypes by alternative RNA splicing.


Flow cytometry is a potential method for the separation of X and Y bearing spermatozoa, on the basis of their relative DNA content evaluated by the fluorescence emission intensity due to specific fluorochrome DNA staining. However, spermatozoa DNA is highly condensed and nuclei exhibit flat non spherical shape, which can produce artefacts impeding accurate analysis. In order to avoid these limitations, decondensation of DNA performed by enzymatic treatment and a modification of the flow cytometer that orients the spermatozoa relative to the laser beam are generally used. In this work, we describe alternative methods and materials for selection of (1) decondensed and thus dead spermatozoa without orientation, sorted on the basis of only the 10% spermatozoa containing the least DNA (expected Y) and the 10% spermatozoa containing the more DNA (expected X), or (2) native spermatozoa homogeneously oriented using a simultaneous measurement of Axial light loss (extinction) and Forward angle light scatter. For testing enrichment of each selected fraction we have worked out a molecular hybridization procedure using X and Y specific DNA probes. We analyse and sort bull spermatozoa on these basis: the purity obtained for these fractions is 80% without orientation after enzymatic treatment, and 70% on live spermatozoa "optically" oriented.


Human-microbiota coevolution The bacteria that make their home in the intestines of modern apes and humans arose from ancient bacteria that colonized the guts of our common ancestors. Moeller et al. have developed a method to compare rapidly evolving gyrB gene sequences in fecal samples from humans and wild chimpanzees, bonobos, and gorillas (see the Perspective by Segre and Salafsky). Comparison of the gyrB phylogenies of major bacterial lineages reveals that they mostly match the apehominid phylogeny, except for some rare symbiont transfers between primate species. Gut bacteria therefore are not simply acquired from the environment, but have coevolved for millions of years with hominids to help shape our immune systems and development. Science, this issue p. 380; see also p. 350 Rapidly evolving gyrB gene sequences of gut microbes from humans, wild chimpanzees, bonobos, and gorillas show coevolution. The evolutionary origins of the bacterial lineages that populate the human gut are unknown. Here we show that multiple lineages of the predominant bacterial taxa in the gut arose via cospeciation with humans, chimpanzees, bonobos, and gorillas over the past 15 million years. Analyses of strain-level bacterial diversity within hominid gut microbiomes revealed that clades of Bacteroidaceae and Bifidobacteriaceae have been maintained exclusively within host lineages across hundreds of thousands of host generations. Divergence times of these cospeciating gut bacteria are congruent with those of hominids, indicating that nuclear, mitochondrial, and gut bacterial genomes diversified in concert during hominid evolution. This study identifies human gut bacteria descended from ancient symbionts that speciated simultaneously with humans and the African apes.


Dr Sola Akinrinade Senior Lecturer, Department of History Obafemi Awolowo University Ile-Ife, Nigeria (*) ABSTRACT Certain post-Cold War developments including the intensification of conflicts in Africa, the systemic trend towards sub-regionalisation of conflict management, declining great power interest in African conflicts, the lessons of the ECOMOG initiative, and the adoption of the Revised ECOWAS Treaty constituted the background to the adoption of the new ECOWAS Mechanism for Conflict Management. The Mechanism recognises the holistic nature of security and provides for an elaborate structure for addressing sub-regional security needs, incorporating and transcending previous protocols. However, it raises a number of questions including its practicality and financial sustainability. It is more financially demanding than previous arrangements and it is doubtful if ECOWAS leaders would be able to muster the requisite political will and financial resources to ensure its effective implementation. The conscious emphasis on the multilateralisation of decision-making, funding and troop contribution ignores the practical need for a sub-regional hegemon ready to deploy the required resources when necessary. If the ECOWAS approach to conflict management were to be developed into a model for sub-regional security co-operation, these problems would have to be addressed. 1. INTRODUCTION Like most other sub-regional organisations, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) began life as an economic co-operation agency. When the ECOWAS Treaty, 1975, setting up the organisation was signed, hardly any provision was made for co-operation in security matters. Indeed, matters relating to political co-operation, governance and human rights only received passing mention. The sub-region was politically volatile with frequent extra-constitutional changes in government in several states. This fluid political environment caused the leaders of cooperating countries to emphasise that the organisation they were establishing was basically economic in nature and transcended political regimes. The nature and pattern of post-colonial relationships among the states of the sub-region did not help matters. Of the various sub-regions into which the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) has divided the continent, West Africa is the most polarised and most diverse in terms of size of countries, colonially inherited languages, levels of economic development and patterns of internal and external linkages. Nine of the 16 countries in the sub-region are Francophone, five are Anglophone, while two are Lusophone. The totally different concepts and experiences of colonialism have been reflected in post-colonial legacies and have affected the pattern of inter-state relations in the sub-region. As Adeniji notes: "The language barrier created by the pattern of colonialism and the perpetuation of the vertical link with the former imperial power at the expense of the horizontal link with neighbouring states, discouraged much meaningful relations across the Anglophone/Francophone divide".(1)) The divisions were further complicated by the atmosphere of mutual distrust and suspicion that pervaded relations among these states. For different reasons, Ghana -- the most radical of the Anglophones during the immediate post-independence years -- and Nigeria -- the largest and most powerful state in the sub-region -- were never trusted by their relatively less endowed Francophone neighbours. The potential dominance of any sub-regional co-operation mechanism by Nigeria was one reason why the birth of ECOWAS went through such a protracted process. ECOWAS was the first major organisation to bring all the countries of the West African sub-region together in a co-operative body. It was meant to provide a pan-West African economic organisation that would replace similar existing bodies of limited membership and eliminate the distrust between the Anglophone and Francophone states. …


The highest task of Philosophy, according to Socrates, is to teach man to die, to face death in the right way - the death in which the particular and the general are united, the death that concerns every one of us and at the same time does not concern anyone other than oneself . I agree completely with Socrates in his understanding of death - given that I have understood him correctly - and I believe that we should talk more about death and also dare to reflect upon the difficult issues that are related to it. This is not at all dangerous. But I take a very critical position in regard to his argument for immortality, the immortality of the soul, that is, the continued existence of the soul after the bodily, physical, death. Certainly, there may be a theoretical possibility that the soul somehow continues to exist after the physical death, but I do not think so. The only thing that remains of us, or rather after us, is the memory and the result of our actions in this life, that is, the result of the good or evil we have done against our fellow beings in this life.Death, in my opinion, understood as event or condition, is consequently one of the supernatural phenomena that makes us, we humans, human: a continuous inception and uncompleted wonder.


For many organizations, efficiency in product development is a question of accelerating project operations and being innovative in products and technical solutions, and this has interesting consequences for project work. This thesis aims to study technical development work in project groups in order to identify factors that support innovativeness. In this thesis, innovativeness is defined as the ability of project groups to arrive at new ideas and solutions for technical problems, and their implementation. It is hoped that the studies in this thesis will contribute new knowledge in the product development research area, using complementary theories. This thesis is based on four case studies of product development projects, representing different types of industry. The cases involve the development of new, complex industrial products and are reported in four appended papers. The research reported in this thesis has primarily, but not exclusively, adopted a qualitative approach. The studies have shown that innovativeness is favored by project work characterized by lower levels of control, the continuous acquisition of knowledge and a sense of responsibility and interest in tasks, as well as a continuous formulation and definition of tasks and problems. In addition, project work characterized by commitment and interaction have also been found to be important for innovativeness. Three factors supporting innovativeness are presented. Interactive product utilization in work is an alternative to detailed planning in solving coordination needs and maintaining a system view within a project. Interactive control mechanisms are important because product specifications often need to be defined as the project progresses. An interactive social environment supports technical problem solving by providing opportunities for spontaneous interaction between project members.


A mind-map is a diagram used to represent ideas linked to and arranged around a central concept. It's easier to visually access the knowledge and ideas by converting a text to a mind-map. However, highlighting the semantic skeleton of an article remains a challenge. The key issue is to detect the relations amongst concepts beyond intra-sentence. In this paper, we propose a multi-grained framework for automatic mind-map generation. That is, a novel neural network is taken to detect the relations at first, which employs multi-hop self-attention and gated recurrence network to reveal the directed semantic relations via sentences. A recursive algorithm is then designed to select the most salient sentences to constitute the hierarchy. The human-like mind-map is automatically constructed with the key phrases in the salient sentences. Promising results have been achieved on the comparison with manual mind-maps. The case studies demonstrate that the generated mind-maps reveal the underlying semantic structures of the articles.


This research was undertaken to explore the interaction behavior of soil-pile systems subjected to static and dynamic lateral loads. The principal objective of the study was to assess the applicability and accuracy of one of the prominent methods of analysis by comparing the predicted responses with the measured responses. Presented in this report are a brief survey of the related literature on the existing analysis techniques and previous experimental studies, the details of the experimental work performed under the current study, and the appraisal of the performance of a finite element program adopted for making theoretical predictions of the experimental responses. In the present study, both static and dynamic experiments were conducted to obtain experimental data against which the analytical predictions could be verified. The experiments included laboratory simulation of the response of piles subjected to static or dynamic lateral loads applied at the pile-head and of piles embedded in a soil deposit subjected to bedrock motions. Finite element analyses of the model systems were carried out using reasonable estimates of the system parameters. No attempts were made to establish the model parameters through rigorous identification procedures. It is shown that the agreement between the predicted and measured responses can be excellent even if the properties and parameters of the soil-pile system are only roughly estimated.


For centuries, the United States has seized individuals oversees and, outside any formal extradition process, brought such individuals to the United States to stand trial. A more recent wrinkle has been the transfer of such individuals to other countries for the purposes of prosecution or interrogation. Known as "rendition operations," such transfers have often been criticized. Numerous commentators, asserting that many of these activities violate U.S. law, have called on the U.S. government to cease such operations and prosecute U.S. officials who engage in them. Nonetheless, a Special Task Force established by President Obama recently advocated the continued used of rendition operations, though with some policy changes. In order to effectuate such changes, and understand their impact, the Administration, as well as the critics and proponents of rendition operations, need to understand current U.S. law regarding renditions. Yet, despite all the focus, concern and criticism over rendition operations, no scholarly work to date has evaluated the entirety of U.S. law regarding such activities. This article proposes to do just that. It concludes that, upon close inspection of U.S. law, there are virtually no legal restrictions on these types of operations. Indeed, U.S. law does not even preclude the United States from rendering individuals to a third country in instances where the third country may subject the rendered individual to torture. The only restrictions that do exist under U.S. law preclude U.S. officials from themselves torturing or inflicting cruel and unusual punishment on individuals during rendition operations, or rendering individuals from a place of actual armed conflict or occupation – all of which prove to be narrow limitations indeed. Finally, few actual means exist to prosecute or sue U.S. officials engaged in rendition operations, due to limitations in civil and criminal statutory authority, as well as the courts' continuous reluctance to consider such claims.


Bragg gratings were inscribed in H2-loaded SMF-28e optical fibers and measured for axial stress changes for various exposure doses. Mean refractive index changes as high as 7.5 × 10−3 were observed under cw-244 nm irradiation of 143 W/cm2. Bragg grating reflectivity >99% was achieved for 0.7 mm long (1/e2) gratings. Axial stress measurements realized before and after UV exposure of the fibers, show two competing dose-dependent photosensitivity mechanisms: Negative stress changes at the early stages of exposure and positive stress changes for high exposures.


amount of attention from policymakers. While in the beginning the focus was on the volume and methods of remitting, gradually attention has been shifting towards using remittances as a development tool for the communities and countries of origin. However, while certain regions are very well researched and are characterized by an institutional structure that harnesses remittanceoriented policies (e.g. Mexico, the Philippines, Senegal and Morocco), others are not. The Great Lakes region (in particular the Democratic Republic of Congo or DRC, Burundi and Rwanda) belong to the latter group. Furthermore a number of factors, such as an underdeveloped fi nancial and governmental infrastructure, the unstable political environment, the lack of available research and reliable data, hinder the implementation of policies aimed at remittances.


A large portion of data mining and analytic services use modern machine learning techniques, such as deep learning. The state-of-the-art results by deep learning come at the price of an intensive use of computing resources. The leading frameworks (e.g., TensorFlow) are executed on GPUs or on high-end servers in datacenters. On the other end, there is a proliferation of personal devices with possibly free CPU cycles; this can enable services to run in users' homes, embedding machine learning operations. In this paper, we ask the following question: Is distributed deep learning computation on WAN connected devices feasible, in spite of the traffic caused by learning tasks? We show that such a setup rises some important challenges, most notably the ingress traffic that the servers hosting the up-to-date model have to sustain. In order to reduce this stress, we propose AdaComp, a novel algorithm for compressing worker updates to the model on the server. Applicable to stochastic gradient descent based approaches, it combines efficient gradient selection and learning rate modulation. We then experiment and measure the impact of compression, device heterogeneity and reliability on the accuracy of learned models, with an emulator platform that embeds TensorFlow into Linux containers. We report a reduction of the total amount of data sent by workers to the server by two order of magnitude (e.g., 191-fold reduction for a convolutional network on the MNIST dataset), when compared to a standard asynchronous stochastic gradient descent, while preserving model accuracy.


In this paper we explore whether a general topology network built up of routers with very small buffers, can maintain high throughput under TCP's congestion control mechanism. Recent results on buffer sizing challenged the widely used assumption that routers should buffer millions of packets. These new results suggest that when smooth TCP traffic goes through a single tiny buffer of size O(log W), then close-to-peak throughput can be achieved; W is the maximum window size of TCP flows. In this work, we want to know if a network of many routers can perform well when all buffers in the network are made very small, independent of the structure of the network. This scenario represents a real network where packets go through several buffering stages on their routes. Assuming the ingress TCP traffic to a network is paced, we first prove that all routers can get by with very small buffers, if the network has a tree structure. For networks with general topology, we propose a simple active queue management policy called bounded jitter policy (BJP), and show that under the proposed policy each flow will preserve its smooth pattern across the network. Logarithmic size buffers would therefore be enough in every router of the network.


"Russell writes easily, and in the vernacular. He tells of Indians and Indian fighters, buffalo hunts, bad men, wolves, wild horses, tough hotels, drinking customs, and hard-riding cowboys. . . . [He] lived long enough in the West to acquire a vast amount of information and lore, and he has left enough from his brush to prove his place as a sound interpreter of a stirring period and a fascinating country".-New York Times. "Russell was the greatest painter who ever painted a range man, a range cow, a range horse, or a Plains Indian. He savvied the cow, the grass, the blizzard, the drought, the wolf, the young puncher in love with his own shadow, the old waddie remembering rides and thirsts of far away and long ago. He was a wonderful storyteller. . . . His subjects were warm with life, whether awake or asleep, at a particular instant, under particular conditions. Trails Plowed Under, prodigally illustrated, is a collection of yarns and ancedotes saturated with humor and humanity".-J. Frank Dobie, Guide to Life and Literature of the Southwest. Brian W. Dippie is a professor of history at the University of Victoria, British Columbia, and the author of Catlin and His Contemporaries: The Politics of Patronage (Nebraska 1990).


Infectious diseases pose a major threat to global biodiversity. Chytridiomycosis is an amphibian disease that is caused by the pathogenic chytrid fungus, Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd). Bd has caused declines in hundreds of species of amphibians and extinctions of dozens. Some species that suffered local extinctions when the disease first emerged have reappeared and seem to be coexisting with the disease. Multiple processes can regulate changes in infection dynamics of a disease including physical and chemical characteristics of the environment and interactions among intra- and interspecific individuals. For example, the infection dynamics of Bd is heavily influenced by season and elevation and Bd can infect multiple hosts. Some hosts act as reservoirs, which are less susceptible to the pathogen, and enable the pathogen to persist in populations even when host populations are small. To fully understand the effects of a disease on a population, it is important to consider the interactions between multiple hosts, as well as the influences of environmental factors such as season and elevation.

Chytridiomycosis has many reservoir hosts including animals that are not amphibians, and adult and larval amphibians. The interactions between infection dynamics of Bd in adult amphibians and their larval life stage are poorly understood. To better understand infection dynamics of Bd, I examined six populations (adult and tadpole) of Litoria rheocola, the common mistfrog, in northern Queensland, Australia. I studied changes in prevalence of infection over time in adults and tadpoles and determined how prevalence of Bd was affected by season and elevation. To quantify elevational influences of infection I surveyed populations of adult and tadpole L. rheocola at three site types: 1) high elevation (> 400 m above sea level (ASL)), 2) low elevation (< 400 ASL) sites connected by stream flow to high elevations (i.e., contiguous low elevation sites), and 3) low elevation sites that lacked connectivity to high elevations (i.e., non-contiguous low elevations). I tested all frogs and tadpoles captured to determine if they were infected with Bd. I marked adult frogs with visible implant elastomer tags to quantify population dynamics of frogs. I determined the probability of survival and recapture, and compared these estimates among seasons and site type.

Infection dynamics of Bd in contiguous low elevation sites could be influenced by two, non-exclusive processes: (i) the flow of cool water from higher elevations maintaining cooler water temperatures, making the site more hospitable to Bd, and (ii) downstream transport of Bd zoospores from high elevation.

Prevalence of Bd in tadpoles fluctuated seasonally, and was high in winter and low in summer. Prevalence of Bd was also influenced by site type: L. rheocola tadpoles at all low elevation sites had lower maximum prevalences than those at high elevation sites. There was a significant interaction between the effects of season and site type on the prevalence of Bd in tadpoles. Seasonal changes were more prominent at high elevation sites than at low elevation sites, and the patterns of seasonal change differed among site types. It is possible that being connected to a high elevation site greatly influenced the infection dynamics of Bd at contiguous low elevation sites due to the flow of cool water from high elevations and/or the flow of Bd zoospores downstream.

In adult L. rheocola populations, both season and site type influenced prevalence of Bd. Prevalence of Bd was highest in winter and lowest in summer. One population, each at both the contiguous and non-contiguous low elevation sites, had prevalences of zero in summer; however, infections reappeared in autumn, strongly suggesting that reservoirs maintain Bd in these sites. In comparison, infection persisted throughout summer and winter in populations at high elevations. In adult frogs, contiguous and non-contiguous low elevation populations had similar Bd infection dynamics, suggesting that connectivity to high elevation sites did not have a direct effect on infection dynamics of Bd in adults. This contrasts with the effect of site type on the dynamics of Bd in tadpole populations, where site type had a strong influence on dynamics. With high prevalence of Bd in summer, tadpoles seem to be maintaining disease in adult populations at contiguous low elevation sites. In comparison, tadpoles at the non-contiguous low elevation site were not infected with Bd in summer. Therefore, tadpoles may not be an important reservoir for Bd at non-contiguous low elevation sites. Other species may be more effective reservoirs in these non-contiguous populations, as the disease persists in these areas, in spite of occasional apparent complete disappearance of Bd in adults.

The probability of survival of adult frogs, estimated using program MARK, was not influenced by chytrid infection, but did differ among seasons and site type. Recapture probabilities were influenced by site type only. Rates of incidence of infection were influenced by season. Recovery rate remained constant at 80.3% across all site types: high, contiguous low, and non-contiguous low elevations. These results suggest that instances of individual mortality caused by Bd do not translate into overall low survival probabilities at the population level; thus it appears that in the populations I studied, disease-induced mortality is compensatory rather than additive. Even high elevation L. rheocola populations are now coexisting with Bd, despite strong evidence that the fungus caused local extirpations in the past. The coexistence of L. rheocola and Bd suggests that either L. rheocola populations have evolved increased resistance to chytridiomycosis or that recent environmental conditions (or other factors operating more recently, e.g., population density) have not favoured the development of outbreaks of fatal disease.

I found that site type (elevation and contiguity with infected upland sites) influences disease dynamics of Bd, especially in tadpoles. In addition, my research strongly suggests that infection dynamics of tadpoles are influencing infection dynamics of Bd in co-occurring adult amphibian populations. My data on re-established populations suggests that the host-pathogen relationship has changed, either temporarily or more permanently, to favour the host. My study emphasizes the importance of simultaneously investigating multiple processes that could affect infection dynamics of a disease (e.g., transmission among multiple hosts and environmental characteristics, such as topography and season). By looking at the effects of season, elevation, and multiple hosts I get a better understanding of disease dynamics and the effects of disease on populations; looking at multiple processes will become important in future studies in order to fully understand disease dynamics.


Cellular phones have changed the way we live. A deeper understanding of how the attributes of these technologies influence end-users perceptions is an important issue. A better understanding of the cellular phone adoption and use process will inform our understanding of the diffusion process of other types of communication technologies. This empirical piece examines the influence of the Technology Characteristics, Group Characteristics (Familiarity), Mobility, Facilitating Conditions and Social Influence on the use of the cellular phones. Data were collected through a questionnaire survey from a final sample of 277 cellular phone users in Quebec (Canada). The results suggest that, among the factors mentioned, only Mobility has a direct on the adoption on all the three indicators of use defined in this study. These findings have theoretical and managerial implications which are highlighted.


Abstract. The method of elevation classes, in which the ice surface model is run at multiple elevations within each grid cell, has proven to be a useful way for a low-resolution atmosphere inside a general circulation model (GCM) to produce high-resolution downscaled surface mass balance fields for use in one-way studies coupling atmospheres and ice flow models. Past uses of elevation classes have failed to conserve mass and energy because the transformation used to regrid to the atmosphere was inconsistent with the transformation used to downscale to the ice model. This would cause problems for two-way coupling. A strategy that resolves this conservation issue has been designed and is presented here. The approach identifies three grids between which data must be regridded and five transformations between those grids required by a typical coupled atmosphere–ice flow model. This paper develops a theoretical framework for the problem and shows how each of these transformations may be achieved in a consistent, conservative manner. These transformations are implemented in Glint2, a library used to couple atmosphere models with ice models. Source code and documentation are available for download. Confounding real-world issues are discussed, including the use of projections for ice modeling, how to handle dynamically changing ice geometry, and modifications required for finite element ice models.


Aim: To prospectively assess the visual acuity outcomes of phacoemulsification surgery in 2 tertiary referral hospitals over an 8-year period, and to compare the outcomes achieved by ophthalmology consultants and registrars in routine clinical practice to assess the appropriateness of patient allocation.Methods: This prospective/retrospective case series of phacoemulsification surgery recruited patients from 1 July 2000 to 30 Dec 2008. Patients underwent detailed ophthalmic examination before and after surgery.Phacoemulsification and insertion of intraocular lens was performed by consultants and senior and junior registrars, who were allocated by the treating consultant. Postoperative review was conducted 1 day, 1 week, 1 month, and 3 months after surgery.Results: Of the 1812 cases, 1596 (88.1%) were complication free. The mean postoperative visual acuity was 0.17 LogMAR (6/9 Snellen equivalent), with 1630 cases (90.0%) achieving 0.30 LogMAR (6/12) or better. Consultants, and senior and junior registrars all achieved similar postoperative visual acuities of 0.15 to 0.17 LogMAR (p = 0.5). There was a significantly different rate of vitreous loss between the 3 groups (p = 0.002), with consultants at 2.9% (9/309), senior registrars at 1.9% (15/804) and junior registrars at 5.3% (37/699).Conclusions: The visual acuity outcomes and complication rates confirm that quality care is being delivered to patients. The different complication rates between consultants and registrars reflect consultants allocating themselves more complicated cases and the training of junior registrars. The similar postoperative visual acuities achieved showed that allocation of patients among consultants and registrars was appropriate and good visual acuity outcomes were delivered to all patients.


Changes in ecology, climate and human behaviour over recent decades have favoured the development and increased prevalence of urban pests, including nuisance insects. The potential for nuisance insect species to increase in prevalence in the UK as a result of climate change is addressed in this report through two key objectives: 1: To complete a desk top study to determine the current level of knowledge in relation to new and existing species of insect with the potential to cause statutory nuisance in the UK as a result of current and predicted climate change 2: To investigate the potential for new and existing species of insect to cause statutory nuisance to occur in the UK as a result of current and predicted climate change In the first section of this report we consider the first objective and present an inventory of nuisance insects and discuss the availability of information on these species to Environmental Health Officers (EHOs). We conclude from this section that defining an insect as a statutory nuisance should be on a case-by-case basis; an insect will be a statutory nuisance in some scenarios but not others (particularly in relation to the source and abundance of the insects). In addition, we focus on two subsidiary objectives: 3. To devise a programme or technique for monitoring trends in the insects of most concern 4 To devise a list of strategies that Environmental Health Officers can apply locally and disseminate to residents. We comment on the wealth of literature and information on nuisance insect species but note the lack of a central information source for EHOs and other interested parties. We suggest that a central repository would be a valuable tool for EHO"s particularly if it included fact sheets (providing relevant biological information for EHO"s) and distribution maps. We advocate the use of the National Biodiversity Network (NBN) Gateway as a resource for providing distribution data but discuss the current limitations in terms of available data. We have appended example fact sheets for a number of species.
In the second section of this report we consider nuisance insects more broadly than encompassed in the statutory nuisance definition, and provide examples of species that have
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already been recorded in Britain (native and non-native including residents and occasional immigrants) or are potential invaders (non-native new arrivals). The methods used to review the literature on nuisance insects species and the impacts of climate change on their distribution, in a systematic way, are described. We highlight the nuisance insect species that are unlikely to be affected by climate warming Blattella germanica (german cockroach), Cimex lectularius (bed bug), Monomorium pharaonis (Pharaoh"s ant), Anobium punctatum (woodworm), Ctenocephalides felis (cat fleas), Lyctus brunneus (powderpost beetle), Hylotrupes bajulus (house longhorn), Tineola bisselliella (common clothes moth), Dolichovespula media (media wasp) and Vespa crabro (European hornet). The ten species most likely to increase with climate warming are Tinearia alternata (moth fly), Lasius neglectus (invasive garden ant), Thaumetopoea processionea (oak processionary moth), Linepithema humile (Argentine ant), Reticulitermes grassei (Mediterranean termite), Culex pipiens molestus (urban mosquito), Culex pipiens pipiens (mosquito), Aedes vexans (mosquito – wetland), Ochlerotatus cantans (mosquito – woodland) and Musca domestica (house fly). The ten species most likely to increase with changes in precipitation are the same as for increasing temperature with the exception of Musca domestica and inclusion of Phlebotomus mascittii (sand fly). We provide two detailed case studies illustrating potential modelling approaches: biting midges and mosquitoes. In addition, we highlight the potential for further studies which would enable detailed quantitative analysis, such as demonstrated in the case studies, to be undertaken across taxa.


When is a fertility treatment futile? This question has great practical importance, given the role futility plays in ethical, legal and clinical discussions. Here, we outline a novel method of determining futility for IVF treatments. Our approach is distinctive for considering the economic value attached to the intended aim of IVF treatments, i.e. the birth of a child, rather than just the effects on prospective parents and the health system in general. We draw on the commonly used metric, quality-adjusted life years (QALYs), to attach a monetary value to new lives created through IVF. We then define futility as treatments in which the chance of achieving a live birth is so low that IVF is no longer a cost-effective intervention given the economic value of new births. This model indicates that IVF treatments in which the chance of a live birth are <0.3% are futile. This suggests IVF becomes futile when women are aged between 47 and 49 years of age. This is notable older than ages currently considered as futile in an Australian context (∼45). In the UK, government subsidized treatment with the couple's own gametes stops at the age of 42, while privately funded treatments are self-regulated by individual providers. In most European countries and the USA, the 'age of futility' is likewise managed by clinical consensus.


Modern Insurgencies and Counter-Insurgencies explores how unconventional warfare tactics have opposed past and present governments all over the world, from eighteenth-century guerrilla warfare to the urban terrorism of today. Insurgency remains one of the most prevalent forms of conflict and presents a crucial challenge to the international community, governments and the military. In addition to examining the tactics of guerrilla leaders such as Lawrence, Mao, Guevara and Marighela, Modern Insurgencies and Counter-Insurgencies also analyses the counter-insurgency theories of Gallieni, Callwell, Thompson and Kitson. It explores such conflicts as: * the American War of Independence * Napoleon's campaign in Spain * the wars of decolonisation * the superpowers in Vietnam and Afghanistan * conflicts in Northern Ireland, Sierra Leone and Colombia.


Skeletal muscle insulin resistance is a prominent early feature in the pathogenesis of type 2 diabetes. In attempt to overcome this defect, we generated mice overexpressing insulin receptors (IR) specifically in skeletal muscle (IRMOE). On normal chow, IRMOE mice have body weight similar to that of controls but an increase in lean mass and glycolytic muscle fibers and reduced fat mass. IRMOE mice also show higher basal phosphorylation of IR, IRS-1, and Akt in muscle and improved glucose tolerance compared with controls. When challenged with high-fat diet (HFD), IRMOE mice are protected from diet-induced obesity. This is associated with reduced inflammation in fat and liver, improved glucose tolerance, and improved systemic insulin sensitivity. Surprisingly, however, in both chow and HFD-fed mice, insulin-stimulated Akt phosphorylation is significantly reduced in muscle of IRMOE mice, indicating postreceptor insulin resistance. RNA sequencing reveals downregulation of several postreceptor signaling proteins that contribute to this resistance. Thus, enhancing early insulin signaling in muscle by overexpression of the IR protects mice from diet-induced obesity and its effects on glucose metabolism. However, chronic overstimulation of this pathway leads to postreceptor desensitization, indicating the critical balance between normal signaling and hyperstimulation of the insulin signaling pathway.


The temperate herbaceous tribes Loteae and Coronilleae have traditionally been regarded as taxonomically distinct entities. More recent morphological assessments, however, have challenged this view and suggest combining the two tribes under Loteae. Two key features used to distinguish the Coronilleae from Loteae include jointed fruits and branched root nodules. We evaluate the taxonomic utility of these characters using information derived from phylogenetic analyses of the internal transcribed spacers ITS1 1 2, and the intervening 5.8S region of nuclear ribosomal DNA. Results from this study show that neither the Loteae nor Coronilleae form individual monophyletic groups, and that key fruit and root nodule characters used to distinguish the Coronilleae are homoplastic. Given these data, we support the recognition of a single tribe, Loteae. We also find that Lotus, the largest and most morphologically complex genus in either tribe, is not monophyletic. Rather, it consists of two geographically distinct lineages, Old and New World, each of which are more closely related to other Loteae genera: Old World Lotus are more closely related to Old World Anthyllis, while New World Lotus show closer affinities to Old World Coronilla. These data also have important implications for the biogeography of New World Lotus: equally most parsimonious reconstructions suggest a complex scenario of intercontinental dispersals that involve not only Old World Lotus but Coronilla as well.


Room reverberation leads to reduced intelligibility of audio signals. Enhancement is thus crucial for high-quality audio and scene analysis applications. This paper proposes to directly and optimally estimate the source signal and acoustic channel from the distorted observations. The remaining model parameters are sampled from a particle filter, facilitating real-time dereverberation. The approach was previously successfully applied to single- and multisensor blind dereverberation. Enhancement can be improved upon by accurately modelling the speech production system. This paper therefore extends the blind dereverberation approach to incorporate a novel source model based on parallel formant synthesis and compares the approach to one using a time-varying AR model, with parameters varying according to a random walk. Experimental data shows that dereverberation using the proposed model is improved for vowels, stop consonants, and fricatives.


To this day, the study of the substratum of thought and its implied mechanisms is rarely directly addressed. Nowadays, systemic approaches based on introspective methodologies are no longer fashionable and are often overlooked or ignored. Most frequently, reductionist approaches are followed for deciphering the neuronal circuits functionally associated with cognitive processes. However, we argue that systemic studies of individual thought may still contribute to a useful and complementary description of the multimodal nature of perception, because they can take into account individual diversity while still identifying the common features of perceptual processes. We propose to address this question by looking at one possible task for recognition of a "signifying sound", as an example of conceptual grasping of a perceptual response. By adopting a mixed approach combining qualitative analyses of interviews based on introspection with quantitative statistical analyses carried out on the resulting categorization, this study describes a variety of mental strategies used by musicians to identify notes' pitch. Sixty-seven musicians (music students and professionals) were interviewed, revealing that musicians utilize intermediate steps during note identification by selecting or activating cognitive bricks that help construct and reach the correct decision. We named these elements "mental anchorpoints" (MA). Although the anchorpoints are not universal, and differ between individuals, they can be grouped into categories related to three main sensory modalities – auditory, visual and kinesthetic. Such categorization enabled us to characterize the mental representations (MR) that allow musicians to name notes in relationship to eleven basic typologies of anchorpoints. We propose a conceptual framework which summarizes the process of note identification in five steps, starting from sensory detection and ending with the verbalization of the note pitch, passing through the pivotal role of MAs and MRs. We found that musicians use multiple strategies and select individual combinations of MAs belonging to these three different sensory modalities, both in isolation and in combination.


It's 2014 — we have consumer robots and electric cars, private spacecraft, planet colonization projects, and the Higgs Boson is confirmed, but GIS software is still a mess. You might be able to make sense of it all if you're a GIS specialist with an academic background, but other creative individuals — designers, developers, tinkerers of all kinds, each with a vision and desire to create meaningful and beautiful maps and visualizations — are constantly losing battles against bloat, clutter, and complexity.How do we reverse this GIS entropy? What does it take to turn complex technology into something that anyone can use and contribute to? An attempt to answer by the creator of Leaflet, a simple JS library that changed the world of online maps forever.


The Ahmadiyya Muslim Community (AMC, or Ahmadiyya Muslim Jama'at) believe themselves to be Muslims. The AMC was founded by Mirza Ghulam Ahmad in 1889 as a revival movement within Islam. Unlike all other sects of Islam, they believe that Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (1835–1908) of Qadian (a small town in Gurdaspur district of Punjab, India) is the same promised Messiah who was prophesied by the prophet Muhammad. Other sects believe that the promised Messiah is yet to come and, therefore, Mirza Ghulam Ahmad is a false prophet and his followers are non-Muslims.


Jaundice is the commonest presentation of patients with liver and biliary disease. The cause can be established in most cases by simple non-invasive tests, but many patients will require referral to a specialist for management. Patients with high concentrations of bilirubin (>100 μmol/l) or with evidence of sepsis or cholangitis are at high risk of developing complications and should be referred as an emergency because delays in treatment adversely affect prognosis.

Bilirubin pathway

Hyperbilirubinaemia is defined as a bilirubin concentration above the normal laboratory upper limit of 19 μmol/l. Jaundice occurs when bilirubin becomes visible within the sclera, skin, and mucous membranes, at a blood concentration of around 40 μmol/l. Jaundice can be categorised as prehepatic, hepatic, or posthepatic, and this provides a useful framework for identifying the underlying cause.

Around 3% of the UK population have hyperbilirubinaemia (up to 100 μmol/l) caused by excess unconjugated bilirubin, a condition known as Gilbert's syndrome. These patients have mild impairment of conjugation within the hepatocytes. The condition usually becomes apparent only during a transient rise in bilirubin concentration (precipitated by fasting or illness) that results in frank jaundice. Investigations show an isolated unconjugated hyperbilirubinaemia with normal liver enzyme activities and reticulocyte concentrations. The syndrome is often familial and does not require treatment.

In prehepatic jaundice, excess unconjugated bilirubin is produced faster than the liver is able to conjugate it for excretion. The liver can excrete six times the normal daily load before bilirubin concentrations in the plasma rise. Unconjugated bilirubin is insoluble and is not excreted in the urine. It is most commonly due to increased haemolysis—for example, in spherocytosis, homozygous sickle cell disease, or thalassaemia major—and patients are often anaemic with splenomegaly. The cause can usually be determined by further haematological tests (red cell film for reticulocytes and abnormal red cell …


In this paper I will analyse the politics of memory in relation to the canonization of the writer and captain Nolsoyar Pall as a Cultural Saints in the Faroe Islands. Combining approaches from cultural nationalism studies, memory studies and imagology, we will investigate the use of cultural saints. I will argue, that narratives of heroes recycle earlier forms of remembrance and images as in the palimpsest seen through monuments and places of memory. Nolsoyar Pall's most famous poem is the Bird Ballad from 1807, where Danish governments officials were pictured as birds of prey, while he himself was the Oystercatcher fighting for the Faroese. Later the Oystercatcher became the national bird of the Faroe Islands. If we begin with memory a palimpsest is a manuscript page from a scroll or book that has been scraped off and used again. The palimpsest is a figure of both destruction and of creation. The term can be used to tie together complex forms of public memory as for example literary canonization (Jan Assmann). Huyssens (2003) driving metaphor is the palimpsest. Astrid Erll and Ann Rigney see literature as a medium of remembrance, and images of the past as well. It is my claim with the national hero Nolsoyar Pall, that other media overtake the story in as a palimpsest in itself. In this way narratives recycle earlier forms of remembrance and can be seen as 'relay stations' in the circulation of memories. Imagology is the study of literary representations of national character. Combined with the study of memory, we will analyse, how literary stereotypes emerge and how they are determined by historical and ideological circumstances as literary and discursive conventions (Leerssen) as we see in the creation of an early national stereotype with the "Bird Ballad" by Nolsoyar Pall. In the paper I will put Nolsoyar Pall in play in relation to memory and imagology and cultural nationalism. I intend to show - looking at the construction of national heroes, with the palimpsest figure - that national heroes follow ancient paths of early memory. Cultural Saints and cultural nationalism in the long 19th Century has shown striking analogies to a palimpsest on how "national" artists and heroes were canonized and celebrated. Here we see, that the canonization of religious saints and cultural saints show some of the same patterns of confessing, martyrdom, fighting for ideas, enlightening, educating and cultivating the memory.


Abstract Composers have spent more than fifty years devising computer programs for the semi-automated production of music. This article shall focus in particular on the case of minimal run-time human intervention, where a program allows the creation of a musical variation, typically unravelling in realtime, on demand. These systems have the capacity to vary their output with each run, often from no more input information than the seeding of a random number generator with the start time. Such artworks are accumulating, released online as downloads, or exhibited through streaming radio sites such as rand()%. Listener/users and composer/designers may wish for deeper insight into these programs' ontological status, mechanisms and creative potential. These works are challenging to dissect; this article makes a tentative start at confronting the unique problems and rich behaviours of computer-program-based generative music, from the social and historical context to the backwards engineering of programs in relation to their sound world. After a discussion of exemplars and definitions of generative art, strategies for analysis are outlined. To provide practical examples, analyses are provided of two small scale works by James McCartney.


Yuan Mei's literary achievements are multifaceted. As a master of poetry and poetic criticism, his influence was unmatched by anyone of his time. His poetic theory and criticism is undoubtedly worth studying, but the writing of the Suiyuan shihua itself is also worth noting. Up to this day, however, only a few scholars have paid attention to this aspect of Yuan's work. In his critical biography of the writer, Wang Yingzhi discussed Suiyuan shihua's standards for poetic selection and its characteristics in recounting events; the Canadian scholar J. D. Schmidt in his book on Yuan's life and poetry mentioned ZhaoYi and Zhang Xuecheng's critique of the financial motivations in the writing of the work but remained suspicious of the credibility of the criticism. In addition, the Taiwanese scholar Wang Yirong conducted a cultural analysis of the work from the perspectives of communication and gender studies. These studies are valuable for us to understand Yuan's poetic criticism but at the same time have left room for a further investigation of Yuan's writing process from a sociological perspective, a question that we cannot avoid in discussing the work. If we do not understand how Yuan worked—where the Suiyuan shihua's materials come from and how they enter into the work—and consider it a specimen of pure literary criticism, we will not only overlook the nonliterary elements of the work but also mis-represent shihua writing after the middle of the Qing.


The role of the enrolled nurse in New Zealand healthcare has seen constant change and uncertainty over the last 30 years (Wilson, 2000). Positions have disappeared, the regulatory body of the Nursing Council of New Zealand has imposed disadvantageous regulations and there has been a wide-held view that enrolled nursing is at the bottom of the professional ladder (Waitere, 1998). Enrolled nurse training was disestablished in 1993 and re-introduced in 2003, but at the same time the title was changed and the scope of practice diminished. It is therefore difficult to understand why anyone would choose this level of entry into nursing. Yet, for Maori, it appears to have been a viable option because proportionately, there are a greater number of Maori in enrolled nursing that in any other health profession.

Enrolled nursing has evolved in a more equitable way in Britain, where it is not the qualification, but the job role that defines the scope of practice. This paper examines the evolution of the enrolled nurse in New Zealand from my perspective as a registered nurse who has worked with enrolled nurses in both Britain and New Zealand settings and who values the contribution that enrolled nurses make to healthcare outcomes to patients. I have analysed key documents from a critical perspective to draw conclusions about the positioning of enrolled nurses in New Zealand and make recommendations for a more equitable and emancipated future for enrolled nurses.


The definitive volume on contemporary Asian art, this illustrated book is the first to survey art created in Asia or by Asian artists from the 1990s onwards. In four thematic chapters, the full scope of Asian art is covered, from calligraphy and ceramics, to installation and internet art. The book provides a critical overview of the work of established stars Takashi Murakami and Zhang Huan, as well as emerging talents such as Indonesian cartoon artist Wedhar Riyadi and Pakistani graffiti artist Naiza H. Khan. With 200 colour illustrations and nearly 200 artists biographies, this is an indispensable introduction to contemporary art in Asia.


IOS integration has become a competitive necessity in recent industrial environment. Thus, in the supply chain, dominant firms often try to exert their power to influence their dependent firms to implement IOS integration. However, whether power helps or hurts an integrated IOS implementation is still an unresolved issue. Mixed results on this issue from prior studies demand a further examination on such a context. Based on the circuits of power framework and the concept of obligatory passage point (OPP), this study identifies three factors that mediate the effect of power on the implementation of IOS integration, including competitive necessity, interestingness, and firm readiness. We accordingly develop a theoretical model with six hypotheses. Based on a sample of 134 manufacturing firms and PLS analysis, all hypotheses receive empirical support from the data. The findings suggest that the flows of exercised power and potential power into IOS integration can go through those mediators. Exercised power can promote competitive necessity that lead dependent firms to perceive greater interestingness and achieve higher firm readiness, resulting in a high level of IOS integration. Potential power supplements exercised power in facilitating interestingness and firm readiness. These two types of power also demonstrate different effects on those mediators. While exercised power has a greater impact on competitive necessity and no impact on interestingness, potential power produces an opposite result. This study therefore clarifies the effect of different types of power on IOS implementation. Theoretical and practical implications of the results are provided.


Abstract We estimated the aboveground productivity of eelgrass, Zostera marina, in Cobscook Bay at three soft-bottom lower intertidal locations during 1995–1996. Approximately 30 plants were tagged bi-weekly or monthly at two sites where we used a completely randomized block design to assess spatial variability in leaf initiation and elongation rates. The data showed strong seasonal patterns with highest rates from June–September and lowest rates from November–April. At one site, Bell Farm, plants were tagged at two discrete tidal levels (intertidal and sublittoral fringe). On each sampling date, mean leaf biomass and new leaf production were 2.7 and 1.7 times greater, respectively, for plants in the sublittoral fringe. At another site, Mahar Cove, all tagged plants were restricted to one tidal level. Spatial variation in leaf biomass and new leaf production were examined on the first four sampling dates and significant effects were observed twice. Productivity estimates ranged from 0.095 g dry wt m−2 day−1 (November–January) to 1.215 g dry wt m−2 day−1 (August) at Bell Farm. At Mahar Cove, rates ranged from 0.176 g dry wt m−2 day−1 (March–April) to 1.490 g dry wt m−2 day−1 (August). Average annual productivity at Bell Farm and Mahar Cove was 0.481 ± 0.512 g dry wt m−2 day−1 and 0.784 ± 0.512 g dry wt m−2 day−1, respectively. These estimates correlate directly with seawater temperature, but not with salinity, nitrate, and total phosphorous. The time for plants to fully turn over their leaves at the two sites ranged from 50.5–56.7 days (6.4–7.2 turnovers per year), and are comparable to other locations in the northeast US and the Canadian Maritimes. We estimate that total (interidal + subtidal) eelgrass production in Cobscook Bay ranges from 3.3–5.3 × 108 g C year−1. This is the first appraisal of growth and productivity of Z. marina in eastern Maine.


Background The association between physical activity (PA), sedentary behavior, and incident diabetes has been assessed in whites but is less well investigated in multiethnic populations. Objective To assess the association between PA, sedentary behavior, and incident diabetes in the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis. Research design and methods Incident diabetes was assessed among adults without prevalent baseline diabetes (2000–2002) at 5 in-person examinations between 2002 and 2012. Baseline PA (moderate, vigorous, and exercise-specific; metabolic equivalents of task-hours/week) and sedentary behaviors (television watching, reading; hours/day) were assessed by questionnaire. HRs were estimated using Cox proportional hazard models. Results Among 5829 adults (mean age 61.8 years, 54% female, 42% white, 12% Chinese-American, 26% African-American, 21% Hispanic-American), there were 655 incident diabetes cases (median follow-up 11.1 years). After adjustment, diabetes risk was lower in those with brisk or striding compared with none or casual walking pace (HR 0.67; 95% CI 0.54 to 0.84), higher levels of exercise PA (HR for highest vs lowest quartile 0.79; 95% CI 0.63 to 0.98), and any compared with no vigorous PA (HR 0.79; 95% CI 0.66 to 0.95). Race/ethnicity influenced the association of walking pace, exercise PA, and any vigorous PA on diabetes risk, which was only significant among whites. Total leisure sedentary behaviors (HR for highest vs lowest quartile 1.65; 95% CI 1.26 to 2.14) and television watching (HR for highest vs lowest quartile 2.68; 95% CI 1.38 to 5.21) were significantly associated with diabetes risk in multiethnic analyses and were influenced by race/ethnicity. Conclusions These results confirm the importance of PA and sedentary behavior on diabetes risk in a multiethnic population and demonstrate potential variations across race/ethnic groups.


The essential nutrient selenium is believed responsible for numerous deformities, reproductive failures, and deaths of migratory birds at Kesterson Reservoir in the San Joaquin Valley, California. Adverse effects upon wildlife at the reservoir appeared only a few years after the area began receiving selenium laden subsurface drainage water from less than 42,000 (17,000 hectares) of agricultural land. It is estimated that in order to sustain irrigated agriculture and associated high levels of crop productivity, over one million acres of land on the west side of the valley must eventually be drained. Unless extraordinary measures are taken, the potential is great for adverse effects upon water quality and public health, and continued harm to fish and wildlife resources of the San Joaquin Valley.


It was evaluated beef heifers performance from three until twelve months of age, when they were reared in cultivated pasture soon after their weaning (experiment 1) and in the first winter post-weaning (experiment 2), with or without the supply of energy supplements to the animals. From 02/16 to 04/21/2001, the heifers stayed in Pearl Millet pasture, exclusively under grazing (PAST1); supplemented with milled corn grain (PAST1/C) or supplemented with pellet citric pulp (PAST1/P). From 07/13 to 10/09/2001, the heifers were maintained in oat plus italian ryegrass pasture without supplementation to the animals (PAST2); supplemented with milled corn grain (PAST2/C) or supplemented with soy hull (PAST2/H). The evaluated variables of animal performance were live weight (LW), average daily gain (ADG) and body condition score (BCS). In the experiment 1, supplemented animals presented larger values of final LW, ADG and BCS in relation to the non supplemented, ones the supplemented treatments not differing to each other. In experiment 2, the soy hull supplemented heifers showed greater ADG and final LW than non supplemented heifers, with the corn grain supplemented group in an intermediary position. The highest BCS was obtained by the animals of PAST2/H, followed by PAST2/C and, at last, of PAST2. Beef heifers weaned at 60-90 days should be supplemented in the initial post-weaning period, enabling them to reach satisfactory development in this phase of growth. The by-products citric pulp and soy hull can substitute the corn grain as energy supplements for rearing of beef heifers.


This study was designed to investigate the effect of note-taking and working memory on Iranian EFL learners' listening comprehension. The primary purpose of this study was to see whether there was any difference among the listening and note-taking participants in the application of note-taking strategies and whether there was any difference in listening comprehension test performance of listening only and listening and note-taking groups. Also, this study explored whether the participants' working memory capacity correlates with their listening comprehension performance. In so doing, 44 lower-intermediate L2 learners were selected from Sobhe Sadegh Institute of Higher Education in Esfahan, Iran. The experimental and control groups, twenty two students in each, included both female and male native speakers of Farsi, of the age range between 18 and 30. The data were collected based on listening sections of TOEFL. All the participants listened to one listening passage in each session, each passage was accompanied by multiple-choice, essay and recall questions. Then, a test was administered at the end of the sessions to find the difference between the achievement of the experimental group (listening and note-taking) and the control group (listening only). The results indicated that there were differences among the participants' listening comprehension test scores and their note-taking strategies. Comparing the mean scores of the two groups of students, by independent samples T-test indicated that the note-taking group outperformed the listening only group. Additionally, the data analysis via correlation indicated a positive correlation between working memory and listening comprehension performance.


While e-support has been positioned as a means, to overcome some of the time and financial constraints to professional learning, it has largely failed to act as a medium for professional learning in physical education. Consequently, this paper positions teachers prior interest with social media acts as a type of 'leverage' for using sites such as Facebook and Twitter for professional learning purposes. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to explore how social media operates as a communicative space, external to the physical site of an emerging community of practice (CoP) that supported teachers' professional learning and their subsequent longer term changing practice. This study is nested within a wider longitudinal project that explores how teachers learnt and refined their use of a pedagogical innovation (Cooperative Learning) through the overarching methodology, participatory action research. Social media emerged as a form of communication that was not in the study's original design. The paper explores 2125 interactions, through Facebook and Twitter, between five physical education teachers and a facilitator over a two-year period. Through social media, the facilitator re-enforced teachers changing practice, aided the development of the practices of an emerging CoP, and by the CoP situating their use of the innovation in the virtual world, teachers were supported in changing their practice over time, and the use of the pedagogical innovation was sustained. Interactions promoted teacher inquiry, challenged teachers to develop their existing use of the innovation further and encouraged them to work together and develop shared practices. Therefore, social media is presented here as a 'new' method for professional learning that supports pedagogical change and overcomes some of the financial and time implications of facilitators and teachers working together.


To the Editor: This is a case report of an elderly man with voltagegated potassium-channel antibodyassociated limbic encephalitis. In this case, he received rituximab and developed a manic episode. It is a reaction we should be aware of when using rituximab. "Mr. C" is an 80-year-old man who presented with new-onset generalized seizure disorder followed by gradual onset of parkinsonism. Brain MRI was notable for age-consistent parenchymal atrophy and extensive deep white-matter chronic small-vessel ischemic changes. EEG showed epileptiform activity in the left temporal lobe. A paraneoplastic panel noted positive neuronal voltage-gated potassiumchannel antibody 1.15 nmol/liter, consistent with limbic encephalitis. Intravenous immunoglobulin therapy (IVIG) led to mild cognitive improvement. However, he soon developed paranoid delusions, labile mood, crying spells, and physical aggressiveness toward his wife, roughly grabbing her arm or scratching her. Plasmapheresis treatment led to mild improvement in attention and memory. However, he experienced recurrence of labile mood, crying, paranoid delusions, agitation, and a new symptom of increased libido. He was more sexually demanding of his wife and even went to the neighbors to complain about his wife's lack of interest in sex. He received a single treatment with rituximab, followed later that evening by increasingly expansive mood, decreased need for sleep, increased sexual desire, and increased aggression with his wife, accusing her of having a sexual relationship with their female neighbor. He was admitted to a subacute dementia unit and started treatment with Depakote, titrated to 500 mg at bedtime, with a trough level of 37. He had no further agitation or hypersexuality; he continued Depakote treatment, and his mood returned to normal over a few days. Mr. C had a typical case of limbic encephalitis with new-onset seizures and memory and behavioral changes without striking neurologic findings. Limbic encephalitis is typically paraneoplastic, but there are non-paraneoplastic forms, including voltage-gated potassiumchannel antibody-associated encephalopathy, which is typically responsive to immunotherapy, although this case was not. Rituximab is a monoclonal antibody that binds to CD20 on B-cells, causing cell death in CD20 B-cells and down-regulating the B-cell receptor, eliminating B-cells and thus allowing for new B-cell production. Rituximab has been successfully used in B-cell lymphoma and other autoimmune diseases, such as systemic lupus erythematosus, as well as paraneoplastic neurologic syndromes. We report a brief manic episode in the hours after rituximab infusion, a reaction that has not been previously reported. Autoantibody levels have been used to monitor outcome with IVIG in other autoimmune diseases, and might have been useful in monitoring response to therapy in this case. There are no reports of rituximab directly causing delirium or mood disorders, although mental-status changes have been associated with rituximab's induction of opportunistic infections such as progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy. In short, we present a remarkable case of a brief manic episode after rituximab treatment in a patient with nonparaneoplastic limbic encephalitis. The clinician should be aware of the possibility of such a reaction, and this finding adds to our knowledge of psychiatric complications of limbic encephalitis.


Microfluidic devices provide powerful new tools for quantitative stem cell research owing to its advantages in cellular microenvironmental control and experiment throughput over conventional methods. Particularly, microfluidics is playing a growing role in studying stem cell growth, differentiation and trafficking mediated by chemical factors such as different growth and differentiation factors and physical parameters such as direct current electric fields (dcEF). In the present study, we focused on adipose-derived stem cells (ADSCs) and we quantitatively characterized ADSCs growth and positioning mediated by epidermal growth factor (EGF) and dcEF using microfluidic devices. Our results revealed that ADSCs preferentially grow toward the EGF gradient. In addition, we showed that ADSCs tend to orient perpendicularly to the dcEF. These microfluidics-based results demonstrated the interesting roles of EGF and dcEF in controlling ADSCs growth and trafficking.