The fossil record of the flowering plant family Cunoniaceae is comprehensively
examined and reviewed using detailed studies of the morphology of extant
Cunoniaceae with new macrofossil species described from Australian Cainozoic
sediments. Eleven of the 26 extant Cunoniaceae genera are represented in the
macrofossil record and include leaves and leaf fragments, foliar cuticle and
reproductive structures. These occur almost exclusively in Australian fossil deposits
and range from Late Paleocene to Quaternary in age. Cunoniaceae fossil pollen is
widely documented across the Southern Hemisphere but is less informative due to the
low taxonomic resolution of its identification.
Leaf and infructescence macrofossils from five Cainozoic deposits in south-eastern
Australia are indistinguishable from the extant species Callicoma serratifolia which is
now restricted to eastern Australia. The first macrofossil of Codia, C. australiensis, is
described from Western Australia, and has affinities with the juvenile foliage of at least
one extant Codia species which is now endemic to New Caledonia.
Two new fossil species of Ceratopetalum are described from fruits, C. westermannii
(late Early-Late Miocene) and C. maslinensis (Middle Eocene) and the identification of
two others previously described, C. priscum (Middle Miocene) and C. wilkinsonii
(Late Eocene-Early Oligocene), is supported.
Fossil Eucryphia capsules are described for the first time, E. reticulata (Early
Oligocene) and E. sp. `LRR1' (Early Oligocene), in addition to new species based on
leaf macrofossils, E. leaensis (entire margin, Early Oligocene) and E. mucronata
(serrate margin, ?Latest Eocene-Early Oligocene). The previously identified E.
aberensis has been located at the early Oligocene Little Rapid River, making this the
first Eucryphia species to be located in more than a single deposit. This species has
both serrate and entire margins. Early Pleistocene leaves from Tasmania are
conspecific with the two extant species, E. lucida and E. milliganii ssp. milliganii. The
identification of E. falcata (Late Paleocene; Lake Bungarby) is supported. Macrofossils and the fossil pollen record show that some genera had a different or
more widespread distribution in Australia during the Cainozoic, with two genera
(Weinmannia and Codia) having become extinct from the continent. A reduction in
vegetation disturbance regimes (e.g. volcanism, uplifting, landslips) or changes in
climate, including increasing cold, frost, dryness, seasonality, or some combination of these, may be implicated in these generic extinctions, although the cause of others
remains unidentified.
Many extant genera (Schizomeria, Vesselowskya, Callicoma, Ceratopetalum,
Acsmithia, Codia) had evolved by the Early Oligocene or earlier (Eucryphia, Late
Paleocene; Weinmannia, ?latest Eocene-Early Oligocene), perhaps with generic
diversification more or less complete by the Early Cainozoic. A late Cretaceous origin
of the family is possible, and may account for its widespread distribution on nearly all
Southern Hemisphere landmasses, although long-distance dispersal events are required
to explain some geographic disjunctions.
Foliar evolution has occurred at different rates within the Cunoniaceae. Within
Eucryphia there has been an evolutionary trend towards simple leaves with entire
margins and well developed peltiform cuticular extensions. These evolutionary trends
and apparent adaptations are consistent with those proposed to have occurred within
other prominent Cainozoic Australian rainforest genera, including a reduction in leaf
size and increased protection of stomata. In contrast, the leaf form in Callicoma has
remained relatively unchanged since the Early Oligocene which may be due to its
paedomorphic origin from an ancestor shared with its sister taxon Codia.
A reduction in the flower size of two genera (Acsmithia and Schizomeria) provides
support to the hypothesis that within some Cunoniaceae there has been a shift from
entomophily to partial or exclusive anemophily. Petally in one extant and two fossil
species of Ceratopetalum shows that petally was once more widespread in the genus.
Secondary loss of petals may have been in response to fruit specialisation or a change
in pollinator vector. Infructescences of Callicoma indicate that the genus has not
changed florally since the Early Oligocene.


Mobile robot navigation via olfaction has been receiving considerable interest over recent years to assist in the development of advanced cognitive robots which are able to operate in natural environments. With the related advances in electronic noses, it is now possible to detect and recognize and locate a range of different odours for a variety of applications. This paper involves designing and building a chemical sensing mobile robot that is able to navigate using these latest olfactory sensors. A smart robot equipped with olfactory sensors is designed for performing various search tasks in chemical fields; these search tasks include locating point sources, following chemical trails and plume following and investigating how the search efficiencies can be enhanced.


Despite experiencing a decade of rapid economic and export growth, Asian land-locked developing countries (LLDCs) are still in a difficult position with regard to integration with the rest of the region and the global economy. This paper examines the changes in trade structure and performance of Asian LLDCs. It shows that after a decade-long global commodity boom, most of the Asian LLDCs have become resource-dependent. In addition to their geographical disadvantages, the reasons for high trade costs in LLDCs include trade barriers and service trade restrictions as well as poor trade facilitation performance. However, as those factors are related to policies, reforms in the right direction could mitigate economic challenges facing Asian LLDCs. This study also underscores the importance of global and regional cooperation efforts to assist those countries in enacting sound trade policies and strategies that put structural economic transformation at the centre of such efforts.


Cecile Fontaine9s films do not tell stories in the traditional sense. Rather, they form spiraling involutions around an idea or a theme. Hers is a cinema of layers, encrustations, and material and plastic experimentation. It is a colorful and aquatic cinema that investigates—through stripping down and subsequent reconstruction—the material from which the images are made: the film strip itself. This essay investigates the poetics and the practice of Fontaine9s found footage cinema, a cinema rigorously made without a movie camera, beginning with her first experiments with dry and wet techniques in the 1980s up to her more complex operations at the end of the 1990s. It is a cinema that, by fishing in the stream of abandoned images, reflects on the nature of the image, of memory and history, all rolled onto the vertical axis of the film.


Preface and Introduction to Volume I of the Library of Essays and Sexuality and Law: Family and Youth. The legal regulation of family forms is a global phenomenon and changes in the 'traditional' family have provoked a variety of legal responses. Same-sex marriage, civil partnerships and other legal avenues to recognize intimate relationships between adults have become a feature of many jurisdictions and a subject for debate in most. Parenting has also become contentious, whether the issue is custody, adoption, or legal recognition of parental status of a non-biological parent. How the law should regulate or protect the sexuality and gender identity of youth is a matter of great concern throughout many countries. The sexuality of the elderly members of societies is beginning to be considered.


The aim of this paper is to investigate the complex relationship between literature, as an artistic form, and the very notion of modernity. As the literary is often found mingling in the maze of mythology, it also brings about some questions concerning modernity's stance toward tradition. These will be argumentatively developed starting with Plato's first definition of the all-deciding relationship between language and myth. I will then follow the path of the philosophical thematization of literature up to literary modernity, modernism and postmodernism. Finally, I will contextualize the issues of modernity within the broader notion of time and point to the specificity of the Western-Christian understanding of modernity as linked to an always present idea of occasion.


This article evaluates protective measures for vulnerable witnesses in light of both the Victims' Charter and measures in English law, giving effect to the right to protection in the Framework Decision on the Standing of Victims in Criminal Proceedings. It further highlights the fact that special measures for vulnerable witnesses are inadequate, being restricted to intermediaries and CCTV testimony. The pre-recorded evidence-in-chief and cross-examination, along the lines of the Youth Justice and Criminal Evidence Act 1999 (YJCEA), ought to be introduced. It was found that the hearsay exception does not adequately protect vulnerable witnesses who are too afraid to testify. An exception to this, such as that in the Criminal Justice Act 2003, which permits a court to admit hearsay evidence if a vulnerable witness does not give evidence through fear. Drawing on European Court of Human Rights and English case law, it could be argued that pre-recorded video evidence-in-chief and cross-examination, as well as a hearsay exception based on fear of testifying, would not infringe the accused's constitutional right to challenge evidence. The article also assesses the restrictions on sexual history evidence as contained in the YJCEA. These have been interpreted by the House of Lords to permit sexual history evidence that is relevant to an act of consent, i.e. to disallow it would violate the accused's right to a fair trial. In this article it is also argued that the Legislature is unlikely to succeed in preventing the admission of sexual history evidence based on gendered constructions of consent. The article goes on to postulate that sexual offence victims should be granted leave for their lawyers to object to the admission of such evidence. The article concludes by arguing that, in order to create the impetus to introduce the measures that it advocates, the Victims' Charter should be revised to adopt the expansive right to protection enshrined in the Framework Decision.


The elucidation of how recombination is shaping the genomic architecture of organisms and, more in particular, how this affects the speciation process has been a long-standing question in evolutionary biology. Large-scale genomic changes such as inversions, translocations, fusions and fissions contribute to the reshuffling of genomes, providing new chromosomal forms on which natural selection can work. Despite large efforts employed in the last decade, few empirical data are available on the mechanisms by which genome reshuffling contribute to the formation of new species. Here, the authors discuss on the models of chromosomal evolution and the contribution of chromosomal reorganisations in mammalian chromosome evolution, and more specifically, during the human–chimpanzee speciation event.

Key Concepts:

The evolutionary process by which new biological species arise (speciation) is a complex process that requires the understanding of many mechanisms such as reproductive isolation, patterns of species diversity, together with the genetic basis underlying the process.

Understanding the mechanisms by which reproductive isolation (breakdown of gene flow between two populations) is achieved, is fundamental for speciation.

Genetic speciation makes references to the group of genes that are involved in maintaining reproductive isolation between species.

Chromosomal reorganisations may contribute to speciation due to the underdominant fitness effects associated with meiotic abnormalities when occurring in heterozygotes.

Chromosome rearrangements, such as inversions, can suppress recombination thus contributing to a reduction of gene flow across genomic regions and the accumulation of genetic incompatibilities.

Keywords:

chromosomal reorganisations;
speciation;
inversions;
fusions;
recombination;
great apes;
human;
chimpanzee


This thesis is a study of the architectural qualities that correlate with the sacred, while addressing the growing problem of underused and dissolving religious buildings in Canada. The initial argument puts forth the idea that a building can be described as sacred because of its architectural qualities rather than its affiliation with a religious organization. It superimposes the architectural qualities of a sacred building with a social program in order to evoke thought in everyday life. Lower interest in religion is widespread across Western societies and with a generational change it is leaving many places of worship obsolete or vacant. Historically, the church was not only a place of gathering but was responsible for the teaching and well-being of its community. Through the adaptation of existing church buildings in Montreal, they can be linked back to their history as a support for health and education, while also preserving their sacred architectural qualities.


The contributors to this volume view digital libraries (DLs) from a social as well as technological perspective. They see DLs as sociotechnical systems, networks of technology, information artifacts, and people and practices interacting with the larger world of work and society. As Bruce Schatz observes in his foreword, for a digital library to be useful, the users, the documents, and the information system must be in harmony.The contributors begin by asking how we evaluate DLs -- how we can understand them in order to build better DLs -- but they move beyond these basic concerns to explore how DLs make a difference in people's lives and their social worlds, and what studying DLs might tell us about information, knowledge, and social and cognitive processes. The chapters, using both empirical and analytical methods, examine the social impact of DLs and also the web of social and material relations in which DLs are embedded; these far-ranging social worlds include such disparate groups as community activists, environmental researchers, middle-school children, and computer system designers.Topics considered include documents and society; the real boundaries of a "library without walls"; the ecologies of digital libraries; usability and evaluation; information and institutional change; transparency as a product of the convergence of social practices and information artifacts; and collaborative knowledge construction in digital libraries.


This article, published on 26 June in The Conversation, points out the existing bias in English language media when it comes to reporting COVID-19 success stories.

Dr Mirna Solic and Dr Jan Culik of School of Modern Languages and Cultures at the University of Glasgow discuss why such stories from Central European countries are under reported in English language media, and preference is given to other countries, which report similar, if not the same results in curbing the pandemic, such as New Zealand.

As the main reason the authors stress the role of stereotypes about the history of Central Europe, highlighting collective suffering, authoritarianism, and permanent hardship as the dominant ones. In the case of Croatia, the 1990s War of Independence is often used by the media in order to explain the country's approach to the pandemic. Parallels are also drawn between Central European responses to the pandemic and the alleged xenophobic attitudes in the region.

The authors suggest that the use of stereotypes in reporting is detrimental as it diverts focus from recognising the role of public health systems in Central Europe in a successful response to the pandemic.


Sanders, Kenton M., Tamás Ördög, and Sean M. Ward. Physiology and Pathophysiology of the Interstitial Cells of Cajal: From Bench to Bedside. III. Genetic and animal models of GI motility disorders caused by loss of interstitial cells of Cajal. Am J Physiol Gastrointest Liver Physiol 282: G747–G756, 2002; 10.1152/ajpgi.00362.2001.—Several human motility disorders have been shown to be associated with loss or defects in interstitial cells of Cajal (ICC) networks. Because tissue samples for these studies were taken from patients with well-advanced motility problems, it is difficult to determine whether the loss of ICC is a cause or a consequence of the disease process. To establish the cause-and-effect relationship of ICC loss in motility disorders, it may be feasible to use animal models in which ICC are lost as motility dysfunction develops. Several models with defects in ICC networks have been developed, and these include animals with defects in the Kit signaling pathway (e.g., white-spotting mutants that have defects in Kit receptors; steel mutants that have mutations in stem cell factor, the ligand for Kit; and animals that are chronically treated with reagents that block Kit or downstream signaling proteins). ICC do not die when Kit signaling is blocked, rather, they redifferentiate into a smooth musclelike phenotype. Diabetic animals (NOD/LtJ mice), animals with chronic bowel obstruction, and inflammatory bowel models also have defects in ICC networks that have been associated with motility disorders. By studying these models with molecular and genomic techniques it may be possible to determine the signals that cause loss of ICC and find ways of restoring ICC to dysfunctional tissues. This article discusses recent progress in the utilization of animal models to study the consequences of losing ICC on the development of motility disorders.


Title of Thesis: DADA EXHIBITIONS: A SURVEY AND ANALYSIS Emily Rachel Grey, Master of Arts, 2006 Thesis directed by: Professor Steven A. Mansbach Department of Art History and Archaeology Exhibitions are an ideal means by which to approach Dadaism from an international perspective, and to consider how dadaists sought to relate to their audience. This thesis argues that while each was unique in character, Dada exhibitions often functioned similarly; as a demonstration of internationalism, as the realization of a Gesamtkunstwerk, and as a subversion of artistic traditions. Currently, such a comparative approach to Dada exhibitions is limited by uneven scholarship; the Erste Internationale Dada-Messe is the only exhibition to have been studied comprehensively. This disparity is not due to a lack of material evidence, however. For example, the Salon Dada catalogue reveals much about a little studied, large scale, international exhibition no less significant than the Dada-Messe. This thesis establishes the primary importance of exhibitions to the Dada movement, and will serve as the groundwork for future inquiries into Dada influence on subsequent art


The Air Traffic Management consists of a set of services aiming primarily at ensuring the safety of the flights. Those services are provided by various systems (people, process & technology) that separate aircraft, prevent collisions, organise and expedite the flows of traffic and also provide information. Just in Europe the ATM services are provided by more than 30 Providers, employing about 20000 controllers in 80 Control Centres, on 500 Airports, and managing daily over 30000 flights. The evolution of the number of passengers, i.e. flights, is noticeable and seems to be growing even more in the next years. This growth is related with Europe economical growth and its tendency is positive. Due to its high demand, the environment of the aerial transportation requires technological changes in order to sustain our social needs. One of the aspects that urges to improve is efficiency of the air traffic management process. This urge has led to important efforts in designing automation systems for air traffic control (ATC) with the objective of increasing the capacity and safety. The ATC system is the responsible of maintaining an organized and secure flow of aircraft. During good visibility conditions, the air tower controllers may clear aircraft to make a visual landing under tower control supervision. Pilots assume responsibility for separating themselves from other aircraft, with the controllers in contact to warn them to deviate in case of a potential conflict. During times of poor visibility, the ATC team retains responsibility for separating the aircraft on final approach. Therefore, a critical responsibility relies on the ATC team. Poor visibility conditions occur during periods of adverse weather, such as fog, snow, rain, smoke, dust or any other type of environmental occlusion. Controllers at airports must work under low visibility procedures, which allow airport operations to continue safely and cover the procedures of approach, ground movement and departures. As a result, the spacing on approach is increased, because like this aircraft can land and clear the runway before other aircraft are given landing permission. More widely spacing is necessary too when manoeuvring or taxiing during both arrivals or departures. All of this means that fewer aircraft can land or depart within a given time, causing delays, and consequently, a reduction in the capacity of the airport. Poor visibility conditions are a factor to take into account. New systems pursuing improved safety, resilience and maintenance of capacity during poor visibility conditions are required and this is where augmented reality (AR) enters at stake. AR consists on overlapping computer generated objects with the aim of augmenting and increasing the perception of the environment for the users, in this case, the ATC. Like this, the users can visualize what they cannot see due to weather conditions and thus, maintain safety and capacity. Additional data of the aircraft that is not found on the environment can be given too, like wake vortex information, trajectory data, ground unexpected objects... The ATC team may be equipped with other wearable devices too in order to enhance their perception in the AR. There are explorative research projects concerning this framework in SESAR JU in order to explore and advance in the concept of AR devices in the control tower, such as the RETINA project: Resilient Synthetic Vision for Advanced Control Tower Air Navigation Service Provision. To deepen in this topic, a basic simulation project has to be done to explain and prove this, so a 3D model prototype is required and that is what this thesis tries to support, because with this analysis it is pursued that the tasks of the ATC team become weather-independent.


Sam the Lion runs the pool-hall, the picture house and the all-night cafe. Coach Popper whips his boys with towels and once took a shot at one when he disturbed his hunting. Billy wouldn't know better than to sweep his broom all the way to the town limits if no one stopped him. And teenage friends Sonny and Duane have nothing better to do than drift towards the adult world, with its temptations of sex and confusions of love. The basis for a classic film, "The Last Picture Show" is both extremely funny and deeply profound. And, with the eccentrically peopled Thalia, Texas, Larry McMurtry made a small town that feels as real as any you've ever walked around.


Over the past two decades, cable television has largely supplanted over-the-air broadcast as a TV distribution medium. Several years ago, enterprising companies concluded that they could leverage the extremely wide bandwidth of cable TV systems required to deliver broadcast-quality television as a high-speed conduit for broadband data communications. This led to the birth of the cable modem. Early cable-modem equipment was vendor proprietary, so interoperability between different vendors' products was largely nonexistent. To promote interoperability, Cable Labs (the cable TV industry research arm) developed the Data Over Cable Service Interface Specification (DOCSIS 1.0), an IP-centric, point-to-multipoint standard that quickly replaced the proprietary solutions that preceded it. DOCSIS has now become the accepted cable standard. The newly released DOCSIS 1.1 is destined to play an important role in the delivery of high-quality multimedia across fixed wireless communications networks. With this approach, we can take advantage of all the DOCSIS technology modules that exist in the market today, allowing the wireless platform to migrate toward emerging services such as Internet protocol multicasting and voice over IP (VoIP). We describe the state of current technologies that have made fixed-wireless access a viable and compelling choice. We also discuss some emerging technologies that will bring exciting new fixed-wireless services and capabilities into homes and small businesses in the near future.


Two decades ago, scholars and writers wondered whether online tech companies would ever find a sustainable business model. It appears, however, that, even at that time, some savvy entrepreneurs were on to something. DoubleClick, which is now owned by Alphabet, for example, had already developed techniques to track users' web browsing activity across their hundreds of affiliated sites. There, of course, was nothing novel in the idea of an advertising-based business model; advertising has defined the political economy of the media and communications industry at least since the nineteenth century. But, at the turn of the century, it was not evident to anyone but just a relatively few scholars and entrepreneurs in the start-up world that targeted behavioral advertising would have purchase in the networked information economy.

Today, companies have been refining the advertising-based business model. They have been developing ever more powerful algorithmic processes for harvesting, trading on, and exploiting personal consumer data for advertisers. These computational techniques have empowered firms to collect extraordinary amounts of consumer data, anticipate consumer preferences based on that data, and microtarget advertising to individual users based on those predictions. It is all a marketer's dream. And, if click-through rates are to be believed, consumers are sold.


PURPOSE
Chiasmatic-hypothalamic gliomas are not amenable to surgical resection and therefore are treated with either radiotherapy or chemotherapy. Here we report the use of etoposide (VP-16) administered on a chronic oral schedule as a novel chemotherapeutic approach.

PATIENTS AND METHODS
Fourteen patients, aged 2 to 15 years, were treated with VP-16 after clinical and neuroradiographic tumor progression. Thirteen patients had received prior radiotherapy, and 12 received prior nitrosourea-based chemotherapy. VP-16 was administered orally, each cycle consisting of 50 mg/m2/d on day 1 through 21 and 36 through 57. Clinical and neuroradiographic evaluations were performed during days 58 through 72 before initiation of each cycle of therapy. Complete blood counts were performed weekly.

RESULTS
Treatment-related complications included the following: partial alopecia (seven patients); diarrhea (six); weight loss (five); neutropenia (four); and thrombocytopenia (four). Three patients required transfusion (three RBC; two platelet), and one patient required antibiotic treatment of neutropenic fever. There were no treatment-related deaths. Fourteen patients were assessable, five of whom demonstrated a radiographic response (one complete and four partial); and three patients demonstrated stable disease, with a median duration of response of 8 months.

CONCLUSION
Chronic oral VP-16 is well tolerated, produces modest toxicity, and has apparent activity in this small cohort of patients with recurrent chiasmatic-hypothalamic gliomas.


Despite research developments in the area of sperm storage, it has become inevitable to realize a marked reduction in the quality of fresh semen following cryopreservation. As a result, research has continued and will also continue in the future looking forward for a much better and improved methods of sperm cryopreservation along with better understanding of the physical and biochemical challenges that the sperm has to face to survive during freezing. Among the various attempts made to improve the cryopreservation process and subsequently result in superior quality of sperm after thawing include manipulating the composition of semen extenders by addition of exogenous products including antioxidants and fatty acids. While fatty acids are added to strengthening plasma membrane stability, Antioxidants are incorporated to compensate the reduction in the endogenous antioxidants level of seminal plasma due to dilution as well as to combat with the excess reactive oxygen species (ROS) production during freezing. In this chapter, the roles of antioxidants and fatty acids in mammalian sperm cryopreservation, both from endogenous and exogenous perspectives, will be discussed with reference to the latest research findings.


Acupuncture has been used therapeutically in China for thousands of years and is growing in prominence in Europe and the United States. In a recent review of complementary and alternative medicine use in the US population, an estimated 2.1 million people or 1.1% of the population sought acupuncture care during the past 12 months. Four percent of the US population used acupuncture at any time in their lives. We reviewed 31 different published journal articles, including 23 randomized controlled clinical trials and 8 meta-analysis/systematic reviews. We found evidence of some efficacy and low risk associated with acupuncture in pediatrics. From all the conditions we reviewed, the most extensive research has looked into acupuncture's role in managing postoperative and chemotherapy-induced nausea/vomiting. Postoperatively, there is far more evidence of acupuncture's efficacy for pediatrics than for children treated with chemotherapy. Acupuncture seems to be most effective in preventing postoperative induced nausea in children. For adults, research shows that acupuncture can inhibit chemotherapy-related acute vomiting, but conclusions about its effects in pediatrics cannot be made on the basis of the available published clinical trials data to date. Besides nausea and vomiting, research conducted in pain has yielded the most convincing results on acupuncture efficacy. Musculoskeletal and cancer-related pain commonly affects children and adults, but unfortunately, mostly adult studies have been conducted thus far. Because the manifestations of pain can be different in children than in adults, data cannot be extrapolated from adult research. Systematic reviews have shown that existing data often lack adequate control groups and sample sizes. Vas et al, Alimi et al, and Mehling et al demonstrated some relief for adults treated with acupuncture but we could not find any well-conducted randomized controlled studies that looked at pediatrics and acupuncture exclusively. Pain is often unresolved from drug therapy, thus there is a need for more studies in this setting. For seasonal allergic rhinitis, we reviewed studies conducted by Ng et al and Xue et al in children and adults, respectively. Both populations showed some relief of symptoms through acupuncture, but questions remain about treatment logistics. Additionally, there are limited indications that acupuncture may help cure children afflicted with nocturnal enuresis. Systematic reviews show that current published trials have suffered from low trial quality, including small sample sizes. Other areas of pediatric afflictions we reviewed that suffer from lack of research include asthma, other neurologic conditions, gastrointestinal disorders, and addiction. Acupuncture has become a dominant complementary and alternative modality in clinical practice today, but its associated risk has been questioned. The National Institutes of Health Consensus Statement states "one of the advantages of acupuncture is that the incidence of adverse effects is substantially lower than that of many drugs or other accepted procedures for the same conditions." A review of serious adverse events by White et al found the risk of a major complication occurring to have an incidence between 1:10,000 and 1:100,000, which is considered "very low." Another study found that the risk of a serious adverse event occurring from acupuncture therapy is the same as taking penicillin. The safety of acupuncture is a serious concern, particularly in pediatrics. Because acupuncture's mechanism is not known, the use of needles in children becomes questionable. For example, acupoints on the vertex of infants should not be needled when the fontanel is not closed. It is also advisable to apply few needles or delay treatment to the children who have overeaten, are overfatigued, or are very weak. Through our review of pediatric adverse events, we found a 1.55 risk of adverse events occurring in 100 treatments of acupuncture that coincides with the low risk detailed in the studies mentioned previously. The actual risk to an individual patient is hard to determine because certain patients, such as an immunosuppressed patient, can be predisposed to an increased risk, acupuncturist's qualifications differ, and practices vary in certain parts of the world. Nevertheless, it seems acupuncture is a safe complementary/alternative medicine modality for pediatric patients on the basis of the data we reviewed.


The Na3V2O2(PO4)2F/graphene sandwich cathode has attracted great attention as a potential candidate for sodium-ion batteries in view of its high capacity and good cycling ability. However, a big issue for Na3V2O2(PO4)2F/graphene is its extremely poor electronic conductivity due to the multilayer structure in which Na3V2O2(PO4)2F particles are located between the graphene layers. We introduced carbon in the Na3V2O2(PO4)2F/graphene sandwich to form a 3D architecture – Na3V2O2(PO4)2F@carbon/graphene (NVPF@C/G). A battery with the NVPF@C/G cathode presents good electrochemical properties, a high capacity, 135.8 mAh g−1 at 0.1C, with a capacity retention of 96.8% at 2C for fifty cycles. NVPF@C/G showed obvious advantage in the rate performance and cycle stability compared with the NVPF/G sandwich, which indicated that the nanoporous carbon integrated in the 3D structure plays a crucial role in improving the electrochemical performance. It is anticipated that such a new method of introducing nanoporous carbon for battery performance enhancement can be extended to other graphene-based sandwich structure electrodes.


DEVELOPMENT OF MEMBRANE EXTRACTION SYSTEMS FOR MEASURING TRACE LEVEL ORGANIC COMPOUNDS IN WATER By Xuemei Guo The presence of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in ground and surface water resources poses a threat to public health. The measurement of these trace level contaminants in water is of significant importance. Conventional methods for analysis of trace volatile organic compounds in water include purge and trap, head space analysis, and solid phase microextraction (SPME). While these are excellent laboratory techniques, none of them can be used for continuous, on-line monitoring of water streams. Membrane separation of organic compounds from water provides an exciting possibility for on-line extraction and analysis. In previous investigations, water continuously flowed on the feed side of the membrane and the analytes were continuously removed by an inert gas stream or a vacuum. The measurement was based on steady state permeation. This approach has several limitations. For example, the steady state can not be reached instantly, resulting in a long analysis time. Another limitation is that this instrument can not be used for analyzing small discrete samples. In this study, a novel approach, referred to as pulse introduction membrane extraction (PIME), is presented. This technique eliminates steady state requirements and can be used for continuous monitoring, as well as for discrete analysis of trace levels of VOCs in water. Water samples are introduced as a pulse into a membrane module. An eluent is used to transport the sample onto the membrane. The permeated organic compounds are extracted by an inert gas, concentrated in a micro-sorbent trap and injected into a GC for analysis. An aqueous boundary layer which forms at the membrane surface due to the poor mixing of water with the membrane appears to be the major resistance to mass transfer for the permeation process. Boundary layer effects were reduced by nitrogen purge of the membrane, and by an alternative membrane module design. A mathematical model which takes into account the aqueous boundary layer effects was developed to describe the nonsteady state, pulse introduction process. A qualitative model of extraction efficiency is also presented here to illustrate the factors that affect analytical sensitivity. The combination of system optimization, nitrogen purge and improved module design results in higher sensitivity and faster response than other methods reported in the technical literature. Detection limits are at ppb levels, precision and extraction efficiency are excellent. As the result of this research, the capability of continuous monitoring of trace levels of organic compounds in water has been demonstrated. The PIME system was compared with previously reported steady state membrane permeation system. The advantages of the PIME system include higher sensitive and faster response and can also be used for discrete sample analysis. Comparison of the PIME with the purge and trap technique, which is currently the most popular method for VOCs analysis, showed that the results are in good agreement. Contaminated ground water samples from the Naval Engineering Research Station were analyzed to demonstrate the practicality of the PIME system. This study was extended to the analysis of semivolatile organic compounds (SVOCs) in water. Continuous monitoring of SVOCs in water using membrane extraction and online HPLC analysis was explored. The system was based on continuous extraction rather than pulse introduction. It demonstrated the capability for enrichment of SVOCs from water into a solvent. Continuous monitoring of SVOCs was demonstrated at ppb level using HPLC. System parameters which affect the enrichment factors were studied. DEVELOPMENT OF MEMBRANE EXTRACTION SYSTEMS FOR MEASURING TRACE LEVEL ORGANIC COMPOUNDS IN WATER


Zooplankton community composition was studied in the North Aegean frontal area in the winter-spring period along a trophic gradient going from the less saline and cold modified Black Sea water to the high salinity and temperature waters of Levantine origin. Samples were collected at the upper 100 m of three stations positioned along this gradient by using three nets with different mesh sizes (45 μm, 200 μm and 500 μm). Τhe community composition (all sizes) was differentiated along the gradient with smoother seasonal succession and higher diversity with increasing oligotrophy and salinity. The temporal variability of the community composition revealed significant changes in the January-April period as well as gradual decrease of diversity index values at the station positioned within the front.  The major characteristic at this station was the abrupt increment and dominance of Centropages typicus in April, especially within the layer occupied by the modified Black Sea water. Significant difference in the community composition between March and April was a common feature in the whole study area and for all zooplankton fractions, though not of the same strength. The inflow of the Black Sea water and the trophic gradient were found to be important factors for the observed temporal variability and its spatial differentiation, while changes in the phytoplankton and protozoa abundance and community composition could account for the seasonal succession in species dominance.


By using information theory to reduce the state space of sensor arrays, such as receptive fields, for AI decision making we offer an adaptive algorithm without classical biases of hand coded approaches. This paper presents a way to build an acyclic directed graph to organize the sensor inputs of a visual receptive field. The Information Distance Metric is used to repeatedly select two sensors, which contain the most information about each other. Those are then encoded to a single variable, of equal alphabet size, with a deterministic mapping function that aims to create maximal entropy while maintaining a low information distance to the original sensors. The resulting tree determines which sensors are fused to reduce the input data while maintaining a maximum of information. The structure adapts to different environments of input images by encoding groups of preferred line structures or creating a higher resolution for areas with simulated movement. These effects are created without prior assumptions about the sensor statistics or the spatial configuration of the receptive field, and are cheap to compute since only pair-wise informational comparison of sensors is used.


Cramming for an exam is not always the best learning strategy. Studies have suggested that learning across several sessions is much more effective. But even after learning something, we tend to forget it with time and age. Molecular studies have indicated that certain signaling proteins that regulate synaptic strength may underlie learning, memory, and forgetfulness. Genoux et al. confirm through rodent behavioral studies that three of these molecular suspects are indeed the culprits. When protein phosphatase 1 (PP1) was genetically inhibited in mice, animals exhibited enhanced learning, that is, long intervals between learning episodes were no longer needed. This also correlated with increased activation of a transcription factor called cAMP-dependent response element binding (CREB) protein and of Ca2+/calmodulin-dependent kinase II (CaMKII), molecules implicated in long- and short-term memory, respectively. Memory tests of these mice also indicate that these same signaling molecules may also underlie forgetfulness that occurs with time and age. D. Genoux, U. Haditsch, M. Knobloch, A. Michalon, D. Storm, I. M. Mansuy, Protein phosphatase 1 is a molecular constraint on learning and memory. Nature 418, 970-975 (2002). [Online Journal]


Abstract Successful language comprehension requires one to correctly match symbols in an utterance to referents in the world, but the rampant ambiguity present in that mapping poses a challenge. Sometimes the ambiguity lies in which of two (or more) types of things in the world are under discussion (i.e., lexical ambiguity); however, even a word with a single sense can have an ambiguous referent. This ambiguity occurs when an object can exist in multiple states. Here, we consider two cases in which the presence of multiple object states may render a single-sense word ambiguous. In the first case, one must disambiguate between two states of a single object token in a short discourse. In the second case, the discourse establishes two different tokens of the object category. Both cases involve multiple object states: These states are mutually exclusive in the first case, whereas in the second case, these states can logically exist at the same time. We use fMRI to contrast same-token and different-token discourses, using responses in left posterior ventrolateral prefrontal cortex (pVLPFC) as an indicator of conflict. Because the left pVLPFC is sensitive to competition between multiple, incompatible representations, we predicted that state ambiguity should engender conflict only when those states are mutually exclusive. Indeed, we find evidence of conflict in same-token, but not different-token, discourses. Our data support a theory of left pVLPFC function in which general conflict resolution mechanisms are engaged to select between multiple incompatible representations that arise in many kinds of ambiguity present in language.


THE INFLUENCE OF PARENTAL VERBAL MESSAGES ABOUT FIGHTING AND NONVIOLENT RESPONSES ON ADOLESCENT AGGRESSIVE AND EFFECTIVE NONVIOLENT BEHAVIOR By Alison Marie Kramer, M.A. A Thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Masters of Science at Virginia Commonwealth University. Virginia Commonwealth University, 2009 Major Director: Albert D. Farrell, Ph.D. Professor, Department of Psychology Research suggests that adolescent health requires both reducing problem behavior and promoting the development of social competence. There is strong support for the influence of parenting practices on both aggressive and competent behavior. However, there has been little research to date focused on parental messages, or the verbal communication parents provide to their children, about aggressive and effective nonviolent responses to conflict. The present study used hierarchical regression to examine parental messages supporting fighting and parental messages supporting effective nonviolent responses to problem situations in relation to adolescent aggressive and effective nonviolent behavior. These relations were expected to be moderated by adolescent gender. Additionally, the unique influence of parental messages was explored, relative to the effects of parental behavioral modeling of antisocial and prosocial acts. Messages supporting fighting and messages supporting nonviolent responses were analyzed as distinct constructs in the current study, and were expected to produce different patterns of influence on each adolescent behavior. Discrepancies based on respondent (parent or adolescent) were also anticipated. Participants included a predominantly African American sample of 105 adolescents and a parent or caregiver, who were assessed as part of a larger project evaluating the effects of a neighborhood intervention. As hypothesized, youth reports of parental messages supporting nonviolent responses were significantly related to lower levels of youth aggression, even when controlling for parental modeling. Youth reports of parental messages supporting nonviolent responses also predicted higher levels of effective nonviolent behavior, but these effects could be better accounted for by parental modeling. Contrary to expectation, parental messages supporting fighting did not significantly predict adolescent aggression or effective nonviolent behavior, and only minimal support was found for the moderating influence of gender. As anticipated, youths' perceptions of parental messages were better predictors of their behavior than were parents' reports. Overall, the current study's findings have important implications for violence prevention efforts, and call for continued research.


The focus of the present thesis was on ultrasonographic, endocrine and molecular characterization of ovarian antral follicular waves in sheep. Transrectal ultrasonography and computer assisted image analysis were used to determine the feasibility of detecting ovulation and the forming corpus luteum (CL) and to non-invasively monitor CL differentiation and growth. High resolution transrectal ultrasonography and hormone measurements were used to assess changes in numbers of small ovarian antral follicles and their relationships to the emergence of follicular waves in cyclic ewes and to correlate pulsatile secretion of gonadotropins with follicular growth in a wave, during the mid to late-luteal phase of the ovine estrous cycle. A series of experiments were conducted, using treatment with injections of ovine follicle stimulating hormone (oFSH) and measurement of serum concentrations of FSH, in cyclic and anestrous sheep, to investigate the existence of follicular dominance. We also evaluated the characteristics of secretory patterns of FSH that are critical for follicular wave emergence, in anestrous ewes. The possible existence of an endogenous rhythm of FSH secretion, independent of ovarian antral follicular dynamics, was studied in ovariectomized ewes. Finally, ovarian antral follicles at defined stages of growth in a follicular wave (based on transrectal ultrasonographic observations) were collected from separate groups of sheep by ovariectomy, to profile the expression patterns of steroidogenic enzymes (3β-HSD, 17α-OH and aromatase) using immunohistochemistry and gray-scale densitometric analysis. The results of the present studies showed that it is possible to detect ovulation and visualize developing CL as early as 12-24 h after ovulation in the ewe. Changes in echotexture of the CL were closely associated with its morphological and functional characteristics, and we concluded that computer assisted image analysis holds promise for the noninvasive monitoring of CL differentiation and growth. Follicles reaching ovulatory diameter (≥ 5 mm) emerged and grew in a wave-like pattern in sheep, but without variation in the number of small follicles (1-3 mm in diameter), as seen in cattle. We concluded that all follicles that are recruited to grow beyond 2-3-mm in diameter, to 4-mm diameter in a wave, succeed in reaching an ovulatory diameter of ≥ 5 mm in the ewe. The emergence and growth of ovarian antral follicles in follicular waves, in sheep, do not require changes in LH secretion and may perhaps involve changes in the follicular sensitivity to LH. The largest follicle of a wave, in sheep, appears to have limited effects on other small follicles and on the time of emergence of the next follicular wave. Thus, functional dominance, as is present in cattle, may be absent in sheep. An endogenous rhythm for periodic peaks in serum FSH concentrations that is independent of ovarian follicular dynamics may exist in sheep. The expression patterns of steroidogenic enzymes, in the theca and granulosa compartments of antral follicles growing in each follicular wave in the ewe, paralleled serum estradiol concentrations, with the exception of the concentrations of 3β-HSD in granulosa cells, which increased continuously from follicles 3 mm in diameter to the preovulatory follicle after the LH surge. The largest follicle of any follicular wave, irrespective of the stage of the cycle, would appear to be mature enough to ovulate if a gonadotropin surge is provided.


The paper comes out of a month-long case study of information literacy education in two public libraries in a small South African town in the rural province of Mpumalanga, undertaken in October 2004. The participant observation study is the second phase of a two-phase mixed methods study, which explores the capacity of public libraries in South Africa for information literacy education - in the context of the dire shortage of school libraries. The focus in the second phase is on the connections between public libraries and schools. However, the relations between the two libraries and their staff members are found to impact on these relations with the study finding that historical context and the conflicts arising from unequal positions of power impact significantly on information literacy education in the town. The paper concentrates, however, on just two threads of enquiry: the views of teachers and principals in the seven schools of the town on the educational role of libraries as revealed in interviews; and pupils' use of the two public libraries in seeking information for their school assignments. The study reveals a lack of cognizance of the high level demands of information-seeking in libraries among the teachers. They tend to see the library as a warehouse from which things are "fetched". The study finds a paradox - a gulf certainly exists between the public libraries and schools but the gulf comes from shared limited conceptions of the educational role of public libraries and of information literacy. The intense gaze of the participant observation contributes a nuanced understanding of the challenges for information literacy education in South Africa.


The influence of the active gain medium on the spectral amplitude and phase of amplified, femtosecond pulses in a laser system is studied. Results from a case study of a 15-petawatt laser based on Nd-doped mixed glasses show that gain-induced atomic phase shifts will distort the pulses, reducing their peak power. It is also shown that a phase compensation solution is possible and the corresponding coefficients are calculated.


Spillovers from the Fed's Unconventional Monetary Policies (UMPs) have disabled EM central banks to manage rate policies to stem off valuation effects on their currency's exchange rates and equities. The failures of the standard policies have prompted in the economics debate the need of crafting globally coordinated macro-prudential actions aimed at mitigating the potency of the dollar global financial cycle.
Yet, the urgency to shield from valuation effects their national currencies, have pushed several Emerging Market Economies to reintroduce capital controls, and sale off large chunks of FX reserves, largely denominated in US dollar. An investigational literature (IMF 2016; BIS 2016; Winkler et Alii 2015; Eggertsson et Alii 2016), finds that the FX sell-off has prompted a new-brand spillovers, or spillbacks, detected in rising yields on the US T-bond, and German Bund. In a scenario of a FX reserves' drawdowns, are set to emerge quantitative tightening and currency diversification, with the latter granting a major role to former peripheral currency, above all the Chinese RMB.


This study provides evidence of the relationship between credit and real activity in Central America and the Dominican Republic. We address the empirics of the link between credit and real activity for the case of a group of developing countries with limited financial markets where
bank credit is the main source of external finance for the private sector.
We compile information of credit to the private sector and the aggregate economic activity for Costa Rica, El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala, Nicaragua and the DR. The data is analyzed using simple statistical tools (Granger causality tests and spectral analysis) to identify stylized
facts on the credit-activity relationship.
We find a positive relationship between credit and real activity in frequencies associated to business cycles for all countries. The credit - economic relationship in cycles lasting 10 or more years seems relevant in Costa Rica and the DR. There is evidence suggesting that credit precedes
economic activity at business cycles frequencies in Costa Rica, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua and the DR. Excluding Nicaragua, this pattern is observed also in cycles over 8 years for mentioned economies. In case of Guatemala there is no evidence of statistical precedence of credit to economic activity.


iii ABSTRACT Concern about privacy is an important consideration for users of information and communication technologies (ICT), particularly when using computer-mediated communication (CMC), i.e. Internet usage. Several researchers have studied privacy issues by taking into account the views of users to include individuals, organisations, privacy policy makers, governments and trust organisations. This thesis investigates whether an individual's perspectives about privacy are culturally relevant when using the Internet. This research used a survey in the form of a questionnaire in two countries, namely, Saudi Arabia and Malaysia to compare online privacy perspectives of young and mature (male and female) Saudi and Malaysian students. The research examines the relationship of the effect of the cultural background including the effect of social norms, religious belief, Internet regulation and IT skills of these Internet users upon their attitude towards privacy online and their perspectives about privacy. It also examines the effect of nationality (Malaysian and Saudi), gender and age groups. In this study, online privacy perspectives are a synthesis of three perceptions; what is 'personal' information online, the online privacy concerns and the Internet trust, whereby the cultural effects are the effect of religious beliefs, social norms, Internet regulation and IT skills in the privacy attitudes of keeping personal information safe, caring about their and others' privacy online and when revealing personal information. The demographic factors in this research are nationality, gender and age. To study these relationships, the research uses t-test, ANOVA, and single regression methods as data analysis techniques. The results show that the level of concern and degree of trust exhibited by Malaysian students with regard to submitting personal information via the Internet was affected the most by their gender, and social norms upon their online privacy attitudes. For Saudi students, the level of concern and trust with regard to submitting personal information via the Internet was found to be related to the effect of their age, gender, and religious beliefs on their online privacy attitudes. The other cultural factors, i.e. Internet regulation in force in each country and the IT skills of participants, are likely to have equal effects on both Malaysian and Saudi privacy perspectives. This research adds the cultural background, age and gender effects to the model of the calculus of the privacy concern that is proposed by Dinev and Hart (2006, pp. 63-64). The research also establishes what is 'private' in Malaysia and Saudi Arabia, by identifying "what counts as personal information with regard to Internet users" and provides a comparison in this concept between the two countries, their gender and age groups. For examples, Malaysian students consider name, e-mail address, date of birth, nationality and religion as 'personal' information and Saudi students consider home address, phone number, photographic image and credit card number as 'personal' information. In addition Saudi females tend to consider, particularly, home address, phone number, and photographic image as 'personal' information more than Saudi males. These findings should help both web designers and Internet policy makers in Saudi Arabia and Malaysia to consider these cultural effects when designing the privacy policies of their websites.


We propose a new dynamic bandwidth allocation (DBA) method for long-reach passive optical networks that can reduce the upstream latency. With this method, an optical line terminal allocates bandwidth to long-distance (up to 100 km) optical network units (ONUs) with a transmission request prediction and reduces the latency of the long-distance ONUs. This has no influence on the latency of short-distance ONUs even if they coexist with long-distance ONUs. The results of real machine experiments show that this new DBA method achieves a smaller latency with long-distance ONUs than the conventional DBA technique, and that there is no influence on short-distance ONUs. The latency time and jitter are kept below 1300 μs and 1000 μs, respectively, for both long- and short-distance ONUs. The experimental results also reveal the effect of the proposed method on bandwidth utilization efficiency and fairness. The degradation in bandwidth utilization efficiency when one long-distance ONU is added is small (0.3%), and the fairness index degradation is negligible (less than 0.1%), when the parameters are optimized. These results indicate the validity of the proposed DBA method.


CMOS technology scaling, the process of shrinking transistor dimensions based on Moore's law, has been the thrust behind increasingly powerful integrated circuits for over half a century. As dimensions are scaled to few tens of nanometers, process and environmental variations can significantly alter transistor characteristics, thus degrading reliability and reducing performance gains in CMOS designs with technology scaling. Although design solutions proposed in recent years to improve reliability of CMOS designs are power-efficient, the performance penalty associated with these solutions further reduces performance gains with technology scaling, and hence these solutions are not well-suited for high-performance designs.
This thesis proposes approximate logic circuits as a new logic synthesis paradigm for reliable, high-performance computing systems. Given a specification, an approximate logic circuit is functionally equivalent to the given specification for a "significant" portion of the input space, but has a smaller delay and power as compared to a circuit implementation of the original specification. This contributions of this thesis include (i) a general theory of approximation and efficient algorithms for automated synthesis of approximations for unrestricted random logic circuits, (ii) logic design solutions based on approximate circuits to improve reliability of designs with negligible performance penalty, and (iii) efficient decomposition algorithms based on approximate circuits to improve performance of designs during logic synthesis. This thesis concludes with other potential applications of approximate circuits and identifies open problems in logic decomposition and approximate circuit synthesis.


The legislative environment prevailing in an economy can be an important determinant of how the firms are governed and the extent to which minority shareholders and other stakeholders are protected. The results of empirical literature on legislative environment as an external corporate governance mechanism indicate that legal and regulatory mechanisms are fundamental determinants in the evolution of corporate governance structures (LaPorta, Lopez-de-Silanes, Shleifer and Vishny (1997, 1998, 1999, 2000 and 2002). In an ideal corporate governance model, one share is equal to one vote which means that cash flow right (ownership right) is equal to the control right (voting right). In reality, trade offs exist between ownership and control rights in every system no matter what the country's corporate governance system is classified as: - an outsider (dispersed ownership structure) or insider (concentrated ownership structure) -. This paper aims to investigate the comprehensive literature on investors protection topic and taxonomy of different corporate governance systems of countries from various legal origins. In this context, this paper analyzes different mechanisms to concentrate or diffuse control rights with reference to Turkish Commercial Code and Capital Market


We consider a network of parallel, non-observable queues and analyze the "price of anarchy", an index measuring the worst-case performance loss of a decentralized system with respect to its centralized counterpart in presence of non-cooperative users. Our analysis is undertaken from the new point of view where the router has the memory of previous dispatching choices, which significantly complicates the nature of the problem. In the regime where the demands proportionally grow with the network capacity, we provide a tight lower bound on the socially-optimal response time and a tight upper bound on the price of anarchy by means of convex programming. Then, we exploit this result to show, by simulation, that the billiard routing scheme yields a response time which is remarkably close to our lower bound, implying that billiards minimize response time. To study the added-value of non-Bernoulli routers, we introduce the "price of forgetting" and prove that it is bounded from above by two, which is tight in heavy-traffic. Finally, other structural properties are derived numerically for the price of forgetting. These claim that the benefit of having memory in the router is independent of the network size and heterogeneity, while monotonically depending on the network load only. These properties yield simple product-forms well-approximating the socially-optimal response time. 1


We have conducted a genetic analysis of a small interval of the third chromosome known to include Delta (Dl), a locus that affects the segregation of the ectoderm into neural and epidermal lineages during embryogenesis and the morphogenesis of some ectodermally derived structures, in Drosophila melanogaster. This analysis has led to the definition of seven independent complementation groups, one of which is Delta, within the interval extending from 91F6-13 to 92A2. Among the extant mutations in these seven loci, only mutations in Dl lead to the so-called neurogenic phenotype: hypertrophy of the nervous system and reduction of the epidermis. Combined cytogenetic and genetic analyses allow us to define absolute proximal (91F5-92A1) and distal (92A2) cytogenetic limits for the Dl locus. We have isolated hypomorphic and amorphic alleles of Dl and find that, for any given allele, there is an inverse correlation between neural hypertrophy and epidermal reduction in embryos and a direct correlation between the severity of embryonic phenotypes in mutant homozygotes and hemizygotes and the imaginal phenotype in heterozygous adults.


Great pressure is placed on national government to initiate a way of achieving greater economic growth as well as alleviating poverty. A mandate has therefore been given to local government to play a fundamental role in achieving this. Local Economic Development (LED), a relatively new approach to development, is currently seen as a prominent strategy to tackle the problem of unemployment and poverty in South Africa and provide a bottom-up approach to economic development. It forms part of the economic and social development mandate given by national government to local authorities. However, although policies are in place, LED strategies have produced very few success stories for various reasons, such as the lack of capacity within municipalities as well as resource constraints. It is also alleged that LED is incorrectly interpreted and therefore also incorrectly implemented. Because of the presumed effects of LED in terms of economic growth and social upliftment, pressure is placed on municipalities to get appropriate strategies into place as soon as possible. A literature review is presented which covers the theory of LED by looking at the global perspectives of the concept and nature of LED, the history and concept of LED, the different LED approaches and strategies, and key actors within LED. LED is then evaluated within the context of development in order to establish a link between LED and poverty alleviation. LED is also evaluated within the South African context, specifically with regards to the policy context, the historical approach and the challenges to LED implementation in South Africa. An investigation into the background of the City of Cape Town served as the point of departure to evaluate LED implementation. The issue of regional planning for LED integration between urban and rural areas is also discussed. The challenges to economic and social improvement in the City of Cape Town are also highlighted and the current draft Strategy for Economic and Human Development in the City of Cape Town was evaluated. This was done to investigate the LED approach and specific interventions of the City of Cape Town Municipality in terms of the Comprehensive Approach Model, a model formulated in the thesis. This was done to establish whether it is likely to succeed or not, and therefore the thesis specifically explored the priorities and the fundamentals outlined by the Strategy. Thereafter its possible implementation was assessed according to the organisational structure and how it affects the operationalisation of the Strategy in terms of planning, the process itself, and the monitoring and evaluation of the process. Finally, the challenges to the Strategy were discussed and recommendations were made.


The dynamic properties of dichromated gelatin plates are investigated during exposure by illuminating them first by a single plane wave and second by two interfering plane waves produced from an argon-ion laser at 514.5 nm. The grating recorded is shown to be a pure absorption grating. The experimental results obtained for the output beam intensities as a function of time are compared with the predictions of a theoretical model, and reasonable agreement is found. It is further shown that owing to the effect of a humid atmosphere, the recorded grating may self-develop into a phase grating of much higher efficiency.


Background: Patients showing massive weight loss eventually develop excessive skin and fat in several body parts, including the lower extremities. Given the diversity of the localization, shape, and content of coxofemoral dysmorphia, this study proposes guidelines for planning and systematizing the treatment of each deformity. Methods: Twenty-eight female patients who underwent thigh lifts and showed 3 types of deformities were assessed. The deformities encompassed the upper third of the thigh alone, the upper and middle thirds, or the entire medial aspect of the thighs. A specific technique was used for treating each type of deformity. Moreover, when necessary, suspension of the lateral thigh was combined with liposuction. Patient satisfaction with the surgical results was assessed by a graded questionnaire. Unexpected events, complications, and treatments were recorded. Results: Mobility, hygiene, sexual performance, use of clothing, and scars were assessed as excellent (80.5%), good (14.5%), and regular (5%). Conclusions: Considering the broad heterogeneity of thigh dysmorphia in formerly obese patients, therapeutic guidelines correlating each type of deformity with a specific treatment are necessary.


Developing macro queries in software systems is a complex task for many users. Geographical information systems (GIS) are large software systems that require much effort to develop expertise in. A functional programming design approach has a number of distinct strengths that can be represented in a graphical query language interface to aid users in macro query development. A visual functional query language (VFQL) for Geographical Information Systems is presented and its strengths and weaknesses discussed. The system is based on a visual functional programming design approach. This offers a consistent, non‐procedural, strongly typed environment where users can develop their own higher order functions. The approach integrates functional programming, visual programming and knowledge and rules. VFQL's effectiveness is evaluated compared with a text based command language for GIS macro query development. The results of an experiment indicate that users could develop solutions to simpler tasks more quickly and with fewer errors than a comparative text based command language. On more complex tasks there was no significant difference. From this we deduce that VFQL demonstrates certain design features to help the development of macros or small programs for users but that the complexity of the problem in difficult tasks is likely to be the most important determinant of the error rate and time to complete the task.


Born June 6, 1824 in Huntington Township, Adams County, Pennsylvania, Isaac William Wierman Worley Pearson was the son of Isaac and Mary (Wierman) Pearson. By the time he was fourteen years old both of his parents had passed away. In 1848 he began the study of medicine under the tutelage of Dr. Hiram C. Metcalfe of York Springs, Adams County. He completed his medical education at the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia during the winter of 1849 – 1850. He returned to Adams County in 1850 and when the federal census was taken on September 25, 1850, the now Dr. Pearson was residing in Petersburg [York Springs] with the family of Dr. Metcalfe. He practiced medicine with Dr. Metcalfe for four years before striking out on his own. On March 2, 1854 he married Mary Caroline Beales, daughter of Caleb and Eveline Beales. They were married by the Rev. Henry Aurand.3 Isaac and Mary Caroline became the parents of six children, Mary E., Charles G and Isaac W, [twins], Harry B., Francis W., and Charles E. Charles G. and Francis W. died as infants. Isaac W., Jr., at the age of nineteen, became the owner and editor of the York Springs Comet newspaper. Dr. Pearson died September 29, 1900, at 11:30 p.m. at his home in York Springs. He wrote a will on March 25, 1889, witnessed by C. E. Meyers and Edward Criswell. He bequeathed $500 to each of his four surviving children, with the remainder of the estate going to his wife. His eldest son, Isaac Jr., and his wife were named executors, though his wife renounced her right as executrix. His will contained one specific instruction: "I positively direct that there shall be no appraisal or inventory made of any part of my estate." He was buried in Sunnyside Cemetery, near York Springs. The surviving effects of Dr. Pearson's practice include two notebooks in which he had recorded the births he attended during his long practice. The entries begin on July 9, 1854 and continue until December 24, 1894. Location of the original notebooks is unknown but photocopies of the books are held by the Pennsylvania State Library, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, and the Adams County Historical Society, Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. Some pages from the originals may not have been photocopied as there are occasional gaps in the records. On the first page of the first notebook, Dr. Pearson entered his full name, Isaac William Wierman Worley Pearson. On the first page of the second notebook he wrote Dr. I. W. Pearson. Following is a report of the over 1000 births recorded by Dr. Pearson. Extraction and translation of these records was difficult due to Dr. Pearson's penmanship. His records contained the sex of the child, one parent's name [typically the father], and the date of birth. On occasion he notated the child's name or a comment about the birth, which is included, if legible. [excerpt]


NAD(P):quinone acceptor oxidoreductase (quinone reductase) (DT-diaphorase, EC 22.214.171.124) is involved in the process of reductive activation of cytotoxic antitumor quinones and nitrobenzenes. In this study, we initially examined the relative abilities of mouse, rat, and human quinone reductases to reduce two prodrugs, CB 1954 [5-(aziridin-1-yl)-2,4-dinitrobenzamide] and EO9 [5-(1-aziridinyl)-3-(hydroxymethyl)-2-(3-hydroxy-1-propenyl)-1- methyl-1H-indole-4,7-dione]. By using Escherichia coli-expressed quinone reductases and evaluating them under identical conditions, we confirmed previous finding showing that the human enzyme is not as effective as the rat enzyme in reducing CB 1954 and EO9, although the two enzymes have similar NAD(P)H-menadione reductase activities. Interestingly, although the amino acid sequence of mouse quinone reductase is more homologous to that of the rat enzyme, we found that the mouse enzyme behaves similarly to the human enzyme in its ability to reduce these compounds and to generate drug-induced DNA damage. To determine the region of quinone reductase that is responsible for the catalytic differences, two mouse-rat chimeric enzymes were generated. MR-P, a chimeric enzyme that has mouse amino-terminal and rat carboxy-terminal segments of quinone reductase, was shown to have catalytic properties resembling those of rat quinone reductase, and RM-P, a chimeric enzyme that has rat amino-terminal and mouse carboxyl-terminal segments of quinone reductase, was shown to have catalytic properties resembling those of mouse quinone reductase. In addition, MR-P and RM-P were found to be inhibited by flavones with Ki values similar to those for rat and mouse quinone reductases, respectively. Based on these results, we propose that the carboxyl-terminal portion of the enzyme plays an important role in the reduction of cytotoxic drugs and the binding of flavones.


BACKGROUND
Oil palm phenolics (OPP) or Palm Juice (PJ), a water soluble extract from the palm fruit (Elaies guineensis) has been documented to have anti-carcinogenic activities in various cancer types.

MATERIALS AND METHODS
To investigate OPP effects in pancreatic cancer (PaCa) cells, two PaCa cell lines (PANC-1 and BxPC-3) were treated with different OPP doses. The anti-proliferative, apoptotic and anti-invasive properties of OPP were evaluated using MTS, cytoplasmic histone-DNA fragmentation and matrigel invasive assays, respectively.

RESULTS
OPP suppressed PaCa proliferation in a dose-dependent manner. Its anti-invasive effects were validated by decreased expressions of MMP-9 and VEGF. Cell-cycle analysis demonstrated that cells were arrested in the S phase. OPP-induced apoptosis was associated with decrease in survivin and Bcl-XL expressions and increased expression of cleaved caspase-3, caspase-9 and PARP.

CONCLUSION
Overall, our results demonstrate the anti-tumor effects of OPP on PaCa cells, providing initial evidence towards its potential therapeutic use.


The central claim of this paper is that On Certainty (1969)
is not to be seen as a "work� of Wittgenstein, but as an
assemblage from the enormous collection of material that
constitutes the Nachlass (cf. Stern 1996; Ackermann 1998;
Hintikka 1991). To substantiate this assertion, I will
critically compare the publication to its sources, namely
manuscripts 172, 174, 175, 176 and 177 of the Nachlass. I
will trace and value the decisions G.E.M. Anscombe and
G.H. von Wright have made in gathering this collection.
Their claim is twofold: first, Wittgenstein "marked it [On
Certainty] off in his notebooks as a separate topic�, and
second "it constitutes a single sustained treatment of the
topic� (Wittgenstein 1969, Preface). I will show that the first
claim is incorrect: not only are Wittgenstein"s "marks�
ambiguous, but the editors applied their own demarcations
in these notebooks as well. Their second claim is in need
of amplification. Wittgenstein"s concern with epistemological
issues is not limited to these five manuscripts: other
notebooks of the same period also contain entries that
strongly relate to topics discussed in On Certainty. I will
discuss examples from the undated notebooks MSS 169,
170 and 171, published in Last Writings on the Philosophy
of Psychology, Vol. II: The "Inner� and the "Outer� (1992).
These show that it is difficult to make strict divisions in the
Nachlass in general, and in the late writings of the years
1949-1951 in particular.


The particle rebounding characteristics of a gas–particle flow over a cylindrical body is investigated. With the aid of both computational and experimental approaches, the mean particle flow patterns, comprising both incident and rebound particles resulting from the impact of particles on a curved wall surface, are examined. In the experimental investigation, a two-dimensional Laser Doppler Anemometry (LDA) technique is used in the immediate vicinity of the body surface to measure the instantaneous incident and rebound particle velocities. The Reynolds-Averaging Navier-Stokes equations are solved for the continuum gas phase, and the results are used in conjunction with a Lagrangian trajectory model to predict the particle-rebound behavior in the immediate vicinity of the cylindrical wall. The computational observations, also confirmed through experiments, reveal a particle rebound zone where the mean particle flow pattern is significantly modified due to the contribution of the rebound particles during the process of particle–wall impact interaction. This particle rebound zone is found to be a function of mainly the Stokes number (particle inertia), and to a lesser extent on the fluid Reynolds number (gas flow condition), except for high gas flow velocities and restitution coefficients (particle-wall impact characteristics). Analysis of the effect of the above-mentioned parameters on the rebounding particle flow characteristics and their interrelationship has provided a better understanding of the behavior of particle flow impinging on a solid wall body. The beneficial contributions of the experimental and computational approaches in their ability to better quantify the particle–wall impact interaction phenomena present additional foundational investigations that could be further undertaken to better comprehend the particle behavior in curved wall surfaces. Such invaluable information has direct applications to industrial devices such as commercial heat exchangers and inertial impactors.


A new normal mode method capable of predictions to very high frequencies is developed. The objective is to compare predictions of ray theory with the more exact normal mode theory to determine how well and at what point ray theory agrees with normal mode theory. The approach is to compare transmission loss curves computed by both methods. Discussion of the discrepancies are made and comments will be made on how improvements can be implemented. In strong ducting problems it is shown that there is a strong association between the lower order modes and the ray trace results.


Cell division is all about precise separation of sister chromatids to the daughter cells. In fact, cells have a fail-safe mechanism known as the mitotic checkpoint through which the cell division process is only allowed to proceed if every chromosome is attached to the microtubules of the mitotic spindle. Malfunction of this process is thought to contribute to chromosome instability in cancer cells. Some controversy has surrounded the question of whether the checkpoint mechanism actually senses attachment to microtubules per se or the tension that results from it. Mao et al. provide new experiments that support the former model. BubR1 is a protein kinase that is active at unattached kinetichores and contributes to the signal that stops progression of anaphase. The centromere-associated kinesin family member CENP-E binds to and stimulates BubR1, and the motor domain of CENP-E binds microtubules. Mao et al. show in Xenopus egg extracts or transfected mammalian cells that a form of CENP-E that cannot bind microtubules keeps BubR1 in an active state and prevents completion of mitosis, even if chromosomes are all attached to the spindle. In vitro, the authors could reconstitute the checkpoint signal. They mixed microtubules formed from purified tubulin with recombinant BubR1 and CENP-E and showed that after interaction with microtubules, CENP-E became an inhibitor of BubR1 activity. Thus, the authors contend that CENP-E is the critical signal-transducing sensor that inactivates the checkpoint signal once chromosomes are properly attached to the spindle. Y. Mao, A. Desai, D. W. Cleveland, Microtubule capture by CENP-E silences BubR1-dependent mitotic checkpoint signaling. J. Cell Biol. 170, 873-880 (2005). [Abstract] [Full Text]


9 Evaporation is a very important flux in the hydrological cycle and links the water and energy 10 balance of a catchment. The Budyko framework is often used to provide a first order estimate of 11 evaporation, since it is a simple model where only rainfall and potential evaporation is required as 12 input. Many researchers have tried to improve the Budyko framework by including more physics 13 and catchment characteristics into the original equation. However, this often resulted in additional 14 parameters, which are unknown or difficult to determine. In this paper we present an improvement 15 of the previously presented Gerrits' model ("Analytical derivation of the Budyko curve based on 16 rainfall characteristics and a simple evaporation model" in Gerrits et al, 2009 WRR), whereby total 17 evaporation is calculated on the basis of simple interception and transpiration thresholds in 18 combination with measurable parameters like rainfall dynamics and storage availability from 19 remotely sensed data sources. While Gerrits' model was investigated for 10 catchments with 20 different climate conditions and also some parameters were assumed to be constant, in this study 21 we applied the model on the global scale and it was fed with remotely sensed input data. The output 22 of the model is compared to two complex land-surface models STEAM and GLEAM, as well as 23 the database of Landflux-EVAL. Our results showed that total evaporation estimated by Gerrits' 24 model is in good agreement with Landflux-EVAL, STEAM and GLEAM. Results also show that 25 Gerrits' model underestimated interception in comparison to STEAM and overestimated in 26 comparison to GLEAM, while for transpiration the opposite was found. Errors in interception can 27 partly be explained by differences in the interception definition that successively introduce errors 28 in the calculation of transpiration. Comparing to the Budyko framework, the model showed a good 29 performance for total evaporation estimation and the results are closer to Ol'dekop than Schreiber, 30 Pike and Budyko curves.


This is a stunning collection of photographs - many never before published - celebrating the remarkable talent of Herb Ritts. "Herb Ritts" traces the life and career of the iconic photographer through a compelling selection of both renowned and previously unpublished, photographs and two insightful essays. Herb Ritts (1952-2002) was a Los Angeles-based photographer who established an international reputation for distinctive images of fashion models, nudes, and celebrity portraits. During the 1980s and 1990s, Ritts was sought out by leading fashion designers such as Armani, Gianfranco Ferre, Donna Karan, Calvin Klein, Valentino, and Versace, as well as magazine editors from "GQ", "Rolling Stone", and "Vanity Fair", among others, to lend glamour to their products and layouts. Largely self-taught, Ritts developed his own style, one that often made use of the California light and landscape and helped to separate his work from his New York-based peers. From the late 1970s until his untimely death from AIDS in 2002, Ritts' ability to create photographs that successfully bridged the gap between art and commerce was not only a testament to the power of his imagination and technical skill, but also marked the synergistic union between art, popular culture, and business that followed in the wake of the Pop Art movement of the 1960s and 1970s.


Summary: The muscular anatomy of the face is complex. Animation patterns of facial muscles vary significantly among individuals. Activity of facial muscles determines expression and emotion and affects the eyes aperture and the amount and extent of facial rhytids. Injection of botulin toxin for facial rejuvenation has become a very popular procedure and allows the practitioner the ability to modulate facial expression and to decrease the amount of facial rhytids. A thorough knowledge of the variant facial anatomy is necessary to maximize the efficiency of botulin toxin injection. This knowledge will also aid in minimizing complication an untoward side effect.


Carbon quantum dots (CDs) are rising stars for photocatalytic applications due to their low toxicity and excellent electron transfer characteristics. Doping with heteroatoms is expected to adjust the band levels and electron transfer properties of CDs, and understanding the effect of doping on CDs can aid the rational preparation of highly efficient CD-based photocatalysts. Herein, we prepared a series of metal atom (Zn, Co, Bi, Cd, or Ti) doped CDs by pyrolysis and explored the photocatalytic application of these metal doped CDs for the first time. The metal doped CDs were combined with CdS nanowires as a co-catalyst for photocatalytic hydrogen production. The Bi, Cd and Ti doped CDs/CdS composites show much better hydrogen production performance than the undoped CDs/CdS composite. Among these composites, Bi-CDs/CdS presents the optimal interfacial charge separation and the best hydrogen production performance. The hydrogen evolution rate of Bi-CDs/CdS is 4.2 times and almost one time higher than that of pure CdS and undoped CDs/CdS, respectively. Bi doping can make the CDs metallic and promote the charge transfer of CDs. Such a great enhancement originates from the outstanding electron transfer properties of Bi-doped CDs, as well as the effective charge separation between Bi-doped CDs and CdS. Bi doping was demonstrated to be an effective strategy for optimizing the photocatalytic activity of CD based composites.


We created a simple evolutionary system, F-sexyloop, on a deterministic twelve-state five-neighbour cellular automaton (CA) where self-reproducing loops have the capability of sex. This work was based on the sexyloop which was transformed by adding two new states and new rules. In the F-sexyloop, the loops can carry a sex gene used to facilitate the transfer of genetic material from a loop to another. This gene is analogous to the F factor plasmid in bacterial conjugation which confers the capacity to act as a donor of genetic material (including the gene itself). Therefore, the sex gene could potentially be maintained in the population during evolution or disappear. We show that in a wide variety of cases, the sex gene persists over evolutionary time and is present in the genomes of the dominant species.


The aqueous-methanolic extracts from indigenous plants and some of the pure compounds were subjected to preliminary for their possible protective effects against lethal dose of paracetamol (1 g/kg) in mice. The hepatoprotective effect was studied further in rats, using paracetamol-and carbon tetrachloride (CC!4)-induced hepatotoxicity as in vivo model. The cytoplasmic enzymes (i.e. GOT, GPT and ALP) are released into serum upon hepatocellular damage and the serum values of such enzymes are reliable indices to assess the extent of hepatic damage. The enzyme values were found to be high in toxin treated animals, whereas the serum enzyme values in the animals pretreated with plant materials were found to be significantly lower than those of the toxic control group and similar to the normal values indicating hepatoprotective effect

To resolve whether the hepatoprotective effect was mediated through inhibition of microsomal drug metabolizing enzymes (MDME), the plant material was co-administered with penotabarbital (PB) to observe possible prolongation in pentobarbiral-induced sleep in mice. The test material that was found to prolong the PB sleep were further subjected to strychnine-induced toxicity in mice to clarify whether the prolongation in PB sleep was solely due to inhibitory action on MDME or central depressive activity

Since some known calcium channel blockers (CCBs) also exhibit hepatoprotective action and the facility for measuring CCBs-activity was available in the laboratory, the plant materials were also tested for this activity by using isolated tissue experiments (i.e. rabbit jejunum). Plant material with inhibitory action on the spontaneous contraction of jejunum was further tested against the high K+(>mM)-induced spastic contractions as well as in the Ca2+-free medium

The post-treatment (Curative) experiments were performed in selected cases where the test material was found to be inhibitory against MDME and was helpful in deciding whether the he-patoprotective activity was solely due to MDME inhibition or some other mechanism was also in operation

Artemisia absinthium (shoots), Berberis aristata (shoot and fruits) and berberine (an alkaloid from Berberis aristata) were found to be protective against both paracetamol-and CCI4-induced liver damage and also showed MDME inhibitory activities. These were also capable to show curative effect against paracetamol but unable to mitigate the toxicity due to CCI4, suggesting that baside MDME inhibitory activity other mexhanisms may also be involved in the hepatoprotective response

Artemisia maritime (shoots), Artemisia scoparia (shoots), Cichorium intybus (shoots and seeds), Cyperus scariosus (rhizomes), Rubia cordifolia (roots) extracts, and pure compounds from hepatoprotection against both extracts, quercetin as well as Artemisia absinthium extract exhibited Ca2+ channel blocking activities, hence this property may partly be responsible for the observed hepatoprotection

The plant materials were found to be relatively safe in acute toxicity testing in mice and this study rationalizes the folkore use of plants in the hepatobiliary disorders


OBJECTIVE
To evaluate and compare clinical and microbiological findings in adults hospitalized for acute otitis media (AOM) or mastoid infections (acute or latent).

MATERIALS AND METHODS
We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of all adults (≥17 years old) hospitalized (between 2003 and 2012) at a tertiary referral center for acute mastoid infections or AOM not responding to outpatient medical treatment.

RESULTS
Of the 160 patients in the study sample, 19% had an infection caused by S. pyogenes, 14% by S. pneumoniae, and 11% by P. aeruginosa. AOM was the most common infection (38%), whereas 33% had acute mastoiditis (AM), 18% had latent mastoiditis (LM), and 13% AM of a chronically infected ear (AMc). In contrast to the other infections, P. aeruginosa (30%) and S. aureus (25%) were most common in AMc. Otorrhea (83%), tympanic membrane perforation (57%), and hearing problems (83%) were common in S. pyogenes infections. Patients with S. pneumoniae had longer lengths of hospitalization than those with other bacterial infections (7 vs. 4 days). Otorrhea (94%) and retroauricular symptoms were more common in P. aeruginosa infections. Hearing symptoms were common (67%) but fever (32%) and retroauricular symptoms were uncommon in AOM. Fever (44%) and mastoid tenderness (65%) were common in AM. Patients with LM underwent the most mastoidectomies (54%). Prior medical conditions, retroauricular symptoms, otorrhea (90%), and post-infection problems were common in AMc.

CONCLUSION
The bacteriological etiology of hospitalized AOM more closely resembled those of LM and AM than that of AMc. Adults hospitalized for AOM or AM required fewer mastoidectomies than those hospitalized for LM or AMc.


ABSTRACT This article aims to explore a paradoxical co-existence of various forms and models of trans-border interactions in areas of direct adjacency of Norway and Russia. Our main hypothesis is that the structural conditions of securitization that became dominant in NATO-Russia relations after the annexation of Crimea and the war in Donbas produce different effects all across the borderline, directly affecting borderland communities, including mobility, connectivity and public security. As our key point, we posit that the geopolitical conflictuality and the ensuing gaps and ruptures in military security are not automatically projected onto the level of "low" / grass-roots / local politics where there exists a public demand for expanding the existing spaces of interaction in such fields as cultural exchanges, environmental protection and people-to-people contacts. Apparently, the geopolitical divides are more visible and easily identifiable through the mainstream media, while other layers need a different optics allowing to spot various regimes of border functioning and peer into the complex construction of borders, where geopolitical divisions and partitions are counter-balanced by sub-national activities and initiatives discarding the logic of geopolitical conflict and alternating it with the grass-roots public / cultural diplomacy.


Twenty-nine patients with poorly differentiated neuroendocrine tumors of unknown primary site were seen at Vanderbilt Medical Center between May 1977 and February 1987. All patients had pathologic findings typical of neuroendocrine tumors by electron microscopy (22 patients), light microscopy (6 patients), or immunochemical staining (1 patient). Patient age ranged from 18 to 77 years; 21 were men and 8 were women; and 12 had no history of tobacco use. Seventeen patients had metastatic tumor at two or more locations. Common metastatic sites included the retroperitoneum, lymph nodes (particularly cervical), and mediastinum. In most patients, these neoplasms showed an aggressive biology, with rapid onset of symptoms and rapid growth of metastases. Major responses were seen in 18 of 25 patients who received combination chemotherapy; 6 patients achieved a complete response. Three patients remain disease-free more than 24 months after completing therapy. Four patients with single sites of disease received local therapy only; all remain disease-free 1 to 10 years after completion of therapy. In 4 patients, specific tumor types were eventually recognized: small cell lung cancer, 1; gastrointestinal carcinoid tumor, 2; and extragonadal germinal tumor with predominant neuroendocrine differentiation, 1. In the remaining 25 patients, no well-recognized type of neuroendocrine tumor was identified. Recognition of these tumors broadens the spectrum of neuroendocrine neoplasia, and also identifies a distinct subset of patients with poorly differentiated carcinoma of unknown primary site. Although optimal therapy remains undefined, these patients are usually responsive to combination chemotherapy, and long-term survival is attainable in a minority.


Abstract Stability at high beta is an important requirement for a compact, economically attractive fusion reactor. DIII-D experiments have shown that ideal magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) theory is an accurate predictor of the ultimate stability limits for tokamaks, and the Troyon scaling law has provided a useful approximation of ideal stability limits for discharges with "conventional" profiles. However, variation of the discharge shape, pressure profile, and current density profile can lead to ideal MHD beta limits that differ significantly from simple Troyon scaling. The need for profiles consistent with steady-state operation places an important additional constraint on plasma stability. Nonideal effects can also be important and must be taken into account. For example, neoclassical tearing modes (NTMs), resulting from plasma resistivity and the nonlinear effects of the bootstrap current, can become unstable at beta values well below the ideal MHD limit. DIII-D experiments are now entering a new era of unprecedented control over plasma stability, including suppression of NTMs by localized current drive at the island location, and direct feedback stabilization of kink modes with a resistive wall. The continuing development of physics understanding and control tools holds the potential for stable, steady-state fusion plasmas at high beta.


We experimentally demonstrate performance enhancements enabled by weighted digital back propagation method for 28 Gbaud PM-16QAM transmission systems, over a 250 km ultra-large area fibre, using only one back-propagation step for the entire link, enabling up to 3 dB improvement in power tolerance with respect to linear compensation only. We observe that this is roughly the same improvement that can be obtained with the conventional, computationally heavy, non-weighted digital back propagation compensation with one step per span. As a further benchmark, we analyze performance improvement as a function of number of steps, and show that the performance improvement saturates at approximately 20 steps per span, at which a 5 dB improvement in power tolerance is obtained with respect to linear compensation only. Furthermore, we show that coarse-step self-phase modulation compensation is inefficient in wavelength division multiplexed transmission.