In this paper we study, as in Jeon-Menicucci (2009), competition between sellers when each of them sells a portfolio of distinct products to a buyer having limited slots. This paper considers sequential pricing and complements our main paper (Jeon- Menicucci, 2009) that considers simultaneous pricing. First, Jeon-Menicucci (2009) find that under simultaneous individual pricing, equilibrium often does not exist and hence the outcome is often inefficient. By contrast, equilibrium always exists under sequential individual pricing and we characterize it in this paper. We find that each seller faces a trade-off between the number of slots he occupies and surplus extraction per product, and there is no particular reason that this leads to an efficient allocation of slots. Second, Jeon-Menicucci (2009) find that when bundling is allowed, there always exists an efficient equilibrium but inefficient equilibria can also exist due to pure bundling (for physical products) or slotting contracts. Under sequential pricing, we find that all equilibria are efficient regardless of whether firms can use slotting contracts, and both for digital goods and for physical goods. Therefore, sequential pricing presents an even stronger case for laissez-faire in the matter of bundling than simultaneous pricing.


Quantum calculations are applied to the active site of serine proteases, including four specific residues and a water molecule, as well as a substrate and proton donors in the oxyanion hole. Residues are tethered to the protein backbone of an X-ray structure but otherwise allowed to move freely to their lowest energy positions. The viability of the ring-flip hypothesis, which proposes that a 180 degrees rotation of the His-57 imidazole ring facilitates the catalysis, is assessed by comparison of energies of configurations both before and after such a flip. Specifically considered is the contribution to catalysis of the Ser-214 residue and a water molecule that is observed in the active site. The calculations provide detailed information concerning the nature, geometry, and strength of hydrogen bonds that are formed within the active site at each stage of the enzymatic mechanism.


Soft-sediment deformation involves complex interactions between discrete fracturing and diffuse bulk strain, described in terms of volume change and shear strain in a critical state mechanics framework. This study reports on a mesoscale normal fault zone, intraformational in Oligocene argillaceous sediments from the Boom Formation (Belgium), containing several metre-scale normal fault strands. They form either discrete fault planes or decimetre-wide shear zones with internal fabric. The faults have been subjected to microtectonic and petrophysical analysis. Small but significant changes occur in the porous network of the argillaceous matrix approaching a fault or shear zone, indicating compactional strain in both footwall and hanging wall. Internal compaction associated with faulting is put forward as a ductile–brittle feedback mechanism in the kinematics of intraformational fracture systems. Small differential stress induced by compaction and minor regional tectonic forces (differential uplift and tilt) and subsequent gravitational forces (downslope shear stress) induce small shear bands in nearly critically stressed weak mud. Shear banding is accompanied by layer-parallel shortening and bulk volume loss. This provides an additional extension of endogenous origin, accommodated by further deformation. This ductile–brittle feedback mechanism eventually leads to commonly observed intraformational collapse structures called polygonal fault systems.


There are many methods for preserving grain, most of them chemical. The application of chemical preservatives, such as strong acids or antifungal chemicals, has negative effects on farm storage facilities, animals, and humans. Biologically and environmentally friendly inhibitors can reduce the growth of harmful fungi and molds while also having nutritional benefits. In this study, three substances were used to study mold growth on corn kernels. Vinegar, baker's yeast, and yogurt were applied to corn. Tap water was used as a control. Prior to adding these three substances the corn was steeped to reach a 30% moisture level and stored in Ziploc- plastic bags at room temperature (approximately 25C). Bags were weighed once a week and weight losses were recorded. Weight loss after four weeks was highest in the water treatment and lowest in the baker's yeast treatment. Both the yogurt and baker's yeast treatment were associated with more weight loss during the first week than the other two treatments, weight loss being a measure of mold growth. However, the baker's yeast and yogurt treatments were associated with the least amount of weight loss during the last two weeks of incubation. Vinegar was very successful at preventing weight loss during the first week of incubation but the corn lost weight at a rate similar to that of the control during the following three weeks. In conclusion, biological treatments were as successful as chemical treatments in slowing down mold growth in corn after four weeks of incubation.


Generating consistent maximum ball velocity is an important factor for a baseball pitcher's success. While previous investigations have focused on the role of the upper and lower extremities, little attention has been given to the trunk. In this study it was hypothesized that variations in pelvis and upper torso kinematics within individual pitchers would be significantly associated with variations in pitched ball velocity. Nineteen elite baseball pitchers were analyzed using 3-D high-speed motion analysis. For inclusion in this study, each pitcher demonstrated a variation in ball velocity of at least 1.8 m/s (range: 1.8‐3.5 m/s) during his 10 fastball pitch trials. A mixed-model analysis was used to determine the relationship between 12 pelvis and upper torso kinematic variables and pitched ball velocity. Results indicated that five variables were associated with variations in ball velocity within individual pitchers: pelvis orientation at maximum external rotation of the throwing shoulder ( p = .026), pelvis orientation at ball release ( p = .044), upper torso orientation at maximum external rotation of the throwing shoulder ( p = .007), average pelvis velocity during arm cocking (p = .024), and average upper torso velocity during arm acceleration ( p = .035). As ball velocity increased, pitchers showed an increase in pelvis orientation and upper torso orientation at the instant of maximal external rotation of the throwing shoulder. In addition, average pelvis velocity during arm cocking and average upper torso velocity during arm acceleration increased as ball velocity increased. From a practical perspective, the athlete should be coached to strive for proper trunk rotation during arm cocking as well as strength and flexibility in order to generate angular velocity within the trunk for maximum ball velocity.


A simple, precise, accurate stability-indicating Ultra-Performance Liquid Chromatography (UPLC) method was developed and validated for the simultaneous determination of known potential impurities present in Stavudine (ST), Lamivudine (LA) and Nevirapine (NE) in fixed dose combination drug. The desired chromatographic separation was performed on Acquity UPLC HSS-T3 (2.1 × 100 mm), 1.8 μ column using gradient elution of 0.1% perchloric acid in water adjusted the pH 2.6 with diluted sodium hydroxide solution as mobile phase A and acetonitrile as mobile phase B at flow rate of 0.2 ml/min. UV detection was performed at 265 nm. Total run time was 18 min in which main actives and eleven known and major unknown impurities were separated. The method was validated according to the International Conference on Harmonization (ICH) guidelines with respect to specificity, precision, accuracy, linearity, robustness, Limit of Detection (LOD) and Limit of Quantification (LOQ). The developed and validated Reverse Phase-Ultra Performance Liquid Chromatography (RP-UPLC) method is specific for quantification of all potential impurities present in the stavudine/lamivudine/nevirapine tablets.


The concept of whole body vibration conjures up a range of images, usually related to the health and fitness sphere. It may be an image of a healthy fit Russian astronaut using a vibration technology to counter the deleterious effects of minimal gravity in space, or that of an obese person lying supine on a machine, effortlessly simulating exercise. Today both of these versions of reality are attainable. Technological advances, combined with the race to claim a portion of the global fitness industry equipment market, have made whole body vibration units accessible to a wider proportion of the population. In this paper we highlight the main findings in the research literature regarding the core features and technological elements of whole body vibration. We discuss the major variables informing the evidence-base of whether whole body vibration provides appropriate stimulation to provide efficacious fitness and therapeutic benefits. We analyse whether whole body vibration could be simply considered another fitness 'fad', adding to other unwanted, obsolete fitness machines destined for storage in the shed such as Abtrainers. Finally, research on the use of whole body vibration as a therapy for aging adults and those suffering from diabetes, and chronic obstructive pulmonary or airways disease is reviewed to ascertain if modern, affordable machines provide opportunities for achieving physical improvements.


The church must be concerned to make the correct response to its increasing impotence and marginalisation in Western society due to secularisation. Past reaction has been to accommodate to the changed worldview, even to identify with it. A more appropriate response is to be Christocentric, so as to reflect the action of God himself in the sending of Christ for salvation. This involved his kenosis . In this case the response of the church is its own kenosis. This is also appropriate as secularisation was possible through the kenosis of God. The kenosis of the church is not an acceptance of defeat, but on the contrary, just as the kenosis of Christ, it aims at a positive result, the transformation of society.


This study developed a mechatronics platform for a seven-mode vehicle-oriented powertrain system. The innovative "all-in-one" concept was used for flexibly arranging various power or energy sources to be combined for various hybrid powertrains. Hence, it significantly reduces the cost and human resources for evaluating new-type power systems or developed vehicle control strategies on the same experimental platform. In this study, three power sources were chosen for providing hybrid power. The first source is a 125 c.c. spark ignition (SI) engine, where a controllable throttle valve governs the output torque, while a fuel meter measures the consumed fuel. The second one is a 1.5kW hub motor, where a motor control unit (MCU) and a 48V lithium battery pack properly provide the required electric power. The third source is an air engine, where a 220V air compressor and other components provide the pneumatic power. For the experimental platform, a developed Matlab/Simulink package receives the measured signals and sends the control commands to actuators. Through the on/off state control of three controllable e-clutches, three single-source modes, three dual-source modes, and one three-source mode (3+3+1) can be conducted. A 1.1kW/24V magnetic powder brake emulates the road load. The results show that three dual-source modes and a three-source mode were successfully operated. The efficiencies, torques and speeds, mass flow rates, etc. have been measured and calculated. This platform is aimed for the research fields of green energies, advanced powertrains, and power flow management.


Second language acquisition has seen a shift toward sociocultural approaches over the past fifteen years (Block, 2007). Sociocultural theory (Offord, 2005), language socialization (Schieffelin and Ochs, 1986), and "communities of practice" (Lave and Wenger, 1991) highlight how language learner identity, like language itself, is both socially and individually constructed. As learners acquire a foreign language, they also gain a new awareness of who and how they are—they develop a second language (L2) self (Granger, 2004). How language learners identify themselves depends on contextual factors (Norton, 1995). This report focuses on how language learner social identity is negotiated in three contexts: the foreign language classroom, the study abroad setting, and in face-to-face interactions.


We study how anisotropies of turbulent diffusion affect the evolution of large-scale magnetic fields and the dynamo process on the Sun. The effect of anisotropy is calculated in a mean-field magnetohydrodynamics framework assuming that triple correlations provide relaxation to the turbulent electromotive force (so-called the "minimal τ-approximation"). We examine two types of mean-field dynamo models: the well-known benchmark flux-transport model and a distributed-dynamo model with a subsurface rotational shear layer. For both models, we investigate effects of the double- and triple-cell meridional circulation, recently suggested by helioseismology and numerical simulations. To characterize the anisotropy effects, we introduce a parameter of anisotropy as a ratio of the radial and horizontal intensities of turbulent mixing. It is found that the anisotropy affects the distribution of magnetic fields inside the convection zone. The concentration of the magnetic flux near the bottom and top boundaries of the convection zone is greater when the anisotropy is stronger. It is shown that the critical dynamo number and the dynamo period approach to constant values for large values of the anisotropy parameter. The anisotropy reduces the overlap of toroidal magnetic fields generated in subsequent dynamo cycles, in the time-latitude "butterfly" diagram. If we assume that sunspots are formed in the vicinity of the subsurface shear layer, then the distributed dynamo model with the anisotropic diffusivity satisfies the observational constraints from helioseismology and is consistent with the value of effective turbulent diffusion estimated from the dynamics of surface magnetic fields.


Abstract
This thesis interrogates the new music technology and its relationship to
creativity, musicality and learning in the Key Stage 31 curriculum. In doing so it
considers the effectiveness of the technology, what value pupils and teachers
might place on technologically mediated musical interactions and how this
relates to the principles enshrined in the National Curriculum. The research also
explores the views of teachers in relation to the nature of creativity and learning
in the music curriculum and their role in promoting it. The research was carried
out across five sites: a PGCE music course, a year 7, year 8, and year 9 Key Stage
3 music classroom, and a panel of secondary music teachers. It was located in a
qualitative paradigm which made use of observational and interview techniques.
The research also probed the pupils' creative outcomes through detailed
analysis. The findings suggest that the new technology can afford creative
musical engagement through the manipulation of ready-made musical materials.
It also suggests that pupils engage in a range of musical learning through such
interactions and that they value the processes and outcomes. By way of contrast,
teachers are still unclear about how to value such musical actions and are in the
process of re conceptualising the learning that emerges in technologically
mediated settings. Moreover, confusions still exist in relation to creativity and
learning in the music classroom. This is compounded by the fact that the pupils'
musical actions in relation to the new technology do not meet certain core
practices and principles enshrined in the National Curriculum for music. This is
problematic for, as the research suggests, such core practices often exclude or
distance those pupils who are non-performing musicians. Hence the thesis
concludes by positing that music education must consider a broader view of
what it is to be musical. In doing so it needs to remix the music curriculum to
take account of a range of musical actions. This remix should accommodate the
new technology, reconfigure musical creativity and learning in the light of the
technology and find new ways to value pupils' actions. In such settings the role of
the teacher in shaping and supporting the pupils' musical actions will be an
important consideration.


In the 1970s, Italy's national identity was transformed and re-negotiated consequent to a number of tragic events and radical reforms. The country's image and self-image were constantly revisited in domestic and foreign news features. To this day, the best-known verbal icon of that period remains the phrase "strategia della tensione" (strategy of tension), from the headline of an article in the British press. This highlights a tendency of the Italian newspapers to "look up" to the British newspapers. The aim of this chapter is to investigate how this tendency to prioritize British images of the Italian scenario, turning them into tropes, influenced the construction of Italy's image between 1969 and 1980. A parallel corpus of articles from The Times and La Stampa is explored through a methodological framework combining diachronic News Translation Studies and the strategies of Imagology. Electronic querying and manual inspection of the corpus revealed cases of textual migration, consisting of textual segments in La Stampa mirroring excerpts from The Times. These migrated texts were identified and labelled according to the translation strategy employed – selective appropriations, permutations, omissions, and additions (Valdeon 2008) – in order to investigate potential agendas, gatekeeping or self-censorship practices. However, rather than display an agenda, this analysis seems to reveal a clash between the British image and Italy's self-image in the troubled 1970s, the latter being constructed through heavy domestication of the British articles. Translation choices indeed reveal patterns of mitigation of criticism, as well as foregrounding of positive comments, which require a discourse-based approach in order to be fully understood. The strategies of Imagology – notably those applied to Translation Studies in recent work by van Doorslaer (2010) – prove particularly useful in detailing these findings, through close observation of the constructed images of the country.


Cultural heritage material often contains rich semantic information, which can be utilised for alternative forms of information access beyond keyword searching and browsing by subject categories. In order to provide such functionality it is desirable to annotate all the material in a collection with named entities and their relationships so that all the collection is available for semantic search. In this paper, we examine issues involved with automatic semantic annotation of information about artists from Tate Online using a pre-existing domain-specific structured resource (ULAN). In particular, we focus on extending ULAN's coverage of artists and their associated semantic properties (e.g. birth/death date, birth/death location) by applying focused crawling and automatic information extraction techniques to exploit semi-structured sources of information. This enables the cross-referencing of collections against a range of information sources, thereby improving visibility and end-user information access.


This research has developed from my teaching French-language literature in Canadian Studies at the University of Edinburgh since 2005 and as the start of my doctoral work in French at Newcastle University. The research work aims to discover the way contemporary urban literature works to create space. The particular focus is on the French-speaking metropolis of Montreal and on migrant writers or the representation of newly-arriving migrants by contemporary French-language authors in Canada. The approach starts with, and moves on from twentieth-century work in the field by Douglas Ivison (1998) and Jean-Xavier Ridon (2000) and continues with two themes I developed completing my M.LITT Dissertation (presented at the Society for French Studies Leeds Conference 2005), firstly that literary writing functions to reclaim the urban space for the writers and works to re-insert them into a well-documented city. Secondly, the writing seeks to incorporate the writers, by naming the newly-encountered objects and signs with a language and vocabulary that is more authentic to their own experience before they encountered the city. As a practising writer myself, it is an approach I have used in my own poems, for example, in the Europa cycle (Mansfield 2006), which explores my move from the English Peaks to teach in Lille and then Paris in the 1990s. French Urban Space – Charlie Mansfield page 2 Work in the field of French Studies on nineteenth century French literature has addressed the use of space. In particular Colette Wilson's 2004 work on the Emile Zola novel, L'Assommoir and the book-length study by Kristin Ross (1988) on the poetry of Arthur Rimbaud. My research draws on these primarily as a way of using the theoretical writing of Henri Lefebvre to approach literary texts and also to situate my research in the tradition of twentieth-century French critical study.


Unlike the crisis years of 2007-2009 (when the insolvency of large banks was a major problem), the current round of the global financial crisis has fiscal origins. Almost all developed countries suffer from an excessive public debt burden that has been built up over the last two decades or more. The financial crisis caused a further deterioration of government accounts as a result of ill-tailored countercyclical fiscal response and, in some cases, a costly financial sector rescue. All excessively indebted countries must conduct fiscal adjustment, even if this involves economic and political costs in terms of lower output and higher unemployment. Central banks can reduce these costs through accommodative monetary policies but without compromising their anti-inflationary missions and institutional independence. The ECB is additionally constrained by its institutional status which is based on a delicate cross-country political consensus. Excessive ECB involvement in quasi-fiscal rescue operations can undermine this consensus and lead to a disintegration of the Eurozone. There are also strong arguments in favor of strengthening fiscal and banking integration within the EU, especially the fiscal discipline mechanism at national levels, and building the EU rescue capacity in respect to sovereigns and banks based on strong policy conditionality.


Animals in hot desert environments often show marked fluctuations in population size, persisting in low numbers in refuge habitats during dry periods and expanding after rain when resources increase. Understanding drought-wet cycle dynamics is important for managing arid ecosystems, particularly if populations of threatened species are present. Such species may face increased risks of extinction if all populations decrease synchronously toward zero during low-resource periods, and if key refuge habitats needed during these periods are disturbed or unavailable. Here, we describe the dynamics and habitat requirements of two sub-populations of the kowari, Dasyuroides byrnei (Marsupialia: Dasyuridae), during long-term sampling (2000–2015) that encompassed multiple drought-wet cycles. This species is listed currently as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List. We found that the study region contains favourable habitat, with kowari occurring on hard stony (gibber) pavements in association with coverage of sand that may facilitate construction of burrows. Both sub-populations of kowari declined over the study period irrespective of climatic conditions, despite some evidence that both body condition and reproductive output increased after rain. We suggest that the studied sub-populations are under stress from extrinsic rather than intrinsic factors, with livestock grazing and introduced predators perhaps having the most negative effects. If similar demographic trends are apparent elsewhere in the species' small geographical range, the species would be eligible for listing on the IUCN Red List as Endangered, with a 20% chance of extinction within the next 20 years. Urgent research is required to quantify and mitigate the extrinsic threats to kowari populations. Proactive measures such as captive breeding to act as insurance populations would be prudent.


In wireless networks, there is an ever-increasing demand for higher system throughputs, along with growing expectation for all users to be available to multimedia and Internet services. This is especially difficult to maintain at the cell-edge. Therefore, a key challenge for future orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA)-based networks is inter-cell interference coordination (ICIC). With full frequency reuse, small inter-site distances (ISDs), and heterogeneous architectures, coping with co-channel interference (CCI) in such networks has become paramount. Further, the needs for more energy efficient, or "green," technologies is growing. In this light, Uplink Interference Protection (ULIP), a technique to combat CCI via power reduction, is investigated. By reducing the transmit power on a subset of resource blocks (RBs), the uplink interference to neighbouring cells can be controlled. Utilisation of existing reference signals limits additional signalling. Furthermore, cell-edge performance can be significantly improved through a priority class scheduler, enhancing the throughput fairness of the system. Finally, analytic derivations reveal ULIP guarantees enhanced energy efficiency for all mobile stations (MSs), with the added benefit that overall system throughput gains are also achievable. Following this, a novel scheduler that enhances both network spectral and energy efficiency is proposed. In order to facilitate the application of Pareto optimal power control (POPC) in cellular networks, a simple feasibility condition based on path gains and signal-to-noiseplus-interference ratio (SINR) targets is derived. Power Control Scheduling (PCS) maximises the number of concurrently transmitting MSs and minimises their transmit powers. In addition, cell/link removal is extended to OFDMA operation. Subsequently, an SINR variation technique, Power SINR Scheduling (PSS), is employed in femto-cell networks where full bandwidth users prohibit orthogonal resource allocation. Extensive simulation results show substantial gains in system throughput and energy efficiency over conventional power control schemes. Finally, the evolution of future systems to heterogeneous networks (HetNets), and the consequently enhanced network management difficulties necessitate the need for a distributed and autonomous ICIC approach. Using a fuzzy logic system, locally available information is utilised to allocate time-frequency resources and transmit powers such that requested rates are satisfied. An empirical investigation indicates close-to-optimal system performance at significantly reduced complexity (and signalling). Additionally, base station (BS) reference signals are appropriated to provide autonomous cell association amongst multiple co-located BSs. Detailed analytical signal modelling of the femto-cell and macro/pico-cell layouts reveal high correlation to experimentally gathered statistics. Further, superior performance to benchmarks in terms of system throughput, energy efficiency, availability and fairness indicate enormous potential for future wireless networks. Declaration of originality I hereby declare that the research recorded in this thesis and the thesis itself was composed and originated entirely by myself in the Department of Electronics and Electrical Engineering at The University of Edinburgh. The exceptions to the above are as follows: • The MATLAB code used as a basis for the simulation setup in Chapter 4 was developed by Zubin Bharucha in his PhD thesis [1], "Ad Hoc Wireless Networks with Femto-Cell Deployment: A Study."


Calcium batteries represent a promising alternative to lithium metal batteries. The combination of the low redox potential and low-cost and energy-dense calcium anode (2073 mAh/cm3, similar to 2044 mAh/cm3 for Li) with appropriate low-cost cathode materials such as sulfur, could produce a game-changing technology in several fields of applications. In this work, we present the reversible activity of a proof-of-concept Ca/S battery at room temperature, characterized by a surprising medium-term cycling stability with low polarization, promoted by the use of a simple positive electrode made of sulfur supported on an activated carbon cloth scaffold, and a state-of-the-art fluorinated alkoxyborate-based electrolyte. Insights on the electrochemical mechanism governing the chemistry of the Ca/S system were obtained for the first time by combining X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and X-ray absorption spectroscopy. The mechanism implies the formation of different types of soluble polysulfides species during both charge and discharge at room temperature, and the formation of solid CaS at the end of discharge. The reversible electrochemical activity is proven by the reformation of elemental sulfur at the end of the following charge. These promising results open the way to the comprehension of emerging Ca/S systems which may represent a valid alternative to Mg/S and Li/S batteries.


Title of Dissertation: "NEVER GIVE UP:" THE STRENGTHS AND STRATEGIES USED AMONG UNDOCUMENTED COLLEGE STUDENTS FROM CENTRAL AMERICA TO ACCESS AND PERSIST IN U.S. HIGHER EDUCATION. Pamela Hernandez, Doctor of Philosophy, 2016 Directed By: Assistant Professor, Dr. Michelle M. Espino, Department of Counseling, Higher Education, and Special Education The purpose of this study was to identify the strengths and strategies that undocumented college students from Central America used to access and persist in United States higher education. A multiple-case study design was used to conduct indepth, semi-structured interviews and document collection from ten persons residing in Illinois, Maryland, Ohio, Texas, and Washington. Yosso's (2005, 2006) community cultural wealth conceptual framework, an analytical and methodological tool, was used to uncover assets used to navigate the higher education system. The findings revealed that participants activated all forms of capital, with cultural capital being the least activated yet necessary, to access and persist in college. Participants also activated most forms of capital together or consecutively in order to attain financial resources, information and social networks that facilitated college access. Participants successfully persisted because they continued to activate forms of capital, displayed a high sense of agency, and managed to sustain college educational goals despite challenges and other external factors. The relationships among forms of capital and federal, state, and institutional policy contexts, which positively influenced both college access and persistence were not illustrated in Yosso's (2005, 2006) community cultural wealth framework. Therefore, this study presents a modified community cultural wealth framework, which includes these intersections and contexts. In the spirit of Latina/o critical race theory (LatCrit) and critical race theory (CRT), the participants share with other undocumented students suggestions on how to succeed in college. This study can contribute to the growing research of undocumented college students, and develop higher education policy and practice that intentionally consider undocumented college students' strengths to successfully navigate the institution. "NEVER GIVE UP:" THE STRENGTHS AND STRATEGIES USED AMONG UNDOCUMENTED COLLEGE STUDENTS FROM CENTRAL AMERICA TO ACCESS AND PERSIST IN U.S. HIGHER EDUCATION.


The Internet's routing architecture was designed to have a clean separation between the intradomain and interdomain routing protocols. However, the appropriate "division of labor" between these two tiers becomes unclear when an Autonomous System (AS) has interdomain routes to a destination through multiple border routers—a situation that is extremely common today because neighboring domains often connect in several locations. Unfortunately, this evolution in Internet structure has made it increasingly susceptible to unforeseen interactions between the two routing protocols. We believe that the current mechanism of early-exit or hot potato routing—where each router in an AS directs traffic to the "closest" border router based on the intradomain distances—is convoluted, restrictive, and sometimes quite disruptive.
This thesis improves the robustness of IP networks by revisiting the interaction between intradomain and interdomain routing protocols. First, it analyzes the influence of intradomain routing changes on BGP routing (the interdomain routing in the Internet today). We found that some intradomain routing changes trigger a significant number of BGP updates. In fact, these BGP routing changes are responsible for the largest traffic variations. Applications such as voice over IP, streaming, and gaming are particularly sensitive to these instabilities.
As a result, the development of guidelines and tools for the design and configuration of networks that minimize the impact on BGP are important tasks for achieving network robustness. We address these challenges using an analytic model of routing interaction that incorporates metrics to evaluate network sensitivity to intradomain changes. Our model identifies vulnerabilities in the network and can be used by network administrators to engineer more robust networks.
Finally, we propose a simple change to router's BGP decision logic to implement a flexible mechanism for selecting egress points for traffic. This mechanism allows network administrators to satisfy diverse goals, such as traffic engineering and robustness to equipment failures. We present two example optimization problems that use integer-programming and multicommodity-flow techniques, respectively, to tune our mechanism to satisfy network-wide objectives. Experiments with traffic, topology, and routing data from two backbone networks demonstrate that our solution is both simple (for the routers) and expressive (for the network administrators).


The aim of the study was to identify determinants of smallholder fruit commercialization in southwest Ethiopia. To get the sampled respondents multi-stage sampling techniques were used and in view of that, three districts were selected purposively from Jimma zone by selecting eight kebeles randomly. At the end, total of 240 sample households were randomly selected from these kebeles. To answer the research questions and objective of the study both qualitative and quantitative data were collected from primary and secondary sources. The primary data were collected from fruit producers as sampled households, agricultural experts, local leaders and other subject matter specialists on various aspects of commercializing fruits. Primary data were collected from the respondents using a pre-testing questionnaires, structured interview schedule and closed and open-ended questionnaires by well-trained enumerators closely supervised by the researchers. Secondary data were previous research findings and reports collected from kebeles, districts, agricultural offices, ministry of trade, trade and revenue offices. Moreover, qualitative data were collected through discussions with different agents by using focus group discussion and key informant interviews. The collected data were analysed using descriptive statistics (frequency, percentage, average mean, standard deviation, chi square and t-test) and econometric model (Probit model) to analyse determinant factors affecting smallholder's participation decision in marketing of fruits. From the result, age of household heads, household family size, access to transport services, off-farm activities, access to extension services, distance to market, improved fruit seeds and perishability of fruit were significantly affecting smallholder farmer's participation decision in commercialization of fruits. Therefore, to overcome the investigated problems strong commitment and reformation should be done by stakeholders including farmers, extension agents, researchers, policy makers.


Abstract. As a result of dearth of relevant information about Landslides Susceptibility in Nigeria, the monitoring and assessment appears intractable. Hence, the study developed a Remote Sensing approach to mapping landslides susceptibility, landuse and landcover analysis in Jos South LGA, Plateau State, Nigeria. Field Observation, SPOT 5 2009 and 2012, ASTER DEM 2009, Geological Map 2006, Topographical Map 1966 were used to map Landslide Susceptibility and Landuse /Lancover Analysis in the study area. Geospatial Analytical Operations employed using ArcGIS 10.3 and Erdas Imagine 2014 include Spatial Modeling, Vectorization, Pre-lineament Extraction, Image Processing among others. Result showed that 72.38 % of the study area is underlain by granitic rocks. The landuse/cover types delineated for the study area include floodplain (29.27 %), farmland (23.96 %), sparsely vegetated land (15.43 %), built up area (13.65 %), vegetated outcrop (8.48 %), light vegetation (5.37 %), thick vegetation (2.39 %), water body (0.58 %), plantation (0.50 %) and mining pond (0.37 %). Landslide Susceptibility Analysis also revealed that 87 % of the study area is relatively at low to very low risk of landslide event. While only 13 % of the study area is at high to very high risk of landslide event. The study revealed that the susceptibility of landslide event is very low in the study area. However, possible landslide event in the hot spots could be pronounced and could destabilize the natural and man-made environmental systems of the study area.


Introduction Globally, hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the sixth most diagnosed cancer and the third important cause of cancer-related death. As there are only two targeted drugs for the treatment of advanced HCC—that merely extend survival by a few months—the need for alternative treatments is inevitable. Lycopene, a carotenoid that is known to be most abundant in red tomatoes and tomato-based products, has been investigated for its anticancer activity in various types of cancers including HCC. This review was conducted to evaluate the effects of lycopene on HCC from animal models to pave the way for further clinical studies. Methods Electronic databases and search engines including PubMed, EMBASE, and Google Scholar were searched for original records addressing the anticancer effect of lycopene in animal models of HCC. Data were extracted using a format prepared in Microsoft Excel and exported to Stata 15.0 for analyses. A meta-analysis was performed using a random-effects model at a 95% confidence level for the outcome measures: tumor incidence, number, and growth (tumor volume and size). The presence of publication bias between studies was evaluated using Egger's test and funnel plot. The study protocol was registered in the PROSPERO database with reference number: CRD42019159312. Results The initial database search yields 286 articles, of which 15 studies met the inclusion criteria. The characteristics of the included studies were a bit diversified. The studies involved a total of 644 animals (312 treatment and 332 control groups) and mice shared the majority (488) followed by rats (117) and ferrets (39). The meta-analysis showed that lycopene significantly reduced the incidence [RR 0.8; 95% CI 0.69, 0.92 (p=0.00); I2 = 30.4%, p=0.16; n=11], number [SMD-1.83; 95% CI -3.10, -0.57 (p=0.01); I2 = 95.9%, p=0.00; n=9], and growth [SMD -2.13; 95% CI -4.20, -0.04 (p=0.04); I2 = 94.6%, p=0.00; n=4] of HCC. Conclusions Administration of lycopene appears to inhibit the initiation and progression of cancer in animal models of HCC. However, more controlled and thorough preclinical studies are needed to further evaluate its anti-HCC effects and associated molecular mechanisms.


The General Information section in the Graduate Bulletin is designed to give you an overview of the purpose and features of the bulletin, answer frequently asked questions about the bulletin, and provide information about the University structure and leadership. In addition to the information found in this area and on graduate major degree program pages, graduate education policies can be found on the Graduate School website (http://gradschool.psu.edu/graduate-education-policies).


Rapid urbanization in recent years has exerted tremendous pressure on urban development. In the face of the largely unexamined fashion for densification, it is vital that the environmental impact of compaction be researched. This study comprises solar simulation of eighteen generic models; each represents a particular combination of built form and density. This paper examines the relationships between built forms, density and solar potential, with reference to three design criteria i.e. openness at ground level, daylight factor on building facade and PV potential on building envelope. The result shows the different effects of horizontal and vertical randomness on urban solar potential and it also reveals the interrelation between randomness, plot ratio and site coverage, which can provide helpful insights for planning solar cities.


1 Abstract In this paper we present a system that maps hand gestures into musical parameters in an interactive computer music performance and virtual reality environment. In the first part of the paper we comment on our view of emotions. Thereafter, the technical background will be introduced We show that in a performing situation the expression of emotion is strongly related to intuitive and interactive aesthetic variations. Our focus on the mapping of these gestural variations into relevant musical parameters leads to the concept of symbolic and parametric subgestures. This allows the generation of emotional and aesthetic variations. We use data obtained from a sensor glove, a high end input device for digitizing hand and finger motions into multi-parametric data. The processing of this data is done by a neural network recognizing symbolic subgestures combined with the extraction of parametric values. We present a dictionary of symbolic and parametric subgestures which is categorised with respect to complexity. The system is complemented with a 3D VRML environment, i.e. an animated hand model and behaving representations of musical structures. This 3D representation combines with the gesture processing module and the sound generation to so called "Behaving Virtual Musical Objects".


Design and development of fault diagnosis schemes (FDS) for electric power distribution systems are major steps in realizing the self-healing function of a smart distribution grid. The application of the FDS in the electric power distribution systems is mainly aimed at precise detecting and locating of the deteriorated components, thereby enhancing the quality and reliability of the electric power delivered to the customers. The impacts of two types of the FDS on distribution system reliability are compared and presented in this paper. The first type is a representative of the FDS which diagnoses the deteriorated components after their failing. However, the second type is a representative of the FDS which can diagnose the failing components prior to a complete breakdown and while still in the incipient failure condition. To provide quantitative measures of the reliability impacts of these FDS, the comparative and sensitivity case studies are conducted on a typical Finnish urban distribution network.


Geothermal refers to existing heat energy in deep rock and sedimentary basins. Unlike other types of renewable energy resources, geothermal energy provides a stable source of energy as it can be exploited regardless of meteorological conditions. Geothermal energy can be utilized for either heating/cooling purposes or for power generation. In such systems the heat exchanged with the surrounding rock mass to the heat exchanger. Consequently, the temperature of extracted geofluid from the well decreases with the time in accordance with working parameters. The working parameters are including the flow rate, temperature difference, and the design of the ground heat exchanger. Current work, therefore, aims to develop a reliable heat transfer model to determine the extracted heat from the oil well, see Figure 1. The obtained results from the heat transfer model were used in another model, which simulate the organic Rankine cycle. Assumption made in the current study, such as ground thermal properties, the geothermal gradient and well dimensions, are based on realistic data in the Arabian Gulf. The proposed model was developed for different heat extraction rate and for temperature difference between inlet and outlet of the well. The obtained results can be used to define the optimal working parameters those result in the maximum energy generation during the lifetime of an organic Rankine cycle retrofitted to petroleum well. As shown in Figure 2, the simulations show that the optimal extraction rate 350 W at temperature difference between inlet and outlet of the well equals 16 oC and ground heat exchanger diameter equals 95 mm. This way, for a particular site the proposed models in the current study can be used to specify the optimal working parameters of geothermal system at different working conditions.


Naturally occurring mutations in the polymerase gene of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) have important implications for therapy and the outcome of clinical studies. Using 42 virus isolates obtained from the UNAIDS sample collection, we analyzed the protease (99 amino acids [aa]) and the first 297 aa of reverse transcriptase (RT) coding regions. Based on the V3 sequence analysis, the collection includes subtype A (n = 5), subtype B (n = 12), subtype C (n = 1), subtype D (n = 11), and subtype E (n = 13) viruses. Of the 42 protease genes, 37 contained naturally occurring mutations at positions in the gene that contribute to resistance to protease inhibitors (indinavir, saquinavir, ritonavir, and nelfinavir) in clade B isolates. The phenotypic effect of these substitutions in non-B isolates is unclear. The The 5'half RT coding region of the 42 isolates was found to be less variable, although 19 of the 42 RT sequences contained amino acid substitutions known to contribute to nucleoside and/or nonnucleoside drug resistance. Since the virus isolates were obtained in 1992, it is unlikely that the infected subjects received protease inhibitors, but we found evidence that one subject acquired a zidovudine (AZT)-resistant HIV-1 strain from a contact who had received AZT. Phylogenetic analysis identified five subtype pol clusters: A, B, C, D, and A'. Comparison of env and pol sequences of the same viruses showed no more recombination events than were already identified on the basis of gag/env comparison (M. Cornelissen, G. Kampinga, F. Zorgdrager, J. Goudsmit, and the UNAIDS Network for HIV Isolation and Characterization, J. Virol. 70:8209-8212, 1996). In one of the known recombinants, a crossover site between subtypes A and C could be identified, and in another, a crossover site could not be identified due to lack of a reference subtype F pol sequence. We analyzed the ds/da ratio of gag, pol, and env sequences of 35 isolates, excluding the recombinants. Our analysis showed that gag and pol are subjected to purifying selection with an average ds/da ratio above 1, independent of the subtype and in contrast with V3 (ds/da approximately 1). Based on the low ds/da ratio of the intergroup analysis of A/E and B/D gag and pol sequences, we analyzed the evolutionary relation between subtypes B and D in more detail by constructing separate phylogenetic trees for synonymous and nonsynonymous substitutions. Our analysis suggests a common ancestry for subtypes B and D that is distinct from that of subtypes A and E.


The following is a study of Jean-Paul Sartre's ontology of conscious awareness.
Ontology, for Sartre, consists in the delineation of the constituent elements, structures
and dimensions of Being as well as the way in which such constituent features interact
within the ekstatic dynamics of the lived experience of the being for whom such
ontological features are capable of becoming phenomena of possible awareness. Sartre's
methodology, then, is manifold. The ontological project which Sartre undertakes to
develop is at once transcendental, phenomenological and dialectical. It is transcendental
inasmuch as it is a theory of the way in which phenomena become experientially possible
for a being whose primary existential mode of conscious awareness is as an act of
immanent self-relation, as pure auto-affection, and is capable of divesting itself of its
modality of active self-affective immanence in constituting for itself a particular
phenomenon transcendent to itself. This is to say that what Sartre refers to as pure or
transcendental consciousness is capable of dissolving its primordial mode of autoaffective
immanent self-awareness in the intentional (or, attentional) act whereby a
choice is made to privilege a given phenomenon from amongst the otherwise
undifferentiated multiplicity of the conscious existent's (auto-)affective conscious
awareness in order to become conscious of something which is not itself and from which
the act of consciousness differentiates itself as not being, whether this privileged
phenomenon is ekstatic or extensive, whether it is chosen from the otherwise
undifferentiated virtual multiplicity of this conscious existent's own psychic pastness (or
possible future) or from the indifferent multiplicity of worldly actuality. In either case,
whether the privileged phenomenon of intentional awareness is egological or material, of
the psyche or of the world, the noematic correlate of conscious attention (the explicit or
thetic phenomenon of intentional awareness) is transcendent to transcendental
consciousness. It is in the investigation of such phenomena that Sartre's ontology
manifests itself as phenomenological. However, for Sartre, such awareness is by no
means static, and it is through the ekstatic dynamization of the constituent features of
conscious awareness that the transcendental and phenomenological methodologies of
Sartre's ontology of lived experience ultimately prove to be dialectical. Every moment
of conscious awareness must, for Sartre, be both surpassed and preserved. Every
moment of awareness, with its transcendent dimensions of virtuality and actuality and the
auto-affective immanence upon which they depend, reveal themselves as intimately
related, then, to memorial dynamics, dynamics which Sartre did little to explicitly
develop but upon which an adequate understanding of his ontology depends and which
will ultimately ground any investigation of what we might call an existential
epistemology.


Correspondence S. D. Batten Email: email@example.com Abstract We examined the hypothesis of top-down (predator) control of plankton populations around the Aleutian Islands and in the southern Bering Sea using a 15 year time series (2000–2014) of plankton populations sampled during summer by Continuous Plankton Recorders. Our analyses reveal opposing biennial patterns in abundances of large phytoplankton and copepods. This pattern is likely caused by the predation pressure on copepods from biennially abundant eastern Kamchatka Pink Salmon that results in a trophic cascade. In odd years, Pink Salmon are exceptionally abundant, large copepod abundance is low, and abundance of large diatoms grazed by copepods is high. Furthermore, large copepod abundance was inversely correlated, and diatom abundance was positively correlated, with Pink Salmon abundance. In addition to influencing the abundance of diatoms and large copepods we also report an effect on phytoplankton taxonomic composition. We find regional differences in the expression of these effects with alternating odd/even year patterns being strongest in the central Southern Bering Sea and eastern Aleutians and reduced, or absent, in the western Aleutians. When the abundance of 2013 Pink Salmon was unexpectedly low, there were consequent changes in the plankton populations, with highest recorded numbers in the time series of large copepods and microzooplankton (hardshelled ciliates). These findings emphasise the importance of variability in predator abundance and its effect across the ecosystem, which in this case was greater than physical oceanographic variability.


We investigated the performance of aspartate aminotransferase to platelet ratio index (APRI) as a noninvasive marker of fibrosis and cirrhosis in children with chronic viral hepatitis. All of the patients 0 to 20 years old with chronic hepatitis B or C presenting at a tertiary medical center from 1992 to 2008 were identified. Thirty-six patients were evaluated with 48 biopsy results. The areas under the receiver operating characteristic curve were 0.71 for fibrosis and 0.52 for cirrhosis. When examining subgroups, the APRI performed better in older patients and in those with vertically transmitted hepatitis C virus. Further research into APRI and the other noninvasive markers of fibrosis in children with chronic viral hepatitis is warranted.


Research has documented that providing care to the mental illness patient can make the caregivers themselves more vulnerable to physical, emotional, social and financial problems. A number of different services designed to support caregivers of patients with mental illness have emerged in the last decade, such as support groups, respite care, and adult day care. A support group can offer compensatory social ties and a safe environment for caregivers to regain equilibrium. Support groups have proved to be a successful intervention and strategy to address the problems of caregivers. The article addresses the major aspects of support groups (types of support group, function of support group and its structure and membership) and also examines related methodological issues and research designs characterized in recent literature. This paper also evaluates recent studies on conducting support groups for caregivers of mental illness patients. Methodological barriers that have limited the research potential in this field are addressed in this article. This paper also discusses the progress made in caregiver's support group research. Attention to issues related to caregivers' support groups provided us with "know-how" in conducting a support group and enabled us to advance knowledge and research about caregiving and support groups.


Does consent excuse violence against another? Generally, it does not. Recently, however, criminal defendants charged with violence against their sexual partners have asked courts to treat violent sex or sadomasochism (S/M) as a sport, like prize fighting and hockey. While most courts have refused to do so, a recent New York case, People v. Jovanovic, let stand a ruling that effectively permits a defendant to argue consent as a defense. This Article argues that the liberal argument treating S/M as a matter of sexual autonomy fails to account adequately for the history and practical application of the doctrine of violent consent. It concludes that by recognizing consent in the S/M context, the law is evolving in a direction that could lead to the glorification of sexual violence, rather than the sexual liberation of consenting adults.


We consider the task of training machine learning models with data-dependent constraints. Such constraints often arise as empirical versions of expected value constraints that enforce fairness or stability goals. We reformulate data-dependent constraints so that they are calibrated: enforcing the reformulated constraints guarantees that their expected value counterparts are satisfied with a user-prescribed probability. The resulting optimization problem is amendable to standard stochastic optimization algorithms, and we demonstrate the efficacy of our method on a fairness-sensitive classification task where we wish to guarantee the classifier's fairness (at test time).


We report on a highly efficient 1.3-μm continuous-wave (cw) Nd:GdVO4 laser pumped by a 879-nm Ti:Sapphire laser. The maximum output power of 1.03W with input pump power of 1.91W, the slope efficiency of 60.7 %, which is higher than quantum efficiency of conventional 808 nm pumping, and optical-to-optical efficiency of 54 % were obtained. Non-radiative transition induced heat generation in Nd:GdVO4 crystal under lasing and non-lasing conditions are discussed.


We present a neural network based approach to two-channel beamforming. First, single- and cross-channel spectral features are extracted to form a feature map for each utterance. A large neural network that is the concatenation of a convolution neural network (CNN), long short-term memory recurrent neural network (LSTM-RNN) and deep neural network (DNN) is then employed to estimate frame-level speech and noise masks. Later, these predicted masks are used to compute cross-power spectral density (CPSD) matrices which are used to estimate the minimum variance distortion-less response (MVDR) beamformer coefficients. In the end, a DNN is trained to optimize the phase in the estimated steering vectors to make it robust for reverberant conditions. We compare our methods with two state-of-the-art two-channel speech enhancement systems, i.e., time-frequency masking and masking-based beamforming. Results show the proposed method leads to 21 % relative improvement in word error rate (WER) over other systems.


The western world initially greeted the fall of the Berlin Wall and the eventual collapse of the Communist Eastern Bloc with great hopes for an equally liberal and peaceful world. Today, thirty years after the fact, and with many of the old certainties gone, the international world of states finds itself in a state of dangerous instability and increasing tensions. Against this background, it is not surprising that foreign policy has once again become the subject of a debate: what should it look like in the 21st century and what goals should it pursue? This essay does not claim to give an exhaustive answer to these questions. Neither is its author, Professor of Romance Languages at the University of Duisburg-Essen, satisfied with the demand recently made by the Former German Head of State Joachim Gauck, challenging Germany to thoroughly enhance its involvement in the world and assume a higher degree of responsibility that it did in the past. Rather, the essay takes a critical look at the theoretical foundations of such an involvement and argues for a new realism in foreign policy.


We have established the solid - fluid coexistence region for a system of polydisperse hard spheres with near-Gaussian diameter distributions, as a function of polydispersity. Significantly, we observe a `terminal' polydispersity above which there can be no fluid - solid coexistence. At the terminus the polydispersity is 5.7% for the solid and 11.8% for the fluid while the volume fractions are 0.588 and 0.547 for the solid and fluid respectively. Substantial fractionation observed at high values of the polydispersity (> 5%) implies that the `constrained eutectic' assumption made in previous theoretical studies is not generally valid. Our results for the terminal polydispersity are consistent with experiments performed on polydisperse colloidal suspensions.


Human gut microbiome composition is shaped by multiple host intrinsic and extrinsic factors, but the relative contribution of host genetic compared to environmental factors remains elusive. Here, we genotyped a cohort of 696 healthy individuals from several distinct ancestral origins and a relatively common environment, and demonstrate that there is no statistically significant association between microbiome composition and ethnicity, single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), or overall genetic similarity, and that only 5 of 211 (2.4%) previously reported microbiome-SNP associations replicate in our cohort. In contrast, we find similarities in the microbiome composition of genetically unrelated individuals who share a household. We define the term biome-explainability as the variance of a host phenotype explained by the microbiome after accounting for the contribution of human genetics. Consistent with our finding that microbiome and host genetics are largely independent, we find significant biome-explainability levels of 16-33% for body mass index (BMI), fasting glucose, high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol, waist circumference, waist-hip ratio (WHR), and lactose consumption. We further show that several human phenotypes can be predicted substantially more accurately when adding microbiome data to host genetics data, and that the contribution of both data sources to prediction accuracy is largely additive. Overall, our results suggest that human microbiome composition is dominated by environmental factors rather than by host genetics.


Total knee arthroplasty (TKA) represents a major advance in the treatment of degenerative joint disease providing excellent restoration of joint function and pain relief. This is a prospective study undertaken in the Department of Orthopedic Surgery in Basrah Teaching Hospital, from October 2009 to June 2011. Thirty-three patients who underwent primary total knee arthroplasty were included (25 females 75.7% and 8 males 24.2%). The diagnosis was osteoarthritis in 20 knees and rheumatoid arthritis in 13 knees. The operation included primary cemented TKA (25 cruciate-retaining and 8 cruciate-substituting), by anterior approach. The knee function was evaluated by knee society score system. Preoperative functional knee scores were uniformly poor and improved postoperatively with excellent results in 18 knees (54.54%), good in 9 knees (27.27%), fair in 5 knees (15.15%), and poor in 1 knee (3%). Thus, excellent and good results were achieved in 81.8% of the cases (27 of 33 knees). For knee scores, 2 knees (6%) were fair preoperatively and another 31 knees (93.9%) were poor. Post TKA results were excellent in 28 knees (84.84%), good in 5 knees (15.15%), fair in (0%) and poor in (0%). Excellent and good results were achieved in 100% of cases. The most common complications were superficial infection and deep venous thrombosis In conclusion, this study showed good outcome for total knee replacement surgery in our region. Excellent relief of pain, range of motion, and restoration of function.


This paper examines how skills are shaped by social interactions in families. We show that older siblings causally affect younger sibling's educational choices and early career earnings. We focus on critical course choices in high school and overcome the identification challenges of estimating spillover effects in education by exploiting exogenous variation in choice sets stemming from a pilot program. The pilot induced an essentially random subset of older siblings to choose advanced math-science at a lower cost, while not directly affecting the course choices of younger siblings. We find that younger siblings are 2–3 percentage points more likely to choose math-science if their older sibling unexpectedly could choose math-science at a lower cost. We argue that the main influence of the pilot program on the younger siblings may be attributed to the social influence of the older sibling. Spillovers are strongest among closely spaced siblings, in particular brothers, and they have a lasting impact on the career outcomes of younger brothers. We argue that competition is likely one of the driving forces behind younger siblings conforming to their older siblings' choices.


Colony-stimulating activities (CSA) are potent granulopoietic stimulators in vitro. Using clonogenic assay techniques, we analyzed the degree to which mononuclear phagocytes and T lymphocytes cooperate in the positive (production/release of CSA) and feedback (inhibition of CSA production/release) regulation of granulopoiesis. We measured the effect of lactoferrin (a putative feedback regulator of CSA production) on CSA provision in three separate assay systems wherein granulocyte colony growth of marrow cells from 22 normal volunteers was stimulated by (a) endogenous CSA-producing cells in the marrow cells suspension, (b) autologous peripheral blood leukocytes in feeder layers, and (c) medium conditioned by peripheral blood leukocytes. The CSA-producing cell populations in each assay were varied by using cell separation techniques and exposure of isolated T lymphocytes to methylprednisolone or to monoclonal antibodies to surface antigens and complement. We noted that net CSA production increased more than twofold when a small number of unstimulated T lymphocytes were added to monocyte cultures. Lactoferrin's inhibitory effect was also T lymphocyte dependent. The T lymphocytes that interact with monocytes and lactoferrin to inhibit CSA production are similar to those that augment CSA production because their activities are neither genetically restricted not glucocorticoid sensitive, and both populations express HLA-DR (Ia-like) and T3 antigens but not T4 or T8 antigens. These findings are consistent with results of our studies on the mechanism of lactoferrin's inhibitory effect with indicate that mononuclear phagocytes produce both CSA and soluble factors that stimulate T lymphocytes to produce CSA, and that lactoferrin does not suppress monocyte CSA production, but does completely suppress production or release by monocytes of those factors that stimulate T lymphocytes to produce CSA. We conclude that mononuclear phagocytes and a subset of T lymphocytes exhibit important complex interactions in the regulation of granulopoiesis.


A long time ago Industrial Control Systems were in a safe place due to the use of proprietary technology and physical isolation. This situation has changed dramatically and the systems are nowadays often prone to severe attacks executed from remote locations. In many cases, intrusions remain undetected for a long time and this allows the adversary to meticulously prepare an attack and maximize its destructiveness. The ability to detect an attack in its early stages thus has a high potential to significantly reduce its impact. To this end, we propose a holistic, multi-layered, security monitoring and mitigation framework spanning the physical- and cyber domain. The comprehensiveness of the approach demands for scalability measures built-in by design. In this paper we present how scalability is addressed by an architecture that enforces geographically decentralized data reduction approaches that can be dynamically adjusted to the currently perceived context. A specific focus is put on a robust and resilient solution to orchestrate dynamic configuration updates. Experimental results based on a prototype implementation show the feasibility of the approach.


Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is the major etiological agent of hepatitis. It infects 200 million people worldwide and 85% of them could develop chronic hepatitis, liver function failure or hepatocellular carcinoma. Hepatitis C is rapidly emerging as a major health problem in developing countries like Pakistan with prevalence rate of 10% and genotype 3a is the most prevalent. Here, approximately 80% of infections proceed to chronic infection and infected blood is the primary route of spread. In Pakistan, about 75% of patents do not receive standard anti HCV therapy (Interferon + Ribavirin) and of the 25% that do receive such treatment, the SVR rate is 60 - 70%. This review is designed to cover the information about the status of HCV in Pakistan with major focus on its prevalence, genotypes, current diagnostic assays, available therapies and treatment outcomes. The present review further emphasizes the need to uncover exact HCV prevalence rate in the country, to develop diagnostic assays based on local genotype, to understand the interaction between HCV genotype 3a genes and cell line genes responsible HCV pathogenesis. In addition, this review discusses the need for the generation of infectious pseudo particle of HCV as a potential vaccine, to investigate DNA base vaccine, or siRNA-based anti HCV approaches for our local genotypes.


The aim of 'Interaction in a small circle with teacher' is to stimulate the development of young students' language skills by the active participation in school conversation and to let them use more complex cognitive language functions. Students think about phenomena, processes or problems and put their thoughts into words. The teacher should play a coaching role. He stimulates further thinking and talking by students. Research shows that students use more complex cognitive language functions when they participate in 'Interaction in a small circle with teacher' than in traditional school activities. If the teacher provides appropriate opportunities to students by asking open questions, such as why? and how?, students use more complex language functions. There seems to be a positive connection between the teacher's role and the language skills of students.


Approaching Dialogue has its primary focus on the theoretical understanding and empirical analysis of talk-in-interaction. It deals with conversation in general as well as talk within institutions against a backdrop of Conversation Analysis, context-based discourse analysis, social pragmatics, socio-cultural theory and interdisciplinary dialogue analysis. People's communicative projects, and the structures and functions of talk-in-interaction, are analyzed from the most local sequences to the comprehensive communicative activity types and genres. A second aim of the book is to explore the possibilities and limitations of dialogism as a general epistemology for cognition and communication. On this point, it portrays the dialogical approach as a major alternative to the mainstream theories of cognition as individually-based information processing, communication as information transfer, and language as a code. Stressing aspects of interaction, joint construction and cultural embeddedness, and drawing upon extensive theoretical and empirical research carried out in different traditions, this book aims at an integrating synthesis. It is largely interdisciplinary in nature, and has been written in such a way that it can be used at advanced undergraduate courses in linguistics, sociopragmatics of language, communication studies, sociology, social psychology and cognitive science. About the author: Per Linell holds a Ph.D. in linguistics and has been professor within the interdisciplinary graduate program of Communication Studies at the University of Linkoping, Sweden, since 1981. He has published widely in the fields of discourse studies and social pragmatics of language.


When a real fluid is expelled quickly from a tube, it forms a jet separated from the surrounding fluid by a thin, turbulent layer. On the other hand, when the same fluid is sucked into the tube, it enters from all directions, forming a sink-like flow. We show that, even for the ideal flow described by the time-reversible Euler equation, an experimenter who only controls the pressure in a pump attached to the tube would see jets form in one direction exclusively. The asymmetry between outflow and inflow therefore does not depend on viscous dissipation, but rather on the experimenter's limited control of initial and boundary conditions. This illustrates, in a rather different context from the usual one of thermal physics, how irreversibility may arise in systems whose microscopic dynamics are fully reversible.


In an effort to expand Internet access, local and federal policymakers have sought to use speed test data to determine where to allocate funding. However, drawing accurate and meaningful conclusions about Internet Service Provider (ISP) network performance from speed test data requires careful consideration of the test conditions under which the data was collected. This paper provides a set of recommendations for gatheringandanalysingasinglespeedtestmeasurement. Our recommendations are based on our own analysis of speed test data collected from in-lab, controlled experiments, as well as from a six month long deployment across 77 households in Chicago. Based on the results of our analysis, we suggest that the client-server latency, the client device, and the access medium (wireless vs. wired) be logged for each test. These three metadata can be used later to assess the accuracy or utility of the speed test. We also propose that running "paired tests" (running two different speed tests in succession) can help mitigate the effects of test conditions for which we can't measure, such as server load or upstream congestion. Such paired tests are most beneficial for households subscribed to download speeds greater than 500 Mbps.


Transition to university is assumed to be closely related to individual variables such as; attachment, personality and stress perception patterns. This study examined how freshmen adjust university as a function of their attachment style, personality and stress perception patterns. The authors' aim was to investigate the relations between individual variables (personality, attachment style and perceived stress) and university adjustment success. A group of 277 freshmen from a University in İzmir completed the Experiences in Close Relationships Inventory, Perceived Stress Scale, Adaptation to University Life Inventory, Relationship Questionnaire, and Basic Personality Traits Inventory. Freshmen's attachment security was positively related to overall university adjustment, extraversion and openness to experience whereas negatively related to neuroticism, negative valence and stress perception. Stress perception, attachment anxiety and avoidance, extraversion and openness to experience were the significant predictors of university adjustment. Also, participants showed significant differences in attachment security, stress perception and university adjustment due to their demographic information. Research implications were discussed.


In contrast to intensive agricultural practices that require widespread forest clearing, agroforestry systems combine tree growing with the production of other crops or animals. By promoting tree planting, biodiversity, and long-term resource husbandry, agroforestry can be an economically and environmentally sustainable option for small-scale farmers who are struggling to combat the impacts of climate change.

For hungry and food-insecure communities, agroforestry creates more resilient agricultural systems, where the risk of crop failure is spread between diverse crops.

This case study describes how agroforestry systems are being promoted as part of Oxfam's programme in Bolivia in response to the multiple threats that climate change, deforestation, and traditional agriculture pose to vulnerable Bolivian communities.

It demonstrates how such systems can be economically and socially beneficial as well as more environmentally sustainable, and argues for the inclusion of agroforestry systems as a core strategy within Bolivia's climate change and agricultural policies.


Legalization and detailed placement methods for standard cell designs, are two of the most notable topics in current VLSI research. Being the final steps in a classic placement procedure they must be efficient in terms of the delay overhead they introduce to the overall design flow and the quality of the final solution. In this paper we present a combined solution of the aforementioned steps, based on Tetris a particular simple and fast legalization algorithm, that produces considerable results taking into account the tradeoff between total wirelength, total cell displacement and runtime.


The Low Vision Service Wales (LVSW) was founded in 2004 with the aim of providing a better quality of care that was available closer to people's homes and facilitating rapid service access. The service has been found to be as effective as traditional hospital-based services and effective over the longer term (Court et al. 2011; Ryan et al. 2013). In 2015, 11 years after the establishment of the service, the LVSW had completely replaced all secondary care-based low-vision services in Wales.

During 2016 over 8000 patients were seen within the service, which is provided by practitioners who have undergone further postgraduate training and a process of service accreditation. Access to the service is open, with referrals being accepted from any source, including the patients themselves.

As a Welsh Government-funded service, the low-vision assessment is free at point of contact, with any low-vision aids issued being supplied on a loan basis. Eligibility is based on clinical need, thus, despite the majority of the patient base being over the age of 80, children and younger adults are also seen within the service.

Multidisciplinary working is core to the success of the LVSW, as is ensuring good access for patients in a country which presents geographic challenges. The LVSW is regularly audited, with the aim of using audit results to develop the service further and inform the training needs of the workforce.


The article analyzes the presumptions of transfer of performers' rights as set out in the Law of the Republic of Lithuania on Copyrights and Related Rights. Lithuania's legal literature has so far omitted this subject, hence the article starts with the analysis of development of performers' rights considering the impact of international and regional legal provisions on the regulation of performers' rights and incorporation of presumption of the transfer of rights to audio-visual performance records in national legislation of the majority of states, including Lithuania. Other application of presumption of the performers' rights transfer is concerned with the performer's labour relations. This area of legal regulation covers the legal relations emerging in both audio-visual segment, and other spheres of culture and art, such as the activities of broadcasting institutions (radio, television), as well as various fields of theatrics (theatrical plays and other theatrical performances, programmes of concert literature and pieces of music, etc.). The article concludes that the application of presumptions to civil relationships, which develop in various areas of literature and works of art performances, does not lead to consistency and clarity. To avoid any conflicts, which may result from vague legal regulation, Lithuania's legal provisions governing the presumptions of transfer of performers' rights need to be improved.


This study addresses performance-enhancement drug (PED) consumption in amateur sport by investigating the relationship between psychosocial factors and PED use in amateur cyclists. Participants were asked whether they had ever taken PED. They were also asked whether they had any experience in competitive cycling, and the degree to which they participated in the event with a competitive aim. In addition, they completed the Performance Enhancement Attitude Scale, the Rosenberg self-esteem scale, and a bespoke self-efficacy questionnaire, and they rated the percentage of cyclists they believed took PED. Between-groups comparisons and two multiple regression analyses were performed. Overall, the results of our study point to adult amateur cyclists in general, and amateur cyclists with experience in competition in particular, as groups at risk for PED use. This study highlights the value of measuring psychosocial variables as a tool to assess PED use, a current issue at both sport performance and health levels.


Pairwise learning is an important learning topic in the machine learning community, where the loss function involves pairs of samples (e.g., AUC maximization and metric learning). Existing pairwise learning algorithms do not perform well in the generality, scalability and efficiency simultaneously. To address these challenging problems, in this paper, we first analyze the relationship between the statistical accuracy and the regularized empire risk for pairwise loss. Based on the relationship, we propose a scalable and efficient adaptive doubly stochastic gradient algorithm (AdaDSG) for generalized regularized pairwise learning problems. More importantly, we prove that the overall computational cost of AdaDSG is O(n) to achieve the statistical accuracy on the full training set with the size of n, which is the best theoretical result for pairwise learning to the best of our knowledge. The experimental results on a variety of real-world datasets not only confirm the effectiveness of our AdaDSG algorithm, but also show that AdaDSG has significantly better scalability and efficiency than the existing pairwise learning algorithms.


The focus of this study was to investigate the activity concentrations of 40K, 238U and 232Th in edible leaves of Vernonia amygdalina (VA) and Vernonia calvoana (VC) and to derive from these activity concentrations, the associated Radium equivalent, the gamma dose rates, and the Internal hazard index (Hin). The average activity concentrations for 40K, 238U and 232Th found in the fresh leaves of VA and VC was: 29.10 ± 3.01; 4.25 ± 1.56; 1.67 ± 0.76 Bq.Kg-1 and 32.56 ± 3.50; 4.50 ± 1.68; 1.68 ± 0.72 Bq.Kg-1 respectively. The average radium equivalent activities obtained for fresh leaves were 6.79 ± 2.84 Bq/kg and 6.79 ± 2.97 Bq/kg. The gamma dose rate of 3.94 and 4.12 then the hazard index of 0.026 were found both in VA and VC leaves samples.


About the Authors. Series Foreword. Foreword. Preface. Gaining Competitive Advantage. List of Acronyms. Acknowledgements. PART I: Reliability - It's a Matter of Survival. 1 Competing in the Twenty-first Century. 1.1 Gaining competitive advantage. 1.2 Competing in the next decade - winners will compete on reliability. 1.3 Concurrent engineering. 1.4 Reducing the number of Engineering Change Orders (ECOs) at product release. 1.5 Time-to-market advantage. 1.6 Accelerating product development. 1.7 Identifying and managing risks. 1.8 ICM, a process to mitigate risk. Reference. 2 Barriers to Implementing Reliability. 2.1 Lack of understanding. 2.2 Internal barriers. 2.3 Implementing change and change agents. 2.4 Building credibility. 2.5 Perceived external barriers. 2.6 It takes time to gain acceptance. 2.7 External barrier. 3 Understanding Why Products Fail. 3.1 Why things fail. 3.2 Parts have improved, everyone can build quality products. 3.3 Reliability - a twenty-first century paradigm shift. References. 4 Alternative Approaches to Implement Reliability. 4.1 Hiring consultants. 4.2 Outsourcing reliability. PART II: Unraveling the Mystery. 5 The Product Life Cycle. 5.1 Six phases of the product life cycle. 5.1.1 Mitigate risk. 5.2 The ICM process for a small company. 5.2.1 DFx - Design For Manufacturability (DFM), Design For Test (DFT), Design For Reliability (DFR), and Design For Serviceability (DFS). 5.2.2 Warranty. References. 6 Reliability Concepts. 6.1 The bathtub curve. 6.2 Mean Time Between Failure. 6.2.1 Mean time between repair. 6.2.2 Mean Time Between Maintenances (MTBM). 6.2.3 Mean Time To Failure (MTTF). 6.2.4 Mean Time To Repair (MTTR). 6.2.5 Mean Time To Restore System (MTTRS). 6.3 Warranty costs. 6.4 Availability. 6.4.1 On-site manufacturer service personnel. 6.4.2 Customer trained service personnel. 6.4.3 Manufacturer training for customer service personnel. 6.4.4 Easy-to-Use service manuals. 6.4.5 Rapid diagnosis capability. 6.4.6 Repair and spare parts availability. 6.4.7 Rapid response to customer requests for service. 6.4.8 Failure data tracking. 6.5 Reliability growth. 6.6 Reliability demonstration testing. References. 7 The Reliability Toolbox. 7.1 The FMEA process. 7.1.1 The functional block diagram. 7.1.2 The fault tree analysis. 7.1.3 Failure modes and effects analysis spreadsheet. 7.1.4 Preparing for the FMEA. 7.1.5 Barriers to the FMEA process. 7.1.6 FMEAs ground rules. 7.2 The HALT process. 7.2.1 Types of stresses applied in HALT. 7.2.2 The theory behind the HALT process. 7.2.3 HALT testing. 7.3 Highly accelerated stress screening (HASS). 7.3.1 Proof Of Screen (POS). 7.3.2 Burn-in. 7.3.3 Environmental Stress Screening (ESS). 7.3.4 Economic impact of HASS. 7.3.5 The HASA process. 7.4 Summary of HALT, HASS, HASA and POF benefits. 7.5 HALT and HASS test chambers. 7.6 SPC tool. 7.7 FIFO tool. 7.8 Component derating - a first line of defense in product reliability. References. 8 Why Reliability Efforts Fail. 8.1 Lack of commitment to the reliability process. 8.2 Inability to embrace and mitigate technologies risk issues. 8.3 Choosing the wrong people for the job. 8.4 Inadequate funding. 8.5 Mil-Std 217/Bellcore - What they really do and why they don't work. 8.6 Finding but not fixing problems. 8.7 Nondynamic testing. 8.8 Vibration testing too difficult to implement. 8.9 Late software. 8.10 Supplier reliability. References. 9 Supplier Management. 9.1 Purchasing interface. 9.2 Identifying your critical suppliers. 9.3 Develop a thorough supplier audit process. 9.4 Develop rapid nonconformance feedback. 9.5 Develop a Materials Review Board (MRB). PART III: Three Steps to Successful Implementation. 10 Establishing a Reliability Lab. 10.1 Staffing for reliability. 10.2 The reliability lab. 10.3 Facility requirements. 10.4 Liquid nitrogen requirements. 10.5 Air compressors requirements. 10.6 Selecting a reliability lab location. 10.7 Selecting a HALT test chamber. 10.7.1 Chamber size. 10.7.2 Machine overall height. 10.7.3 Power required and consumption. 10.7.4 Acceptable operational noise levels. 10.7.5 Door swing. 10.7.6 Ease of operation. 10.7.7 Profile creation, editing, and storage. 10.7.8 Temperature rates of change. 10.7.9 Built-in test instrumentation. 10.7.10 Safety. 10.7.11 Time from order to delivery. 10.7.12 Warranty. 10.7.13 Technical/Service support. 10.7.14 Compressed air requirements. 10.7.15 Lighting. 10.7.16 Customization. 11 Hiring and Staffing the Right People. 11.1 Staffing for reliability. 11.2 Choosing the wrong people for the job. 12 Implementing the Reliability Process. 12.1 Reliability is everyone's job. 12.2 Formalizing the reliability process. 12.3 Implementing the reliability process. 12.4 Rolling out the reliability process. 12.5 Developing a reliability culture. 12.6 Setting reliability goals. 12.7 Training. 12.8 Product life cycle defined. 12.9 Concept phase. 12.10 Design phase. 12.11 Production phase. 12.12 End-of-life phase. 12.13 Proactive and reactive reliability activities. References. PART IV: Reliability Process for Product Development. 13 Product Concept Phase. 13.1 Establish the reliability organization. 13.2 Define the reliability process. 13.3 Define the system reliability requirement. 13.4 Capture and apply lessons learned. 13.5 Risk mitigation. 13.5.1 Filling out the risk mitigation form. 14 Design Concept Phase. 14.1 Setting reliability requirements and budgets. 14.2 Define reliability design guidelines. 14.3 Risk mitigation in the design concept phase. 14.3.1 Identifying risk issues. 14.3.2 Reflecting back (capturing internal lessons learned). 14.3.3 Looking forward (capturing new risk issues). 14.4 Reliability capital budget and activity scheduling. 14.5 Risk mitigation meeting. 14.6 Reflection. 15 Product Design Phase. 15.1 Product design phase. 15.2 Reliability estimates. 15.3 Implementing risk mitigation plans. 15.3.1 Mitigating risk issues captured reflecting back. 15.3.2 Mitigating risk issues captured looking forward. 15.4 Design For Reliability Guidelines (DFR). 15.4.1 Derating guidelines. 15.5 Design FMEA. 15.6 Installing a failure reporting analysis and corrective action system. 15.7 HALT planning. 15.8 HALT test development. 15.9 Risk mitigation meeting. References. 16 Design Validation Phase. 16.1 Design validation. 16.2 Using HALT to precipitate failures. 16.2.1 Starting the HALT Test. 16.2.2 Room ambient test. 16.2.3 Tickle vibration test. 16.2.4 Temperature step stress test. 16.2.5 Rapid thermal cycling stress test. 16.2.6 Vibration step stress test. 16.2.7 Combinational temperature and vibration test. 16.2.8 Combinational search pattern test. 16.2.9 Additional stress tests. 16.2.10 HALT validation test. 16.3 Proof Of Screen (POS). 16.4 Operate FRACAS. 16.5 Design FMEA. 16.6 Closure of risk issues. References. 17 Production Phase. 17.1 Accelerating design maturity. 17.1.1 Product improvement tools. 17.2 Reliability growth. 17.3 Design and process FMEA. 17.3.1 Quality control tools. References. 18 End of Life Phase. 18.1 Product termination. 18.2 Project assessment. Reference. 19 Field Service. 19.1 Design for ease of access. 19.2 Identify high replacement assemblies (FRUS). 19.3 Wearout replacement. 19.4 Preemptive servicing. 19.5 Servicing tools. 19.6 Service loops. 19.7 Availability or repair time turnaround. 19.8 Avoid system failure through redundancy. 19.9 Random versus wearout failures. Reference. Appendix A. Appendix B. Index.


Query ambiguity is a useful metric for search engines to understand users' intents. Existing methods quantify query ambiguity by calculating an entropy of clicks. These methods assign each click to a one-hot vector corresponding to some mutually exclusive groups. However, they cannot incorporate non-obvious structures such as similarity among documents. In this paper, we propose a new approach for quantifying query ambiguity using topic distributions. We show that it is a natural extension of an existing entropy-based method. Further, we use our approach to achieve topic-based extensions of major existing entropy-based methods. Through an evaluation using e-commerce search logs combined with human judgments, our approach successfully extended existing entropy-based methods and improved the quality of query ambiguity measurements.


Louisiana crawfish, cheatgrass, Russian thistle, Hottentot figs, rats, and sweet fennel. These and dozens of other seemingly benign flora and fauna have become some of the worst culprits in the destruction of ecosystems and native wildlife in the American Southwest and Baja California. Although widely publicized threats'such as pollution, land development, changes in the atmospheric condition, fire, and drought, re frequently credited with posing the greatest danger to indigenous animals and plants, invasive species are quickly becoming a far more insidious peril to the survival of native wildlife. A result of both accident and human intervention, the frequency with which exotic species are being introduced into nonnative environments is increasing at an alarming rate. In Unnatural Landscapes, Ceiridwen Terrill combines lucid science writing with first-person tales of adventure to provide a compelling introduction to invasion ecology and restoration management. Traveling aboard her trusty kyak, The Grebe, Terrill brings readers on a firsthand tour of various ?islands? in the Southwest and Mexico both actual islands and self-contained habitat communities. From the islands of Anaho, Santa Cruz, and Anacapa to Isla Tiburon in the Sea of Cortez, Mexicali irrigation canals, and Pyramid Lake, Terrill takes an in-depth look at the damage that invasive species cause. Drawing on field observations, research, and interviews with scientists, resource managers, and local residents, this book provides readers with the background and knowledge they need to understand and to begin combating what is quickly becoming the most important environmental crisis facing the fragile ecosystems of the Southwest. For more information on invasive species visit the "http://faculty.cu-portland.edu/cterrill/index.html" target="new">Author's Web site.


LiMBO3 (M = Fe, Co, Mn) has been identified as an interesting new cathode material for Li-ion batteries. It was shown to be difficult to synthesize the material as a pure phase and in a highly electrochemically active form. Here we report several methods for the successful preparation of LiFeBO3, including traditional ceramic and self-combustion reactions. By decreasing the particle size and introducing in situ carbon coating, conventionally ceramic-synthesized LiFeBO3/C yields a first discharge of 210 mA h g−1 within the 1.5–4.5 V voltage window at a C/20 rate, 55 °C. Using high-resolution synchrotron X-ray diffraction, neutron powder diffraction and single crystal X-ray diffraction in combination with 6Li NMR and 57Fe Mossbauer spectroscopies, we present a "1Fe 2Li" complex cation distribution model for LiFeBO3 powder.


BACKGROUND
von Hippel Lindau disease (VHL) is an inherited syndrome characterized by tumors of the kidney, adrenal, central nervous system, and pancreas. The incidence and natural history of pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors occurring in VHL are not known.

METHODS
From December 1988 through November 1997, 256 patients with VHL were screened with imaging studies, and these data were reviewed from a prospective database.

RESULTS
Thirty (12%) of 256 patients had solid pancreatic lesions consistent with neuroendocrine tumors. Fourteen patients underwent resection, and 4 with metastases on imaging studies underwent biopsy only. Of the 14 patients who underwent resection, 11 remain free of disease, 2 have experienced recurrence, and 1 has died of unrelated causes (mean follow-up, 25 months; range, 3 to 73 months). The size of the primary tumor (median, 5 cm; range, 3 to 8 cm) in patients with liver metastases was significantly larger than the size of the primary tumor (median, 2 cm; range, 1 to 5 cm) in patients without liver metastases (P = .0013).

CONCLUSIONS
Solid pancreatic lesions were detected in 12% of patients with VHL. Larger primary tumors were associated with liver metastases. Pancreatic imaging to identify neuroendocrine tumors and resection when they reach 2 to 3 cm may prevent the development of hepatic metastases.


Fe–Al is one of the best corrosion resistant alloys at high temperatures. The flip side of Al addition to Fe is the deterioration of the mechanical properties. This problem can be solved by adding a suitable amount of third alloying component. In the present work, we use ab initio calculations based on density functional theory to study the elastic properties of FeCrAl alloys for Al and Cr contents up to 20 at.%. We assess the ductility as a function of chemistry by making use of the semi-empirical correlations between the elastic parameters and mechanical properties. In particular, we derive the bulk modulus to shear modulus ratio and the Cauchy pressure and monitor their trends in terms of chemical composition. The present findings are contrasted with the previously established oxidation resistance of Fe–Cr–Al alloys.


Recent assertions of urban theory have dismissed the value of postcolonial critique in urban studies. This essay draws on postcolonial theory to demonstrate key flaws in such theoretical formulations. In doing so, it returns to the puzzle of how and why studying urbanism in the global South might matter for the reconceptualization of critical urban theory. Instead of a universal grammar of cityness, modified by (exotic) empirical variation, the essay foregrounds forms of theorization that are attentive to historical difference as a fundamental constituent of global urbanization. What is at stake, the essay concludes, is a culture of theory, one that in its Eurocentrism tends to foreclose multiple concepts of the urban and alternative understandings of political economy. A concern with the relationship between place, knowledge and power-a key insight of postcolonial critique-might make possible new practices of theory in urban studies.


Modeling human mobility is a critical task in fields such as urban planning, ecology, and epidemiology. Given the current use of mobile phones, there is an abundance of data that can be used to create models of high reliability. Existing techniques can reveal the macropatterns of crowd movement or analyze the trajectory of a person; however, they typically focus on geographical characteristics. This paper presents a graph-based approach for structuring crowd mobility transition over multiple granularities in the context of social behavior. The key to our approach is an adaptive data representation, the adaptive mobility transition graph (AMTG), which is globally generated from citywide human mobility data by defining the temporal trends of human mobility and the interleaved transitions between different mobility patterns. We describe the design, creation, and manipulation of the AMTG and introduce a visual analysis system that supports the multifaceted exploration of citywide human mobility patterns.


Written around AD 1200 by an unnamed Icelandic author, the Orkneyinga Saga is an intriguing fusion of myth, legend and history. The only medieval chronicle to have Orkney as the central place of action, it tells of an era when the islands were still part of the Viking world, beginning with their conquest by the kings of Norway in the ninth century. The saga describes the subsequent history of the Earldom of Orkney and the adventures of great Norsemen such as Sigurd the Powerful, St Magnus the Martyr and Hrolf, the conqueror of Normandy. Savagely powerful and poetic, this is a fascinating depiction of an age of brutal battles, murder, sorcery and bitter family feuds.


Nanotechnology has opened up new frontiers in materials science and engineering in the past several decades. Considerable efforts on nanostructured electrode materials have been made in recent years to fulfill the future requirements of electrochemical energy storage. Compared to bulk materials, most of these nanostructured electrode materials improve the thermodynamic and kinetic properties of electrochemical reactions for achieving high energy and power densities. Here we briefly review the state-of-the-art research activities in the area of nanostructured positive electrode materials for post-lithium ion batteries, including Li–S batteries, Li–Se batteries, aqueous rechargeable lithium batteries, Li–O2 batteries, Na-ion batteries, Mg-ion batteries and Al-ion batteries. These future rechargeable battery systems may offer increased energy densities, reduced cost, and more environmental benignity. A particular focus is directed to the design principles of these nanostructured positive electrode materials and how nanostructuring influences electrochemical performance. Moreover, the recent achievements in nanostructured positive electrode materials for some of the latest emerging rechargeable batteries are also summarized, such as Zn-ion batteries, F- and Cl-ion batteries, Na–, K– and Al–S batteries, Na– and K–O2 batteries, Li–CO2 batteries, novel Zn–air batteries, and hybrid redox flow batteries. To facilitate further research and development, some future research trends and directions are finally discussed.