Authoring tutorials for complex software applications is a time consuming process. It also highly depends on the tutorial designer's skill level and experience. This paper introduces an approach which automatically generates software tutorials using the digital artifacts produced by the users of a software program. We model this process as an optimal planning problem using software produced artifacts, software specifications and the human-computer interaction Keystroke-Level Model (KLM). We present TutorialPlan, an automated tutorial generator, which creates step-by-step text and image instructions from CAD drawings and helps users learn AutoCAD, a complex design and drafting software. In our tutorial generator, the optimal planning problem is represented and solved using DLV, a general Answer Set Programming (ASP) system. DLV offers a natural representation of both the problem and the heuristics needed to solve it efficiently. A user study shows that the tutorials generated by our system are comparable to those generated by experienced AutoCAD users.


Climate change is altering a wide range of human activities, including wine making. While wine may appear to be one of the most natural alcoholic beverages, it is not without carbon inputs and emissions, which contribute to the very change in climate that is altering both wine and wine making. In this paper, we use a carbon life cycle analysis to develop a model for quantifying carbon inputs in a bottle of wine. Current regulatory arrangements do not capture the carbon costs of wine effectively since most costs are externalized. We conclude with estimates of the cost of carbon under various regulatory regimes, which suggest how wine producers and consumers can reduce the carbon footprint of wine.


The question of optimal spanwise-periodic modification for the stabilisation of spanwise-invariant flows is addressed. A second-order sensitivity analysis is conducted for the linear temporal stability of parallel flows $U_{0}$ subject to small-amplitude spanwise-periodic modification ${\it\epsilon}U_{1},{\it\epsilon}\ll 1$ . It is known that spanwise-periodic flow modifications have a quadratic effect on stability properties, i.e. the first-order eigenvalue variation is zero, hence the need for a second-order analysis. A second-order sensitivity operator is computed from a one-dimensional calculation, which allows one to predict how eigenvalues are affected by any flow modification $U_{1}$ , without actually solving for modified eigenvalues and eigenmodes. Comparisons with full two-dimensional stability calculations in a plane channel flow and in a mixing layer show excellent agreement. Next, optimisation is performed on the second-order sensitivity operator: for each eigenmode streamwise wavenumber ${\it\alpha}_{0}$ and base flow modification spanwise wavenumber ${\it\beta}$ , the most stabilising/destabilising profiles $U_{1}$ are computed, together with lower/upper bounds for the variation in leading eigenvalue. These bounds increase like ${\it\beta}^{-2}$ as ${\it\beta}$ goes to zero, thus yielding a large stabilising potential. However, three-dimensional modes with wavenumbers ${\it\beta}_{0}=\pm {\it\beta}$ , $\pm {\it\beta}/2$ are destabilised, and therefore larger control wavenumbers should be preferred. The most stabilising $U_{1}$ optimised for the most unstable streamwise wavenumber ${\it\alpha}_{0,max}$ has a stabilising effect on modes with other ${\it\alpha}_{0}$ values too. Finally, the potential of transient growth to amplify perturbations and stabilise the flow is assessed with a combined optimisation. Assuming a separation of time scales between the fast unstable mode and the slow transient evolution of the optimal perturbations, combined optimal perturbations that achieve the best balance between transient linear amplification and stabilisation of the nominal shear flow are determined. In the mixing layer with ${\it\beta}\leqslant 1.5$ , these combined optimal perturbations appear similar to transient growth-only optimal perturbations, and achieve a more efficient overall stabilisation than optimal spanwise-periodic and spanwise-invariant modifications computed for stabilisation only. These results are consistent with the efficiency of streak-based control strategies.


Aim: To evaluate the effect of fractionated peribulbar anaesthesia and varying digital ocular compression time on intraocular pressure.Methods: Forty non-glaucomatous patients aged 40 years and older planned for cataract surgery were randomly divided into 2 groups based on the duration for which the globe was compressed digitally following each injection. Patients with a history of glaucoma or those who had had previous ocular surgery were excluded. Group 1 underwent 1 minute of compression and group 2 underwent 2 minutes of compression. Local anaesthetic (2% lidocaine 5 mL, 0.5% bupivacaine 5 mL, and hyaluronidase 25 IU/mL) was injected into the inferotemporal and superomedial quadrants. Intraocular pressure was measured (3 readings with <5% SD) before peribulbar block, after inferotemporal injection, following digital compression, after superomedial injection, following digital compression again, and at 1-minute intervals without compression until the globe attained normotension.Results: The mean (SD) intraocular pressure in group 1 was significantly elevated compared with the baseline mean intraocular pressure of 19.21 mm Hg (SD, 2.82 mm Hg) throughout the procedure (p < 0.0001). In group 2, the mean intraocular pressure was not significantly elevated from the baseline mean intraocular pressure of 19.13 mm Hg (SD, 3.27 mm Hg) following compression after each injection.Conclusions: Intraocular pressure rises significantly following each 5 mL of local anaesthetic injected into the peribulbar space at both the inferotemporal and superomedial sites. Digital ocular compression given for 2 minutes after each injection makes the globe normotensive.


An optoelectronic oscillator (OEO) with wideband frequency tunability and stable output based on a bandpass microwave photonic filter (MPF) has been proposed and experimentally demonstrated. Realized by cascading a finite impulse response (FIR) filter and an infinite impulse response (IIR) filter together, the tunable bandpass MPF successfully replaces the narrowband electrical bandpass filter in a conventional single-loop OEO and serves as the oscillating frequency selector. The FIR filter is based on a tunable multi-wavelength laser and dispersion compensation fiber (DCF) while the IIR filter is simply based on an optical loop. Utilizing a long length of DCF as the dispersion medium for the FIR filter also provides a long delay line for the OEO feedback cavity and as a result, optical tuning over a wide frequency range can be achieved without sacrificing the quality of the generated signal. By tuning the wavelength spacing of the multi-wavelength laser, the oscillation frequency can be tuned from 6.88 GHz to 12.79 GHz with an average step-size of 0.128 GHz. The maximum frequency drift of the generated 10 GHz signal is observed to be 1.923 kHz over 1 hour and its phase noise reaches the -112 dBc/Hz limit of our measuring equipment at 10 kHz offset frequency.


Abstract This study investigates the organization of interaction through comments on the social networking site Facebook. Facebook offers a range of affordances that allow communication between users. These include written language in various settings (messaging, commenting, posting), as well as a range of non-verbal resources, such as uploading photos, sharing links, the "like"-button. Our analysis focuses on the post+commenting section, which users treat as a quasi-conversational space. Much as conversation is organized through the sequential unfolding of turns through time, the interaction in the comments section is organized according to a pattern that lets users "make sense" of the communication as a coherent exchange. This comment organizing mechanism, which is enacted through tying practices, operates on written language rather than spoken, and so needs to accommodate different affordances than turn-taking does: it has to be able to co-ordinate contributions not just through time, but through space as well. The theoretical significance of this research then is its exploration of a complex mechanism that is used by humans to maintain social order through writing and reading practices. In particular, it takes into account how the context of the website shapes people's communication through the resources made available.


This presentation explores the strategies, conditions and precedents of a theatre-training programme aimed to nurture practitioners not for the profession as it currently exists, but rather for how it might be – in the future, as yet, unforeseen and unimagined. Through examining specific historical evidence, the presentation asks how the rigorous integration of theory and practice would seem to generate the circumstances for radical and unorthodox ways of thinking and making theatre: courageous practices of innovation and reinvention, fuelled by insatiable curiosity. From a UK perspective it considers the impact and legacy of Dartington College of Arts (Totnes, Devon) especially in how it functioned in the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s and spawned many alternative and experimental theatre companies and practices (perhaps the UKs equivalent to Giessen). It also accounts for the sustained pedagogical programmes pursued by the Centre for Performance Research (Wales) throughout the last 40 years and other like-minded institutions that have forged innovative practice (pedagogy and training) outside the academy and through independent endeavour. But the paper will also (critically) survey the attempts made within UK university theatre departments to extend theatre and performance studies into theory inflected practice, generating articulate practitioners and practice informed theorists – practice as research and research-led practice. From a European perspective the presentation will incorporate insights gained from the five-year research enquiry – The European Laboratory Network 2011–2015 (funded by the Leverhulme Trust), organised by Richard Gough and the Centre for Performance Research that traced the (trans)formative influence and legacy of theatre Studios and Laboratories throughout the 20th century. The presentation will argue for an empirical-based, laboratory-style approach to theatre training, incorporating theory and practice, (innovation and tradition) within university theatre studies – one foot in the past, one foot in the future – as a way for enabling socially relevant, uncompromising, ferocious, and enthralling theatre … that does not yet exist.


Abstract. This paper analyzes the Lagarelle Creek watershed, situated in the Municipality of Vallo di Nera, in the eastern Umbria region, central Italy. In this part of the Region, narrow valleys and very steep slopes characterize the morphology of the Appennine ridge. The presence of strongly-tectonized rocky masses, subdivided by several joint systems, is the main cause for the formation of sorted debris deposits, which accumulate mainly along the topographic convergences. This determines the conditions for possible events of debris flows. According to previous studies, the basin of the Lagarelle Creek, has been classified as an area prone to a high hazard of debris flows (Regione dell'Umbria – C.N.R. I.R.P.I., 1996). For this reason, systematic studies have been carried out on the whole watershed which, in this first phase, have examined the definition of the geological and morphological features of the zone, by means of the acquisition of cartographies and of field surveys, and the elaboration of the topographical data of the basin, by means of a digital model of the terrain. Once the potential triggering areas of debris flows were identified, an assessment of the mobilizable volumes possibly involved in a debris flow event was carried out. To perform such an assessment both the geomorphologic method proposed by Hungr (Hungr et al., 1984) and the empirical relations calibrated on debris flow events of the alpine arc were applied. The results obtained were compared with those derived from information supplied by the inhabitants of the small mountain village, who have described in detail the most important events of the last century.


The capacity to generate a limitless range of meaningful expressions from a finite set of elements differentiates human language from other animal communication systems. Rule systems capable of generating an infinite set of outputs ("grammars") vary in generative power. The weakest possess only local organizational principles, with regularities limited to neighboring units. We used a familiarization/discrimination paradigm to demonstrate that monkeys can spontaneously master such grammars. However, human language entails more sophisticated grammars, incorporating hierarchical structure. Monkeys tested with the same methods, syllables, and sequence lengths were unable to master a grammar at this higher, "phrase structure grammar" level.


In discipline-specific statistics courses the pedagogical challenges of providing conceptual statistics training are compounded as students lack the background in mathematics necessary for understanding probability and fail to see the applicability of statistics to their field. To address these challenges, a statistics course targeted for health and behavioral science students was redeveloped utilizing a project-based curriculum. Per the American Statistical Association's call for increased integration of technology, real data, and conceptually-focused active learning in introductory statistics, students interacted with real data to learn concepts necessary to answer discipline related questions. Because topics in the course were re-sequenced to be more in line with the process followed by scientists, statistical inference was covered earlier in the curriculum and revisited multiple times in various contexts to reinforce understanding.


Constraint automata (CA) constitute a coordination model based on finite automata on infinite words. Originally introduced for modeling of coordinators, an interesting new application of CAs is implementing coordinators (i.e., compiling CAs into executable code). Such an approach guarantees correctness-by-construction and can even yield code that outperforms hand-crafted code. The extent to which these two potential advantages materialize depends on the smartness of CA-compilers and the existence of proofs of their correctness.
Every transition in a CA is labeled by a "data constraint" that specifies an atomic data-flow between coordinated processes as a first-order formula. At run-time, compiler-generated code must handle data constraints as efficiently as possible. In this paper, we present, and prove the correctness of two optimization techniques for CA-compilers related to handling of data constraints: a reduction to eliminate redundant variables and a translation from (declarative) data constraints to (imperative) data commands expressed in a small sequential language. Through experiments, we show that these optimization techniques can have a positive impact on performance of generated executable code.


Governor Branstad has proposed an initiative that would significantly increase state spending on water quality. This document examines the economic costs and benefits of such a proposal. As with previous work on this topic, this economic evaluation uses the state's Iowa Nutrient Reduction Strategy to measure costs and research results on water quality benefits from Iowa State University's Center for Agricultural and Rural Development. In doing an economic evaluation of this type, the reader should understand these important points: 1. A calculation of Iowa Nutrient Reduction Strategy costs with current strategies can be determined. The costs in labor, land, machinery and supplies are all well-known factors. There are also scientifically validated studies that show the impact these remedial strategies will have on water quality. 2. While reducing nutrients in surface waters offers benefits, calculating the exact economic value is inherently complex. Few studies are available to estimate the benefits to state residents versus benefits to the nation or world. These studies are based on measures of willingness to pay for improved environmental services and quality. The measures provided here are probably conservative because they exclude those that have yet to be measured or are currently impossible to measure. Research may develop future technologies that offer similar or enhanced benefits in nutrient reduction at lower costs. For example, some agronomists believe drainage water management technologies may reduce nutrient losses and provide an economic return to producers. However, at this time we cannot include these potential opportunities because the research has yet to be done. Also, more experience with current practices and technologies will yield more benefits. The Governor's proposal would provide approximately half of the funds required to implement the Iowa Nutrient Reduction Strategy. The rest of the funds would need to come from cost shares from landowners, the federal government, or other third party organizations (such as NGO's). Landowners might be willing to contribute because of reduced soil erosion and improved soil quality or because they prefer this program to possible future regulation. One argument for federal cost is that many of the environmental benefits would be felt downstream of Iowa to the Gulf of Mexico. The benefits of the strategy exceed the costs when these downstream benefits are included. The spending level that the Governor has proposed is approximately equal to the currently identifiable and quantifiable benefits that residents of Iowa would receive from achieving the goals of the strategy. The adoption of this voluntary strategy might also deter potential regulatory approaches. On an annualized basis, projected spending under this proposal would generate approximately $690 million in economic activity, 1,150 full-time direct employment positions and 2,800 total full-time positions. However, it should be understood that alternative projects and proposals are likely to result in similar economic activity and employment.


Demotivators broadly refer to the forces that diminish students' inspiration to learn or the absence of the forces that derives effective learning. Demotivators are responsible for a host of negative repercussions in educational settings. Nevertheless, demotivators and their multi-dimensional nature still remain an uncharted territory that awaits further investigations in foreign language domain. In this study, the context-specific dynamics of demotivators are studied. In particular, this study delves into English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners' levels of demotivation across two different milieus of English learning in Iran, namely, language institutes, and universities. To measure students' demotivation, the study employed the Persian version of 'de-motivation scale' designed and validated by Sakai and Kikuchi (2009) and translated to Persian by Ghanizadeh and Jahedizadeh (forthcoming). The scale measures six demotivators; teachers, characteristics of classes, experiences of failure, class environment, class materials, and lack of interest. The results demonstrated that there is a statistically significant difference between the two groups in terms of six demotivation constructs in which institute students experienced higher levels of demotivation than university learners. Among the six demotivators, lack of interest (t=5.52, p<0.05) had the highest difference in the two settings followed by classroom materials (t=5.52, p<0.05). Classroom environment (t=2.97, p<0.05), on the other hand, beheld the lowest difference. The other demotivators fell somewhere in between: teachers (t=4.80, p<0.05), characteristics of classes (t= 4.90, p<0.05), and experiences of failure (t= 4.83, p<0.05). The findings were discussed in the light of above statistical analyses and the pertinent implications were presented.


In 1949, the leadership of the American Communist Party was put on trial for allegedly conspiring to teach the overthrow of the American government. The case, known as the Dennis trial, is a major part of American political and Cold War history. One of the rarely-discussed aspects of the case, however, is that the defendants argued that the jury was stacked against them: it would be composed almost exclusively of wealthy white men. The defendants' claim of jury discrimination was denied, but it can be seen as a vital step towards reforming New York's "Blue Ribbon Panel" system of jury selection, eventual Congressional legislation to end bias in jury selection, and the slow recognition by the Supreme Court that jury discrimination was more pervasive than previously thought. This Article is the first scholarly effort to explain the nature of the jury challenge in Dennis and situate the defendants' failure as part of a larger narrative of discrimination and injustice. Section II of this Article provides background on the case and establishes its importance as one of the most significant political trials of the twentieth century. Section III traces the evolution of Supreme Court jurisprudence on jury discrimination prior to the Dennis case. Section IV explains the peculiar "Blue Ribbon Panel" system of jury selection used in New York at the time for cases seen by the court system as especially serious or important. Section V dives into the heart of the Dennis defendants' claim that a skewed selection process would result in a jury that was almost wholly white, male, and upper-class. Last, Section VI discusses the aftermath of the Dennis trial and its importance both historically and legally.


This study was undertaken to determine the ability of different markers extracted from single lead ECG recorded in sinus rhythm to identify patients prone to atrial fibrillation (AF). For this purpose, 5-minute ECGs recorded in sinus rhythm from two populations were compared: patients with a history of AF and healthy subjects without any history of AF. Several features based on P-waves and RR-intervals were extracted from the ECG. Among the extracted features, the most discriminative ones to identify the AF susceptibility were the P-wave duration, the standard deviation of the beat-to-beat Euclidean distance between successive P-waves and the sample entropy of the RR-intervals. The discriminative power of the aforementioned features was assessed using a classification tree approach. The results showed that the combination of P-wave duration, beat-to-beat Euclidean distance between P-waves and sample entropy could efficiently separate the two populations and therefore be used as an effective detection tool of patients at risk to develop AF.


Non-covalent immobilized artificial membrane reverse-phase high performance liquid chromatography was previously evaluated as a means whereby elution times for antimicrobial peptides from columns mimicking the lipid bilayers of different membrane systems might be used as a fast-screening method to compare relative binding effectiveness. Such a system would aid in the development of antimicrobial peptides that bind preferentially to model pathogenic systems and leave the host's membranes reasonably unaffected. A non-covalent approach allows for flexibility in membrane composition but was found to be inadequate for analysis of most peptides due to significant lipid loss at high acetonitrile concentrations. A covalent approach where phosphatidylcholine was amide-linked to the silica surface was examined to evaluate its use as a fast-screening method and compare its data to that collected from the non-covalent columns. Initial work with a 1-cm column proved ineffective due to problems with balancing flow rates with retention times, and work was shifted to a longer 10-cm column. Results suggested that peptides bind much more strongly to covalent columns than non-covalent ones, with the binding especially enhanced by the presence of cationic residues. These columns had lipid packing densities much lower than true membranes, indicating that the peptides were partitioning deep into the bonded phase of the columns rather than into the interfacial region of the phosphate head groups, as expected in situations of biologically-relevant lipid packing densities.


What binds together, besides geographical continuity, the numerous types of contemporary South Tyrolean architecture? Can they function as a reverberation of the peculiarities of a region which tends to underline its uniqueness? There is certainly no common school. South Tyrolean architects study north and south of the Alps. They are translators of experiences gained elsewhere in a context that ends up by uniting them. Numerous competitions, the dissemination of their results and a rich ten-year activity of publication and exhibitions have contributed to create a good mutual knowledge and a fruitful exchange between the different schools of origin. There is a shared effort to give shape to the strong economic development that the province has been experiencing for several decades, also accepting the contradictions and problems of this growth, first of all the replacement of an agricultural landscape by the new and sometimes lacerating landscape of tourism. It does not seem that for South Tyrolean architecture an easy continuity with the past and its traditional ways of building is an option. However, the architecture continually references this rich heritage of forms, principles of settlement and techniques, a world to be confronted with and inspired by and a world which wishes to be transported into the present.


This thesis empirically investigates the stabilization properties and the effectiveness of fiscal policy, which is an issue that has been gaining attention in the academic literature and among policy-makers in the past two decades, particularly in the wake of the Great Recession. The aim of the thesis is to analyse the cyclical character and determinants of fiscal policy, as well as the short- to medium-term effects of fiscal policy on output and other macroeconomic variables in European countries, with particular reference to transition countries. Using an extensive survey of the relevant literature and particularly the results of the comprehensive empirical investigation, the thesis offers recommendations relevant for policy-makers in European countries. The thesis thus deals with issues that lie at the heart of the main academic and policy debates in the wake of the European debt crisis. Consequently, its findings and recommendations should be useful for current and prospective European Union and euro area member states.
In order to analyse the cyclical character and determinants of fiscal policy, system GMM is used as the most appropriate estimation method for the sample and the aim of the study. The main finding in this part is that discretionary fiscal policy is pro-cyclical in both groups of transition countries (from Central and Eastern Europe and from South-eastern Europe), thus aggravating economic fluctuations, while it is a-cyclical in old EU member states. These baseline results are robust to various extensions and robustness checks. The investigation of a wide range of additional factors indicates that various political and institutional factors also have important effects on fiscal policy in European countries, with numerous differences among the three country groups regarding their particular effect.
The extensive analysis of the stabilisation properties of fiscal policy is followed by an investigation of the ability of fiscal policy to influence economic movements, as well as of the transmission mechanism of fiscal policy. In this part, Panel Vector Auto Regression with recursive identification of government spending shocks is used to analyse the short- to medium-term effects of fiscal policy on output (fiscal multipliers) and other macroeconomic variables. The main results indicate that expansionary government spending shocks have a positive, but a relatively low effect on output, with the fiscal multiplier around one in the year of the shock and the following year, and lower thereinafter. Further, effects of fiscal policy are strongly dependent on structural country characteristics. In particular, fiscal multipliers are higher in new EU member states, in countries with low public debt and low trade openness.


Objective. To determine the prevalence of dysmagnesaemia among patients admitted to a trauma intensive care unit (ICU) and to investigate whether dysmagnesaemia at admission correlated with a worse outcome.  Methods. In this retrospective case study of patients admitted to a regional level 1 trauma unit, from April 2007 to November 2010, de-identified patient data were obtained from the local patient database. Patients were divided into three groups (hypomagnesaemic, normomagnesaemic and hypermagnesaemic), which in turn were divided into two subgroups (blunt and penetrating trauma). The mortality between normo- and hypomagnesaemic patients, as well as between the subgroups, was analysed using χ 2 tests. The University of KwaZulu-Natal Biomedical Research Ethics Committee approved the study (BE207/09).  Results. Of the 759 trauma patients studied, 10.7% were hypomagnesaemic and 1.3% were hypermagnesaemic at admission. No statistically significant difference in mortality was observed between the hypo- and normo-/hypermagnesaemic patients.  Conclusion. Dysmagnesaemia is common among trauma patients admitted to the ICU, but is not necessarily correlated with a poorer outcome.


CONTEXT
Hip arthroscopy has become an increasingly popular option for active individuals with recalcitrant hip pain. Conditions that may be addressed through hip arthroscopy include labral pathology, femoral acetabular impingement, capsular hyperlaxity, ligamentum teres tears, and the presence of intra-articular bodies. Although the body of literature examining operative procedures has grown, there is a paucity of evidence specifically on the efficacy of postoperative rehabilitation programs. To date, there are no systematic reviews that have evaluated the available evidence on postoperative rehabilitation.

OBJECTIVE
To evaluate the available evidence on postoperative rehabilitation programs after arthroscopy of the hip joint.

EVIDENCE ACQUISITION
A search of the PubMed, CINAHL, SPORTDiscus, ProQuest, and Google Scholar databases was conducted in January 2014 according the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines for reporting systematic reviews.

EVIDENCE SYNTHESIS
Six studies met the inclusion criteria and were either case series or case reports (level 4 evidence) that described a 4- or 5-phase postoperative rehabilitation program. The available evidence supports a postoperative period of restricted weight bearing and mobility; however, the specific interventions in the postoperative phases are variable with no comparison trials.

CONCLUSION
This review identified a paucity of evidence on postoperative rehabilitation after hip arthroscopy. Existing reports are descriptive in nature, so the superiority of a particular approach cannot be determined. One can surmise from existing studies that a 4- to 5-stage program with an initial period of weight-bearing and mobility precautions is efficacious in regard to function, patient satisfaction, and return to competitive-level athletics. Clinicians may consider such a program as a general guideline but should individualize treatment according to the surgical procedure and surgeon guidelines. Future research should focus on comparative trials to determine the effect of specific postoperative rehabilitation designs.


Over the last few years, several papers have become available in the literature on both the main hallmarks of Alzheimer's disease (AD) and the several intracellular pathways whose alteration is responsible for its onset and progression. The use of transgenic and nontransgenic animal models has played a key role in achieving such a remarkable amount of preclinical data, allowing researchers to dissect the cellular changes occurring in the AD brain. In addition, the huge amount of preclinical evidence arising from these animal models was necessary for the further clinical development of pharmacological agents capable of interfering with most of the impaired neural pathways in AD patients. In this respect, a significant role is played by the dysfunction of excitatory and inhibitory neurotransmission responsible for the cognitive and behavioral symptoms described in AD patients. The aim of this review is to summarize the main animal models that contributed toward unraveling the pathological changes in neurotransmitter synthesis, release, and receptor binding in AD preclinical studies. The review also provides an updated description of the current pharmacological agents – still under clinical development – acting on the neurotransmitter systems.


It is critical that we understand and address features of learning environments that encumber students historically underrepresented in STEM fields. Here we consider social elements of group work that can either support or impede learning. We tracked gender-bias in student–teaching assistant (TA) interactions in 184 small groups across 27 introductory chemistry laboratories in fall 2017. We demonstrate that in some environments male students interacted with TAs disproportionately more than female students. To promote verbal participation of women in introductory chemistry courses, we advocate for improved TA training programs that teach a host of equitable teaching strategies to enhance the climate of the classrooms and consequently, improve learning. Fostering a structured, inclusive classroom environment is the first step towards achieving equity more broadly across STEM.


SUMMARY Quantifying the scattering effects of pronounced volcano topography on the seismic wavefield is an important component in locating and interpreting volcano seismic sources. In this study, we perform seismic wave simulations to quantify the scattering generated by a 3-D digital elevation map and 1-D velocity model of Arenal volcano, Costa Rica. Full waveform synthetic seismograms were generated using a 3-D elastic lattice method including complex topography. Several different simulations were performed where the source location, source type and topographic models were varied. Synthetic seismograms were calculated for 35 seismic arrays each one comprising nine stations. At each array, the slowness vector of wave propagation is estimated from the time delays between the sensors obtained using the cross-spectral method. Results show that the backazimuth estimated for some arrays, in particular those close to the source, deviate from the true source position suggesting strong topographic effects in these regions. The maximum of the probability density function, obtained by crossing the backazimuths of the remaining arrays, coincides exactly with the true source location. We also compare our synthetic seismograms with array results from a physical field study. The true and calculated location misfit depends largely on the topography, but also on the number of antennas, the distance from the source and the spatial resolution of the antennas. The results show that this kind of study could be undertaken prior to the installation of seismic arrays to select the sites that minimize the topographic effects leading to improved source locations.


Mitigating the worst consequences of climate change by transitioning to a net-zero economy requires investment on a large scale. Directly pricing emissions, the first-best solution to drive capital reallocation, is considered politically infeasible—so policymakers put their currency in facilitating the pricing of climate risk by investors. Yet investors, faced with scientific and policy uncertainty around climate risks compounded by a lack of information about companies' exposures, struggle to do just that. This Article shows that current disclosure policies do not require companies to disclose the information that investors need to price climate risk, and voluntary frameworks like the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures—important as they are—have failed to turn the tide. The result is mispricing and a misallocation of capital, which harms investors and hampers the net-zero transition. Against that context, this Article argues that traditional securities regulation rationales and net-zero imperatives call for mandatory corporate climate disclosures. To create a yardstick against which governments' proposals can be evaluated, both to support their efforts and to call out policy greenwashing, this Article outlines several design principles that go beyond the emerging consensus and cover the regulatory architecture that supports such a disclosure regime.


Abstract Focusing on process tracing and using the example of fieldwork in Donbas, I develop an argument on what theoretically grounded and empirically detailed methodological solutions can be considered to mitigate the challenges of research on conflict zones and assure the robustness of any causal claims made. I first outline my assumptions about process tracing as the central case study method and its application to research on conflict zones, and then discuss in more detail data requirements, data collection, and data analysis. Using two examples of case studies on the war in and over Donbas, I illustrate how three standards of best-practice in process tracing—the need for a theory-guided inquiry, the necessity to enhance causal inference by paying attention to (and ruling out) rival explanations, and the importance of transparency in the design and execution of research—can be applied in the challenging circumstances of fieldwork-based case studies of conflict zones. I conclude by suggesting that as a minimum threshold for reliance upon causal inferences, these three standards also should align with a standard of evidence that requires both the theoretical and empirical plausibility of any conclusions drawn.


The combined geoecological works carried out within the bounds of Black Sea coastline (Georgian Section) in 2008 gave the following results: Contamination of sea water surface with oil products does not exceed the regulatory values; Hydrochemical parameters of sea and the rivers dis- charging into the sea were determined. High concentrations of magnesium and arsenic were observed in the bottom sediments of sea and Rioni River in Poti water area; the composition of copper, lead, zinc, magnesium and arsenic highly exceed the Dutch norms in some samples of toposoils taken along the agricultural terrain and motor road. As a result of radiation measurements carried out in the Black Sea coastline the sites are allotted where radiation is higher than the accepted norms; the concentration of magnesium in the biosamples (tea and eucalyptus) highly exceeds the maximum permissible concentra- tion.


Tens of thousands of known mushrooms (incl. mycelia) represent, besides their nutritional and economic value, a huge reservoir of biologically active substances. A growing list of publications reports beneficial or therapeutic health effects (e.g., immunomodulatory, lipid-lowering, and antitumor properties) of so called "medicinal mushrooms". Their potential pharmacological properties, however, still have not been sufficiently investigated. Therefore, any novel approach that improves our knowledge on the medicinal relevance, as well as quality control in the cultivation of medicinal mushrooms, should be welcome. In the present study, 3-D surface mid-infrared (MIR) and near-infrared (NIR) microscopic imaging as well as data analysis methods were combined to study 3-D molecular patterns of the edible and potentially medicinal basidiomycete Hericium coralloides. For 3-D surface measurements, spectral images from different planes within the surface layer of the mushroom were acquired. We tested several evaluation processes and optimized the methodology for use of complex infrared images to monitor 3-D molecular patterns in fruiting body (basidioma) structures. It is demonstrated that 3-D surface MIR and NIR microscopic imaging enables us to gain a picture of the semi-quantitative distribution/location of defined substance classes within the fruiting body. Such analyses might be useful for quality and safety control in the production and consumption of medicinal mushrooms.


In this step-by-step guide, we show you how to use the Free Rent Calculator, which provides an accurate, visual means to quantify the impact of concessions in commercial leases based on the market conditions and landlord's risk profile. The calculator allows both landlords and tenants to benchmark the impact of free rent, tenant improvements, and moving allowance on a given set of the asking and offering rents. The calculator determines the resulting effective rent, which is equivalent to the tenant paying a constant base rent over the entire lease term.1 The effective rent serves as a comparison benchmark, allowing users to quickly see the impact of changes to the asking rent and concession package. The tool works by allowing users to specify the structure of the rental payments, tenant improvements (TIs), and the moving allowance, and then computes the maximum free rent period in light of the specified lease terms and concessions. Landlords can use the tool to fine-tune the concession package by determining the appropriate level of free rent that seems attractive without increasing exposure to tenant default. Tenants can use the tool to optimize the free rent and concession structure to create the most desirable pattern of monthly cash outflows from the available options.


Arguing that literary narratives (whether fictional or autobiographical) can provide an important way in which the past is accessed and understood, this thesis uses such narratives to compare and contrast cultural representations of collaboration with the Gaullist political accounts described in Henry Rousso's Le Syndrome de Vichy. Following the introduction, chapter one examines the perception and characteristics of collaboration, providing a broad analysis of collaboration and collaborators which frames later chapters. There follows a discussion of the generic boundaries between history, autobiography and fiction, showing that novels can contain many of the attributes conventionally ascribed to historical texts, as well as having a freedom of form which allows them to examine and relate subjects not allowed to historical accounts. Next, selected novels (by Marcel Ayme, Jean-Louis Bory, Marie Chaix, Celine, Jean-Louis Curtis, Jean Dutourd, Pascal Jardin, Patrick Modiano, Saint-Loup, and Michel Tournier) are analysed at length to examine how specific forms of collaboration have been understood, and how they subvert Rousso's schema of repression or marginalisation of the phenomenon. Novels written in the immediate aftermath of the war actually gave a convincing representation of collaboration and the everyday wartime experience, contrasting with the 'official' story which sought to forget collaboration. Representations of intellectual and cultural collaboration show that, contrary to de Gaulle's attempts to portray France as a nation of resisters, high-profile figures from these circles offered a more persuasive alternative to this view. This is also shown to be the case for depictions of military and paramilitary collaboration, which openly describe armed and violent collaboration, challenging and contrasting with the Gaullist representation of mass resistance supported by the civil population. Finally, familial memories are used to revaluate the mode retro in light of earlier chapters. Although this phenomenon found innovative ways to view the war, it did not represent a wholly new, or more open, account, and was subject to its own repressions and distortions.


Uterine rupture occurs when the integrity of the myometrial wall is compromised. It could interest the uterine body (prior to labour) or the lower segment (during labour). The main causes of uterine rupture are obstetric anamnestic factors and/or the administration of oxytocin. The authors report the case of a 37 years old patient with risk factors for uterine rupture of precedent endometritis post-abortion. After the expulsion of the placenta the mother had continuous blood loss, for this reason she was subjected to subtotal hysterectomy. Histological examination revealed the absence of decidua in the uterine fundus and thinning of the myometrium. Histological examination of the lesion at the site commented that there was infiltration of the chorionic villi into the endometrium, and this is undoubtedly the features of placenta accreta.


Published for the fiftieth anniversary of Brown v. Board of Education: If "separate, but equal" has been illegal for fifty years, why is America more segregated than ever?. On May 17, 1954, the Supreme Court unanimously declared that separate educational facilities for blacks and whites are inherently "unequal" and, as such, violate the 14th Amendment. The landmark decision, Brown v. Board of Education , sounded the death knell for legal segregation, but fifty years later, de facto segregation in America thrives. And Sheryll Cashin believes that it is getting worse. The Failures of Integration is a provocative look at how segregation by race and class is ruining American democracy. Only a small minority of the affluent are truly living the American Dream, complete with attractive, job-rich suburbs, reasonably low taxes, good public schools, and little violent crime. For the remaining majority of Americans, segregation comes with stratospheric costs. In a society that sets up "winner" and "loser" communities and schools defined by race and class, racial minorities in particular are locked out of the "winner" column. African-Americans bear the heaviest burden. Cashin argues that we n


Since 1991, the Centro Studi Sotterranei of Genoa has conducted the exploration, survey and documentation of rock-cut and underground structures located in different regions of Turkey. The Ka.Y.A. project was begun in 2007, with the goal of the identification and the study of rock-cut sites around Ahlat in eastern Turkey, as completion of major archaeological excavations in the ancient city located on the northern shores of Lake Van. It is a vast area, at an altitude between 1,700 and 2,500 m.a.s.l. and wedged between massive volcanic systems. During the four years of research the team documented 395 rock-cut sites most of which date back to medieval and post-medieval times and relating to different cultures and religions: Armenian, Seljuk, Ilkhanid, Kara Koyunlu, Ak Koyunlu, and Ottoman. The results of the first survey campaign were completed in 2007 and published as BAR S2293 (2011). That volume is now supplemented by the data obtained during the second season in 2008, with the hope to publish as soon as possible the results of the subsequent missions completed in 2009 and 2010. Parallel Italian and English text.


This study examines the persuasive effect of a historical movie about World War II in audiences with different attitudes toward and prior knowledge of the figures and events portrayed in the movie, based on different cultural backgrounds (U.S. and China). Empathy levels for controversial historical figures (e.g., Adolf Hitler, Josef Goebbels) and groups (e.g., Germany as a nation) were analyzed, as were related story-consistent beliefs. U.S. participants reported having more empathy toward the figures and groups after viewing, while their general opinions toward war were more negative. A different and mostly contradictory pattern was observed among Chinese participants. Results suggest that preexisting attitudes and knowledge likely play an important role in the narrative persuasion process for historical movies.


Japan finds itself in a difficult position regarding ongoing funding for research in turbulent financial times but is starting to be much more active on the world stage. The indicators show a positive future for Japan if the leadership of top researchers can cascade down to the broader research population and make Japan much more outward bound in its research collaboration landscape. If this is supported by funders with innovative approaches to funding and incentivising Japan's increased engagement and visibility on the world research stage then Japan looks forward to a prosperous and important place in the global knowledge economy.


High confidence methods are needed for determining the glycosylation profiles of complex biological samples as well as recombinant therapeutic proteins. A common glycan analysis workflow involves liberation of N-glycans from glycoproteins with PNGase F or O-glycans by hydrazinolysis prior to their analysis. This method is limited in that it does not permit determination of glycan attachment sites. Alternative proteomics-based workflows are emerging that utilize site-specific proteolysis to generate peptide mixtures followed by selective enrichment strategies to isolate glycopeptides. Methods designed for the analysis of complex samples can yield a comprehensive snapshot of individual glycans species, the site of attachment of each individual glycan and the identity of the respective protein in many cases. This chapter will highlight advancements in enzymes that digest glycoproteins into distinct fragments and new strategies to enrich specific glycopeptides.


For the winter-spring 2017 edition of 'As You Change, So Do I', artist Polly Apfelbaum will produce Any dream will do, a series of new poster-works produced exclusively for Luton town centre.
Typical of the artist's concern for a balance between the two mediums of painting and installation, this project has a profound engagement with colour and drawing in the public realm. The shapes in Apfelbaum's new works, which have recently included hand-drawn alphabets and rudimentary pictures of animals, are influenced in part by Montessori education, a 'phrenasthenic' approach to teaching that is characterised by an emphasis on independence, freedom within limits, and respect for a child's natural psychological, physical, and social development. This method contains strong evidence that children who start taking handwritten notes in school develop better overall communicative skills later in life.
At a time when handwriting is dying out, due to the influence of handheld digital devices and computers, these painted emblems aim to address the wider context of art education for local audiences, and connect in an intimate way to 'As You Change, So Do I's ongoing theme of the potential of graphic signs in public art.
Initially, a large billboard poster will be positioned outside of Luton's central railway station, while three other smaller works – Pataphysical Dog, A is for Animals and Celtic Animal Zodiac – will be produced in an unlimited edition to be taken away and reposted around Luton by visitors to the town's new cultural district. In addition, a limited print, in the form of a tea-towel calendar for 2017 titled Pink Giraffe, will be made for the project in collaboration with Luton's Guildford Street Press.
London.

'As You Change, So Do I' has been commissioned by Luton Culture and is funded by Arts Council England.


Trauma to teeth and supporting structures is one the most challenging situations dentists face in their day to day practice. World wide studies have shown an increased prevalence of dental trauma and resultant fractured, displaced, or avulsed teeth can have functional, esthetic, and psychological effects on children. For successful management of patients with dental trauma it is therefore very important to know the history, circumstances of the injury, type of trauma, and initial reaction of the child and/or guardian. Dentists should therefore be able to recognize, differentiate, and either treat or refer patients based on the type of dental trauma. To efficiently determine the extent of injury and correctly diagnose injuries to the teeth, periodontium, and associated structures, a systematic approach to diagnosis and treatment is essential. The article gives details of the treatment modalities for dental trauma and recommendations for prevention of Dento-facial injuries.


Malaysian educational programme has seen many alterations to address the need to keep pace with the transformation that is taking place nationally and globally. Like many countries in the world, we believe that in order to progress, we have to use science and technology. This paper aims to review the current challenges face the secondary school students in Malaysia, especially in teaching geography. The teaching issues were mostly formulated towards the use of the suitable scientific reasoning model and other learning strategies for teaching scientific subjects. This paper also reviewed a number of studies conducted to provide alternative solutions for enhancing the learning curriculum in different schools. After that, we proposed a new model for teaching geography in the Malaysian secondary schools call collaborative scientific reasoning model based on the principles of reasoning.


After the end of almost thirty years of armed conflict in 2005 and following a devastating tsunami in 2004, Aceh has become a "social laboratory" for foreign researchers who study Indonesia's northern-most province from every angle. Over the last five years, this effort has resulted in the publication of a considerable number of articles in major journals. For some foreign researchers, Aceh became a fast track accelerating their careers. Yet, how much did local Acehnese researchers benefit from being at the center of this scholarly attention, and how much were they able to participate in academic debates? To answer these questions, this article examines the involvement of Acehnese scholars in the process of knowledge production in and about contemporary Aceh. One of the key findings is that local researchers are often involved in data collection, but left out from its analysis and interpretation due to a general lack of structural conditions for publishing, such as under-funding, lack of access to major academic literature, and language barriers. Embedding this inquiry about research cooperation and competition in wider debates about representation and academic development support, this article stresses critical evaluations of current academic ventures. Moreover, Aceh as a post-conflict/tsunami site illustrates the enormous difficulties that developing countries such as Indonesia face in tertiary education and academic research. Long-standing structural imbalances responsible for uneven research outcomes cannot disappear overnight or only as a result of foreign educational initiatives. Nevertheless, this article introduces a specific example of short-term academic collaboration named Aceh Research Training Institute (ARTI)—a flicker of hope in an otherwise rather unpromising situation.


This article discusses how fertility relates to social status with the use of a new dataset, several times larger than the ones used so far. The status-fertility relation is investigated over several centuries, across world regions and by the type of status-measure. The study reveals that as fertility declines, there is a general shift from a positive to a negative or neutral status-fertility relation. Those with high income/wealth or high occupation/social class switch from having relatively many to fewer or the same number of children as others. Education, however, depresses fertility for as long as this relation is observed (from early in the 20th century).


A Karenia brevis Harmful Algal Bloom affected coastal waters shallower than 50 m off west‐central Florida from January 2005 through January 2006, showing a sustained anomaly of ∼1 mg chlorophyll m−3 over an area of up to 67,500 km2. Red tides occur in the same area (approximately 26–29°N, 82–83°W) almost every year, but the intense 2005 bloom led to a widespread hypoxic zone (dissolved oxygen <2 mg L−1) that caused mortalities of benthic communities, fish, turtles, birds, and marine mammals. Runoff alone provided insufficient nitrogen to support this bloom. We pose the hypothesis that submarine groundwater discharge (SGD) provides the missing nutrients, and indeed can trigger and support the recurrent red tides off west‐central Florida. SGD inputs of dissolved inorganic nitrogen (DIN) in Tampa Bay alone are ∼35% of that discharged by all central Florida rivers draining west combined. We propose that the unusual number of hurricanes in 2004 resulted in high runoff, and in higher than normal SGD emerging along the west Florida coast throughout 2005, initiating and fueling the persistent HAB. This mechanism may also explain recurrent red tides in other coastal regions of the Gulf of Mexico.


This article seeks to reframe how citizens see jury service in America. Juries once existed at the core of American constitutional identity. At the founding of the country, jury service and voting were twin political rights, equal in stature and importance. Some founders even considered the jury more important than the right to vote as a means to ensure a robust democratic system. During the battles for racial equality (before and after the Reconstruction Amendments) and gender equality (before and after the Nineteenth Amendment), advocates explicitly linked demands for voting and jury service as symbols of political equality. Americans fought, protested, and won the right to serve as jurors because it symbolized a constitutional status. The jury became a democratic, participatory symbol in our constitutional system, and the juror became a constitutional actor with constitutional responsibilities. This identity has been lost for many modern jurors who have become disconnected from their constitutional status. Today, from summons to verdict, modern jurors are unaware of this constitutional connection. Worse, the combination of well-meaning jury streamlining programs ("one-day one-trial" systems), limiting jury instructions, and a historic shift in the role of juries has created essentially a "task-oriented" juror. Jurors show up, "find the facts," and then go home to their normal lives. Jurors do not prepare for it. Jurors do not consider the role or identity outside of the task presented at that particular time and place. This article examines how we ended up inverting the role of the jury in society. Particularly, it addresses the loss of constitutional identity and how jurors no longer view themselves as constitutional actors. It argues that this loss of constitutional identity has come at a cost to the jury's reputation, its power in the constitutional structure, its efficiency in processing cases, and its role as an educative institution. This loss has contributed to a growing apathy to jury service, in particular, and the jury, in general. It then looks to reclaim the civic and constitutional identity valued by the Framers and those who fought for political equality during other constitutional moments in history. It seeks to broadly reframe the debate to rebuild the image of the juror in America. To fulfill this project of juror renewal, this article proposes a new way of viewing jury service – not simply as a task to be completed, but as an ongoing constitutional identity – a status – like being a voter or elected official. It suggests embracing the "potentiality of jury service" – a shift in perception that focuses on the juror beyond just the moments in the courthouse. The potentiality of jury service confronts this limited conception of being a juror. It broadens the focus along a continuum of civic life. It also recognizes that this potential status requires some action on our part – primarily education and reflection – to prepare for this constitutional responsibility. In developing this constitutional awareness about the jury, citizens will be able to reclaim a sense of constitutional identity that will strengthen the reputation, efficiency, and institution of the jury.


Macrophages and inflammatory mediators have been implicated in ozone toxicity. In these studies, we used splenectomized (SPX) mice to assess the contribution of splenic monocytes to pulmonary inflammation and injury induced by ozone. Cells and tissue were collected 24–72 h after exposure of mice to air or ozone (0.8 ppm, 3 h). Following ozone exposure, increased numbers of pro-inflammatory CD11b + Ly6CHi and anti-inflammatory CD11b + Ly6CLo monocytes were observed in spleens of control (CTL) mice. CD11b + Ly6CHi and MMP-9+ pro-inflammatory macrophages were also observed in lungs of CTL mice after ozone, along with CD11b + Ly6CLo and mannose receptor (MR)+ anti-inflammatory macrophages. This was accompanied by increased lung expression of proteins involved in monocyte/macrophage trafficking including CCL3, CCL4, CCR1, and AT1R. Splenectomy resulted in decreases in pro-inflammatory macrophages in the lung and down regulation of CCR2, CCL2, and CCL4, but increases in CD11b + Ly6CLo anti-inflammatory macrophages. CD11b+Ly6G+Ly6C+ granulocytic (G)- and monocytic (M)-myeloid derived suppressor cells (MDSC)s were also detected in the lungs and spleens of CTL mice; these increased after ozone exposure. Splenectomy was associated with a decrease in G-MDSCs in the lung, with no effect on M-MDSCs. Changes in lung macrophage subpopulations and MDSCs in SPX mice were correlated with reduced ozone toxicity, as measured by decreases in bronchoalveolar lavage protein content and reduced 4-hydroxynonenal expression in the lung. These data suggest that the spleen is a source of pro-inflammatory/cytotoxic macrophages that contribute to ozone-induced lung injury, inflammation, and oxidative stress.


This paper examines the pass-through of exchange rate changes to the domestic prices of imported consumer goods. Two distinct stages can be identified in the adjustment process. First, changes in the exchange rate are passed on to changes in the prices of imports over the docks. Second, these prices are, in turn, passed on to final retail import prices. It is found that pass-through in the first stage is rapid and complete. In the second stage, pass-through is also complete. It is, however, rather slow as importers appear able to vary their mark-ups substantially and for considerable periods of time. Moreover, the sizeable domestic costs involved in the distribution and sale of imports imply that a proportional change in the price of imports over the docks does not lead to the same proportional change in the retail import price, but rather one that is equal to the share of the imported item in the total bundle of costs faced by importers.


PJ Harvey is an English musician who has, to date, enjoyed a career spanning nearly a quarter of a century. She comes from Dorset, a rural county in the South West of England, where she still lives. This fact is important because it locates her in a particular rural and potentially 'pastoral' place, one that is far away from the metropolitan, from Thomas Hardy's 'madding crowd'. This chapter focuses on White Chalk (2007) and Let England Shake (2011) to argue that they are her 'English' albums, a claim that rests not only on their musical temperament, lyrical concerns or audio-visual representation, but also on the nature of how they remember England, especially when this collides with narratives of war and home. Remembering is often selective and selection is part of the archiving process. What we leave in and what we leave out of the archive dictates in turn, what is and is not remembered. In these two albums, Harvey presents a version of Englishness that adds to contemporary discourses on (memories of) national identity by foregrounding the forgotten, the rural, the disappointed; by narrating tales of love and war that are not those of victory or triumph but of longing and loss.This chapter interrogates how and why this has happened and argues that it is, in part, due to her narration of Englishness and what aspects of it are remembered. To map this out, the discussion entails an analysis of the development over Harvey's recent career (2007-2011) of audio-visual aspects of her work that might be construed as 'English' particularly in relation to locality and land (Aughey, 2007). One of the questions posed here is to ask whether these aspects might be seen to culminate in her more recent work at a time when nation and identity may be considered to be pertinent political and cultural themes. In this sense, the chapter asks whether her albums are part of an archiving process that contributes to a reframing of Englishness.


Evaluation of dredged material for aquatic placement requires assessment of bioaccumulation potentials for benthic organisms using standardized laboratory bioaccumulation tests. Critical to the interpretation of these data is the assessment of steady state for bioaccumulated residues needed to generate biota sediment accumulation factors (BSAFs) and to address control correction of day 0 contaminant residues measured in bioassay organisms. This study applied a novel performance reference compound approach with a pulse‐chase experimental design to investigate elimination of a series of isotopically labeled polychlorinated biphenyl (13C‐PCBs) in the polychaete worm Nereis virens while simultaneously evaluating native PCB bioaccumulation from field‐collected sediments. Results demonstrated that all 13C‐PCBs, with the exception of 13C‐PCB209 (> 80%), were eliminated by more than 90% after 28 d. The three sediment types yielded similar 13C‐PCB whole‐body elimination rate constants (ktot) producing the following predictive equation: log ktot =  − 0.09 × log KOW − 0.45. The rapid loss of 13C‐PCBs from worms over the bioassay period indicated that control correction, by subtracting day 0 residues, would result in underestimates of bioavailable sediment residues. Significant uptake of native PCBs was observed only in the most contaminated sediment and proceeded according to kinetic model predictions with steady‐state BSAFs ranging from 1 to 3 and peaking for congeners of log KOW between 6.2 and 6.5. The performance reference compound approach can provide novel information about chemical toxicokinetics and also serve as a quality check for the physiological performance of the bioassay organism during standardized bioaccumulation testing. Environ. Toxicol. Chem. 2011; 30:1366–1375. © 2011 SETAC


Adobe insider Ted Alspach helps you unlock the power of CS3 The new CS3 version of Illustrator is light years beyond previous versions, and whether you're a novice or veteran designer, you'll want to get quickly up to speed on this powerful new tool. With clear explanations and plenty of examples, Adobe insider Ted Alspach reveals the secrets on how to best use Illustrator CS3 for Web graphics, integrate it with the rest of the Creative Suite, work in 3Dand above all, why it's such a radical step up from CS2. Tap the power of Illustrator CS3 for your projects with this in-depth guide from an industry expert. Use Live Color to get color options you never had before Integrate Illustrator CS3 seamlessly with Photoshop and Flash Quickly start new documents with preset profiles Work easily with transparency, fonts, styles, and effects Get more out of Illustrator with hundreds of tips and tricks Learn about scripting and Web graphics generation for online design Customize the Illustrator workspace Generate color sets with Live Color Create graphics for the Web


Born in 1917, Italian architect and designer Ettore Sottsass is today best known as the founder in the early 1980s of Memphis, the Milan-based design collaborative. As a harbinger of Postmodern design, Memphis - and soon Sottsass himself - became the subject of widespread public attention. As this book demonstrates, however, Sottsass has been a pioneer of worldwide significance in all major fields of design - furniture, ceramics, glass, jewellery, architecture and industrial design - throughout his sixty-five-year career, during which he has collaborated with many of the world's best-known manufacturers, Alessi, Olivetti and Sevres among them.


Major Histocompatibility Complex (MHC) class I molecules enable cytotoxic T lymphocytes to destroy virus-infected or cancerous cells, thereby preventing disease progression. MHC class I molecules provide a snapshot of the contents of a cell by binding to protein fragments arising from intracellular protein turnover and presenting these fragments at the cell surface. Competing fragments (peptides) are selected for cell-surface presentation on the basis of their ability to form a stable complex with MHC class I, by a process known as peptide optimization. A better understanding of the optimization process is important for our understanding of immunodominance, the predominance of some T lymphocyte specificities over others, which can determine the efficacy of an immune response, the danger of immune evasion, and the success of vaccination strategies. In this paper we present a dynamical systems model of peptide optimization by MHC class I. We incorporate the chaperone molecule tapasin, which has been shown to enhance peptide optimization to different extents for different MHC class I alleles. Using a combination of published and novel experimental data to parameterize the model, we arrive at a relation of peptide filtering, which quantifies peptide optimization as a function of peptide supply and peptide unbinding rates. From this relation, we find that tapasin enhances peptide unbinding to improve peptide optimization without significantly delaying the transit of MHC to the cell surface, and differences in peptide optimization across MHC class I alleles can be explained by allele-specific differences in peptide binding. Importantly, our filtering relation may be used to dynamically predict the cell surface abundance of any number of competing peptides by MHC class I alleles, providing a quantitative basis to investigate viral infection or disease at the cellular level. We exemplify this by simulating optimization of the distribution of peptides derived from Human Immunodeficiency Virus Gag-Pol polyprotein.


In this paper, we address the following problem. Given a fixed total number of feedforward and feedback filter taps in a decision feedback equalizer, what is the optimum number of taps of each filter and what is the optimum delay setting? We propose a simple algorithm that resudes the solution search space from being two-dimensional to one-dimensional at a small performance loss. We demosntrate the application of our algorithm for indoor wireless channels.


Several behavioral, social, and public health interventions, such as suicide/HIV prevention or community preparedness against natural disasters, leverage social network information to maximize outreach. Algorithmic influence maximization techniques have been proposed to aid with the choice of ``peer leaders'' or ``influencers'' in such interventions. Yet, traditional algorithms for influence maximization have not been designed with these interventions in mind. As a result, they may disproportionately exclude minority communities from the benefits of the intervention. This has motivated research on fair influence maximization. Existing techniques come with two major drawbacks. First, they require committing to a single fairness measure. Second, these measures are typically imposed as strict constraints leading to undesirable properties such as wastage of resources.
To address these shortcomings, we provide a principled characterization of the properties that a fair influence maximization algorithm should satisfy. In particular, we propose a framework based on social welfare theory, wherein the cardinal utilities derived by each community are aggregated using the isoelastic social welfare functions. Under this framework, the trade-off between fairness and efficiency can be controlled by a single inequality aversion design parameter. We then show under what circumstances our proposed principles can be satisfied by a welfare function. The resulting optimization problem is monotone and submodular and can be solved efficiently with optimality guarantees. Our framework encompasses as special cases leximin and proportional fairness. Extensive experiments on synthetic and real world datasets including a case study on landslide risk management demonstrate the efficacy of the proposed framework.


Recently, the Weisfeiler-Lehman (WL) graph isomorphism test was used to measure the expressive power of graph neural networks (GNN). It was shown that the popular message passing GNN cannot distinguish between graphs that are indistinguishable by the 1-WL test (Morris et al. 2018; Xu et al. 2019). Unfortunately, many simple instances of graphs are indistinguishable by the 1-WL test.
In search for more expressive graph learning models we build upon the recent k-order invariant and equivariant graph neural networks (Maron et al. 2019a,b) and present two results:
First, we show that such k-order networks can distinguish between non-isomorphic graphs as good as the k-WL tests, which are provably stronger than the 1-WL test for k>2. This makes these models strictly stronger than message passing models. Unfortunately, the higher expressiveness of these models comes with a computational cost of processing high order tensors.
Second, setting our goal at building a provably stronger, simple and scalable model we show that a reduced 2-order network containing just scaled identity operator, augmented with a single quadratic operation (matrix multiplication) has a provable 3-WL expressive power. Differently put, we suggest a simple model that interleaves applications of standard Multilayer-Perceptron (MLP) applied to the feature dimension and matrix multiplication. We validate this model by presenting state of the art results on popular graph classification and regression tasks. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first practical invariant/equivariant model with guaranteed 3-WL expressiveness, strictly stronger than message passing models.


Reptiles are becoming increasingly popular as pets so it is important for veterinary surgeons seeing reptile patients to be able to recognise the common conditions that affect them and also to have an understanding of the various factors that may have led these animals to become ill. Only then can an appropriate diagnostic and therapeutic plan be fashioned. This article aims to describe the common conditions that occur in tortoises and turtles, lizards and snakes that are likely to be seen in practice, with some suggestions for treatment.


Campylobacter is the leading cause of foodborne illness worldwide and human illnesses are often associated with consumption of poultry or poultry products. Many strategies have been tried to eliminate Campylobacter from poultry with limited success. One of the strategies to reduce Campylobacter colonization in poultry is by use of probiotics. We conducted 2 separate studies to evaluate the efficacy of probiotics against Campylobacter in broiler chickens. For our first study, GRAS (Generally Regarded as Safe) bacteria were isolated from healthy chickens and tested their efficacy against Campylobacter in vitro. Twenty six isolates with in vitro antiCampylobacter activity were selected and tested in broiler chickens. Only 3 out of 26 isolates tested, demonstrated a 1-2 log reduction in Campylobacter colonization. To further improve the in vivo efficacy of these 3 isolates, these isolates were given along with 3 different doses of a prebiotic (fructoligosaccharide/FOS or mannanoligosaccharide/MOS). Of all the treatments tested, only one isolate when combined with 0.04% MOS showed a 3 log reduction in Campylobacter. However, the isolates which reduced Campylobacter in vivo in our initial trials failed to reduce Campylobacter in subsequent trials. One possible explanation for such inconsistencies could be due to destruction of probiotic isolates in the acidic environment of stomach. Encapsulation of isolates may overcome this problem, but there is no assurance that these isolates will have efficiency in the lower intestine. In the second study, a procedure to screen the in vivo efficacy of candidate isolates was developed by directly inoculating isolates in the lower intestinal tract via the cloaca. For this study GRAS bacterial isolates with enhanced motility and in vitro anti-Campylobacter activity were selected and tested in vivo by dosing the isolates either orally or intra-cloacally. When isolates were dosed orally, only one isolate showed a 1 log reduction in Campylobacter, but when these isolates were administered intra-cloacally, five of these isolates produced a 1-3 log reduction in cecal Campylobacter counts. These results support the strategy of evaluating the efficacy of potential probiotic isolates via cloacal inoculation prior to undergoing the effort of protecting isolates (e.g., encapsulation) for oral administration.


BACKGROUND
Oesophageal perforation is a life-threatening pathology that is generally treated conservatively; however, surgical procedures are frequently performed. A topical haemostatic agent, Ankaferd Blood Stopper (ABS), also has beneficial wound-healing effects.

AIMS
This study aimed to determine the effects of ABS following experimental oesophageal perforations.

STUDY DESIGN
Animal experiment.

METHODS
The experimental rats were classified into 6 groups (with 7 rats in each group). Pairs of groups (primary repair alone and primary repair + ABS) were terminated in the 1(st), 2(nd), and 3(rd) weeks following injury. The oesophageal perforations, which were 8-10 mm in length, were created using a nasogastric tube. The perforation sites were repaired with a 6-0 polyglactine thread in the primary repair groups. Additionally, ABS was sprayed over the perforation site in the treatment groups. Each oesophagus was evaluated histopathologically.

RESULTS
There were fewer microabscesses and areas of necrosis in the ABS groups compared with the primary repair groups. The histopathological evaluation revealed that the ABS groups had less inflammation and more re-epithelisation compared to the primary repair groups (p=0.002 and p=0.003, respectively). Fibrosis in the ABS groups was moderate in the 2(nd) week and mild in the 3(rd) week. Comparing the groups with respect to the time intervals, only the 1(st) week groups showed a significant difference in terms of re-epithelialisation (p=0.044).

CONCLUSION
Topical ABS application on the repaired experimental oesophageal perforation regions led to positive wound-healing effects compared with the rats that were administered the primary repair alone.


The total land devoted to rubber crop (Hevea brasiliensis) in 1995 was estimated to
be around 1.7 million hectares, which were about 31 percent of the total land under
agricultural crops in Malaysia. The increasing demand in the furniture market and the
projected shortage of general utility timber from natural forests has made
rubberwood a major source of timber. Malaysian Furniture Industry Council
estimated about 80 percent of furniture exports were made up of rubberwood,
amounting around RM1.7 billion of total 1996 furniture exports from Malaysia. The
global demand for natural rubber is also projected to increase from the present figure
of approximately 5.9 million tonnes to around 7.5 million tonnes by the early years
of the next century.
Latex and rubberwood production can be increased significantly by improving the
productivity per unit area, which is very low. The present study was therefore conducted with the objective to find out the extent of increase in latex and
rubberwood production through reallocation of resources optimally. The study was
conducted in Melaka State, confined to the district of Alor Gajah. All the group replanting
(TSB) and mini-estate (ME) schemes yielding latex were sampled. The
data were collected by the survey method. Personal interview was used. A sample of
31 holdings comprising 18 TSBs and 13 MEs was selected for this study. Thirty-four
sample plots were established for tree measurements to estimate rubberwood yield.
The study was confined only to smallholders as about 84 percent of the total area
planted with rubber in Malaysia come under smallholdings.
Data obtained were subjected to statistical analysis. The frontier production function
was buih by imposing a Cobb-Douglas type specification on the frontier and an
output-based measure of efficiency was evolved. The maximum revenue
combination of latex and rubberwood was determined on the production possibility
frontier. A comparison of marginal value products of the variable inputs with their
corresponding per unit costs exhibited a potential of 24 percent increase in latex and
rubberwood production through optimal resource allocation. It was concluded from
the study that optimum combination of latex and rubberwood outputs in conjunction
with optimal resource allocation and technically efficient management could increase
smallholder's income up to 39 percent.
It is suggested that Rubber Industry Smallholders Development Authority should
declare latex a by-product, tapped only when it could fetch a good price. In developing rubber sma1lholding sector, the Authority should focus on the mini-estate
programme rather than any other scheme. Furthermore, it is also suggested that the
Authority should launch a programme for the logging of rubber plantations above 19
years, which are uneconomical to maintain.


Student behavior analysis plays an increasingly important role in education data mining research, but it lacks systematic analysis and summary. Based on reading a large amount of literature, this paper has carried out the overall framework, methods and applications of its research. Comprehensive combing and elaboration. Firstly, statistical analysis and knowledge map analysis of the relevant literature on student behavior analysis in the CNKI database are carried out, and then the research trends and research hot spots are obtained. Then, from the different perspectives of the overall process and technical support of student behavior analysis, the overall framework of the research is constructed, and the student behavior evaluation indicators, student portraits and used tools and methods are highlighted. Finally, it summarizes the principal applications of student behavior analysis and points out the future research direction.


Neuroimaging studies have suggested that specific regions of the frontal and medial temporal cortex are engaged during memory formation. Further, there is specialization across these regions such that verbal materials appear to preferentially engage the left regions while nonverbal materials primarily engage the right regions. An open question, however, has been to what extent frontal regions contribute to successful memory formation. The present study investigates this question using a reversible lesion technique known as the Wada test. Patients memorized words and unfamiliar faces while portions of their left and right hemispheres were temporarily anesthetized with sodium amytal. Subsequent memory tests revealed that faces were remembered better than words following left-hemisphere anesthesia, whereas words were remembered better than faces following right-hemisphere anesthesia. Importantly, inspection of the circulation affected by the amytal further suggests that these memory impairments did not result from direct anesthetization of the medial temporal regions. Taken in the context of the imaging findings, these results suggest that frontal regions may also contribute to memory formation in normal performance.


The paper presents the most common types of lexical borrowing in Slovene green energy terminology and the languages this particular field generally borrows from, with a special emphasis on calques and doublets, which often occur as a result of borrowing from these languages, e.g., odlagališče (also: deponija) 'landfill', odlagališčni plin (also: deponijski plin) 'landfill gas', biotska raznovrstnost (also: biodiverziteta, biotska pestrost, biološka raznovrstnost) 'biodiversity', and albedo (also: odbojnost) 'albedo'. The examples of lexical borrowing are taken from the English-Slovene Dictionary of Green Energy Terms (Mrhar 2015) and analyzed with the help of a small corpus compiled for the purposes of this study, containing a limited number of Slovene articles on green energy and their English translations. The paper furthermore concentrates on the variety of vocabulary deployed in texts pertaining to the field and assesses both unproblematic and problematic cases of lexical borrowing.


Dystrophin coordinates the assembly of a complex of structural and signaling proteins that are required for normal muscle function. A key component of the dystrophin protein complex is α-dystrobrevin, a dystrophin-associated protein whose absence results in neuromuscular junction defects and muscular dystrophy. To gain further insights into the role of α-dystrobrevin in skeletal muscle, we used the yeast two-hybrid system to identify a novel α-dystrobrevin-binding partner called syncoilin. Syncoilin is a new member of the intermediate filament superfamily and is highly expressed in skeletal and cardiac muscle. In normal skeletal muscle, syncoilin is concentrated at the neuromuscular junction, where it colocalizes and coimmunoprecipitates with α-dystrobrevin-1. Expression studies in mammalian cells demonstrate that, while α-dystrobrevin and syncoilin associate directly, overexpression of syncoilin does not result in the self-assembly of intermediate filaments. Finally, unlike many components of the dystrophin protein complex, we show that syncoilin expression is up-regulated in dystrophin-deficient muscle. These data suggest that α-dystrobrevin provides a link between the dystrophin protein complex and the intermediate filament network at the neuromuscular junction, which may be important for the maintenance and maturation of the synapse.


Male and female germ cells enter meiosis at different times. Spermatogenesis results from meiosis during fetal development, whereas oogenesis results when meiosis initiates after birth. It has been thought that germ cells enter meiosis and initiate oogenesis by default unless blocked by an uncharacterized diffusible signaling molecule produced by the testis. Bowles et al. now show that retinoid metabolism inhibits meiosis in male embryos. In both males and females, the morphogen retinoic acid is produced in the mesonephric tubules for the initiation of meiosis. The morphogen is not degraded in the ovary, but it is specifically degraded in the testis by the p450 cytochrome enzyme CYP26B1. J. Bowles, D. Knight, C. Smith, D. Wilhelm, J. Richman, S. Mamiya, K. Yashiro, K. Chawengsaksophak, M. J. Wilson, J. Rossant, H. Hamada, P. Koopman, Retinoid signaling determines germ cell fate in mice. Science 312, 596-600 (2006). [Abstract] [Full Text]


This Major Research Project is motivated by my lived experiences with my grandfather, an anomic aphasia patient, who experienced embarrassment and frustration in his daily life due to lost ability to recollect names of things and people. Starting with a literature review of popular anomia apps and supported by a user persona built based on my grandfather's profile, I derived a "vocabulary database" in consultation with a speech-language pathologist, and designed a prototype mobile application iRemember, to assist anomic aphasia patients speaking Mandarin and English in recollecting names of daily life objects independently. The app affords searching its database for any real life object by taking a picture using the app and also to add items to the database with audio and text descriptions. The app offers service in Mandarin and English and will be useful to Chinese aphasia patients living in Canada or other English speaking regions who have lost one or both languages. Future work includes developing the prototype into a full-fledged app through a user-centered process, and enabling it in other languages.

Keywords: anomic aphasia, communication, vocabulary, mobile app, assistive technologies, augmentative and alternative communication


The current market requires good experts who not only know the state language well, but also are fluent in foreign languages. Language knowledge basically depends upon a person's consciousness and his/her schooling or higher education. There is no doubt that students' knowledge of a subject language is greatly influenced by the language of their teachers, particularly by the teachers who have great influence on students, and by the language of manuals and other literature recommended for the students. The aim of this work is to investigate the language of three management publications used for subject studies. For this purpose the language was selected at random from all the publications. The following aspects of subject language have been considered: logical way of reasoning, syntax constructions, vocabulary, especially the right use of the terms, features of word derivation, and the usage of grammatical forms. The following conclusions have been drawn. There are a lot of different language mistakes within the analysed publications: vocabulary, word derivation, the usage of grammatical forms and syntax constructions, even punctuation and spelling, which shows that the texts have not been edited. Moreover, English rather than Lithuanian terms have often been used. Such publications cannot be recommended for students as basic subject literature due to its negligible attitude towards the subject and state language.


A semiconductor laser with delayed optical feedback is an experimental implementation of a nominally infinite dimensional dynamical system. As such, time series analysis of the output power from this laser system is an excellent test of complexity analysis tools, as applied to experimental data. Additionally, the systematic characterization of the range and variation in complexity that can be obtained in the output power from the system, which is available to be used in applications like secure communication, is of interest. Output power time series from a semiconductor laser system, as a function of the optical feedback level and the laser injection current, have been analyzed for complexity using permutation entropy. High resolution maps of permutation entropy as a function of optical feedback level and injection current have been achieved for the first time. This confirms prior research that identifies a coherence collapse region which is found to be uninterrupted with respect to any embedded islands with different dynamics. The results also show new observations of low optical feedback dynamics which occur in a region below that for coherence collapse. The map of the complexity shows a strong dependence on the delay time used in the permutation entropy calculation. Short delay times, which sample information at the complete measurement bandwidth, produce maps with drastically different systematic variation in complexity throughout the coherence collapse region, compared to maps generated with a delay time that matches the optical feedback delay. Evaluating the complexity with a permutation entropy delay equal to the external cavity delay produces results consistent with the notion of weak/strong chaos, as well as categorizing the dynamics as being of high complexity where the external cavity delay time is harder to identify. These are both desirable features for secure communication applications. The results also show permutation entropy as a function of delay time can be used to detect key frequencies driving the dynamics, including any that may exist due to, or arise from, technicalities of device fabrication and/or noise. A more complete insight into complexity as measured by permutation entropy is gained by considering multiple delay times.


In this paper we present techniques for reasoning natively with quantitative/qualitative interval constraints in statebased PDDL planners. While these are considered important in modeling and solving problems in timeline based planners; reasoning with these in PDDL planners has seen relatively little attention, yet is a crucial step towards making PDDL planners applicable in real-world scenarios, such as space missions. Our main contribution is to extend the planner OPTIC to reason natively with Allen interval constraints. We show that our approach outperforms both MTP, the only PDDL planner capable of handling similar constraints and a compilation to PDDL 2.1, by an order of magnitude. We go on to present initial results indicating that our approach is competitive with a timeline based planner on a Mars rover domain, showing the potential of PDDL planners in this setting.


We present a rare example of peripheral vision being better than foveal vision, based upon Dmax (Braddick, Vision Res. 1974). A field of dense random dots jumps clockwise around a circular orbit while remaining upright (without rotating). Viewed foveally, the field appears to "twinkle" randomly (like dynamic visual noise). In peripheral vision, the circling motion is clearly seen. Our results show that Dmax is smallest for small dots and progressively larger for large dots and clumps of dots. In the fovea, individual dots jump through distances exceeding their own Dmax, and therefore look random, masking out the circling motion of low-frequency random clumps of dots. In the periphery, low spatial acuity filters out this masking twinkle, revealing the circling clumps. By varying the jump size and dot size, we showed that jumps through a distance of x dot diameters gave visible circling only at eccentricities proportional to x0.68 or greater. Thus Dmax is determined not by dot size per se, but by the ratio of jump size to dot size. Meeting abstract presented at VSS 2015.


This paper, prepared for a Fall, 2015 conference in honor of Professor Harold Bruff, argues that, in certain circumstances, a "statutory stretch" in defense of a presidential initiative may be both justified and more protective of the rule of law than would be bolder claims of exclusive executive authority under Article II. Such a rhetorical strategy may be superior in preserving an ethos of legal accountability within the executive branch and implicitly invites Congress to respond with legislative change if it disapproves the presidential action. It is a strategy that should be reserved, however, for truly exigent circumstances in which the Administration is willing to expose its argument to public scrutiny. Government lawyers assisting in the "stretch" should insure that their clients understand the vulnerabilities to their argument and should not knowingly offer weak arguments to avoid legal constraints aimed at avoiding grievous harm to individuals.


My practice is concerned with exploring the politics of space. Much of my work is derived from a body of ongoing research into various informal accounts of place. The research takes the form of a constantly expanding collection of urban myths, anecdotes, landmarks, place nicknames and hand drawn maps gathered from various locations.


Proper growth of blood vessels is critical for development, wound healing and homeostasis. This process is regulated by a variety of microenvironmental cues including growth factor signaling, cell-cell contacts and mechanical and biochemical signals from the extracellular matrix. The work presented in this dissertation encompasses the application of engineering principles to the study of angiogenesis and vascular biology within the contexts of tissue engineering and vascular disease. In Chapter 2, we present a novel strategy for generating a spatially patterned vascular network in vivo. Future development of clinically viable engineered tissues hinges on the ability to generate functional vasculature capable of delivering blood to parenchymal cells deep within the tissue. The vascularization strategy described here utilizes tissue constructs that contain patterned 'cords' of endothelial cells. Implantation of these constructs into mice leads to the formation of stable capillaries in a spatially controlled geometry. The capillaries become perfused with host blood as early as 3 days post implantation, remain stable for at least 28 days in vivo, are largely comprised of implanted endothelial cells, and are invested by α-SMA positive pericytes. We further demonstrate that spatial patterning of vascular architecture improves the function of engineered hepatic tissues. Specifically, co-implantation of patterned endothelial cell cords with primary hepatocyte aggregates suggested that organized vascular architecture significantly improved albumin promoter activity within the tissues. In Chapter 3, we describe the development of an organotypic vascular wall model and show that pulmonary arterial smooth muscle cells (PASMCs) isolated from patients with idiopathic pulmonary arterial hypertension (IPAH) exhibit a hyperproliferative phenotype in culture. While normal control PASMCs display Rac1-mediated growth control, the higher proliferation in IPAH PASMCs is dependent on increased RhoA activity. We observed that focal adhesion assembly and focal adhesion kinase signaling are abnormally increased in IPAH PASMCs and show that antagonizing adhesion signaling by direct inhibition of FAK abrogates IPAH PASMC hyperproliferation in vitro. In summary, our strategy for rapidly inducing the formation of spatially controlled capillaries comprises a novel technique for spatial control of vessel growth in vivo. Functional studies with engineered hepatic tissues also demonstrate the potential of this technique to be used in vascularizing engineered solid organs. Findings from our investigation into aberrant IPAH SMC proliferation suggest that a mechanosensitive proliferative control mechanism underlies IPAH etiology. Degree Type Dissertation Degree Name Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) Graduate Group Bioengineering This dissertation is available at ScholarlyCommons: http://repository.upenn.edu/edissertations/610 First Advisor Christopher S. Chen