Closed eyes and look-aways can ruin precious moments captured in photographs. In this article, we present a new framework for automatically editing eyes in photographs. We leverage a user's personal photo collection to find a "good" set of reference eyes and transfer them onto a target image. Our example-based editing approach is robust and effective for realistic image editing. A fully automatic pipeline for realistic eye editing is challenging due to the unconstrained conditions under which the face appears in a typical photo collection. We use crowd-sourced human evaluations to understand the aspects of the target-reference image pair that will produce the most realistic results. We subsequently train a model that automatically selects the top-ranked reference candidate(s) by narrowing the gap in terms of pose, local contrast, lighting conditions, and even expressions. Finally, we develop a comprehensive pipeline of three-dimensional face estimation, image warping, relighting, image harmonization, automatic segmentation, and image compositing in order to achieve highly believable results. We evaluate the performance of our method via quantitative and crowd-sourced experiments.


ABSTRACT Musical robotics is a rapidly growing field, with dozens of new works appearing in the past half decade. This paper explores the foundations of the discipline and how, due to the ability of musical robots to serve as uniquely spatialized musical agents, it experienced a rebirth even in the face of loudspeaker technology's dominance. The growth of musical robotics is traced from its pre-computer roots through its 1970s renaissance and to contemporary installation-oriented sculptures and performance-oriented works. Major figures in the field are examined, including those who in recent years have introduced the world to human/musical robot interaction in a concert setting. The paper closes with a brief speculation on the field's future, with a focus on the increasing ease with which new artists may enter the field.


In traditional societies it is often argued that parents' desire for old age security in the form of transfers from their children provides an important motive for childbearing. Some doubt has been cast on this "old age security hypothesis" by recent estimates which suggest that the rate of return on investments in children tend to be negative in most developing countries. This paper presents a theoretical model which integrates micro-level decision making about fertility and life cycle consumption into a dynamic macro-level model of overlapping generations in order to investigate the implications of this hypothesis. In this model, observation of a negative rate of return to children and positive population growth in a traditional society may imply (1) that the old age security motive for childbearing is, in fact, very strong; (2) that the rate of population growth is "too high" from a Paretian point of view; and (3) that each individual in current and all future generations could be made better off if the rate of population growth were lower and the level of old age consumption were increased, but that a reduction in population growth alone would reduce welfare. A social security tax and transfer policy could be devised to induce a Pareto optimal rate of population growth and distribution of life cycle consumption only if measures are taken to offset the divergence between the private and social rate of return to children created by the social security scheme.


Photosynthetic diatoms that live suspended throughout the water column will constantly be swept up and down by vertical mixing. When returned to the photic zone after experiencing longer periods in darkness, mechanisms exist that enable the diatoms both to survive sudden light exposure and immediately utilize the available energy in photosynthesis and growth. We have investigated both the response to prolonged darkness and the re-acclimation to moderate intensity white irradiance (E = 100 µmol m−2 s−1) in the diatom Phaeodactylum tricornutum, using an integrated approach involving global transcriptional profiling, pigment analyses, imaging and photo-physiological measurements. The responses were studied during continuous white light, after 48 h of dark treatment and after 0.5 h, 6 h, and 24 h of re-exposure to the initial irradiance. The analyses resulted in several intriguing findings. Dark treatment of the cells led to 1) significantly decreased nuclear transcriptional activity, 2) distinct intracellular changes, 3) fixed ratios of the light-harvesting pigments despite a decrease in the total cell pigment pool, and 4) only a minor drop in photosynthetic efficiency (ΦPSII_max). Re-introduction of the cells to the initial light conditions revealed 5) distinct expression profiles for nuclear genes involved in photosynthesis and those involved in photoprotection, 6) rapid rise in photosynthetic parameters (α and rETRmax) within 0.5 h of re-exposure to light despite a very modest de novo synthesis of photosynthetic compounds, and 7) increasingly efficient resonance energy transfer from fucoxanthin chlorophyll a/c-binding protein complexes to photosystem II reaction centers during the first 0.5 h, supporting the observations stated in 6). In summary, the results show that despite extensive transcriptional, metabolic and intracellular changes, the ability of cells to perform photosynthesis was kept intact during the length of the experiment. We conclude that P. tricornutum maintains a functional photosynthetic apparatus during dark periods that enables prompt recovery upon re-illumination.


This paper computes and analyses total factor productivity (TFP) growth rates for tropical agricultural systems in Central-Western Africa and South-East Asia. Two regions that despite sharing common agro-ecological conditions, have pursued different adoption rates of green revolution technology and have reported dissimilar yields per hectare. A panel data set is constructed for the period 1987-2007 from the FAOSTAT database. A Bayesian stochastic frontier model with country specific temporal variation in technical efficiency is estimated. Technical efficiency estimates reveal that there is substantial room for improvement in both continental sub-sets and that TFP estimates show on average larger rates of growth for South-East Asian countries as compared to Central-Western African countries. Results indicate that TFP is mostly driven by technical change and countries such as Benin, and Gambia display catch-up.


A new actinomycete strain designated as Streptomyces sp. SZS39 was isolated along with other 61 bacterial strains from a soil in Japan using ISP2 agar medium.As a result of antimicrobial screening, the acetone extract of the strain SZS39 exhibited promising antimicrobial activities against Bacillus subtilis, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, and Schizo saccharomyces pombe. Isolation and identification of the antimicrobial principles from the strain SZS39 was accomplished. As a result of analysis using NMR and MS spectra, the main antimicrobial compound was identified as actinomycin X2. To identify the strain SZS39, a partial 16S rRNA gene sequence from the strain SZS39 was determined and found to have high identity (99%) with known actinomycin producer Streptomyces padanus MITKK-103.


In Arabidopsis, the concentration of intracellular calcium fluctuates in a daily cycle, above and beyond other responses to signaling inputs. Tang et al. have now analyzed the interactions between intracellular and extracellular calcium concentrations, and various signaling components in between, to arrive at a complex view of calcium physiology in the plant. Not simply a passive reflection of external calcium status, the calcium levels within a resting cell are actively monitored and managed. R.-H. Tang, S. Han, H. Zheng, C. W. Cook, C. S. Choi, T. E. Woerner, R. B. Jackson, Z.-M. Pei, Coupling diurnal cytosolic Ca2+ oscillations to the CAS-IP3 pathway in Arabidopsis. Science 315, 1423-1426 (2007). [Abstract] [Full Text]


The need for secrecy and security is essential in communication. Secret sharing is a conventional protocol to distribute a secret message to a group of parties, who cannot access it individually but need to cooperate in order to decode it. While several variants of this protocol have been investigated, including realizations using quantum systems, the security of quantum secret sharing schemes still remains unproven almost two decades after their original conception. Here we establish an unconditional security proof for entanglement-based continuous-variable quantum secret sharing schemes, in the limit of asymptotic keys and for an arbitrary number of players. We tackle the problem by resorting to the recently developed one-sided device-independent approach to quantum key distribution. We demonstrate theoretically the feasibility of our scheme, which can be implemented by Gaussian states and homodyne measurements, with no need for ideal single-photon sources or quantum memories. Our results contribute to validating quantum secret sharing as a viable primitive for quantum technologies.


Various pathological processes, some genetically determined and others acquired, may affect the function of the skeletal muscles and may manifest in different ways. Some, such as, the congenital myopathies, produce weakness and hypotonia at birth whereas others do not cause functional abnormalities until childhood, adolescence, or adult life. With the application of modem molecular biological techniques major advances have taken place in the identificaton of the genetic mutations responsible for many of the hereditary muscle diseases and new mutations in nuclear or mitochondrial DNA are being reported on a regular basis. These discoveries have had a major impact on the diagnostic approach to patients with these disorders and have led to the definition of new categories of myopathy such as the dystrophinopathies, encompassing the Duchenne and Becker forms of muscular dystrophy, the sarcoglycanopathies, which include many cases of limb-girdle muscular dystrophy, and the channelopathies comprising the periodic paralyses and myotonic syndromes. This review focuses on the modern approach to the clinical and laboratory investi- gation of patients with muscle diseases with particular emphasis on the application of molecular techniques in diagnosis.


The 2010 UN climate conference in Cancún emphasized that 'Parties should, in all climate change related actions, fully respect human rights'. However, so far there is no further guidance. This article discusses the relevant legal human rights norms and two case studies from the Kyoto Protocol's Clean Development Mechanism (CDM). The first case (Bajo Aguán, Honduras) shows that the current absence of any international safeguards can lead to registration of highly problematic projects. The second case (Olkaria, Kenya) suggests that safeguards, introduced here as a side effect of World Bank involvement, can have a positive impact, but that it is necessary to have them based on human rights. It therefore seems recommendable that the UN climate regime develop mandatory human rights safeguards. In addition or alternatively, individual buyer countries or groups of countries, such as the European Union, could introduce their own additional requirements for CDM projects.


Purpose: The purpose of this research was to identify factors predicting response to preoperative chemotherapy. Experimental Design: In a large volume laboratory using standard immunohistochemical methods, we reviewed the pretreatment biopsies and histologic specimens at final surgery of 399 patients with large or locally advanced breast cancer (cT2-T4, N0–2, M0) who were treated with preoperative chemotherapy. The incidence of pathological complete remission and the incidence of node-negative status at final surgery were assessed with respect to initial pathological and clinical findings. Menopausal status, estrogen receptor status, progesterone receptor status [absent (0% of the cells positive) versus expressed], clinical tumor size, histologic grade, Ki-67, Her-2/neu expression, and type and route of chemotherapy were considered. Results: High rates of pathological complete remission were associated with absence of estrogen receptor and progesterone receptor expression (P < 0.0001), and grade 3 (P = 0.001). Significant predictors of node-negative status at surgery were absence of estrogen receptor and progesterone receptor expression (P < 0.0001), clinical tumor size <5 cm (P < 0.001), and use of infusional regimens (P = 0.003). The chance of obtaining pathological complete remission or node-negative status for patients with endocrine nonresponsive tumors compared with those having some estrogen receptor or progesterone receptor expression was 4.22 (95% confidence interval, 2.20–8.09, 33.3% versus 7.5%) and 3.47 (95% confidence interval, 2.09–5.76, 42.9% versus 21.7%), respectively. Despite the significantly higher incidence of pathological complete remission and node-negative status achieved by preoperative chemotherapy for patients with estrogen receptor and progesterone receptor absent disease, the disease-free survival was significantly worse for this cohort compared with the low/positive expression cohort (4-year disease-free survival %: 41% versus 74%; hazard ratio 3.22; 95% confidence interval, 2.28–4.54; P < 0.0001). Conclusions: Response to preoperative chemotherapy is significantly higher for patients with endocrine nonresponsive tumors. New chemotherapy regimens or combinations should be explored in this cohort of patients with poor outcome. For patients with endocrine responsive disease, the role of preoperative endocrine therapies should be studied.


Stochastic models that account for sudden, unforeseeable events play a crucial role in many different fields such as finance, economics, biology, chemistry, physics and so on. That kind of stochastic problems can be modeled by stochastic differential equations driven by jump-diffusion processes. In addition, there are situations, where a stochastic model is based on stochastic differential equations with multiple scales. Such stochastic problems are called stiff and lead for classical explicit integrators such as the Euler-Maruyama method to time stepsize restrictions due to stability issues. This opens the door for stabilized explicit numerical methods to efficiently tackle such situations. In this thesis we introduce first a stabilized multilevel Monte Carlo method for stiff stochastic differential equations. Using S-ROCK methods we show that this approach is very efficient for stochastic problems with multiple scales, but also for nonstiff problems with a significant noise part. Further, we present an improved version of the stabilized multilevel Monte Carlo method by considering S-ROCK methods with a higher weak order of convergence. Then we extend the S-ROCK methods to jump-diffusion processes. We study in detail the strong order of convergence of the newly introduced methods and we discuss the corresponding mean square stability domains. In the next part we present the multilevel Monte Carlo method for jump-diffusion processes. We state and prove a theorem that indicates the computational cost required to achieve a certain mean square accuracy. In the numerical section we compare the multilevel Monte Carlo approach to two variance reduction techniques, the antithetic and the control variates. We also show how the S-ROCK method for jump-diffusion processes, introduced in this thesis, can be used to create a stabilized multilevel Monte Carlo method for jump-diffusions that handles stiffness and considers the inclusion of jumps at the same time. Finally, we propose in this thesis a variable time stepping algorithm that uses S-ROCK methods to approximate weak solutions of stiff stochastic differential equations. A rigorous analytical study is carried out to derive a computable leading term of the time discretization error and an adaptive algorithm is suggested that adapts the time grid and adjusts the number of stages of the S-ROCK method simultaneously.


The onset of coeliac disease, together with type 1 diabetes, influences glycaemic control, and more precisely the development of hypoglycaemia. These conditions share a similar genotype. The main problem of coeliac disease is intolerance to gliadin, a gluten protein found in cereals such as wheat, rye and barley; the only treatment is a gluten-free diet. Spomenka Ljubic and Zeljko Metelko report on the growing body of evidence linking coeliac disease and other autoimmune disorders, including type 1 diabetes, and describe recommended procedures for its diagnosis and treatment.


Quarries of Wandering Form engages with the ecologies of resource extraction, exploitation and circulation in the Occupied Palestinian Territories of the West Bank. Focusing on the quarries in the West Bank the research explores the complex political entanglements of land, labour, military, nationalist identities and sovereign state in the region. The research addresses the way in which the quarries in the West Bank are not just industrial spaces in which labour and excavation of raw material takes place, but also paradigmatic and metaphorical spaces around sedimentation, stratified layers, excavation and transformation and how these dynamics are inseparable from the disruptive spaces of colonialism and globalisation. The research is the result of extensive rigorous scholarly and field research between different disciplines (post colonial theory, post humanism, eco criticism, new ethnography, sociology, philosophy, aesthetics, film and photography), actors, territories and ideas to produce original photography, film and text work. The research is significant in that it contributes to: post humanism by engaging with both human and non-human life forms with equal significance; new understandings of the geopolitical and spatial relations of the West Bank by drawing out the explicit and hidden dynamics of this region; the role of art in creating new perceptions of the experiences of individuals and cultures and how the artist becomes embedded in a place in the production of work.


Steel strip is usually stored as a coil, which will slump to some degree after the removal of the mandrel. More often than not, the amount of slumping is so minor that it is assumed not to have occurred. Occasionally, the amount, though minor, is sufficient to compromise the integrity of the cylindrical bore which compromises subsequent handling of the coil. In extreme situations, the slumping progresses to a complete collapse of the coil. Such a collapse is rare. It occurs when a coil cannot hold up its own mass and loses its circular cross-section. It is thought to be principally associated with the size and weight of the coil, inappropriate coiling tensions and/or poor re-coiler equipment design. Strip properties, especially inter-strip contact characteristics, have been demonstrated experimentally to be crucial determinants of whether or not coil collapse is likely to occur.

The particular kind of slumping/collapse of interest to BlueScope Steel, who proposed this Study Group problem, is the minor slumping that compromises cylindrical bore integrity. It is referred to as coil slump.

The Study Group was asked to investigate and model the phenomenon of coil slumping, and, if possible, to quantify the effect of critical parameters, especially coil mass, strip thickness and inter-strip friction. In particular, it was suggested that deliberations should aim to characterize the geometry of slumping and to predict the deformation profile at the innermost and outermost wraps.

For BlueScope Steel, the long term objectives are:
(1) the formulation of the governing equations for the stresses in a coil under self-weight,
(2) the identification of analytical solutions and/or numerical schemes for the final coil shape after slumping, and
(3) the formulation of exclusion rules-of-thumb which predict when a particular form of slump (oval or triangular) is likely to occur.

The Study Group made some progress with (1), limited progress with (2) and most progress with (3). Though various computer programs were written to explore different force and energy balance scenarios, they only scratched the surface with regards to (2). Success with it is heavily dependent in substantial progress being made with (1). As explained in detail in the sequel, the Study Group's deliberations resulted in an improved understanding of the coil slumping/collapse problem by identifying a number of specific issues that should be of direct assistance to BlueScope Steel's future management of coil slumping/collapse.

In particular, such issues included the need, from a modelling perspective, to draw a clear distinction between minor slumping and major slumping which can subsequently lead to collapse; the formulation of a heuristic hypothesis about the dynamics of coil slumping/collapse which can be compared with historical data and act act as a conceptualization guide for further investigations; the identification of a "tension-weight ratio" (R) as the relevant dimensionless group which represents an indicative rule-of-thumb which can be applied in practice; and proposed, on the basis of the hypothesis, an efficient procedure for recording collapse events and statistically identifying possible collapse situations.


Employee turnover remains to be one of the biggest human resource problems facing the Indian international call center industry. This paper aims to provide a comprehensive study of how the attitudes of call center employees toward different aspects of their work affect their intention to leave. Our specific contribution to the literature is in understanding the heterogeneity among employees and how this affects meaningful inference in studying employees' intention to leave. To achieve this goal, we compare and contrast between traditional ordinary least squares regression models that have been used in the extant literature with latent class analysis. Latent class analysis suggests the presence of three distinct groups of employees, thus confirming the heterogeneity present in the data. The three groups can be represented as the two polar groups, one keen on staying and the other keen on leaving, and a significantly large third group of employees who are unsure. We also find that the impact of different attitudes vary between groups in terms of both economic significance (magnitude of coefficients), and statistical significance. This study throws important light on the research on turnover and has significant research and practical implications.


BACKGROUND
The epidemiology of colorectal cancers (CRC) is well known to differ in different geographical regions. K-ras mutations have been implicated in CRC carcinogenesis and they were extensively studied in developed countries; however, such studies are scarce from developing countries, like Iraq.

AIM
To determine the frequency and spectrum of K-ras mutations among CRC Iraqi patients, and their clinico-pathological associations, if any.

MATERIALS AND METHODS
Fifty consecutive surgically resected sporadic CRC were evaluated. The evaluation included screening for ten K-ras mutations in codon 12 and 13 by mutant enriched polymerase chain reaction followed by reverse hybridization to oligospecific probes.

RESULTS
Out of the 50 enrolled patients, 24 (48%) had K-ras mutations. A total of 29 mutations were identified in the tumors of the latter 24 patients (20/24 tumors had single mutations, 3/24 had double mutations and 1/24 had triple mutations). The most frequently encountered mutations were the G>T transversions and G>A transitions (41.4% each). Codon 12 mutations constituted 89.7%, while codon 13 the remaining 10.3%. The most frequent mutation was GGT>GTT (Gly>Val) of codon 12 documented in 31%. No significant clinico-pathological correlations with K-ras mutational status were identified.

CONCLUSION
The K-ras mutations are frequently encountered among Iraqi sporadic CRC patients, with relative higher frequencies of G>T transversions and Gly>Val codon 12 substitutions than encountered in their counterparts in developed countries. The latter is most likely to be related to differences in local carcinogens exposure, an aspect which requires further scrutiny.


Myriad methods exist for analyzing qualitative data. It is, however, imperative for qualitative researchers to employ data analysis tools that are congruent with the theoretical frameworks underpinning their inquiries. In this paper, I have constructed a framework for analyzing data that could be useful for researchers interested in focusing on the transactional nature of language as they engage in Social Science research. Transactional Analysis (TA) is an inductive approach to data analysis that transcends constant comparative methods of exploring data. Drawing on elements of narrative and thematic analysis, TA uses the theories of Bakhtin and Rosenblatt to attend to the dynamic processes researchers identify as they generate themes in their data and seek to understand how their participants' worldviews are being shaped. This paper highlights the processes researchers can utilize to study the mutual shaping that occurs as participants read and enter into dialogue with the world around them.


With rapid economic growth and medical advances, longevity and health in China have been continuously improving in recent decades. However, health inequalities across Chinese provinces are still large. In this paper, we provide a province-by-province analysis of healthy life expectancy at birth for China. We develop a predictive multiple regression model utilizing information on life expectancy, health and socio-economic factors to estimate healthy life expectancy for Chinese provinces. Unlike the standard Sullivan method, the model we propose does not require data on ill-health prevalence rates which are not publicly available for each province. The model is estimated using data from the Global Burden of Disease Study for life expectancy and healthy life expectancy at birth for 139 countries in the years 1990, 2005 and 2013. We assess the predictive ability of the fitted model using appropriate hold-out samples and conclude that the model has good out-of-sample performance. Based on the proposed model, we provide estimates of healthy life expectancy at birth in 2015 for 31 provincial-level regions in China for both males and females. We then discuss the implications of our results for the design of public policies and the development of insurance and banking products in China.


There are theoretical benefits of delivering drug aerosols to patients with asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) using Heliox as a carrier gas. The objective of this study was to develop systems to allow bronchodilators nebulized by a breath enhanced jet nebulizer and a vibrating mesh nebulizer to be delivered to patients in Heliox. This was achieved by attaching a reservoir to the nebulizers to ensure inhaled Heliox was not diluted by entrained air. For the vibrating mesh nebulizer, the total output was significantly higher after 5 min of nebulization when Heliox rather than air was used as the delivery gas (p < 0.001). The proportion of drug in particles <5 microm was 58.1% for Heliox and 50.1% when air was entrained. When the breath enhanced nebulizer was used a much higher driving flow of Heliox, compared to air, was required to deliver a similar dose of drug (p < 0.05). The total amount of drug likely to be inhaled was significantly higher when the vibrating mesh nebulizer (Aerogen) was used compared to the breath enhanced jet nebulizer (Pari LC plus) (p < 0.001). The amount of drug likely to be inhaled was also significantly greater for the adult as opposed to pediatric breathing pattern for all nebulizers and flows tested with the exception of the Aeroneb and Heliox entrainment. In this case, total amounts were similar for both patterns but for the pediatric pattern, the time taken to reach this output was longer. Such information is required to allow appropriate interpretation of clinical trials of drug delivery using Heliox.


Objectives: This study examined how physicians perceive pharmaceutical companies' medication assistance programs (MAPs). Methods: The study was conducted using a survey of 373 primary care physicians from four southern states; they were surveyed within the formative evaluation phase of a larger study (MI-Plus). Respondents were queried about use and usefulness of MAPs for patients who cannot afford drugs, and barriers to using them. Bivariate associations between physician-level variables (patients without drug coverage) and usefulness and barriers to using MAPs were assessed using Chi square tests. Independence of associations was assessed using multiple logistic regressions. Results: Of the 364 (97.6%) respondents who used MAPs, 70% used them regularly, the rest occasionally; 63% found MAPs very useful in caring for patients who could not afford drugs. About 89% reported one or more barriers to using MAPs; 47% saw "inability of patients to apply directly;" and 57% saw "enrollment process being time-consuming for staff" as barriers. Compared to physicians with fewer elderly patients without drug coverage, those with more of these patients were less likely to find MAPs very useful; less likely to report no barriers to using MAPs; and more likely to see "low income thresholds" and "inability of patients to apply directly" as barriers. Conclusion: While MAPs are considered useful in caring for patients in need of assistance, there are many barriers to their use. Pharmaceutical companies should address these barriers. Limitations include a low response rate (about 10%).


Wireless-communication technology can be used to improve road safety and to provide Internet access inside vehicles. This paper proposes a cross-layer protocol called coordinated external peer communication (CEPEC) for Internet-access services and peer communications for vehicular networks. We assume that IEEE 802.16 base stations (BS) are installed along highways and that the same air interface is equipped in vehicles. Certain vehicles locating outside of the limited coverage of their nearest BSs can still get access to the Internet via a multihop route to their BSs. For Internet-access services, the objective of CEPEC is to increase the end-to-end throughput while providing a fairness guarantee in bandwidth usage among road segments. To achieve this goal, the road is logically partitioned into segments of equal length. A relaying head is selected in each segment that performs both local-packet collecting and aggregated packets relaying. The simulation results have shown that the proposed CEPEC protocol provides higher throughput with guaranteed fairness in multihop data delivery in vehicular networks when compared with the purely IEEE 802.16-based protocol.


BACKGROUND
Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) occurs more frequently than expected in prevalent cohorts with epilepsy. The association has been attributed to the epilepsy or its treatment, although it is impossible to determine in previous studies which condition occurs first.

OBJECTIVES
To conduct a population-based case-control study of all newly diagnosed unprovoked seizures among Icelandic children younger than 16 years to address the question of time order.

DESIGN
Children with seizures were matched to the next 2 same-sex births from the population registry. The Diagnostic Interview Schedule for Children was used to make a DSM-IV diagnosis of ADHD in a standardized fashion among cases and controls aged 3 to 16 years.

RESULTS
A history of ADHD was 2.5-fold more common among children with newly diagnosed seizures than among control subjects (95% confidence interval [CI], 1.1-5.5). The association was restricted to ADHD predominantly inattentive type (odds ratio [OR], 3.7; 95% CI, 1.1-12.8), not ADHD predominantly hyperactive-impulsive type (OR, 1.8; 95% CI, 0.6-5.7) or ADHD combined type (OR, 2.5; 95% CI, 0.3-18.3). Seizure type, etiology, sex, or seizure frequency at diagnosis (1 or >1) did not affect findings.

CONCLUSION
Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder occurs more often than expected before unprovoked seizures, suggesting a common antecedent for both conditions.


The growing trend of corporations imposing restrictions on suppliers, contractors, and customers beyond the requirements of existing laws requires rethinking the nature and impact of corporations' private regulatory power. This trend, which this Article refers to as "Corporations as Private Regulators" (CPR), represents a paradigmatic shift in how corporations participate in the making of public policies. This Article conceptualizes the corporate CPR power as the exercise of a right of refusal to deal with counterparties. This right of refusal could be theorized as a new form of property right, whose allocation has important implications for both rights and wealth. The Article further explores the possible legal responses to CPR under various approaches, including the status quo approach, the ad hoc approach, the antitrust approach, the general CPR law approach, the property approach, and the constitutional approach. Finally, the Article analyzes the advantages and disadvantages, as well as the theoretical and practical implications, of each approach. The insights garnered through these inquiries lay the foundation for systematically tackling the CPR power.


From April 20th to 28th 1788, three young students from the Caroline University of Wurtemberg went hiking from Stuttgart to Tubingen, making a botanic, entomologic and geologic excursion through the Souab Alps. Among them was a young naturalist called Georges Cuvier, then eighteen years old. Cuvier was in charge of writing the story of this small expedition. The text he prepared shows the mind of a young and brilliant student who completed his text with drawings and one water-colour. Several drafts, probably four, of this story must have existed. The text published here is the French translation of the German document preserved in the archives of the Institut de France. This document is undoubtly the first text of a young naturalist who became one of the most famous figures of Science during the nineteenth century.


On the Capacity of Underlay Cognitive Radio Systems Lokman Sboui Due to the scarcity of frequency spectrum in view of the evolution of wireless communication technologies, the cognitive radio (CR) concept has been introduced to efficiently exploit the available spectrum. This concept consists in introducing unlicensed/secondary users (SU's) in existing networks to share the spectrum of licensed/primary users (PU's) without harming primary communications hence the name of "spectrum sharing" technique. We study in this dissertation, the capacity and the achievable rate of the secondary user within various communication settings. We, firstly, investigate the capacity of the (SU's) at low power regime for Nakagami fading channels and present closed form of the capacity under various types of interference and/or power constraints. We explicitly characterize two regimes where either the interference constraint or the power constraint dictates the optimal power profile. Our framework also highlights the effects of different fading parameters on the secondary link ergodic capacity. Interestingly, we show that the low power regime analysis provides a specific insight on the capacity behavior of CR that has not been reported by previous studies. Next, we determine the spectral efficiency gain of an uplink CR Multi-Input MultiOutput (MIMO) system in which the SU is allowed to share the spectrum with the PU using a specific precoding scheme to communicate with a common receiver. Applied 5 to Rayleigh fading channels, we show, through numerical results, that our proposed scheme enhances considerably the cognitive achievable rate. For instance, in case of a perfect detection of the PU signal, after applying Successive Interference Cancellation (SIC), the CR rate remains non-zero for high Signal to Noise Ratio (SNR) which is usually impossible when we only use space alignment technique. In addition, we show that the rate gain is proportional to the allowed interference threshold by providing a fixed rate even in the high SNR range. Finally, we study the impact of the broadcast approach and multi-layer coding on the throughput of CR systems for general fading channels. And we found that at the absence of the channel state information(CSI), we show that this improvement could be almost reached by 2-Layers coding. Then, we introduce a quantized CSI policy and highlight its improvement in terms of throughput before we study the rate when BA with quantized CSI is adopted. Numerical results show that the improvement of the additional layers is decreasing as the number of quantized regions increases.


Across the South Asian region, water determines livelihoods and in some cases even survival. However, water also creates exclusions. Access to water, and its social organization, are intimately tied up with power relations. This book provides an overview of gender, equity and water issues relevant to South Asia. The essays empirically illustrate and theoretically argue how gender intersects with other axes of social differences such as class, caste, ethnicity, age and religion to shape water access, use and management practices. Divided into six thematic sections, each of which starts with an introduction of relevant concepts, debates and theories, the book looks at laws and rights, policies, technologies and intervention strategies. In all, the book clearly shows how understanding, and changing the use, distribution and management of water is conditional upon understanding and accommodating gender relations.


In a recent article, Aneja, Donohue and Zhang claim that they are unable to replicate the regressions published by the National Research Council in Chapter 6 of Firearms and Violence. They conclude that the NRC regressions must have been based on bad data supplied by John Lott. The implication is that earlier studies that found that right-to-carry laws reduced crime were flawed because of bad data. However, we can replicate the NRC results with Lott's original data and with the data set used by the NRC. The earlier studies are not flawed by bad data.


This paper analyses the impact on regional and local authorities of Articles 117 and 119 of the Italian Constitution (hereafter referred to as "IC") as amended by Constitutional Law no. 1/2012.In particular, it attempts to verify whether the new formulation of these constitutional provisions materializes the risk of a significant reduction in the financial autonomy of both Regions and Local Governments.With the constitutional reform the legislative competence of "harmonization of public account" has become an exclusive State competence, the "balanced budget" principle has been extended to Regions and local authorities and public borrowing has been broadly prohibited.What is the actual significance of the changes introduced by Constitutional Law no. 1/2012 for the financial autonomy of Italian sub-national authorities?Is it time to recognise that the goals of financial independence of Italian fiscal federalism, launched by the reform of Title V of the IC, must give way to a new organization of public finance, where a central role is played by the central government in order to comply with the financial constraints arising from new challenges of the European economic integration process?


I well remember my arrival at Caltech on a sunny October morning in 1970. Fresh from the University of Oxford where even graduate students at that time wore ties and shirts, I was unsure what to wear for my first meeting with Murray Gell‐Mann. I gambled, wrongly, on a suit, and arrived at the office of the theory group secretary, Julie Curcio, feeling more and more overdressed and as if I had a large label dangling from my collar saying "New PhD from Oxford." I had seen Gell‐Mann once before in England but was unsure if the bearded individual dressed in an open‐necked shirt and sitting in Julie's office was indeed the eminent professor, A moment after I had introduced myself, my doubts were dispelled by the man putting out his hand and saying "Hi, I'm Murray." This episode illustrates only a small part of the healthy culture shock I experienced in California. Six years in Oxford had left me used to calling my professor "Professor Dalitz, sir." At that time, I would certainly not have dared to address Richard Dalitz as "Dick." A 'new' set of lectures—on computation—by one of the more colorful characters in modern physics, gives rise to these reminiscences by an Englishman in Richard's court.


I know my head isn't screwed on straight .... I want to confess everything, hand over the guilt and mistake and anger to someone else. There is a beast in my gut, I can hear it scraping away at the inside of my ribs. Even if I dump the memory, it will stay with me, staining me. My closet is a good thing, a quiet place that helps me hold these thoughts inside my head where no one can hear them.'


Their provocative manifestos and outrageous performances earned the Italian Futurists international fame but, surprisingly, very little recognition outside of Italy for their actual achievements. The few English and American critics who have studied the movement in any depth have focused on the first phase, which spanned the years 1909-15 and was centred in Milan, Rome, and Florence. By contrast, the second phase covered a much longer period and represented a pan-Italian phenomenon. Despite the wealth of material available about this later part of the movement, there has been little attempt to survey Futurist activity outside of the major geographical centres in any detail or to relate it to the Futurist mainstream. In The Other Futurism, Willard Bohn seeks to remedy this oversight by examining the work of Futurists in Venice, Padua, and Verona from 1909 to 1944. He considers these local artists and writers both in terms of their relationship with F.T. Marinetti, who remained the major theorist and organizer of Futurist activities, and of their own specific adaptations and appropriations of Futurist theory. Conceived as a combination literary history and critical study, The Other Futurism looks at particular examples of literature, visual arts, and the performing arts and, using a series of rare documents, sheds new light on the complex cultural and political issues at the heart of this neglected chapter in Italy's history.


Objectve: The aim of this work was to determine the molecular prevalence of the Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) in laryngeal carcinomas and to identfy its circulatng genotypes.
Patents and methods: This was a descriptve, retrospectve study of 20 years which included all the patents followed in otolaryngology department for laryngeal carcinoma. The virological analysis was done on the laryngeal biopsy pieces included in parafn using the Gene Xpert technique. This technique uses real-tme PCR to identfy oncogenic HPV genotypes.
Results: A total of 108 patents with laryngeal carcinomas were collected. Among them, 21 samples were associated with oncogenic HPV, a molecular prevalence of 19.4%. These were the HPV 18/45 (14.28%), HPV-16 (28.57%) and the group of HPVs with high oncogenic risk other than 18/45 and 16 (57.15%). All of these patents were male, mean age was 35.71 ± 3.17, and 85.7% of them were under 40 compared to patents with carcinomas not associated with HPV (P=0.0003). Oral-genital contact was the main risk factor for contaminaton in all of these patents (P=0.0002). The HPV-positve laryngeal carcinomas were all micro-invasive and the patents had beter survival compared to those who had HPV-negatve carcinomas (P=0.0001).
Conclusion: HPV-positve laryngeal carcinomas are most ofen observed in subjects under 40 years of age with good survival at 12 months. The circulatng genotypes in Brazzaville are 16, 18/45 and the group of oncogenic HPV other than 16 and 18/45.


Background: Fistula in ano is a public perianal illness and as a long-lasting inflammatory illness which does not cure naturally. There are several surgical procedures for treatment of fistula in ano, but these surgical interventions have little degrees of success, long time of wound healing after surgery and prolonged pain, especially in complex and difficult fistulas are observed. Novel sphincter-saving methods have been used in the management of perianal fistula in order to evade the risk of fecal incontinence. Among them, the fibrin adhesive method is popular because of its ease and repeatability. Objective: The objective of the present study is to evaluate the effect of fibrin-glue injection in the treatment of anal fistula (low/high as well as primary/secondary). Method: A prospective, planned experiment was conducted on 322 patients who were established to have fistulas in ano. They were assessed by sorting them into high fistula (172/322) and low anal fistula type (150/322). The fibrin glue was instilled in their anal tracts. The character of the anal tract, whether it was simple or complex and primary or secondary, was analyzed. The outcome in terms of a postoperative discharge (failure) was noted at 3 months, 6 months, 9 months, 1 year, and 2 years. Results: Total 322 patients were involved in this study. The general success rate was 275/322 (85.4%) after a mean follow-up of 1.5 years. All patients with a complex fistula (for low/high fistula, primary/secondary) had failure of healing (success rate 0%) either through first or second injection of fibrin-glue while all patients with simple fistula had successive rate of healing (for low/high fistula, primary/secondary) either through first or need the second injection of fibrin-glue. None of the patients had postoperative continence problems, and no other complications were noted. Conclusion: Fibrin glue is a novel attractive approach, easy, safe, minimally invasive, repeatable and cost effective for treatment of anal fistula simple (low/high and primary/secondary) and promising option for treatment of high fistula, and do not have a role for healing the complex anal fistula.


Abstract The aim of this paper is to investigate the relative contribution of technical efficiency, technological change, and increased input use to the output growth of the Tunisian olive oil growing farms, using a stochastic frontier production function approach applied to panel data for the period 1995–1997. The proposed methodology is based on the use of a flexible translog functional form. Results indicate that technical efficiency of production in the sample of olive producing farms investigated ranges from a minimum of 24.8% to a maximum of 84.6% with an average technical efficiency estimate of 48.5%. This suggests that olive producers may increase their production by as much as 51.5% through more efficient use of production inputs. Further, the production is characterized by decreasing returns to scale, which on average was 0.8. Finally, investigation of the sources of production growth reveals that the contribution of conventional inputs (labor, in particular) and technical change are found to be the main source of that growth, since total factor productivity increased during the study period, but at a slowing rate.


This project investigated the contribution of gastric and pancreatic enzymes to some physicochemical and biological activity characteristics of whey protein hydrolysates. Depending on the method of isolation, and particularly on the zymogen activation conditions, it was shown in this study that the endoproteinase and exopeptidase activities in pancreatic preparations can exist in different ratios. Furthermore, it has been shown that certain physicochemical characteristics of whey protein hydrolysates can be altered by manipulation of the zymogen activation conditions of pancreatic protease preparations. Novel whey protein derived peptide inhibitors of angiotensin I converting enzyme (ACE), generated using pancreatic proteinases, have been identified in this study. Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) was used to study the thermal stability of an enriched fraction of [3-lactoglobulin. The susceptibility of (3-lactoglobulin to hydrolysis by gastric and pancreatic proteinases was related to the thermal stability of the protein. A pilot scale (tangential crossflow plate and frame) ultrafiltration system was investigated with the view to developing a procedure for the fractionation and continuous hydrolysis of whey proteins.


This article presents qualitative and quantitative findings on provisioning activism in Italy, focusing on Solidarity Purchase Groups (Gruppi di Acquisto Solidale, GAS). By using quantitative data about GAS growth, numerical consistence and economic impact and through ethnographic insights based on prolonged fieldwork, it identifies the GAS movement as an ecological, economic and political counterculture. I discuss the implications for policy efforts at the regional and state level, highlighting both potentials and shortcomings of promoting GAS as means to sustainable development. In particular, I identify the issues of trust, informality and direct democracy as distinctive of GAS practice. However, this positions solidarity economy vis-a-vis policymaking in a potentially oppositional rather than interlocutory stance.


The morbidity and mortality associated with current therapies for acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL) remain a significant clinical concern, despite improvements in patient survival. Consequently, the development of adjuvant therapies that increase efficacy while reducing morbidities is important. Reducing the concentration of the toxic drugs in adjuvant therapy has the potential to reduce unwanted side effects. Therefore, this study aimed to determine the synergistic effects of fucoidan, an anti-tumor agent, with current APL therapies. When the human APL cell line, NB4, was treated in vitro with fucoidan plus ATO and ATRA at therapeutic and sub-therapeutic doses, there was an increase in sub-G0/G1 cells, annexin V/PI-positive-apoptotic cells and DNA fragmentation. This reduction in proliferation and increase in apoptosis was accompanied by enhanced myeloid differentiation as indicated by an increased expression of CD11b. This was not observed with the AML cell line Kasumi-1, suggesting specificity for APL. In vivo treatment of APL-bearing mice with fucoidan+ATRA or fucoidan+ATO delayed tumor growth, induced differentiation and increased tumor volume doubling time. The differentiated APL cells derived from the excised tumor mass exhibited decreased CD44 expression in fucoidan+ATRA treated mice. This could translate to decreased cell migration in APL patients. Our findings provide evidence supporting the use of fucoidan as an adjuvant therapeutic agent in the treatment of APL.


P. Aleksandrowski writes: The new radiometric ages from the Sudetes (SW Poland) presented by Oliver et al. 1993 are to be welcomed as a valuable addition to our knowledge of the Early Palaeozoic history of the north-eastern part of the European Variscan belt. The inferences made from these data—that the Sudetes are primarily a'Caledonian feature and that they contain a Caledonian suture—are however found wanting in a number of respects. A Caledonian age for the main deformation in the Sudetes was already postulated by Bederke as long ago as 1924, but, in contrast to Oliver et al., both he and numerous later workers have increasingly acknowledged the significant role played by Late Devonian–Carboniferous tectonism in the evolution of the area. Moreover, Oliver et al. overlook the structural and facies relationships that link the Sudetes to the western part of the Variscan belt, first recognized by Suess (1903, 1926) and Kossmat (1927) and assumed by more recent syntheses (e.g. Behr et al. 1984; Matte 1986, 1991; Weber 1986; Franke 1989a, b) some of which Oliver et al. refer to. Consequently, Oliver et al. give the erroneous impression that the Sudetes represent a previously unknown part of the Caledonian orogenic belt, equivalent to the British or Scandinavian Caledonides. Oliver et al. base their tectonic synthesis on the presence of an inferred Caledonian suture which implies complete closure of the Early Palaeozoic oceanic basin between Baltica and Gondwana during the Silurian-Early Devonian. This conclusion follows from the analysis of six


Described are ferromagnetic resonance (FMR) studies of the long wavelength magnetostatic wave modes of a single crystal yttrium iron garnet (YIG) slab magnetized by an in-plane field. A resonant circuit comprising a coil, 50 μm in diameter, is used to excite and detect the YIG microwave absorption spectrum. By changing its orientation and position over the sample surface it is possible to excite selectively different series of magnetostatic modes. The observed resonance fields are in good agreement with those calculated numerically from the Damon-Eshbach dispersion relation. The effect of heat currents on the magnetization dynamics in insulating magnets is explored. For a YIG crystal 10 mm in length, 2 mm in width and 25 micrometers in thickness, a temperature gradient of about 20 K/cm is sufficient to suppress the high-order longitudinal magnetostatic modes.


Lyme disease antibiotic therapy regimens are recommended by the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, the Infectious Disease Society of America, and the National Institutes of Health. Alternative approaches consist of prolonged antibiotic treatment however Lyme disease often results in persistent Borrelia burgdorferi infection. Continuous antibiotic therapy results in low lymphocyte levels thus cannot be applied for long term without harm. Objectives: Alternative approaches for treatment of Lyme borreliosis are required, which successfully reduce or erase bacteria without affecting the human cells. Terebinthina laricina, an alcoholic extract of Larix decidua resin was selected for a pilot study to treat a patient with neuroborreliosis. Results: After six weeks of treatment, the patient shows a strong Herxheimer reaction. No disease progression occurs, within weeks she recovers from most of the Lyme disease specific symptoms. Elispot results indicate no bacterial activity. Conclusion: This new principle of Lyme disease treatment shows high potential to provide a smooth medical treatment for neuroborreliosis.


This thesis examines the politics, plots and strategies of the militant presbyterian radicals of the United Societies, or later Covenanters, in their confrontation with the Restoration regime of Charles II and James VII in Scotland, and with the presbyterian movement between 1679 and 1688. Chapter one analyses the correlation between the Societies' lay network and the pattern of militant presbyterian dissent. It outlines their core platform defined by their declarations and strict adherence to the Covenants. It discusses the formation of the United Societies out of the fragmentation of the presbyterian movement from the Bothwell debates to the creation of a coherent Cameronian platform and militant network in 1681. Chapter two analyses the Societies' schisms, persecution and martyrdoms between 1682 and 1684 and argues that the origins of their apocalyptic war against their persecutors lay in their political isolation and persecution from both the regime and their former moderate brethren. Chapter three looks at the Societies' embassies to England and Friesland which redefined their relationships with other presbyterians factions. It examines their role in the Rye House Plots with English Whigs and argues that they were a turning point which isolated them from the British radical underground. It also explores their contacts with the Nadere Reformatorie in the United Provinces which led to the ordination of James Renwick who hardened the Societies' platform, and how the handling of the embassy led to the collapse of their European network. Chapter four examines the targeted persecution of the Societies in the Killing Times and the Societies' role in the Argyll Rising of 1685 that led to further schisms over their separation from the moderate presbyterian ministry which undermined Renwick's leadership. Chapter five traces the revival in the Societies' fortunes to 1688. It examines the internal struggles over the Societies' platform and the broadening of their ministerial cadre to include Alexander Shields and others; their relations with Irish presbyterian militants; their confrontation with moderate presbyterians caused by James VII's toleration scheme; the context and impact of Renwick's martyrdom and the reunification of the militant factions. Chapter six surveys the Societies' world view and their attempts to construct a Calvinist international through their attitudes towards other Calvinists in the Friesland, Bremen and Switzerland, Lutheran Prussia and Sweden, Catholic France under Louis XIV and the Holy Roman Empire, and the Muslim Turks. It also compares their views of the Huguenots, Waldenses of Piedmont and Kurucs of Hungary, and the experiences of those banished to Barbados and the North American Colonies. It concludes that the Societies played a more significant and distinct role in the conflict between the presbyterian movement and the Stuart monarchy than previously thought; that their struggle and militancy were shaped by different political contexts, as demonstrated in their response to the Revolution in Scotland of 1688 to 1689, rather than simply religious conviction; and that the legacy of their martyrs, quickly subsumed into presbyterian tradition, became a justification for the Revolution settlement and a source of contention between radical and reactionary traditions. URI http://hdl.handle.net/1842/3842 Collections History and Classics PhD thesis collection Privacy & Cookies Takedown Policy Accessibility Contact United societies: militancy, martyrdom and the presbyterian movement in late-restoration Scotland, 1679 to 1688


We argue that a global carbon price is the only way to effectively tackle free riding in international climate policy, required to substantially reduce greenhouse gas emissions. We briefly review the main reasons behind the essential role of carbon pricing, address common misunderstandings and scepticism, and identify key complementary policy instruments. Negotiating global carbon pricing is argued to be much easier than negotiating binding country-level targets, especially if it includes equitable revenue recycling. Moreover, a global carbon price can be more readily adapted to new data and insights of climate science. We propose a political strategy towards a global carbon price that consists of two tracks. The first entails assembly of a carbon-pricing club, a specific case of a climate club, to gradually move towards a full participatory agreement on carbon pricing. The second track involves putting time and energy into re-focusing UNFCCC negotiations on a carbon-pricing agreement. The two tracks reinforce one another, increasing the likelihood of a successful outcome.


Flavonoids are well-known antioxidants and have shown the ability to prevent tumor formation and recurrence. Especially in dietary flavonoids, they have provided convenience and consistence of intake for long-term prevention of tumor formation. Previous reports suggested that S100 calcium-binding protein A7 (S100A7) might activate epithelial–mesenchymal transition (EMT) signaling and promote the metastasis of tumor cells; however, the regulatory signaling was unclear. In this study, we found that S100A7 was highly expressed in cancer cells and could be reduced by luteolin (Lu) and quercetin (Qu) through Src/Stat3 signaling. We found that the protein levels of S100A7, phosphorylated Src (p-Src), and p-Stat3 were increased in A431-III cells. Flavonoids Lu and Qu reduce protein levels of p-Src, p-Stat3 and S100A7 in A431-III cells. Treatment of A431-III cells with Src inhibitor SU6656 and Stat3 inhibitor S3I-201 also reduced the protein levels of S100A7. Transactivation activity of 5′-upstream regions of S100A7 was activated by Stat3 but was reduced by treatment with Lu, Qu, SU6656 and S3I-201. The treatment also reduced the migratory and invasive abilities of A431-III cells. In a further analysis of EMT markers, the protein level of E-cad increased and that of Twist decreased after treatment with the inhibitors and flavonoids. Overexpression of S100A7 decreased the protein level of E-cad and increased the Twist level, whereas knockdown of S100A7 had the opposite effects. Treatment with S3I-201, Lu and Qu, compared to the control, were found to decrease metastasis of tumor cells in zebrafish larvae. These results suggest that Lu and Qu may inhibit Src/Stat3/S100A7 signaling to reduce tumorigenesis of cancer cells.


Judges across the US have been charged or convicted of driving while intoxicated, yet many judges are allowed to continue to practice despite their criminal act(s). The issue becomes not only a societal issue, but also an ethical and professional one which impacts the individual criminal justice practitioner and criminal justice agencies. Duty to judicial and social expectations informs an argument regarding ethical theories: deontology and utilitarianism. Solutions include an examination of restorative justice measures such as: a balance of service to the community such as participating in victim-offender mediation and victim-offender panels as the offender, and completing community service where the victim chooses the judges number of hours and location of the service. While some may believe these jurists should suffer punitive punishments such as loss of judgeships, long-term treatment, and extensive probation coupled with individual psychiatric therapy, consideration of all factors with restoration in mind, might be more appropriate for these judicial offenders.


The phosphoinositide signaling pathway, which mediates neurotransmitter responses, was studied in Xenopus oocytes by recording membrane currents evoked using lightflash photolysis of caged inositol trisphosphate (caged IP3) to produce rapid and reproducible transients in intracellular IP3 levels. Photolysis of caged IP3 evoked currents which were carried largely by chloride ions and depended upon intracellular, but not extracellular, calcium. A given light flash evoked larger responses when the amount of caged IP3 loaded into the oocyte was increased, and illumination of the vegetal hemisphere gave larger responses than the animal. Long (10 sec) light exposures produced oscillatory currents, resembling responses to serotonin and other agonists, which became larger, more transient, and of shorter latency as the light intensity was increased. Brief (ca. 100 msec) flashes evoked a single "spike" of current. The caged IP3 response showed a threshold, in that light flashes had to be greater than a certain intensity and duration before currents could be detected. Associated with this, sub- and suprathreshold light flashes caused a long-lasting (seconds or minutes) potentiation of responses to subsequent test flashes. The lightflash response was also potentiated by a preceding intracellular injection of IP3 and by extracellular application of an agonist thought to induce IP3 liberation. However, intracellular injections of calcium depressed the response. We conclude that the liberation of calcium from intracellular stores varies nonlinearly with the intracellular level of IP3. This phenomenon may explain earlier observations, including the long latency of currents evoked by low doses of agonists such as acetylcholine and serotonin, and the nonlinear facilitation seen between these agonists. Further, it suggests a mechanism for "chemical integration," which may be important in the functioning of neurons and other cells which use IP3 as an intracellular messenger.


Background Widespread integration of the Internet has resulted in an increase in the feasibility of using Web-based technologies as a means of communicating with patients. It may be possible to develop secure and standardized systems that facilitate Internet-based patient-reported outcomes which could be used to improve patient care. Objective This study investigates patient interest in participating in an online post-treatment disease outcomes and quality of life monitoring program developed specifically for patients who have received radiation treatment for prostate cancer at a regional oncology center. Methods Patients treated for prostate cancer between 2007 and 2011 (N=1113) at the British Columbia Cancer Agency, Centre for the Southern Interior were invited by mail to participate in a standardized questionnaire related to their post-treatment health. Overall participation rates were calculated. In addition, demographics, access to broadband Internet services, and treatment modalities were compared between participants and nonparticipants. Results Of the 1030 eligible invitees, 358 (358/1030, 34.7%) completed the online questionnaire. Participation rates were higher in individuals younger than age 60 when compared to those age 60 or older (42% vs 31%) and also for those living in urban areas compared with rural (37% vs 29%) and in those who received brachytherapy versus external beam radiotherapy (EBRT) (41% vs 31%). Better participation rates were seen in individuals who had access to Internet connectivity based on the different types of broadband services (DSL 35% for those with DSL connectivity vs 29% for those without DSL connectivity; cable 35% vs 32%; wireless 38% vs 26%). After adjusting for age, the model indicates that lack of access to wireless broadband connectivity, living in a rural area, and receiving EBRT were significant predictors of lower participation. Conclusions This study demonstrates that participation rates vary in patient populations within the interior region of British Columbia, especially with older patients, those in rural areas, and those with limited access to quality Internet services.


This first ever comprehensive study of brick follows the story of brick from 5,000 BC to its use in building today, via the vast baths and basilicas of ancient Rome, through the wonders of Gothic brick in Germany, the majestic temples of Pagan and Mughal mosques in Iran, to its modern revival. Illustrated with specially-taken photographs, "Brick" is at once an historical account of how bricks have been employed by architects of every period, a technical survey of brickmaking and bricklaying, and an essay in architectural and cultural history.


The purpose of this investigation was to determine whether there is a relation between impaired insulin-stimulated glucose utilization, or insulin resistance, and blood pressure (BP) in a young adult black population. Clinically well, young black men and women, including normotensive (BP < 135/85 mm Hg, n = 23) and borderline hypertensive (BP > or = 135/85 mm Hg, n = 27) individuals, were studied. Each subject had an oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) and underwent a euglycemic hyperinsulinemic clamp procedure. A two-way analysis of variance demonstrated a significantly greater fasting insulin plasma concentration (P < .02) and sum of insulin levels during the OGTT (P = .04) in the borderline hypertensive compared with normotensive subjects. In both BP groups, women had significantly higher fasting plasma insulin levels than men (P < .02 and P = .009). Body mass index was a significantly covariate of the plasma insulin concentration. Data obtained from the clamp demonstrated significant insulin resistance in borderline hypertensive compared with normotensive subjects (4.69 +/- 0.50 versus 6.57 +/- 0.63 mg/kg per minute, P = .002). A stepwise multiple linear regression analysis demonstrated that there are significant multiple correlations of insulin resistance with body mass index, clamped insulin level, BP group, and systolic BP (multiple R = .7862, P < .001). Application of this analysis to the nonobese sample (n = 33) found significant correlations of insulin resistance with sex, BP group, and systolic BP (multiple R = .6817, P < .001).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)


Modern applications require powerful high-performance platforms to deal with many different algorithms that make use of massive calculations. At the same time, low-cost and high-performance specific hardware (e.g., GPU, PPU) are rising and the CPUs turned to multiple cores, characterizing together an interesting and powerful heterogeneous execution platform. Therefore, self-adaptive computing is a potential paradigm for those scenarios as it can provide flexibility to explore the computational resources on heterogeneous cluster attached to a high-performance computer system platform. As the first step towards a run-time reschedule load-balancing framework targeting that kind of platform, application time requirements and its crosscutting behavior play an important role for task allocation decisions. This paper presents a strategy for self-reallocation of specific tasks, including dynamic created ones, using aspect-oriented paradigms to address non-functional application timing constraints in the design phase. Additionally, as a case study, a special attention on radar image processing will be given in the context of a surveillance system based on unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV).


Evolutionary plant breeding has a long history, but has so far not become part of mainstream breeding research, nor has it been implemented in practice to any substantial degree.
However, over the last decade, research in evolutionary plant breeding has markedly intensified. For example, there are currently major research projects on-going in this area, including the EU funded project SOLIBAM, the Wheat Breeding LINK project in the UK, and the Danish Biobreed project. Also, a new 3-year international research project called COBRA on this topic is due to start in March 2013. Funded by the CORE Organic 2 Eranet the project brings together over 40 partner organizations from 18 European countries.
In addition, interest in evolutionary plant breeding is growing among farmers, breeders and policy makers. In fact, there are currently encouraging developments in the imminent revision of seed legislation in Europe that could lead to more room for evolutionary plant breeding approaches in the future.
This renewed interest in evolutionary plant breeding is partly due to the recognition that mainstream plant breeding is limited in terms of its engagement with end users, i.e. farmers and growers. More urgently however, effects of climate change on agricultural production have become more noticeable and there is also a growing awareness of increasing resource constraints; together, these will create more stressful growing conditions for agricultural crops. With this background, it is now being recognized that crops need to be able to cope with more variable, contrasting, fluctuating, and generally more unpredictable growing conditions.
To be able to deal with this large and increasing environmental variability, plant breeding needs to become more decentralized and diversified. Evolutionary plant breeding offers great potential in this respect. The contributions collated from this symposium explore this potential as well as the limitations of evolutionary plant breeding. While they only show a part of the on-going research activities in Europe, we hope that these proceedings provide inspiration both for further research and for implementation in practice.


Cover cropping is a widely promoted strategy to enhance soil health in agricultural systems. Despite a substantial body of literature demonstrating links between cover crops and soil biology, an important component of soil health, research evaluating how specific cover crop species influence soil microbial communities remains limited. This study examined the effects of eight fall-sown cover crop species grown singly and in multispecies mixtures on microbial community structure and soil biological activity using phospholipid fatty acid (PLFA) profiles and daily respiration rates, respectively. Fourteen cover crop treatments and a no cover crop control were established in August of 2011 and 2012 on adjacent fields in central Pennsylvania following spring oats (Avena sativa L.). Soil communities were sampled from bulk soil collected to a depth of 20 cm (7.9 in) in fall and spring, approximately two and nine months after cover crop planting and prior to cover crop termination. In both fall and spring, cover crops led to an increase in total PLFA concentration relative to the arable weed community present in control plots (increases of 5.37 nmol g−1 and 10.20 nmol g−1, respectively). While there was a positive correlation between aboveground plant biomass (whether from arable weeds or cover crops) and total PLFA concentration, we also found that individual cover crop species favored particular microbial functional groups. Arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi were more abundant beneath oat and cereal rye (Secale cereale L.) cover crops. Non-AM fungi were positively associated with hairy vetch (Vicia villosa L.). These cover crop-microbial group associations were present not only in monocultures, but also multispecies cover crop mixtures. Arable weed communities were associated with higher proportions of actinomycetes and Gram-positive bacteria. Soil biological activity varied by treatment and was positively correlated with both the size and composition (fungal:bacterial ratio) of the microbial community. This research establishes a clear link between cover crops, microbial communities, and soil health. We have shown that while cover crops generally promote microbial biomass and activity, there are species-specific cover crop effects on soil microbial community composition that ultimately influence soil biological activity. This discovery paves the way for intentional management of the soil microbiome to enhance soil health through cover crop selection.


Cervical cancer is the leading cause of cancer death for women in low resource settings, often affecting the most economically disenfranchised segment of the population. The key challenge with cervical cancer is the lack of an effective screening program for many of the at-risk, difficult-to-reach women. Outreach programs that utilize mobile clinics to increase access to screening and care in Baja California have been developed. However, many barriers such as quality assurance, efficient referral remained a challenge in this region. Visualization-based co-tests together with cytology (Pap smears) as a primary screen have been proposed. Here, the mobile colposcope of the enhanced visual assessment (EVA) is used to capture an image immediately following a Pap smear. EVA images were reviewed by expert colposcopists. Initial or preliminary data from pilot services showed that Pap false positives and Pap false negatives maybe reduced by expert review of EVA images. This suggests that reviewing of EVA images may be instrumental in catching inaccurate Pap results, thereby improving care. Thus, there is a need to further explore the benefits of using EVA as additional information when conducting Pap smear screenings.


The aim of the present short article is to examine critically the security planning of the Olympic Games (OG) 2004 and particularly the manner in which it was developed and set into operation, the institutions and units involved, the command model which was developed so as to ensure their safe conduct as well as the problems revealed by the enforcement of the relative legislation and the legislation which was established for this specific event. The handling of the security of The OG 2004 to the Hellenic Police (HP), created the additional problem that the aforesaid institution would be in a position to have institutional opinion for actions and functions of other Competent Authorities, which were outside its normal-legal institutional framework, with the possible danger due to the lack of the analogous specialization for wrong decisions and choices to be made.


A vivid memory from 10 years ago: a newspaper photograph shows Scotland's late First Minister, Donald Dewar, holding open Deyan Sudjic's Blueprint special on the Australian Embassy in Tokyo. The building was completed in 1992 by Denton Corker Marshall (DCM), which was at that time working with us, Gordon Murray + Alan Dunlop Architects, on the 1998 competition for the new Scottish Parliament. It was this photograph that suggested to us that we might have just made the shortlist. The rest, as they say, is well-documented history -- we lost out to Enric Miralles. For John Denton, Bill Corker and Barrie Marshall, however, the Australian Embassy project was of greater significance than the Scottish Parliament. The embassy is mature architecture that is only vaguely European, not American, but manifestly Australian. Thinness (though not of ideas), lightness, exposed metal structure and surfaces compound the almost transient architecture. The nomadic steel canvas and trademark yellow poles of Monash University School of Art and Design (1999) in Victoria, Australia, epitomise this lightness.


The handling of scattered spatial points is an important question in computer graphics and there are several methods to construct surfaces from these type of data. The aim of our paper is to present a new method which produces standard free-form surfaces from the scattered data. Earlier methods normally construct a triangular control grid from the data however NURBS or Bezier sur- faces originally use quadrilateral control grid. In this paper a new approach is presented, where flrst an artiflcial neural network is used to order the data and form a grid of control vertices with quadrilateral topology, hence after this step the original, well-known free-form methods can be applied to construct the surface. Another advantage of this method that it can handle arbitrary set of points as well as very few data.


We survey the properties of photonic crystal fibers with elliptical air holes, examining mode shapes, birefringence, group velocity walkoff and dispersion, and cutoff conditions. We find new types of behavior for each quantity and demonstrate the possibility achieving large birefringence with zero walkoff in the single-mode regime. We show that the dispersive properties of the vector modes are closely tied to those of the so-called fundamental space filling modes, and that at long wavelengths, the fibers exhibit a single-polarization single-mode regime of propagation without the presence of material anisotropy.


Through direct modeling, a reduction of pattern-dependent errors in a standard fiber-based transmission link at 40 Gbits/s rate is demonstrated by application of a skewed data pre-encoding. The trade-off between the improvement of the bit error rate and the loss in the data rate is examined.


Potential benefits to reducing turnover times are both quantitative (e.g., complete more cases and reduce staffing costs) and qualitative (e.g., improve professional satisfaction). Analyses have shown the quantitative arguments to be unsound except for reducing staffing costs. We describe a methodology by which each surgical suite can use its own numbers to calculate its individual potential reduction in staffing costs from reducing its turnover times. Calculations estimate optimal allocated operating room (OR) time (based on maximizing OR efficiency) before and after reducing the maximum and average turnover times. At four academic tertiary hospitals, reductions in average turnover times of 3 to 9 min would result in 0.8% to 1.8% reductions in staffing cost. Reductions in average turnover times of 10 to 19 min would result in 2.5% to 4.0% reductions in staffing costs. These reductions in staffing cost are achieved predominantly by reducing allocated OR time, not by reducing the hours that staff work late. Heads of anesthesiology groups often serve on OR committees that are fixated on turnover times. Rather than having to argue based on scientific studies, this methodology provides the ability to show the specific quantitative effects (small decreases in staffing costs and allocated OR time) of reducing turnover time using a surgical suite's own data.


Local authorities are major construction clients, particularly in areas such as highways, and hence are able to exert a considerable influence on the use of construction materials in their area. They are also responsible for a number of related activities, such as waste management and planning, that can have a significant effect on the extent to which recycling of all kinds takes place. This report describes the experience of Hampshire County Council, and shows how a local authority that is committed to sustainability and prepared to take action to implement its principles can achieve considerable success in maximising the use of recycled and secondary aggregates. The current and potential use of recycled and secondary aggregates in Hampshire and the adjacent urban areas of Southampton and Portsmouth are described and targets are developed for 2010 and 2020. These include targets for materials used in high value applications such as asphalt and concrete as well as for total use of recycled and secondary aggregates. The actions that are necessary to achieve the targets are discussed, and six case studies are presented to illustrate how recycled and secondary aggregates can be used efficiently and effectively in a range of applications. The experience of Hampshire can be applied to other local authorities and construction clients in general. A range of issues that were highlighted in a 2001 TRL report, 'Recycling in transport infrastructure', are reviewed in the light of the experience of Hampshire and brought up to date. There has been considerable progress on a number of issues, but some potential barriers remain. (A)


This paper examines the effects of introducing competition into monopolized network industries on prices and infrastructure quality. Analyzing a model with reduced-form demand, we first show that deregulating an integrated monopoly cannot simultaneously decrease the retail price and increase infrastructure quality. Second, we derive conditions under which reducing both retail price and infrastructure quality relative to the integrated monopoly outcome increases welfare. Third, we argue that restructuring and setting very low access charges may yield welfare losses, as infrastructure investment is undermined. We provide an extensive analysis of the linear demand model and discuss policy implications.


While cost-benefit analysis has been employed in highway planning processes for decades, such analytical approaches are less frequently used in trail planning due to the limited availability of data and methodologies for quantifying trail benefits. As a result, even projects that provide critical access to safe, high-quality open space with real mobility and health benefits are often considered "amenities," rather than "needs." Individual agencies and trail project sponsors have measured trail use and benefits along local greenways, but there currently are no generalizable methods for predicting demand or conducting impact assessment on trails. To address this gap, the Rails-to-Trails Conservancy (RTC) is developing the Trail Modeling and Assessment Platform (T-MAP), a set of trail planning data collection and analysis tools, including a trail user survey. The T-MAP survey tool was developed to allow implementing agencies to learn more about trail use and users, especially users' physical activity. This paper describes the development of a survey instrument and sampling protocol that yielded a response rate of 55% in field testing. The survey includes questions from the Global Physical Activity Questionnaire, an internationally validated instrument developed by the World Health Organization. We report the results of testing the effect of alternative survey distribution methods (in-person interview and online post-survey) and incentives on overall response rates and sample bias across multiple population variables, including gender, age, trail use mode, overall health status, and physical activity frequency. The highest response rates (64%) were achieved through a combination of personal intercept interview with incentive, followed by online participation after receiving a card from a surveyor on the trail. When designing a survey data collection and sampling plan, decisions such as whether to use field workers, to offer incentives, and the survey administration format all impact the response rate and the representativeness of the sample, and thus the cost and quality of the data collected. These findings can help trail managers, local planners, or advocates to estimate survey administration costs and maximize returns through efficient and valid data collection to conduct trail benefit assessments based on high-quality data.


Using VOCALS REx C-130 aircraft measurements to understand aerosol-cloud-precipitation interactions in marine stratocumulus Christopher R. Terai Co-Chairs of the Supervisory Committee: Professor Robert Wood Atmospheric Sciences Professor Christopher S. Bretherton Atmospheric Sciences The high albedo and weak greenhouse-effect of marine stratocumulus provide a strong cooling effect on the regional climate. The concentrations of aerosols, particularly those large enough to act as cloud condensation nuclei, can influence the properties of marine stratocumulus by modifying the cloud droplet size distributions and influencing drizzle production. This dissertation mainly presents results inferred from aircraft measurements taken aboard the NSF/NCAR C-130 research flights flown during the VOCALS Regional Experiment (Oct. to Nov. 2008). These measurements are used to shed light on the interaction between the marine stratocumulus and aerosol particles. Satellite retrievals and simple models are also used to identify and simulate the various processes that modulate aerosol concentrations and drizzle formation. The dissertation is organized into the following three sections: • Characterizing pocket of open cells (POC) The aerosol, cloud, precipitation, and boundary layer properties from five POCs are studied using measurements from the C-130 aircraft. We find that POCs are observed in a wide range of conditions (inversion heights, surface wind speeds, surface and free tropospheric conditions, and background accumulation-mode aerosol concentrations). Despite the wide range of background conditions that POCs are observed under, they all exhibit low cloud droplet number concentrations, higher column maximum precipitation rates, and a narrow range of accumulation-mode aerosol concentrations in the subcloud layer. In all POCs, an ultraclean layer exists below the inversion, where accumulation-model aerosol concentrations are < 5 cm−3. All POCs are also populated by two types of clouds: deeper, cumuliform, active clouds and thin, stratiform, quiescent clouds. • Estimating the microphysical process rates in POCs Using the same C-130 aircraft data, the collision-coalescence rates in POCs are estimated to quantify the various budgets of cloud droplet number concentration, drizzle number concentration, cloud water mixing ratio, and drizzle water mixing ratio. The rates in POC clouds are compared to rates in the surrounding overcast clouds. Accretion is found to be the largest contributor to both the loss of cloud droplet number concentration and the conversion of cloud water into drizzle water. Although decreases in cloud droplet number concentration due to accretion are not always stronger in POC compared to the surrounding overcast region, because of the lower cloud droplet number concentrations, the timescales of cleaning out cloud droplets is shorter in the POC. A parcel model with bin microphysics is employed to determine whether collision coalescence processes can explain the high concentration of drizzle drops with radii < 100μm in quiescent clouds of POCs. Collision-coalescence of drops and condensation due to typical updraft speeds found in POCs are unable to explain the high concentration of drizzle drops. • Comparing the precipitation susceptibility of marine stratocumulus from satellite retrievals and a diagnostic precipitation model A combined MODIS and CloudSat satellite dataset of coincident cloud and drizzle properties and a diagnostic precipitation model with stochastically perturbed microphysics are used to calculate the precipitation susceptibility in marine stratocumulus. The precipitation susceptibility quantifies the fractional decrease in precipitation rate due to a fractional increase in cloud droplet number concentration, such that a positive susceptibility means a suppression of precipitation due to increasing precipitation rate. Precipitation susceptibility are found to be positive in both satellite and model precipitation. Both satellite and model precipitation also show decreases in the susceptibility of probability of precipitation (POP) with increasing LWP, where the values largely agree between the two. Model sensitivities to parameter choices and regional differences in the satellite data are explored. Finally, the connection between susceptibility values and collision-coalescence processes (autoconversion and accretion) in the model are investigated. Although previous studies found that increasing ratio between accretion and autoconversion (Ac/Au) explained decreases in susceptibilities, the modeling results show that this is not always the case.


Risky sexual behaviour is connected, not only with unwanted pregnancy, but also with different kinds of infections as well with those that can cause cervical cancer and damage reproductive health. The aim of this work was to analyze the knowledge of the 8th grade pupils about contraception and sexually transmitted diseases (STD) in 2014. Our method of work was the use individual anonymous questionnaire before the lessons about contraception and sexually transmitted diseases given by the doctors of the Dispensary for Women of the Medical Centre Zajecar. The questionnaire contained general questions (gender, parental education and place of living), questions about contraception (definition, methods and means of contraception), questions referring to STD, relevant sources of information and whether the pupils were willing to spread their knowledge on the topic, whether they were sexually active and whether they used some contraceptive. 350 pupils were interviewed - 160 (46%) girls and 190 (54%) boys of 5 city schools and 2 country schools (in Veliki Izvor and Zvezdan). There were 3 classes in each of the 5 city schools with 283 pupils (81%), of which 138 girls (49%) and 145 boys (5%). 67 pupils were interviewed in the two country schools of which 22 girls (33%) and 45 boys (67%). Results: The parents of city school pupils had higher education than the parents of country school pupils. To the question whether they knew what contraception was, 58% of the pupils answered positively. The girls gave a positive answer in 74% of the cases, while only 45% of the boys confirmed that they knew what contraception was. This self-confidence proved to be exaggerated, because 58% of questionnaires were left with no answer to the question what the purpose of contraception was, 115 pupils gave only one answer to this question, while 32 pupils gave two answers. It was interesting that a higher number of girls (42%) related contraception to protection against unwanted pregnancy, while the boys related it almost equally to protection against sexually transmitted diseases (46%) and unwanted pregnancies (41%). Unfortunately, 66% of the respondents, 77% boys and 53% girls, didn't know any means of contraception. The most common answer to contraception means was a condom (most often mentioned by boys), and the pill (mostly stated by girls). Generally speaking, the pupils were not informed on contraception (67%). To the question on sexually transmitted diseases 71% of the respondents knew only for AIDS. 8% the pupils interviewed were sexually active, but only boys. Conclusion: Although they start being sexually active, pupils at the final grade of elementary school have very poor knowledge on contraception. AIDS is the only sexually transmitted disease that they know about. It is the responsibility of both the community and doctors to contribute to the education of young people in order to protect and improve their reproductive health.


Efficient management during the operational phase of district energy systems has become increasingly complex due to the various static and dynamic factors involved. Existing deterministic algorithms which are largely based on human experience acquired from specific domains, normally fail to consider the overall efficiency of district energy systems in a holistic way. This paper looks into taking a black box approach by using genetic algorithms (GA) to solve a multiobjectiveoptimization problem conforming to economic, environmental and efficiency standards. This holistic optimization model, takes into account both heat and electricity demand profiles, and was applied in Ebbw Vale district, in Wales. The model helps compute optimized daily schedules for the generation mix in the district and different operational strategies are analyzed using deterministic and genetic algorithm (GA) based combined optimization methods. The results evidence that GA can be used to define an optimum strategy behind heat production leading to an increase in profit by 32% and reduction in CO2 emissions by 36% in the 24 hour period analyzed. This research fits in well with future district energy systems which give priority to integrated and systematic management.


Given the need for robust and cost‐efficient in vitro models to study angiogenesis and reproducibly analyze potential pro‐ and antiangiogenic compounds in preclinical studies, we developed a 3‐dimensional in vitro angiogenesis assay that is based on collagen gel‐embedded, size‐defined spheroids generated from cultured human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs). Despite its wide distribution, limitations, sensitivity, robustness, and improvements, the capacity of this assay for functional screening purposes has not been elucidated thus far. By using time‐lapse video microscopy, we show that tip cells lead the formation of capillary‐like and partially lumenized sprouts originating from the spheroids. Angiogenic sprouting from spheroids generated from 5 different primary cultured human endothelial cell types was induced by physiologic concentrations of vascular endothelial cell growth factor 165. Based on this assay system, we determined the capacity of 880 approved drugs to interfere with or boost angiogenic sprouting, thereby assessing their putative angiogenesis‐related side effects or novel applications. However, although this assay allowed for a rapid and reproducible determination of functional IC50 values of individual compounds, the sprouting results were partially affected by the HUVEC passage number and donor variability. To overcome this limitation, immortalized HUVECs (iHUVECs) showing a more homogenous response in terms of proliferation and sprouting over multiple population doublings were used in the course of this study. Collectively, the spheroid‐based angiogenesis assay provides a sensitive and versatile tool to study the impact of pro‐ and antiangiogenic determinants on multiple steps of the angiogenic cascade. It is compatible with different endothelial cell types and allows use of iHUVECs to improve its overall robustness.—Heiss, M., Hellström, M., Kalén, M., May, T., Weber, H., Hecker, M., Augustin, H. G., Korff, T. Endothelial cell spheroids as a versatile tool to study angiogenesis in vitro. FASEB J. 29, 3076‐3084 (2015). www.fasebj.org


This paper is about the housing crisis, both the endemic crisis that makes decent affordable housing an unrealizable dream for one-third of all American households, and the housing bubble that burst in 2006 forcing millions of working poor homeowners into foreclosure. It is written from the perspective of the working poor, a perspective that is sorely lacking in the national debate around housing. The information presented is grounded in a thorough review of the academic literature combined with our collective experiences in real life housing foreclosures. Based on calculations by the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia, we develop a simple formula for calculating the bank costs for the foreclosure/eviction/REO liquidation process. We offer a creative alternative that saves banks money while also stabilizing families and neighborhoods — donation of properties to community-based organizations. Finally, we outline a functioning Community Land Trust and we invite financial institutions to discuss collaborations that can improve the bank's bottom line while also keeping families out of poverty. We draw the following important conclusions: •The working poor, especially people of color, suffered the greatest losses from the current housing crisis, while real estate speculators are the only winners. •The foreclosure/eviction process sentences working poor families to lives of poverty and has negative impacts on entire neighborhoods. •In one-third to one-half of foreclosure cases in low income neighborhoods, banks lose more by proceeding with foreclosure than be simply donating the properties to community groups. In section 4, we outline an alternative to foreclosure — donation of unprofitable properties to Community Land Trusts. We address several possible concerns about this approach to loss mitigation, and we invite the major financial institutions in the US to discuss with us the donation option as an alternative to foreclosure. This paper is researched and written by members of the Casas del Pueblo Community Land Trust, part of the Centro Autónomo community center located on the north side of Chicago in Albany Park. The Centro Autónomo membership is largely Latino, and Albany Park is a majority Latino neighborhood, though also said to be the third most ethnically diverse neighborhood in the US. The community center is focused on four principal areas that are critical to the lives of working immigrants: education (adult high school, ESL and computer classes, gender workshop), work (women's house-cleaning cooperative), health (community clinic), and housing. Both Casas del Pueblo and the Centro Autónomo are projects of the Mexico-US Solidarity Network, a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization registered in the State of Illinois.