The basis of this study is the acceleration, velocity, and displacement wave-forms of the Loma Prieta earthquake (18 October 1989; M = 7.0) at two rock sites in San Francisco, a rock site on Yerba Buena Island, an artificial-fill site on Treasure Island, and three sites in Oakland underlain by thick sections of poorly consolidated Pleistocene sediments. The waveforms at the three rock sites display a strong coherence, as do the three sedimentary sites in Oakland. The duration of strong motion at the rock sites is very brief, suggestive of an unusually short source duration for an earthquake of this size, while the records in Oakland show strong amplification effects due to site geology. The S-wave group at Treasure Island is phase coherent with the Oakland records, but at somewhat diminished amplitudes, until the steps in acceleration at approximately 15 sec, apparently signaling the onset of liquefaction. All seven records clearly show shear-wave first motion opposite to that expected for the mainshock radiation pattern and peak amplitudes greater than expected for sites at these distances (95 ± 3 km) from an earthquake of this magnitude.
 While the association between these ground motion records and related damage patterns in nearby areas has been easily and eagerly accepted by seismological and engineering observers of them, we have had some difficulty in making such relationships quantitative or even just clear. The three Oakland records, from sites that form a nearly equilateral triangle about the Cypress Street viaduct collapse, are dominated by a long-period resonance (≃ 1 1/2-sec period) far removed from the natural frequency of the structure to transverse motion (2.5 Hz) or from high-frequency amplification bands observed in aftershock studies. A spectral ratio arbiter of this discrepancy confuses it further. The failure of the East Bay crossing of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge cannot be attributed to relative displacements of the abutments in Oakland and Yerba Buena Island, but the motions of the Bay Bridge causing failure remain unknown. The steps in acceleration at Treasure Island present unusual strong-motion accelerogram processing problems, and modeling suggests that the velocity and displacement waveforms are contaminated by a spurious response of the filtering operations to the acceleration steps. A variety of coincidences suggests that the Treasure island accelerogram is the most likely strong-motion surrogate for the filled areas of the Marina District, for which no mainshock records are available, but the relative contributions of bad ground, poor construction and truly strong ground motion to damage in the Marina District will never by known in any quantitative way. The principal lesson of all of this is that until a concerted effort is mounted to instrument ground and structures that are likely to fail during earthquakes, our understanding of the very complex relationships between strong ground motion and earthquake damage will, in general, remain rudimentary, imprecise, and vague.


Increasing reuse of reclaimed water for unrestricted agricultural and landscape irrigation is raising considerable concern for human health protection due to the potential spread and contact with human
parasites and pathogens. Parasites pose a significant public health concern and the removal of helminth eggs is becoming a crucial treatment step when providing safe reclaimed water. Although laboratory
tests conducted so far indicate that microscreens can efficiently remove helminth eggs, convincing evidence was missing on the ability of full-scale processes to achieve such objective. This paper presents the results of a demonstration project conducted to validate the efficiency and the reliability of a gravity microscreening filtration process using the Hydrotech Discfilter, with a 10-μm pore size cloth, as a physical barrier for removing parasitic helminth eggs in full scale water reclamation plants. Tests were conducted at the Baix Llobregat Water Reclamation Plant in Barcelona (Spain) in May-June 2007.
About 2 million helminth eggs of the Trichuris suis species were added to reclaimed water (7.6 m3 close
recirculation system) and subsequently filtered through a Hydrotech Discfilter with 10-μm pore size cloth. A total of 68 samples of reclaimed water (34 influent samples of 20L, and 34 effluent samples of 100L) were analyzed using an adaptation of the Bailenger modified method, as recommended by WHO in "Wastewater analysis for agricultural use" by Ayres & Mara. Several changes to the modified method were applied at the Faculty of Pharmacy of the University of Barcelona, to improve the method recovery efficiency. Those adaptations resulted in an absolute recovery efficiency of up to 80-90%, considerably larger than the 30-74% recovery achieved by the recommended Bailenger modified method. Those recovery improvements were achieved by using a sample volume higher than that recommended, by omitting the grease extraction step, by analyzing total water sample volumes, and by counting all the helminth eggs present in a McMaster chamber. Results clearly showed that the Hydrotech Discfilter effluent had no helminth eggs, regardless of the helminth egg concentrations entering the filter (10–3200 eggs/20L), with the exception of one sample in which a 1egg/100L concentration was detected. Those results also confirm the high efficiency (up to 4.2 ulog for 100L samples) and reliability (3.5 ulog for
100L samples in 90% of the cases) of the parasitic helminth eggs retention process that takes places on the filter cloth. Those results illustrate the safety of the reclaimed water obtained, with parasitic helminth egg concentrations 10 times lower than the limit recommended by WHO guidelines (2006) and that established by the Spanish RD 1620/2007 (1 egg/10L). In summary, the Hydrotech Discfilter functions as an effective and reliable barrier against helminth eggs. Its small footprint, its low energy consumption and its simple operation and maintenance requirements make it a competitive and attractive technology
for water reclamation and reuse. The full study report has been published by Veolia and is available at http://www.veoliawaterst.es.


The goals of this study were to examine longitudinal changes in perceived control in adolescents' sibling relationships and to describe the nature and correlates of three distinct control patterns: Firstborn dominant, equal, and secondborn dominant. Firstborn and secondborn adolescents in 184 predominately European-American families participated in home interviews and a series of phone interviews as part of a longitudinal a study of family relationships and adolescent development. Findings revealed changes in control over three years as well as sibling differences. In addition, different patterns of control were linked to qualities of the sibling relationship and to adolescent adjustment. The different roles that firstborn and secondborn siblings assume, and why these roles are linked to relationship experiences and adjustment, are discussed.


In veterinary medicine, the ability to classify mammary tumours based on the molecular profile and also determine whether the immunophenotype of the regional lymph node and/or systemic metastases is equal to that of the primary tumor may be predictive on the estimation of the effectiveness of various cancer treatments that can be scheduled. Therefore, aims, developed as projects, of the past three years have been (1) to define the molecular phenotype of feline mammary carcinomas and their lymph node metastases according to a previous modified algorithm and to demonstrate the concordance or discordance of the molecular profile between the primary tumour and lymph node metastasis, (2) to analyze, in female dogs, the relationship between the primary mammary tumor and its lymph node metastasis based on immunohistochemical molecular characterization in order to develop the most specific prognostic-predictive models and targeted therapeutic options, and (3) to evaluate the molecular trend of cancer from its primary location to systemic metastases in three cats and two dogs with mammary tumors.
The studies on mammary tumours, particularly in dogs, have drawn gradually increasing attention not exclusively to the epithelial component, but also to the myoepithelial cells. The lack of complete information on a valid panel of markers for the identification of these cells in the normal and neoplastic mammary gland and lack of investigation of immunohistochemical changes from an epithelial to a mesenchymal phenotype, was the aim of a parallel research.
While investigating mammary tumours, it was noticed that only few studies had focused on the expression of CD117. Therefore, it was decided to further deepen the knowledge in order to characterize the immunohistochemical staining of CD117 in normal and neoplastic mammary tissue of the dog, and to correlate CD117 immunohistochemical results with mammary histotype, histological stage (invasiveness), Ki67 index and patient survival time.


Shape parameters of a weakly deformed ground-state band and highly deformed slightly triaxial sideband in ^{42}Ca were determined from E2 matrix elements measured in the first low-energy Coulomb excitation experiment performed with AGATA. The picture of two coexisting structures is well reproduced by new state-of-the-art large-scale shell model and beyond-mean-field calculations. Experimental evidence for superdeformation of the band built on 0_{2}^{+} has been obtained and the role of triaxiality in the A∼40 mass region is discussed. Furthermore, the potential of Coulomb excitation as a tool to study superdeformation has been demonstrated for the first time.


In this Letter, the authors present a new design of left-handed material structure that can emit UV light via second harmonic generation. It has been shown that negative index can be achieved by excitation of surface polariton waves operating in dispersion regime with anti-parallel refracted wave vector and the Poynting vector. Coupled dipole approximation predicts negative real values of both permeability μ and permittivity e with extremely low imaginary values at visible/UV light. Through 3D FDTD numerical simulations, far-field spectrum and high transmission efficiency >;98% can be attained, resulting to high directionality, which favours its potential application as a plasmonic nanoantenna. Influence of structural parameters on transmission and dispersion properties is also investigated in detail that might be useful for imaging applications.


Determination of aortic mechanical properties in a non-invasive way would be an important step in predicting the onset and development of one of the most fatal degenerative cardiovascular diseases: abdominal aortic aneurysm(AAA). The approach presented in this work to achieve this goal couples Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) with Finite Element (FE) analysis to define a model of aortic mechanical behaviour. In particular, the aortic fibrous
structure was analysed using Diffusion Tensor MRI, the results of which showed that fibres could be tracked in the aortic tissue, and that their angles measured ( 15◦) are in accordance with the angles reported in literature.
DTI was also applied to a frozen aorta, where the structural parameters obtained were different from those for fresh tissue thus indicating the potential of DTI to measure damage in aortic tissue. MRI was also used for characterization of aortic tissue deformation, using Phase Contrast MRI (PC MRI). With this technique circumferential strains were measured in an aorta, which on average ranged between 0.95-4.7%, in accordance with the range found in vivo from literature. A mechanical constitutive model was implemented, initially based on the structural information from DTI and uniaxial test data, in a finite element (FE) model. Strains estimated in the model under applied physiological pressure were compared with the strains measured using PC MRI. Material parameters of the constitutive model were changed iteratively until the strains matched, thus obtaining the material constants necessary to characterize the behaviour of the aorta non-invasively. This thesis clearly demonstrates the feasibility of a novel approach to mechanical characterization of aortas, based on the use of innovative MRI techniques. Moreover, the application of DTI to both fresh and frozen tissue, which clearly identified differences in the tissues at the fibre level, demonstrates the potential of DTI as a diagnostic tool for degenerative arterial diseases such as AAAs.


The climate change projections for the Austrian cities indicate that the observed warming trend, including frequent occurrences of extreme heat events, is expected to continue in the coming decades. Due to the Urban Heat Island (UHI) effect, caused by modification of energy balance in the built-up environment, the cities are warmer than their rural surroundings and therefore more exposed to negative impacts of climate change. During prolonged heat wave events, the excess in heat combined with reduced night-time cooling, decreased ventilation and possible air pollution can cause severe health impacts on the urban population. Developing measures for reduction of the UHI effect is important in the context of sustainable urban development and climate sensitive urban planning. Number of counteracting measures such as increase in vegetation, green open spaces, green roofs, unsealing of paved surfaces, decreasing absorption of solar radiation by increasing the reflectiveness of buildings and paved surfaces, are considered in the scope of climate change adaptation strategies. Nevertheless, the effectiveness of these measures, as well as their applicability in the existing urban structure, especially in the densely-built environments is not well known. Moreover, the expected cooling effects need to be quantified and the possible application should be communicated and appropriately planned with the relevant stakeholders in order to anticipate a large-scale implementation.
This study investigates the effective methods for application of climate adaptation measures to reduce the UHI effect in a densely built-up environment on an example of the residential and business district of Jakomini in the city of Graz/Styria. The current local climate conditions are simulated with the urban climate model MUKLIMO_3 of the German Weather Service (DWD) using meteorological, geomorphological and land use data from the city of Graz. The simulations with altered land use characteristics corresponding to application of different UHI counteracting measures are calculated and compared to the reference simulation. The gradual increase in green areas, existing potential for green roofs implementation, modification in reflectivity of roofs and facades as well as unsealing of paved surfaces is considered. The resulting difference in heat load is evaluated as the potential cooling effect for the area of the Jakomini district and its surroundings. Based on the model results, a set of measures with optimal climatic impact is identified in close cooperation with the city's planning department and in accordance with already existing concepts, plans and projects. This information is communicated with the relevant stakeholder groups both from private and public sectors to get their commitment to definitely undertake measures in the test-district. Considering the respective interests and role of action of different stakeholder groups a set of target measures is selected for further technical, financial and administrative planning of implementation.
The study is supported by the Austrian Research Promotion Agency (FFG) and the Climate and Energy Fund (KLIEN) within the Smart Cities project "JACKY_cool_check" (Project Nr. 855554).


Vertebrate peripheral nerves can regenerate, enabling severed axons to reconnect with their original synaptic targets. The interactions between injured nerves with cells in their environment, as well as the functional significance of these interactions, have not been determined in vivo and in real time. Here we provide the first minute-by-minute account of cellular interactions between laser transected motor nerves, macrophages, and Schwann cells in live intact zebrafish using transgenic lines that label each cell type in vivo. We find that axon fragmentation triggers macrophage invasion into the nerve to engulf axonal debris, and that delaying nerve fragmentation in a Wlds model does not alter macrophage recruitment but induces a previously unknown `nerve scanning' behavior, suggesting that macrophage recruitment and subsequent nerve invasion are controlled by separate mechanisms, both independent of Schwann cells. A major challenge for regenerating peripheral axons is to identify their original trajectory; Schwann cells are known to provide regenerating axons with factors that stimulate outgrowth, and an adhesive substrate that axons preferentially extend along during regeneration, yet their role in guiding regenerating axons onto their original trajectory is less clear. We show in mutants lacking Schwann cells that axonal growth cones sprout and extend at rates comparable to wild type, but fail to identify their original path, and instead extend along aberrant trajectories. To determine whether Schwann cells function primarily as an adhesive substrate we tested whether a Schwann cell-less axonal scaffold is sufficient to direct axonal growth. These substrates failed to compensate for the absence of Schwann cells, providing evidence that Schwann cells direct regenerating axons towards their original trajectory. To identify signals that guide regenerating motor axons in vivo, we examined mutants lacking the guidance receptor DCC. We find that in DCC mutants a significant fraction of regenerating axons extend along aberrant trajectories. Collectively, this work details the dynamic activities of macrophages and Schwann cells during axon degeneration and early regeneration, while axons are regrowing and selecting their trajectory, and we propose that Schwann cells and DCC mediated guidance are critical early during regeneration, enabling growth cones to navigate towards their original axonal trajectories. Degree Type Dissertation Degree Name Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) Graduate Group Cell & Molecular Biology First Advisor Michael Granato


An information-theoretic development is given for the problem of compound Poisson approximation, which parallels earlier treatments for Gaussian and Poisson approximation. Nonasymptotic bounds are derived for the distance between the distribution of a sum of independent integer-valued random variables and an appropriately chosen compound Poisson law. In the case where all summands have the same conditional distribution given that they are non-zero, a bound on the relative entropy distance between their sum and the compound Poisson distribution is derived, based on the data-processing property of relative entropy and earlier Poisson approximation results. When the summands have arbitrary distributions, corresponding bounds are derived in terms of the total variation distance. The main technical ingredient is the introduction of two "information functionals,'' and the analysis of their properties. These information functionals play a role analogous to that of the classical Fisher information in normal approximation. Detailed comparisons are made between the resulting inequalities and related bounds.


A new technique for face pumping of slab lasers uses transfer of light from 10 quasi-cw laser diode bars through a slotted mirror into a rectangular, highly ref lective pump chamber, giving efficient multipass pumping of a thin Nd:glass slab laser. A slope efficiency of 28% and a maximum pulse energy of 65 mJ have been obtained, and gain and loss measurements with thickness t = 0.45-1.04 mm have confirmed the 1/t scaling of gain in thin slabs and the high efficiency of pump light transfer.


The uptake of smartphones is growing exponentially around the globe.1 ,2 Their use by health consumers and healthcare professionals is increasing.1–4 Smartphone technology particularly impacts on health policy via two new challenges: (1) smartphone app stores can act as mass global media channels to augment or undermine public health efforts and (2) smartphone apps are portals to a multitude of health interventions with unprecedented proximity to health consumers. This paper discusses the issues related to smartphone apps regulations, safety, privacy and quality.

Apps promoting harmful behaviours such as smoking and illicit drug use have previously been identified.5–7 In the case of 'pro-smoking' apps, they violated international and local public health laws in many countries, not only through promotion to adults but also by targeting children directly and indirectly.5 ,6 The major stakeholder that can play an immediate and significant role in the regulatory process are the app stores, as they are operating as business entities under, and obligated to abide by, local and international laws.

Providentially, in April 2014, Apple updated its app age rating policy and introduced a new section guiding the process of publishing apps that target children (figure 1).8 In the new policy, Apple provides a table indicating how their rating relates to other media rating standards, such as the 'Entertainment Software Rating Board' and 'Pan European Game Information'.8 However, unlike ratings for video games that are covered by the two previous standards, smartphone apps may include audio, video, books and software combined within one item. Therefore, assessing app content based on video game criteria is potentially problematic, especially for health-related content, as the previously mentioned standards do not also have health-specific rating criteria. Although Apple store policy has a 'medical/treatment variable' to its age rating criteria (figure 1 …


ABSTRACT This article reports on findings from a qualitative study, undertaken in England, which explored the experiences of 21 gay men and lesbian women who care, or cared, for a person with dementia. The aim of the study was to explore this experience through the lens of a person's gay or lesbian sexuality. The paper reports two related themes that emerged from the wider study – respondents' hopes, fears and plans for the future and, specifically, the way in which their caring experiences had coloured their views and expectations of how their own health and social care needs may be met. Respondents' narratives reflect a range of pervasive anxieties about the future. First, about the possibility that they might be diagnosed with a condition such as dementia and, consequently, the myriad ways in which their sexualities and lifestyle choices may be perceived and interpreted as they themselves age and, possibly, require health and/or social care and support. In light of these concerns, respondents reflected upon the need for specialist service provision for older gay and lesbian people – an idea that was, perhaps surprisingly, not universally welcomed.


Motivations. microRNAs (miRNAs) are post-transcriptional regulators which represent one of the major regulatory gene families in animals, plants and viruses and that plays a key role in almost all main cellular processes. The computational prediction of miRNA target genes is important for the functional annotation of genomes and, on the other side, functional annotation of target genes can be of great help in suggesting specific biological functions of miRNAs [1]. This work aims to contribute to the elucidation of miRNAs role in the regulation of gene expression, by proposing a method for the hierarchical and overlapping biclustering of miRNAs and target messenger RNAs (mRNAs). The method allows to discover possible miRNA:mRNA functional relationships, at different granularity levels, in large datasets produced by miRNA target site prediction algorithms, thus reducing the impact of noise on the significance of the resulting biclusters. Methods. In order to properly work on miRNA:mRNA interactions, three important issues have to be considered. In particular, extracted biclusters should be: i) possibly overlapping, because miRNAs can be involved in different regulatory networks; ii) exhaustive, i.e. each miRNA or mRNA should belong to at least one bicluster, thus preventing the loss of possible co-regulations; iii) hierarchically organized, thus facilitating biological interpretability of results even when a high number of biclusters is extracted from large miRNA:mRNA datasets. We propose an algorithm for the efficient discovery of overlapping, exhaustive and hierarchically organized biclusters. Our algorithm effectively deals with a kind of "relational" imbalance (i.e. miRNAs and mRNAs participate with significantly different cardinalities in the interactions). Moreover, it combines the notions of bicluster separability and bicluster distance in order to extract significant biclusters according to both density and distance-based criteria. The performance of our method is evaluated on miRNAs target predictions in the human genome dataset extracted by miRNAMap 2.0 [2]. The strength of the miRNA:mRNA interactions is estimated on the basis of predictions provided by miRanda, RNAHybrid and TargetScan algorithms. It is computed as a linear combination of three criteria: 1) the number of algorithms which predict the miRNA target site; 2) the number of miRNA target sites found in the same UTR region; 3) the accessibility of the target site. Weights of the linear combination are selected such that criterion 1 dominates over the other two, while criterion 3, ceteris paribus on criterion 1, dominates over criterion 2. Results. The performance of our method is evaluated in terms of execution time, bicluster compactness (the intra-bicluster cohesion) and bicluster co-regulation (the ability to group together miRNAs that target the same mRNAs). A comparative analysis shows that our method is able to extract a smaller number of (hierarchically organized) biclusters, with higher compactness and co-regulation values than ROCC [3]. Execution times of our method and ROCC are comparable. The significance of the extracted hierarchies is evaluated in terms of the F-Measure, on a set of synthetic datasets generated at different levels of noise. The analysis reveals that the hierarchy structure is almost correctly discovered, even for high levels of noise. The effectiveness of the algorithm in extracting biologically related biclusters is tested on the basis of: i) classification of biclustered miRNAs in the same miRNA family or gene cluster; ii) validated functional associations of biclustered miRNAs reported in the literature and in major web specialised resources, iii) GO classification and functional clustering of biclustered mRNAs [4]. Results show that the proposed algorithm allows to extract a relatively small number of biclusters that preserve both compactness and co-regulation. Biclusters extracted by our method represent meaningful biological correlations between miRNAs and mRNAs. Availability http://dl.dropbox.com/u/66737165/biclustering/ index.html References 1. Grun D, Wang YL, Langenberge D, Gunsalus KC, Rajewsky N (2005) microRNA Target Predictions across Seven Drosophila Species and Comparison to Mammalian Targets. PLoS Comput Biol, 1(1):e13 2. Hsu SD, Chu CH, Tsou AP, Chen SJ, Chen HC, Hsu PW, Wong YH, Chen YH, Chen GH, Huang HD (2008) miRNAMap2.0: genomic maps of microRNAs in metazoan genomes. Nucleic Acids Res, 36:D165-9 3. Deodhar M, Gupta G, Ghosh J, Cho H, Dhillon IS (2009) A scalable framework for discovering coherent coclusters in noisy data.  Appearing in Proceedings of the 26th International Conference on Machine Learning, Montreal, Canada 4. Huang DW, Sherman BT, Lempicki RA (2009) Systematic and integrative analysis of large gene lists using DAVID Bioinformatics Resources, Nature Protoc., 1(4), 44-57 Competing interests statement Domenica D'Elia is on the Editorial Board of the EMBnet.journal


Critical evidence bearing on the breakup history of the supercontinent Rodinia near the end of the Proterozoic comes from widespread Cryogenian–Cambrian intraplate igneous assemblages present along the margins of cratonic blocks released during Rodinia fragmentation and now distributed around the globe. This magmatism occurred over a long time span (780–540 Ma) prior to and during final stages of Rodinia breakup along the eastern, western, and northern margins of the Laurentia craton, which forms the centerpiece of Rodinia in many reconstructions. Whether similar protracted magmatism occurred prior to the rift-drift transition along the southern Laurentian margin has remained uncertain because of deep burial beneath younger strata. We present geochemical and geochronological data from volcanic clasts within shelf-derived Ordovician turbidites and debris-flow deposits now exposed in allochthonous thrust slices in the Marathon uplift, west Texas (USA), that document one or more episodes of intraplate magmatism extending back at least to 706 Ma along this part of the ancient margin. These data raise the possibility that Laurentia may have been completely encircled by intraplate igneous activity prior to Rodinia breakup, with implications for the driving forces leading to supercontinent fragmentation and factors controlling the sites of ocean-basin formation during that process.


Since the beginning of 2016, the Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP) study has been conducting a monthly survey of German attitudes, expectations, and fears concerning migration. The third wave of the survey,—the Barometer of Public Opinion on Refugees in Germany (Stimmungsbarometer zu Gefluchteten in Deutschland)—, conductedin March 2016, shows that more than half of all respondents still associate the influx of refugees with more risks than opportunities. Nonetheless, a clear majority (81 percent of respondents) are in favor of admitting refugees and those fleeing political persecution, in accordance with international law. At the same time, however, the majority are of the conviction that refugees should be sent back to their home country once their reason for leaving it no longer pertains. Only 28 percent of all respondents are in favor of allowing refugees who have already been living in Germany for some time to remain in the country even after the situation in their country of origin has improved.


There has been intense interest and debate concerning the electron transfer rates within dye-sensitized nanostructured n-type semiconductors (such as TiO2). The motivation for this research has been the development of solar cells in which the first step is electron injection from the dye's excited state into the semiconductor conduction band. Our system, however, is designed such that hole injection from an excited mol. into a p-type nanostructured semiconductor can occur. An IPCE (incident photon-to-current conversion efficiency) of 3% has already been reported for a nanostructured NiO film dye-sensitized with erythrosin B (He, J.; Lindstrom, H.; Hagfeldt, A.; Lindquist, S.-E. J. Phys. Chem. B. 1999, 103, 8940). It is not possible for electron injection to occur from the excited dye into NiO because the conduction band of NiO is significantly higher in energy than electrons in the dye's excited states. However, the energies of both the dye's HOMO and the redox electrolyte lie below the NiO valence band energy, making electron injection from NiO into either the dye or the electrolyte possible. This study investigates the dynamics at the NiO/dye/electrolyte interface using time resolved optical spectroscopy.


This thesis is about transformational actions for modern working. To delineate the individual assumptions of qualifications and skills in modern working, and to turn this into a format which most people could experience as understandable, are the strategy of this case study. The outcome of the problem and thesis are specified in a model of active communication. The theoretical fundament is transformational leadership.In chapter three the construct of the model of active communication is explained, and so are preconditions of modern communication. The stages of regressive, stationary, flowing, active, and proactive communication are elaborated.Basis to the modeling of transformational actions was experienced problems of motivating followers to invest attention and time in challenging processes or education. The interpretation of this was that transformational leadership theory was elucidating and less oriented to achievements and gains. On this behalf the research question of what actions are essential to achievements and gains in modern working was raised. To indentify actions essential to achievements and gains of modern workers, and to transform this into applicable information for individuals who are contributors in processes related to achievement and gain, was carried out in three sequences. In a pilot the actions essential to achievements and gains are explored. An introduction case is exploring accessibility and applicability of active communication in use. Feedback to this was given in a self-completing questionnaire. The methodology being applied for each of these research sequences are accounted for in chapter four.An implementation study of active communication was conducted by participants which daily working is attuned to dialog, information, interactive technology (ICT) and knowledge. The main points of the lecture, supported in a presentation and compendium, are being referred in chapter six. The questionnaire about accessibility and applicability of active communication is presented in chapter seven. The participants were experiencing the model of active communication being applicable in working.


T cells develop in the thymus through positive and negative selection, which are responsible for shaping the T cell receptor (TCR) repertoire. To elucidate the molecular mechanisms involved in selection remains an area of intense interest. Here, we identified and characterized a gene product Gasp (Grb2-associating protein, also called Themis) that is critically required for positive selection. Gasp is a cytosolic protein with no known functional motifs that is expressed only in T cells, especially immature CD4/CD8 double positive (DP) thymocytes. In the absence of Gasp, differentiation of both CD4 and CD8 single positive cells in the thymus was severely inhibited, whereas all other TCR-induced events such as β-selection, negative selection, peripheral activation, and homeostatic proliferation were unaffected. We found that Gasp constitutively associates with Grb2 via its N-terminal Src homology 3 domain, suggesting that Gasp acts as a thymocyte-specific adaptor for Grb2 or regulates Ras signaling in DP thymocytes. Collectively, we have described a gene called Gasp that is critical for positive selection.


Significant transformations have taken place in our understanding of evolution and development since the late nineteenth century, when the two seemed so closely related; at that time, the ideas of Charles Darwin, Ernst Haeckel, and other biologists played a prominent role in Freud's creation of psychoanalysis. During the twentieth century, as biological research reached the molecular level, biological concepts of development and of evolution veered progressively further from each other and further away from psychoanalysis. Then most recently, in response to a flood of discoveries in the last two decades, the long-separated fields of developmental and evolutionary biology have come together in the creation of a new field, informally referred to as "Evo–Devo." In this paper, I trace these remarkable changes, and discuss how these recent advances have returned biological concepts to a closer alignment with psychoanalytic principles regarding the role of early experience in long-term developmental change and the importance of the role that early parent-infant interactions play in shaping our lives and those of our children. I have illustrated the changes in our thinking that have taken place over the past half century by describing the different ways that I have thought about, puzzled over, and been enlightened by these changing concepts in the course of my psychobiological research on the roles of the mother-infant relationship in the development of a relatively simple model organism, the laboratory rat.


Methods for analyzing hazards related to individual systems are well studied and established in industry today. When system-of-systems are set up to achieve new emergent behavior, hazards specifically caused by malfunctioning behavior of the complex interactions between the involved systems may not be revealed by just analyzing single system hazards. A structured process is required to reduce the complexity to enable identification of hazards when designing system-of-systems. In this paper we first present how hazards are identified and analyzed using hazard and risk assessment (HARA) methodology by the industry in the context of single systems. We describe systems-of-systems and provide a quarry site automation example from the construction equipment domain. We propose a new structured process for identifying potential hazards in systems-of-systems (HISoS), exemplified in the context of the provided example. Our approach helps to streamline the hazard analysis process in an efficient manner thus helping faster certification of system-of-systems.


Social control theory asserts that strong social bonds inhibit delinquency, whereas weak bonds offer little resistance to offending. In the development of this theoretical perspective, new research suggests that the type and magnitude of social bonds have differing effects on male and female delinquency. This study adds to our understanding of how social control factors of parental attachment, involvement in diverse prosocial activities, belief in traditional norms, and school climate affect both young men's and young women's reports of serious delinquency and risky behavior in a sample of high school youth. Whereas previous research has generally either controlled for the effect of gender statistically or studied all-male samples, this article uses separate models to examine the independent effects of social bonds on male and female delinquency. The findings support the development of gender-specific analyses to understand how social control affects male and female pathways into delinquency.


The contributors to this volume, economists and political scientists from academic institutions, the private sector, and the Ways and Means Committee of the U.S. House of Representatives, came together to discuss an important topic in the formation of U.S. international trade policy: the representation of constituent interests. In the resulting volume they address the objectives of groups who participate in the policy process and examine how each group's interests are identified and promoted. They look at what means are used for these purposes, and the extent to which the groups' objectives and behavior conform to how the political economy of trade policy is treated in the economic and political science literature. Further, they discuss how effective each group has been. Each of the book's five parts offers a coherent view of important components of the topic. Part I provides an overview of the normative and political economy approaches to the modeling of trade policies. Part 2 discusses the context of U.S. trade policies. Part 3 deals with the role of sectoral producing interests, including the relationship of trade policy to auto, steel, textile, semiconductor, aircraft, and financial services. Part 4 examines other constituent interests, including the environment, human rights, and the media. Part 5 provides commentary on such issues as the challenges that trade policy poses for the new administration and the 105th Congress. The volume ultimately offers important and more finely articulated questions on how trade policy is formed and implemented. Contributors are Robert E. Baldwin, Jagdish Bhagwati, Douglas A. Brook, Richard O. Cunningham, Jay Culbert, Alan V. Deardorff, I. M. Destler, Daniel Esty, Geza Feketekuty, Harry Freeman, John D. Greenwald, Gene Grossman, Richard L. Hall, Jutta Hennig, John H. Jackson, James A. Levinsohn, Mustafa Mohatarem, Robert Pahre, Richard C. Porter, Gary R. Saxonhouse, Robert E. Scott, T. N. Srinivasan, Robert M. Stern, Joe Stroud, John Sweetland, Raymond Waldmann, Marina v.N. Whitman, and Bruce Wilson. Alan V. Deardorff and Robert M. Stern are Professors of Economics and Public Policy, University of Michigan.


We propose a new method to design a short survey measure of a complex concept such as women's agency. The approach combines mixed-methods data collection and machine learning. We select the best survey questions based on how strongly correlated they are with a "gold standard" measure of the concept derived from qualitative interviews. In our application, we measure agency for 209 women in Haryana, India, first, through a semi-structured interview and, second, through a large set of close-ended questions. We use qualitative coding methods to score each woman's agency based on the interview, which we treat as her true agency. To identify the close-ended questions most predictive of the "truth," we apply statistical algorithms that build on LASSO and random forest but constrain how many variables are selected for the model (five in our case). The resulting five-question index is as strongly correlated with the coded qualitative interview as is an index that uses all of the candidate questions. This approach of selecting survey questions based on their statistical correspondence to coded qualitative interviews could be used to design short survey modules for many other latent constructs.


Organised around each decade of the post war period, this book analyses novels written by and for women from 1945 to the present. Each chapter identifies a specific genre in popular fiction for women which marked that period and provides case studies focusing on writers and texts which enjoyed a wide readership. Despite their popularity, these novels remain largely outside the 'canon' of women's writing, and are often unacknowledged by feminist literary criticism. However, these texts clearly touched a nerve with a largely female readership, and so offer a means of charting the changes in ideals of femininity, and in the tensions and contradictions in gender identities in the post-war period. Their analysis offers new insights into the shifting demands, aspirations and expectations of what a woman could and should be over the last half century. Through her analysis of women's writing and reading, Philips sets out to challenge the distinction between 'popular' and 'literary' fiction, arguing that neat categories such as 'popular', 'middle brow' and 'serious fiction' need more careful definition.


Although fifty percent of all Americans are diagnosed with a mental illness or disorder at some point in their lifetime, including one in ten women, and mental illnesses are the third most common cause of hospitalization for adults under forty-four, the ADA's narrow approach to defining service animals only protects a certain group of people with disabilities using a certain type of animal — dogs who perform tasks associated with the person's disability. This narrow approach does not consider the thousands of people who use emotional support animals to alleviate or mitigate the symptoms associated with their mental health issues. To provide parity, it is necessary to include emotional support animals within that definition. Despite the prevalence of mental illness, there is a societal backlash against emotional support animals who provide companionship, relieve loneliness, and sometimes help with depression, anxiety, and certain phobias, but do not meet the ADA definition of service animal due to their lack of specialized training. The FHA and ACAA have provided protection and accommodations for people using emotional support animals, but that protection is in jeopardy. In response to uncertainty over the definition of emotional support animals, on April 24, 2018, Senator Burr (R-NC) introduced a bill to amend title 49 of the United States Code, which would make changes to the ACAA such as only allowing service animals as defined by the ADA to be uncaged onboard aircraft's, requiring service animal behavior training for air carrier passengers, and creating a criminal penalty for fraudulently claiming that an animal is a service animal used for disability needs. If Senator Burr's bill is passed and the ACAA is restrained from allowing emotional support animals to be service animals under the ACAA, then people with mental health issues will once again be stigmatized and treated as second class citizens. Emotional support animals are also on trial in the regulatory realm. The DOT is currently seeking comments on ways to improve the ACAA regulation to ensure nondiscriminatory access for individuals with disabilities to use their service animals onboard airlines while attempting to deter "fraudulent use of other animals not qualified as service animals" and prevent use of "animals that are not trained to behave properly in the public." Clear regulation is needed to ensure that all people with disabilities can use a service animal, including emotional support animals, if that animal will assist him or her with alleviating or mitigating the symptoms associated with his or her disability. Do not let the peacock trying to board the airplane distract from the real issue at hand. Mental health matters and people who experience mental health issues and need emotional support animals in public places, including on mass transit, to participate in society, should not be denied this accommodation based on fear that some people may fraudulently claim that their pets are emotional support animals. If we legitimize the process of bringing an emotional support animal in public, including on mass transit, then we make steps in continuing to take away the stigma of mental health issues. Parity is essential to accomplishing that goal.


Pelizaeus-Merzbacher disease (PMD) is an X-linked neurological disorder characterised by dysmyelination of the central nervous system. The major molecular defect involved in PMD is a variably sized duplication of Xq22 including the PLP1 gene. Determining the copy number of PLP1 is the first line of enquiry when trying to establish a molecular diagnosis of PMD. Multiplex amplifiable probe hybridisation is a quantitative technique that has been explored as a method for diagnosing PLP1 duplications in PMD patients and female carriers as part of this project. The rearrangements in a number of PMD families were investigated using FISH, PCR and sequencing of chromosome breakpoints. One tandem duplication and two more complex rearrangements were characterised during this study. A bioinformatic investigation of sequences present at the breakpoints in these families, and the genomic sequence throughout Xq22, has provided some insights into possible mechanisms causing duplications of this region. Increased dosage of Xq26-27 has been associated with pituitary hypoplasia and a mutation involving the SOX3 gene, located at Xq27.1, has been reported in a family with growth hormone deficiency. Characterisation of a duplication involving SOX3 in a family with X-linked hypopituitarism has been carried out using a similar strategy to the PLP1 duplications. This SOX3 duplication is the smallest yet reported and only contains two other genes. This provides strong evidence for increased dosage of SOX3 being involved in the aetiology of X-linked hypopituitarism. Gene dosage is increasingly being recognised as a cause for human genetic disorders, and it is important for diagnosis that changes in gene dosage can be reliably detected. As more cases of human genetic disease involving gene dosage become apparent, it is clear that duplications are frequent occurrences in the human genome, which may often be undetected as a cause of human genetic variation and disease.


Cloud computing enables customers with limited computational resources to outsource large-scale computational tasks to the cloud, where massive computational power can be easily utilized in a pay-per-use manner. However, security is the major concern that prevents the wide adoption of computation outsourcing in the cloud, especially when end-user's confidential data are processed and produced during the computation. Thus, secure outsourcing mechanisms are in great need to not only protect sensitive information by enabling computations with encrypted data, but also protect customers from malicious behaviors by validating the computation result. Such a mechanism of general secure computation outsourcing was recently shown to be feasible in theory, but to design mechanisms that are practically efficient remains a very challenging problem. Focusing on engineering computing and optimization tasks, this paper investigates secure outsourcing of widely applicable linear programming (LP) computations. In order to achieve practical efficiency, our mechanism design explicitly decomposes the LP computation outsourcing into public LP solvers running on the cloud and private LP parameters owned by the customer. The resulting flexibility allows us to explore appropriate security/efficiency tradeoff via higher-level abstraction of LP computations than the general circuit representation. In particular, by formulating private data owned by the customer for LP problem as a set of matrices and vectors, we are able to develop a set of efficient privacy-preserving problem transformation techniques, which allow customers to transform original LP problem into some random one while protecting sensitive input/output information. To validate the computation result, we further explore the fundamental duality theorem of LP computation and derive the necessary and sufficient conditions that correct result must satisfy. Such result verification mechanism is extremely efficient and incurs close-to-zero additional cost on both cloud server and customers. Extensive security analysis and experiment results show the immediate practicability of our mechanism design.


This practice-based thesis aims to expand sound art discourse by considering process in sound art practice through an exploration of artists' experiences.

There is still relatively little debate about or critical reflection on the location or nature of process in contemporary sound art's discourse. This thesis addresses this lack of debate and reflection by developing a framework through which artists can explore and then communicate their perspectives in order to extend sound art discourse. Three key areas emerge from this approach: process, practice and discourse. This thesis investigates how they relate to and interact with each other.

In order to explore process, I have borrowed from and extended concepts from the model of conceptual blending, a theory of cognition developed by Gilles Fauconnier and Mark Turner in The way we think: conceptual blending and the mind's hidden complexities (2002).1 Through the notion of inputs, which are blended through process into outputs, the model of procedural blending, adapted from conceptual blending, illustrates how new meaning is created, providing a basis for the investigation of process in sound art practice for inclusion in its discourse.

This exploration is carried out through a modular approach to methodology, which I have termed Modular Field Methodology. I first examine my own past and current work, which offers me the opportunity directly to observe process within my practice and to observe how new themes and views emerge from an engagement with new inputs. The examination of my past and current work also provides a space to gain a deeper understanding of procedural blending in sound art practice. This 'introspective approach' is then calibrated by an investigation of the practice of other artists, through collaborative workshops, interviews and an online magazine, each providing different spaces for a wide range of practitioners' voices reflecting on the diversity and complexity of multimodal sound art practice.


Technological determinism is the belief that science and technology are autonomous and the main force for change in society. It is neither new nor particularly original but has become an immensely powerful and largely orthodox view of the nature of social change in highly industrialised societies. In this paper I analyse the presence of technological determinism in general discourses about the relationship between social change and science and technology. I show that techno-determinist assumptions underlie developments in what is called technoscience, a term describing new practices in science and technology with particular relevancy for the related fields of genetic engineering and computer science. Those areas create a specific set of narratives, images and myths, which is called the techno-imaginary. The thesis of my paper is that the discourse on media art uncritically relies on many elements of the techno-imaginary. A specific type of media art, which is identifiable with people, institutions and a period in time, is particularly engaged with the tropes of the techno-imaginary. This strand, which I call high media art, successfully engaged in institution building by using techno-determinist language. It achieved its goals but was short lived, because it was built on false theoretical premises. It made wrong predictions about the future of a 'telematic society' and a 'telematic consciousness'; and it missed the chance to build the foundations of a theory of media art because it was and is contaminated by the false assumptions behind technological determinism.


Cytomegalovirus (CMV) is a DNA virus belonging to herpesviridea family. CMV infections are seen at all age groups all through the world. Its seroprevalence is 50% in developed countries and 40- 100% in developing countries. In seropostive cases, the disease develops as result of reactivation following a treatment with immunosuppressive.Hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS) is defined by the triad of mechanical hemolytic anemia,thrombocytopenia and renal impairment. Atypical HUS (aHUS) defines non Shigatoxin- HUSand a primary disease due to a disorder in complement alternative pathway regulation.In the present paper, a 60 years old case undergoing plasma exchange for aHUS and found to have CMV pneumonia during follow-up is presented.


Camel and human milk samples (twenty individuals' samples each) were analysed for fat, total protein (casein, whey protein), lactose, minerals as well as vitamins; B 1 , B 2 , niacin and C. Meanwhile, amino and fatty acid compositions and, antimicrobial factors namely; lysozyme (LZ), lactoferrin (LF) and total immunoglobulins (Igs) were determined. Results indicated that camel milk contained higher fat, protein (especially casein), ash, Ca, Mg, P, K, Na, Fe, and Cu but lower in whey protein, lactose and Zn than human milk. Vitamins C and niacin were higher in camel milk than human milk. Camel milk proteins contained satisfactory balance of essential amino acids. The ratio of essential to non-essential amino acids was 0.93 and 1.07 in camel and human milk proteins, respectively. Camel milk was characterized by higher ratio of Igs but lower in both LZ and LF than human milk. General pattern of camel milk fatty acids indicated that short chain fatty acids (C 4 –C 12 ) were present in very small amount, but higher than in human milk fat. On the contrary the concentration of C 14:0 , C 16:1 and C 18:0 are relatively high in camel's milk fat as compared to human milk fat. Appreciable amounts of essential fatty acids were present in camel milk. It can be concluded that camel milk can be considered as a good food of high nutritive and therapeutic applications. Meanwhile, the high content of antimicrobial agents in camel milk may explain its potential as an antiviral activity specially against diarrhea-causing viruses


One of the features that a mobile computer should provide is disconnected operation which is performed by hoarding. The process of hoarding can be described as loading the data items needed in the future to the client cache prior to disconnection. Automated hoarding is the process of predicting the hoard set without any user intervention. We describe an application independent and generic technique for determining what should be hoarded prior to disconnection. Our method utilizes association rules that are extracted by data mining techniques for determining the set of items that should be hoarded to a mobile computer prior to disconnection. The proposed method was implemented and tested on synthetic data to estimate its effectiveness. Performance experiments determined that the proposed rule-based methods are effective in improving the system performance in terms of the cache hit ratio of mobile clients especially for small cache sizes.


The last twenty years have seen an unexpected eruption of interest in lesbian narratives or stories with lesbian protagonists, with films such as Mulholland Drive (2001), Blue is the Warmest Colour (2013), or Carol (2015), making an impact on general audiences and pointing to a certain mainstreaming in transcending the lesbian-interest label. In an archaeology of lesbian representation in film, it is, however, useful to consider other relevant films aimed at the general public that bridge the encoded pre-Stonewall narratives and the current, unconcealed lesbian characters and stories. The present essay looks at two closely-related mainstream dramas from the 1980s and 1990s which, despite having received little critical attention, bridge that gap because they are poised on the historical line between encoded and uncoded films amenable to lesbian readings: Black Widow directed by Bob Rafelson (1987) and Hit and Run directed by Dan Lerner (1999).


Early knowledge about the neurotoxic effects of occupational exposures appeared through clinical observations. The observed effects were more or less acute and concerned exposure to metals such as lead and mercury or solvents like carbon disulfide and trichloroethylene. With time, however, also more chronic and clinically less obvious effects of neurotoxic agents have been assessed through modern examination methods and systematic studies of larger groups. Still, the interpretation of the findings has been controversial and debated, such as the chronic effects of solvent exposure (1). The difficulties met in interpreting chronic neurotoxic effects depend on both the diversity and vagueness of symptoms and signs and the associated problem of defining a proper disease entity for conclusive epidemiologic studies. For example, in solvent exposure, the chronic effects might include memory and concentration problems, tiredness, lack of initiative, affect lability, irritability, and sometimes dizziness, headache, alcohol intolerance, and reduced libido. Neurophysiological methods have also revealed various functional disturbances, again difficult to condense into any single disease entity. Similarly, a variety of neurobehavioral effects also seems to occur due to other occupational exposures, such as moderate lead exposure or welding with some exposure to aluminum, lead, and manganese or exposure to pesticides. Again there are also neurophysiological or neurological signs, among others, polyneuropathy, tremor, and disturbance of equilibrium, in individuals exposed to organochlorine, organophosphorus and other insecticides. In view of the epidemiologic problems involved in defining a disease entity out of the many types of neurobehavioral effects referred to, it has also become natural to consider some clinically, more or less well-defined neuropsychiatric disorders in relation to occupational exposures. Since the 1970s, several studies have especially focused on solvent exposure and the psychoorganic syndrome, when of disabling severity. More recently also Alzheimer's dementia, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson's disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, and related conditions have attracted interest in occupational epidemiology. Regarding solvent exposure and the psychoorganic syndrome (or toxic chronic encephalopathy in clinical occupational medicine, when exposure is taken into diagnostic account), the problem of defining a proper disease entity was apparent and it first led to considering en bloc the diagnoses of encephalopathia, dementia, and cerebral atrophy, but also neurosis, neurasthenia, and nervositas were included as not necessarily distinct from each other in medical practice (2). Recently, more specific disease entities, such as organic dementia and cerebral atrophy, have also been associated with solvent exposure (3). The findings have not been totally consistent, however, as no excess of "presenile dementia" appeared in a large-scale case-referent study in the United States with as many as 3565 cases of various neuropsychiatric disorders and 83 245 hospital referents (4). However, in comparison with bricklayers, there was about a 45% excess of disabling neuropsychiatric disorders among white male painters, except spray painters. Occupational exposures also seem to play a role for disorders more specific than the psychoorganic syndrome. Hence, in 1982, an association between multiple sclerosis and solvent exposure from glues was first indicated in the Italian shoe industry (5). This relationship has been considerably strengthened by further studies in Scandinavia (6--8) and elsewhere, so that 13 studies with some information on solvent exposure could be considered in a review (9). Ten of these studies provided enough data for inclusion in a meta-analysis, showing about a twofold risk for multiple sclerosis among individuals with solvent exposure. Some studies also associate multiple sclerosis with radiological work, welding, and work with phenoxy herbicides (6--7). Parkinson's disease seems to be more common in rural areas (10), especially at younger ages (11). More interestingly, a study from Calgary, Canada, showed a threefold risk for herbicide exposure (12). All the case persons who recalled specific exposures reported exposure to phenoxy herbicides or thiocarbamates. One of them recalled exposure to paraquat, which is chemically similar to MPTP (N-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine), an inducer of a Parkinson-like syndrome. Paraquat workers have not yet been found to suffer from such a syndrome, however (13). Case-referent studies from Canada, China, Spain, and Sweden have indicated a relation with exposure to unspecified industrial chemicals, pesticides, and metals, especially manganese, iron and aluminum (14). In a study from the United States, an increased risk of motor neuron disease (encompassing amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, progressive bulbar palsy and progressive muscular atrophy) appeared in connection with welding and soldering (15). Welding also appeared as a risk factor, as did electricity work, and also work with impregnating agents in a Swedish study (16). Hereditability for neurodegenerative and thyroid disease, combined with solvent exposure and male gender, showed a risk as high as 15.6. Other studies also indicate that exposure to lead and solvents could be of importance (17--20). For Alzheimer's disease, no clear indication of any occupational risk appeared in a meta-analysis of 11 case-referent studies (21), but more recently an increased risk was connected with blue-collar work (22). Another new study, which included also the oldest ages, indicated that solvent exposure could be a rather strong risk factor (33). The recent suggestion that Alzheimer's disease might be related to exposure to electromagnetic fields was perhaps even more surprising (44). Both these studies are likely to stimulate interest in several new investigations along the indicated lines. Hence, in view of the current perspectives in occupational neuroepidemiology, as briefly outlined, there seems to be a reason for conducting additional work-related studies of different, hitherto more or less neglected, neurological and neuropsychiatric disorders. It is not unlikely that there are some contributing effects from various occupational exposures, in the same manner as we have seen for many cancer types. In addition, as in etiologic cancer research, new clues suggesting ultimate causes or triggering mechanisms behind some of the serious neurological disorders may be obtained from occupational epidemiology.


The Xenopus laevis egg contains an asymmetric distribution of ribonucleic acids (RNAs), which are parceled out to different cells during cleavage. These RNAs initiate the formation of the germ layers, ectoderm, mesoderm and endoderm, as well as a set of dorsal axial structures, including the central nervous system. Cleavage is initially rapid and synchronous, but becomes slower and asynchronous at the midblastula transition, when the embryo's genes become active. The different cells signal among each other in a process known as induction, leading to more types of cells. The cells undergo rearrangements in a complicated set of coordinated movements during gastrulation. Signalling continues through gastrulation with a major centre, the Spemann organiser, responsible for generating the dorsal axial structures. These inductions and movements lead to the proper positioning of the forming tissues and organs, and the body plan of the embryo emerges.

Key Concepts:

The job of the fertilised egg is to generate the body plan.

The body plan of a vertebrate embryo consists of three tubes, known as germ layers, and a set of dorsal axial structures.

In Xenopus, RNAs localised in the egg initiate formation of both the germ layers and the dorsal axial structures.

The Xenopus egg rapidly divides into smaller cells to prepare for cell movements and organ formation.

A key signalling centre is established known as the Spemann organiser.

Signals from the Spemann organiser cause the formation of the dorsal axial structures including the central nervous system.

The complicated cell movements of gastrulation can be followed using fate maps.

Several types of cell movements are coordinated during gastrulation to bring about their final arrangement in the embryo.

The body plan emerges with the completion of gastrulation.

Keywords:

cortical rotation;
midblastula transition (MBT);
mesoderm induction;
fate map;
Wnt/β-catenin pathway;
Spemann organiser;
dorsal lip;
blastopore;
convergent extension


Traditional dialectology took region as its primary and often its only independent variable. Because of numerous social changes, region is no longer the primary determinant of language variation, and contemporary (sociolinguistic) dialectology has expanded the number of independent variables. In Dialect Topography, we survey a representative population, and that population inevitably includes some subjects born outside the survey region. We want to know how these non-natives affect language use in the community. Admitting them thus requires us to implement some mechanism for identifying them in order to compare their language use to the natives. The mechanism is called the Regionality Index (RI). Subjects are ranked on a scale from 1 to 7, with the best representatives of the region (indigenes) receiving a score of 1, the poorest (interlopers) a score of 7, and subjects of intermediate degrees of representativeness in between. I look at three case studies in which RI is significant: bureau in Quebec City, running shoes in the Golden Horseshoe, and soft drink in Quebec City. These results introduce a new dimension to the study of language variation as a regional phenomenon and provide a framework for the integration of regionality as one independent variable among many in dialect studies. The RI provides, perhaps for the first time, an empirical basis for inferring the sociolinguistic effects of mobility.


Literacy Practices in Upper Secondary School. The Writing of Construction and Health Care Pupils The aim of the dissertation is to demonstrate and explain the place and function writing has in all subjects in two vocational classes in a Swedish upper secondary school. The material has been collected through ethnographic field studies in construction and health care classes over one school year. The material consists of literacy events, where pupils write, and the context of situation and text are noted. In theoretical terms the study takes a discourse analysis perspective, where writing is seen from within different frames. Writing is analysed based on an ideological view of literacy inspired by New Literacy Studies using the context of situation and text with the aim of describing different literacy practices in both classes. The material was classified into three different situation types, two school-initiated and one nonschool-initiated. The first school-initiated situation type is orally-governed, the second writinggoverned, while it is less clear how the non-school-initiated type is inspired. In the writing situations we investigate the writing activities that are used, while texts are analysed based on text acitivites. Writing and text activities are used together to explain the writing competences that are used in the writing situations. The conclusions are that writing gets little space and attention in both classes. The health care class writes in more situations and also writes longer texts than the construction class. Literacy practices differ between the classes. The health care class demonstrates one schoolgoverned writing practice, while the construction class moves between two different schoolgoverned practices. The literacy practices in the construction class are similar to the writing usage that can be found at a building site. Writing is used in both classes mainly to structure and store knowledge. The non-school-governed material also shows differences between the classes. Here too more writing takes place in the health care class. The function of the non-school-governed writing is to communicate and inform through writing.


In Southern Africa, theories of adult education have remained modelled on imported paradigms. The urgency of particularly the first of the Millennium Development Goals, 'to eradicate extreme poverty and hunger' generally translates into policy and provision of skills training based on purely economistic considerations. In practice, lifelong education and learning occurs most commonly as part of other social practices and in the guise of community development. This article outlines the livelihood approach as a conceptual and methodological tool for a locally grounded understanding of what constitutes 'work' particularly in the context of poverty and high-risk environments. It argues that the principles of interconnectedness, relationality and agency are central to understanding livelihood practices and that participatory processes of data collection, dialogue and analysis should inform education and training policy. Programmes and curricula that fit in with the livelihood strategies of people have a greater chance of being supported and the process that leads to such understanding could provide a democratic model for adult education elsewhere.


Cobalamin (vitamin B12) is required for erythrocyte formation and DNA synthesis and it plays a crucial role in maintaining neurological function. As a coenzyme for methionine synthase and methylmalonyl-CoA mutase, cobalamin utilization depends on its efficient transit through the intracellular lysosomal compartment and subsequent delivery to the cytosol and mitochondria. Lysosomal function deteriorates in Alzheimer's disease (AD). Lysosomal acidification is defective in AD and lysosomal proteolysis is disrupted by AD-related presenilin 1 mutation. In this study, we propose that AD related lysosomal dysfunction may impair lysosomal cobalamin transport. The experiments use in vitro and in vivo models of AD to define how lysosomal dysfunction directly affects cobalamin utilization. SH-SY5Y-AβPP mutant cells were treated with a proteasome inhibitor to induce lysosomal amyloid-β accumulation. We metabolically labeled these cells with [57Co] cobalamin and isolated purified lysosomes, mitochondria, and cytosol fractions. The results indicated that proteasome inhibition was associated with lysosomal amyloid-β accumulation and a doubling of lysosomal [57Co] cobalamin levels. We also used AβPPxPS1 transgenic AD mice that were intraperitoneally injected with [57Co] cobalamin. The amount of [57Co] cobalamin in the major organs of these mice was measured and the subcellular [57Co] cobalamin distribution in the brain was assessed. The results demonstrated that lysosomal [57Co] cobalamin level was significantly increased by 56% in the AβPPxPS1 AD mouse brains as compared to wild type control mice. Together these data provide evidence that lysosomal cobalamin may be impaired in AD in association with amyloid-β accumulation.


Managing
the highly dynamic and interdependent systems within a district energy system
is an intricately complex undertaking. A district energy manager is expected to
make decisions that will result in the achievement of the district's goals,
often with limited capital and personnel resources. What has been lacking in
the tools available to a district energy manager is an established
decision-making framework with which to process the complex internal and
external variables involved to effectively develop and evaluate options to make
successful decisions.

While
capitalizing on the experience of seasoned district energy managers and a
literature review of current methodologies, this dissertation assesses the
strengths and weaknesses of the methodologies currently available to managers
of district energy systems and presents a new and more comprehensive
decision-making framework. A system of systems engineering approach is applied,
and multiple relevant case studies are analyzed. Procedures for significantly
mitigating many of the external risks to a district energy system are developed
and documented.

The
main contribution of this dissertation is a unique decision-making framework
with a holistic approach encompassing the complexity, emergence, and
interdependency of district energy subsystems.
This framework will aid a district energy manager in making successful
decisions which meet the goals of the district.


Optimization is a mathematical technique that concerns the finding of maxima or minima of functions in some feasible region. There is no business or industry which is not involved in solving optimization problems. A variety of optimization techniques compete for the best solution. Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) is a relatively new, modern, and powerful method of optimization that has been empirically shown to perform well on many of these optimization problems. It is widely used to find the global optimum solution in a complex search space. This thesis aims at providing a review and discussion of the most established results on PSO algorithm as well as exposing the most active research topics that can give initiative for future work and help the practitioner improve better result with little effort. This paper introduces a theoretical idea and detailed explanation of the PSO algorithm, the advantages and disadvantages, the effects and judicious selection of the various parameters. Moreover, this thesis discusses a study of boundary conditions with the invisible wall technique, controlling the convergence behaviors of PSO, discrete-valued problems, multi-objective PSO, and applications of PSO. Finally, this paper presents some kinds of improved versions as well as recent progress in the development of the PSO, and the future research issues are also given.


The mapping kernel is a generalization of Haussler's convolution kernel, and has a wide range of application including kernels for higher degree structures such as trees. Like Haussler's convolution kernel, a mapping kernel is a finite sum of values of a primitive kernel. One of the major reasons to use the mapping kernel template in engineering novel kernels is because a strong theorem is known for positive definiteness of the resulting mapping kernels. If the mapping kernel meets the transitivity condition and if the primitive kernel is positive definite, the mapping kernel is also positive definite. In this paper, we generalize this theorem by showing, even when we extend the definition of mapping kernels so that a mapping kernel can be a converging sum of countably infinite primitive kernel values, the transitivity condition is still a criteria to determine positive definiteness of mapping kernels according to the extended definition. Interestingly, this result is also useful to investigate positive definiteness of mapping kernels determined as finite sums, when they do not meet the transitivity condition. For this purpose, we introduce a general method that we call covering technique.


Donors should have access to raw data derived from their contributions to research or clinical repositories to increase personal choice and reciprocity. Heated debates on responsibilities in biomedical research currently focus on the end of the data and information pipeline: They revolve around issues of returning results to participants and patients (1–3, 4). Although these debates are timely, they miss a crucial point at the beginning of the pipeline: the question of whether sample donors are able to access the raw data derived directly from their stored sample. The U.S. Presidential Commission recently reviewed 32 reports from the United States and worldwide on returning of findings in diverse contexts (4); it is striking that access to raw data by participants was not addressed in any of them.


This thesis is a compilation of several behavioural and physiological studies of
fighting in a species of African cichlid fish, Tilapia zillii. The behavioural studies are
concerned with explaining the functional significance and behavioural organisation of
fighting. The physiological studies are concerned with attempting to elucidate the
mechanisms that underlie the expression of aggressive behaviour. My aim is show
how these two levels of study are related and why it is important to maintain a
balance between them in the study of animal behaviour.Chapter 2 reports a senes of laboratory experiments that investigated how
asymmetries in body size and gonadal state influence the fighting strategies of male T.
zillii, Fights between animals over limited resources often end in victory to the larger
contestant. Game theory predicts that relative body size is assessed during the fight
and thus also determines fight duration and intensity. However, if the contestants
differ in the value they place on the disputed resource, this can override the effects of
relative body size. In the experiment described here, relative gonad weight was a
much stronger predictor of fight outcome than relative body size. This suggests that
males with large gonads fight harder to defend their territory, implying that the value
of a territory is a function of the gonadal state of the individual. Despite this, a
detailed behavioural analysis suggested that relative body size is assessed through a
behaviour termed 'mouth wrestling'. In addition to persisting in the fight, smaller
contestants escalated to a higher degree (in terms of biting), especially if they went on
to win the tight. Winners and losers differed consistently with regard to a behaviour termed mouth locking, suggesting that through this behaviour the fish were assessing
an asymmetry related to the intention to persist with the fight, although I could not
demonstrate that this was related to relative gonad weight.Chapter 3 was undertaken with the aim of gaining information on the social structure
and occurrence of aggressive behaviours in a semi-natural environment. To this end, a
study was made of the social interactions of a group of male fish allowed free range
over approximately ten metres of artificial 'river bed' during a four week period.
Under these conditions, the social structure of T. zillii may be described as a loose
group with an unstable dominance hierarchy. Aggression is a major component of this
species' time budget, with different acts and degrees of escalation probably
functioning to establish, challenge and maintain dominance relationships within the
hierarchy. The expression of territorial behaviour appeared to be conditional upon
social status (only the two top ranked males were seen to dig nests and consistently
court females). One escalated fight was observed between the two highest ranked fish,
but it was not clear whether this was a territorial dispute, a challenge for the top
position, or a dispute over both. Thus, while the immediate reasons for escalated
fighting between male T. zillii depends upon the social and physical environment, it is
probably ultimately caused by competition for mating opportunities.
Chapter 4 deals with the issue of how body size and gonadal state relate to life-history
aspects of the animal by means of a morphometric analysis. The analysis provided
evidence to suggest that there was a trade off between gonad size and the storage of
fat It is not clear whether this relationship arises from a direct energetic trade-off or is a result of adopting different behavioural strategies. I also explored the relationship
between behaviour, morphology and somatic and reproductive condition. It was
possible to predict gonadal state on the basis of mouth morphology which may
explain why so much fighting involves use of the mouth in this species.In Chapter 5 I studied the proximate costs of fighting in terms of physical injury and
the metabolic consequences of engaging in a energetically demanding activity. In
relation to injuries incurred during fights, losers suffered greater scale loss than
winners, especially if the loser was larger than its opponent. In relation to energy
metabolism, fighting resulted in significant depletion of total sugar reserves from the
muscle and the liver (compared to unfought controls). It appears that the muscle
energy reserves are respired anaerobically, as was evident from the accumulation of
lactate in the muscle. Interestingly, losers had significantly higher levels of lactate
than winners. Together, the data on injury and metabolic state suggest that fighting is
costly for both winners and losers, but that this is especially marked for losers. These
data are discussed in relation to models of animal decision-making and it is concluded
that the summation of different proximate costs incurred during fighting is likely to
underlie the making of decisions such as continuing, giving up or escalating the fight.In Chapter 6 I report a study of plasma concentrations of gonadal steroids in T. zillii
in relation to fighting and gonadal state. The gonadal steroids, particularly the
androgens, have been shown to be associated with aggression in a wide range of
species and seemed like obvious candidates for the mechanism by which gonadal state
influences behaviour Blood samples were taken from fish immediately after fighting and the plasma concentrations of the following gonadal steroids were then determined
by radioimmunoassay: testosterone (T), l l-ketotestosterone (1IkT) and 17a,20~-
Dihydroxy-4-pregnen-3-one (17,20-P) and estradiol (Ez). T concentrations did not
correlate with GSI and no differences were detected between winners, losers and
unfought controls. II kT concentrations were on average twice those of T and
negatively correlated to GSI, although winners, losers and controls were not
significantly different. T and II kT concentrations were positively correlated with
each other but 17,20-P and Ez levels were too low to be accurately measured. It
appears that in T. zillii, II kT is the major androgen as it is in most other mature male
teleosts.While the present results suggest that these sex steroids may playa role in
physiological regulation of testicular maturation, they do not support the idea that
these steroids are the mechanism by which GSI influences aggressive behaviour.
In Chapter 7 I review the main conclusions of the previous chapters. I then offer my
personal opinion on how the different levels and approaches taken throughout the
study interrelate and collectively reinforce each other and why integration between
disciplines is important in the study of animal behaviour.


Both supporters and critics of China's urban land use regime use the language of state ownership to describe it. But significant reforms have taken place to that regime since the early 1990s — so much so that over much of China's urban land area, de facto re-privatization has already occurred. This is because the long-term use rights granted over urban land are economically and legally very similar to full private ownership, and indeed can be found in other jurisdictions where nobody doubts the existence of a private land ownership regime. Although some uncertainties remain, this is because the cost of maintaining them is low whereas the cost of resolving them is high; as that cost balance changes over time, there is reason to believe that they will be resolved before they become a drag on economic development. The analysis presented here applies not only to China, but to any jurisdiction where something less than full fee simple ownership (or its equivalent) is the dominant form of land tenure.


Most morbidity associated with malignancy in long-term renal transplant recipients is due to cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma (SCC). Previously identified measures to stratify SCC risk have limited use, however. We hypothesized that an increased proportion of senescent, terminally differentiated CD8(+) T cells would identify renal transplant recipients at elevated SCC risk. Peripheral blood lymphocytes were isolated from 117 stable transplant recipients at high risk of SCC and analyzed phenotypically by flow cytometry. Participants were followed up prospectively for SCC development. The predictive value of variables was assessed using Cox regression. Age at transplant and enrollment, dialysis duration, and previous disease were predictive of SCC development during follow-up. Previously published clinical phenotype-based risk scores lost predictive value with the removal of age as a covariate. The percentage of CD57-expressing CD8(+) T cells was the strongest immunologic predictor of future SCC and correlated with increasing CD8(+) T cell differentiation. We dichotomized participants into those with a majority (CD57hi) and a minority (CD57lo) of CD8(+) T cells expressing CD57; CD57hi participants were more likely to develop SCC during follow-up (hazard ratio, 2.9; 95% confidence interval, 1.0 to 8.0), independent of potential confounders, and tended to develop earlier recurrence. The CD57hi phenotype was stable with time and associated with increasing age and cytomegalovirus seropositivity. Our results show that the CD57hi phenotype is a strong predictor of SCC development and recurrence in this cohort of long-term, high-risk renal transplant recipients. This information may allow identification of recipients who may benefit from intensive dermatologic screening and immunosuppression reduction.


In the past few years, large high-resolution displays (LHRDs) have attracted considerable attention from researchers, industries, and application areas that increasingly rely on data-driven decision-making. An up-to-date survey on the use of LHRDs for interactive data visualization seems warranted to summarize how new solutions meet the characteristics and requirements of LHRDs and take advantage of their unique benefits. In this survey, we start by defining LHRDs and outlining the consequence of LHRD environments on interactive visualizations in terms of more pixels, space, users, and devices. Then, we review related literature along the four axes of visualization, interaction, evaluation studies, and applications. With these four axes, our survey provides a unique perspective and covers a broad range of aspects being relevant when developing interactive visual data analysis solutions for LHRDs. We conclude this survey by reflecting on a number of opportunities for future research to help the community take up the still open challenges of interactive visualization on LHRDs.


An evolving produce industry has placed vegetable growers in northern Colorado at a competitive disadvantage. The Colorado producers' strategic response is to form a value-added, cold storage processing cooperative in the hopes of establishing a better position for marketing their vegetables on a year-round basis. This case study discusses the results of both a market demand and processing feasibility study conducted for these vegetable growers.


Diets low in animal but high in plant protein were enhanced with a chemoattractant FinnStim (FS), a betaine/amino additive. These were fed to juvenile shrimp, Penaeus monodon, in three tank experiments. All diets were formulated to be isonitrogenous (35% protein) and isocaloric. In run 1, where soybean meal was used as the plant protein source (33%), graded levels of FS (0 to 2.0%) were added to the basic mix (B). Shrimp fed the diet with 1% FS had a significantly ( alpha =0.05) higher weight gain than the other treatments and a feed conversion ratio (FCR) which was higher than B and B+2% FS but not significantly different from the other FS levels. However, survival, specific growth rate (SGR) and feed intake were similar. In run 2 diet palatability, which may be affected by plant protein, was considered. Diets with a lower soybean meal content (18%) and 16% papaya leaf meal, with and without 1% FS, were tested. A higher weight gain and SGR were obtained for shrimp fed FS but survival, feed intake and FCR were not significantly different from those without FS. In run 3, where leaf meal was increased to 25%, shrimp fed 1% FS yielded a significantly better weight gain, SGR, feed intake and FCR, but survival rates were not significantly different. FS did not increase feed intake but may have caused faster feed consumption, resulting in less feed disintegration and nutrient loss. It could also have acted as a stimulant and counteracted the palatability problem of the 25% leaf meal diet. However, much of the response was evidently caused by the physiological role of betaine as methyl donor and osmoprotectant. URI http://hdl.handle.net/10862/1570 Citation Peñaflorida, V. D., & Virtanen, E. (1996). Growth, survival and feed conversion of juvenile shrimp (Penaeus monodon) fed a betaine/amino acid additive. The Israeli Journal of Aquaculture-Bamidgeh, 48(1), 3-9. Publisher Society of Israeli Aquaculture and Marine Biotechnology Subject Diets; Feed composition; Feeding experiments; Food conversion; Growth; Palatability; Shrimp culture; Survival; Penaeus monodon Type Article Growth, survival and feed conversion of juvenile shrimp (Penaeus monodon) fed a betaine/amino acid additive  


In this paper we present modeling and simulation of chemical vapor deposition (CVD) on metallic bipolar plates. We discuss the application of different models to simulate the plasmatransport of chemical reactants in the gas chamber. We take into account one-dimensional models that are treated analytically under some assumptions and multi-dimensional models that are solved numerically with software packages. Due to the multi-scaling nature of the physical behavior, we discuss adapted models in different domains and scales. The near- and far-field contexts are based on large scales that are treated with continuous models, e.g. convectiondiffusion-reaction equations. And small scales that are based on chemical and molecular models, e.g. Boltzmann-equations. The results are discussed with physical experiments to give valid models for the assumed growth of thin layers.


Molecular recognition based Fe3+ imprinted monolith was prepared for selective removal of Fe3+ ions from aqueous solutions. The precomplexation was achieved by the coordination of Fe3+ ions with N-methacryloyl-(L)-cysteine methyl ester (MAC) to form the complex monomer (MAC-Fe3+). The polymerization step was then carried out in the presence of MAC-Fe3+ complex and hydroxyethyl methacrylate (HEMA) monomer by bulk polymerization to constitude a Fe3+-imprinted polymer (PHEMAC-Fe3+). The specific surface area of PHEMAC-Fe3+ monolith was found to be 35.2 m2/g, with a swelling ratio of 60.2% after the template was removed from the monolith by 0.1M EDTA solution. The maximum adsorption capacity of PHEMAC-Fe3+ monolith for Fe3+ ion was 0.76 mg/g. The adsorption behavior of the monolith has been successfully described by the Langmuir isotherm. It was determined that the relative selectivity of PHEMAC-Fe3+ monolith was 59.7 and 37.0 times greater than that of the nonimprinted PHEMAC monolith as compared with the Cd2+ and Ni2+ ions, respectively. The PHEMAC-Fe3+ monolith was recovered and reused many times without any significant decrease in its adsorption capacity. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2011


Abstract. The hygroscopic behavior of atmospherically relevant water-soluble carboxylic salts and their effects on ammonium sulfate were investigated using a hygroscopicity tandem differential mobility analyzer (H-TDMA). No hygroscopic growth is observed for disodium oxalate, while ammonium oxalate shows slight growth (growth factor = 1.05 at 90%). The growth factors at 90% RH for sodium acetate, disodium malonate, disodium succinate, disodium tartrate, diammonium tartrate, sodium pyruvate, disodium maleate, and humic acid sodium salt are 1.79, 1.78, 1.69, 1.54, 1.29, 1.70, 1.78, and 1.19, respectively. The hygroscopic growth of mixtures of organic salts with ammonium sulfate, which are prepared as surrogates of atmospheric aerosols, was determined. A clear shift in deliquescence relative humidity to lower RH with increasing organic mass fraction was observed for these mixtures. Above 80% RH, the contribution to water uptake by the organic salts was close to that of ammonium sulfate for the majority of investigated compounds. The observed hygroscopic growth of the mixed particles at RH above the deliquescence relative humidity of ammonium sulfate agreed well with that predicted using the Zdanovskii-Stokes-Robinson (ZSR) mixing rule. Mixtures of ammonium sulfate with organic salts are more hygroscopic than mixtures with organic acids, indicating that neutralization by gas-phase ammonia and/or association with cations of dicarbonxylic acids may enhance the hygroscopicity of the atmospheric particles.


Distillers Dried grain with Solubles (DDGS) is a co-product of grain-based ethanol and is primarily used as livestock feed. With increasing production of DDGS, it is imperative to produce value-added products and/or find new applications of DDGS to help sustain the biofuel industry. Carotenoids are expensive yet essential feed additives. Since animals cannot synthesize carotenoids and animal feeds including DDGS are generally poor in carotenoids, about 30-120 ppm of total carotenoids is added to animal feed to improve animal health. The objectives of this study were to 1) produce carotenoid (astaxanthin and β-carotene)-enriched DDGS by Phaffia rhodozyma and Sporobolomyces roseus monoculture and mixed culture submerged fermentation of whole stillage, 2) optimize fermentation media by response surface methodology (RSM) and mixture design followed by validation, 3) evaluate the nutritional profile of carotenoid-enriched DDGS, 4) improve carotenoid production by the use of precursors, and 5) develop carotenoidenriched feeds namely, wheat bran, rice bran and soybean products. Carotenoid-enriched DDGS was produced from both monoculture and mixed culture fermentation with yields ranging from 17-233 μg/g. Upon media optimization, astaxanthin and β-carotene yields, especially in P. rhodozyma were enhanced by 177% and 164% to yield 98 and 275 μg/g respectively. Nutrition profiling of the carotenoid-enriched DDGS showed that the secondary fermentation resulted in low fiber, protein and %N and enhanced fat. Fiber was reduced by 77% and 66% by P. rhodozyma and S. roseus respectively, whereas the crude fat increased by 80% in mixed culture fermentation. Additionally, abundant vaccenic acid, a monounsaturated fatty acid was seen in S. roseus and mixed culture fermented DDGS. Vaccenic acid is a precursor of conjugated linolenic acid which is known to confer numerous health benefits. Fermentation of milo DDGS, wheat bran, rice bran and soybean products also resulted in carotenoid enrichment, with the best astaxanthin yield of 80 μg/g in rice bran, and best β-carotene yield of 837 μg/ g in soy flour. Precursors like mevalonic acid, apple pomace and tomato pomace increased carotenoid yield in DDGS and other substrates, with the yield increment depending on the substrate. Mevalonic acid resulted in the best astaxanthin and β-carotene yield increment by 140% and 236% resulting in 220 μg/g and 904 μg/g respectively in corn DDGS. Apple pomace and tomato pomace resulted in 29% carotenoid yield increment. Numerous studies thus far have used cheap agricultural substrates to produce carotenoids especially astaxanthin using P. rhodozyma with the intent of extracting the carotenoids for use in animal feed. However, by fermenting the animal feed directly, carotenoid-enriched feed can be produced without the need for extraction. By this simple yet novel carotenoid value addition, premium feeds or feed blends can be developed. Apart from carotenoid enrichment, low-fiber DDGS can help expand the market base of DDGS for use in non-ruminant feeds. Carotenoid value addition of DDGS can not only help sustain the biofuel industry but can also capture the aquaculture feed base which heavily relies on astaxanthin supplementation. CAROTENOID VALUE ADDITION TO DISTILLERS DRIED GRAIN WITH SOLUBLES BY RED YEAST FERMENTATION